We are a technology modernization firm.
Growing companies know the right technology implementation is a balancing act: Address users’ expectations today while planning for tomorrow’s business demands. As a technology modernization firm, SPR helps companies strike that balance. We specialize in custom software development, cloud, data, and user experience solutions, working alongside companies to develop or modernize their digital products and platforms. Integrating our experts with our clients’ staff, we work collaboratively and provide proactive, pragmatic advice. We work alongside 150+ mid to enterprise-size clients across industries like professional services and manufacturing.
SPR has been named one of Crain’s Largest Private Companies in Chicago and is on the Built in Chicago Top 100 List of Digital Tech Companies in Chicago.
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789 N Water Street, Suite 100Milwaukee, WI 53202United States
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UIC’s Meditation App Gets a Mindful Refresh
When local research university UIC’s developer partner was unable to complete an app needed for a research study due to COVID-19 challenges, SPR quickly mobilized to finish development and prepare the app for launch. The UIC team was researching the use of mindfulness meditation to encourage emotional regulation and curb risky behaviors in arrested youth on probation in Chicago’s juvenile justice system.
To help the research team create a successful app, SPR:
- Met with the UIC team multiple times per week to keep the project on track
- Implemented features like in-app analytics to provide the research team with the information needed for the study
- Built in functionality to address challenges faced by the study’s population, including irregular access to smartphones, the potential of limited ability to charge devices, and the high incidence of using different devices to access the app.
Remprex and SPR Help Keep Busy Railyards On Track
Railyards are busy hubs of activity where a constant flow of consumer goods, including new-car shipments, come in and head out to their final destinations. The sheer volume of traffic can be operationally challenging, particularly during peak times, when transportation providers are fighting to keep up with little bandwidth to optimize. REMPREX, a transportation logistics company, is working with SPR to leverage the flood of information collected by railyard tracking systems to create exciting, industry-forward platforms that equip transportation decisionmakers with data-driven insights.
As consumer goods containers are transferred from trucks to train cars and vice versa, these data platforms surface information and insights about what’s going on in the yard in near real-time – to ensure maximum safety and efficiency.
Using Amazon Web Services to Accelerate Siemens’ Smart Building Solutions
Siemens Building Technologies provides automation technologies and services that help integrate and manage multiple common building features from one centralized hub. In 2017, Siemens launched MindSphere, a cloud-based, open IoT operating system that connects products, plants, systems, and machines, and allows industrial customers to make decisions based on data generated by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Siemens wanted to augment the MindSphere platform to get their building automation products into their customers’ hands faster, generate greater market value, and gain a competitive advantage. This would require integration with the Horizon platform, another Siemens product.
In performing the MindSphere-Horizon integration, SPR chose AWS as a strategic partner, tapping into its diverse product offerings. SPR and Siemens worked together to implement an event-driven serverless architecture based on Lambda serverless compute and DynamoDB serverless storage; the platform's operational observability was built on CloudWatch and X-Ray. This enabled Siemens' product to focus on delivering superior Smart Building hardware products and software user experiences opposed to dealing with low-level technical details
Siemens Building Technologies and SPR Build Mobile Apps to Improve Efficiency in the Field
Siemens Building Technologies field technicians were experiencing information overload. The quantity of email the Operations and Sales teams received made it difficult to identify essential information in a timely manner. To ensure their customers receive quality service, employees needed immediate access to information in their specific areas of responsibility. The company engaged SPR to develop and launch a mobile app for Android and iOS that could help the teams find information faster.
As a result of developing the mobile app, SPR developed a communications solution named Siemens Wire that enabled employees to curate information most relevant to them and reduce decision making. SPR also integrated a custom robust publishing and management backend, allowing the company to streamline publishing and maintain content in a centralized cloud location. The result was a beautiful, easy-to-use app with an engaging user experience.
LaSalle Solutions Lights the Way in IT Asset Management with LAMP 4.0/5.0
SPR helped LaSalle Solutions develop LAMP 4.0, a streamlined solution to replace the error-prone spreadsheets frequently used to track IT assets. When LaSalle was ready to extend their asset tracking web app to the mobile phone, they turned to SPR to help take it to the cloud and build LAMP 5.0.
To enhance LAMP 5.0’s collaborative environment, SPR customized the workflows, giving users access to LaSalle’s existing IT infrastructure along with the ability to add to it. We also set up the ability to use the phone’s camera so users can search contracts, work tickets, service agreements, and notes by simply scanning a bar or QR code. Plus, we added an inventory feature, along with push notifications to let IT managers know when to schedule service or replace equipment.
IoT Smart Building Company
Our client, an IoT company, focuses on smart building IoT through their IoT ingestion platform. Prior to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the company began providing indoor air quality (IAQ) sensors as well. As businesses of all sizes became more concerned about IAQ, the company saw greater demand for their products, and a change in their customer base. The client’s new customers were smaller, with fewer employees and less time to manipulate a complicated dashboard solution.
To support our client through these changes, SPR:
- Developed strategic recommendations for a simplified interface to appeal to the new customers.
- Created an intuitive plug-and-play dashboard
- Build a multi-cloud solution to support customer data sources
- Collaborated closely with the client to share knowledge, determine the direction of the product, and chart a new direction that’s agile, customer-driven and responsive.
Fashioning a Consumer Identity Matching and Management System
Infutor Data Solutions provides its clients with accurate and extensive consumer identity information, enabling them to create a powerful, single consumer profile. Clients lean on Infutor to help them fill in key consumer data and intelligence to improve customer acquisition, reach, retention, conversions, and ROI. Now, Infutor envisioned an entirely new offering: a way for their clients to upload millions of consumer records and quickly receive a file containing matched records for targeted marketing campaigns. Infutor sought SPR’s expertise to help bring the idea to life through the development of a High Capacity Batch system or HCB.
To help bring the visionary concept to life, SPR:
- Defined goals and provided expertise regarding AWS systems and tooling to assist the client in adopting best practices
- Employed AWS tools to provide easier resource management and highly available and scalable infrastructure
- Went beyond the build to design and develop an entire automated infrastructure and CI/CD buildout that Infutor could implement on subsequent endeavors
- Streamlined the client’s deployment pipeline and existing technology — the HCB product was able to successfully process a file containing 240+ million records in just hours with nearly 100% accuracy
Enhancing Retail Sales Through Applied Data Science
A Chicago e-commerce startup offers members free two-day shipping at online fashion retailers. The startup wanted to experiment with new technology, flesh out service offerings, and take advantage of tracking data. SPR helped them maximize extensive data science collection, driving more user engagement and more purchase conversion. Tracking data helped them understand user flow and drive metrics/alerts when the data unexpectedly changed and provided evidence to retailer partners that the client pushed a sale to success.
To customize offerings and drive sales conversion, SPR:
- Tracked trends: Inserted shared micro-apps on partner websites to indicate trending products for targeted cities
- Increased conversions: Added inventory counter that would inject “Low Stock, only 3 left!” in the UI if a product was under a stock threshold – providing about $3M/year in incremental revenue for partners
- Engaged members: When user was viewing a product also available from a partner’s site, provided partner images and links to the customer
SPR Builds Labeling & Workflow System
A medical device manufacturer hired SPR to create a label and certificate (L&C) program for a radioactive seeds product line used to treat prostate cancer. When the time came to develop a new product line of radioactive implant devices to fight liver cancer, the manufacturer again turned to SPR. SPR’s new system helps facilitate order fulfillment by calculating and measuring the radioactivity of the syringes as they are being produced, including bulk readings, rinse readings and filling of syringes. This includes getting a reading from a Dose Calibrator on the measured activity of the radioactive materials so they could be provided to the patient within an effective timeline. SPR developed a desktop application to capture this data from placed in the calibrator’s ion chamber and then stream data to the web application.
The workflow system also:
- Searches and reviews orders from the order ingestion portal
- Provides operators with the ability to select and fulfill orders in parts over extended time periods
- Calculates amount of radioactive material needed to fill order today for use on implant date, taking into account the rate of decay
- Manages decay calculations to account for time zone differences
- Displays real-time radioactivity reading in the web application
- Enables technicians to divide materials into multiple doses
- Prints vial labels with 2D barcodes for processing and packaging
Taking the Cloud Underground
With its pipeline cleaning and camera technology, iPEK had the opportunity to change how municipalities schedule and manage sewer maintenance and repairs. But to achieve the goal, iPEK needed a way to manage all the data for municipalities.
To provide better access to and use of that data, SPR developed an intuitive, cloud-based platform, iPEKloud, that could be accessed on demand via a stand-alone web app. The platform is a secure end-to-end solution that enables municipalities to view sewer cleanings in real time, view past cleanings via the cloud, predict when cleaning events will occur, review and approve invoices, and report on past and upcoming cleanings.
Integrating SAP Data into a Single Platform
With its pipeline cleaning and camera technology, iPEK had the opportunity to change how municipalities schedule and manage sewer maintenance and repairs. But to achieve the goal, iPEK needed a way to manage all the data for municipalities.
To provide better access to and use of that data, SPR developed an intuitive, cloud-based platform, iPEKloud, that could be accessed on demand via a stand-alone web app. The platform is a secure end-to-end solution that enables municipalities to view sewer cleanings in real time, view past cleanings via the cloud, predict when cleaning events will occur, review and approve invoices, and report on past and upcoming cleanings.
Increasing Engagement Across the Globe
IDEX, a specialty manufacturer of highly engineered solutions and products, needed to increase corporate productivity, employee collaboration, and customer engagement across its 65+ worldwide businesses. Having used SharePoint for several years, IDEX was ready to boost collaboration by migrating to Office 365, specifically so its engineering and development groups in different business units could effectively work together on ideas.
The platform SPR implemented for IDEX has transformed the company’s businesses. It has significantly improved collaboration within the company, productivity globally, and customer engagement.
Reviews
the project
Staffing & Consulting Services for Driving Academy
"Their sense of customer service is second to none — you don’t get that kind of service anymore."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the VP and CTO of 160 Driving Academy.
What challenge were you trying to address with SPR?
I reach out to them when I need someone good and effective immediately.
What was the scope of their involvement?
SPR has helped me in multiple organizations in the past. They’ve done a myriad of things, including identifying contractors for technical development, advising us on industry trends, and keeping us up to date with other organizations through meetings and introductions.
What is the team composition?
I primarily work with John (Business Development Manager); he’s been my main point of contact for the last ten years across three different organizations. He’s an amazing contact — he jumps on things as nobody else does, and he has a sense of urgency that we don’t get with other organizations.
How did you come to work with SPR?
I was brought in at an organization, and we had a very troubled team. People were leaving the company, we didn’t have any documentation in the system, we had commitments with various airlines, and our architect decided to take advantage of the situation. He quit and offered to do contracting work at an exorbitantly high hourly rate, so the negotiations fell apart quickly.
We were in a position where we didn’t have the resources to deliver. The company’s president gave me John’s contact number and told me to call him. I asked for a couple of resumes, and he sent me some good ones. I called him the next day about the resumes; he asked me when we wanted to interview, but I told him they’d start the next day.
Those resources lived up to their resumes, and we ended up hiring all of them. Since then, they’ve gone to be very successful, and one of them is now a director of that division.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent several million dollars.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in January 2014, and our relationship is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They’re an excellent resource for identifying resources. They listen, and their response times are extremely short. Moreover, John is amazing; it’s almost like having a personal assistant. I don’t know how he services his other clients, but I’m just surprised by what he can keep up with.
On the other hand, we’ve never had a problem with any of their resources. There was a period where we would have a contract, and after a certain amount of time, we’d convert if we liked the employees. In the end, we converted them all because they were fantastic.
How did SPR perform from a project management standpoint?
We haven’t leveraged them in that aspect; they’re a point of contact to leverage resources. However, they’ve been instrumental in helping us with the research for candidates. Our relationship goes way beyond an average client relationship. SPR is definitely interested in our future.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their sense of customer service is second to none — you don’t get that kind of service anymore. SPR genuinely cares about providing a good service. If they say they’ll do something, they do it. We can depend on them. I’m usually busy and have many things going on, but I can tell them what I need, and they run out and get it done. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but they’re resilient and look for the next opportunity to help.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, not at all. They’re my go-to resource when I need something done immediately and it can’t fail. You can’t find that type of guaranteed satisfaction anywhere.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Call them. If you have a project and can’t afford another failure, this is the company that will work.
the project
Power BI Training for General Contracting Company
“SPR takes the time to make a personal connection with their clients.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am the senior financial analyst for a general contracting company.
What challenge were you trying to address with SPR?
We wanted to grow our knowledge of Power BI. We were looking to get trained on the best way to implement BI. Additionally, we were looking to get our data out faster to all of our offices and to business leaders throughout the country.
What was the scope of their involvement?
SPR helped us increase our competency with the Power BI platform. They provided classroom-style learning alongside hands-on training to members of our team for two days. They trained 15-20 members of our team using Microsoft dashboards, a training deck, and a student workbook, including trained individuals from across a variety of departments so that the whole company had the same understanding of the platform. We covered modeling, visualization, best practices, using Power Query to clean and format data, and more.
They also helped us learn how to implement row-level security. We want everyone at our company to have the same user desktop but only see the jobs they work on according to their place in the team hierarchy. Everyone’s security is based on their email address. Working that up was a big undertaking that required a lot of work upfront but it was something we wanted to learn more about.
What is the team composition?
We had one main point of contact with SPR.
How did you come to work with SPR?
He reached out to our company. The finance department was the ones initially interested in learning more about Power BI so I interfaced with him.
How much have you invested with them?
We invested less than $10,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
The two-day training took place in October 2019.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
After the training, the team had an improved understanding of Power BI. The training was a great day to jumpstart our employees’ interests and personal development. Now that we have a good foundation with the Program, we can continue to power through.
How did SPR perform from a project management standpoint?
They did an amazing job with project management. Our team communicated in person or via email or phone.
What did you find most impressive about them?
SPR takes the time to make a personal connection with their clients. They do everything they can to make the client happy. If there was ever an issue, I knew they would get back to me right away. We had a close working relationship.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, everything was great.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
SPR is a smart, professional, and personable team. It’s easy and enjoyable to work with them.
the project
Platform Support & Implementation for Custody Solutions Firm
"I would definitely recommend them to anyone out there."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I work for a financial services company out of Illinois. We're a growing company with about 400 employees.
I manage an IT group which has approximately 15 people including full time employees and consultants from SPR. Some of the key systems I manage include Microsoft technologies with Vista and Web Services API.
We also have new technology platforms in the department like Nelthorpe from Salesforce, as well as a CMS like Laserfishe. Those are the applications within our toolset.
What challenge were you trying to address with SPR?
SPR primarily helps in the management of this Microsoft platform that is widely used for a series of backend processing within enterprise integration.
What was the scope of their involvement?
The key things we do are loan verification, loan processing, mutual funds, and company purchase loans from different platforms and SPR supports us with the management of our platform.
Those include P2P lenders in the market. Anyone taking loans from the P2P lenders in the marketplace is verified as they go through a series of validations on our site before a mutual fund company or private custody department is able to provide those loans.
There is a laundry list of documents and other information delivered to the mutual fund company so they can purchase those loans from those platforms. This is also being used in the backend for other activities like distributions when someone needs to take money out of their retirement accounts.
We process $20,000 distributions a month through the platform. They were also involved in implementing a BPM framework as well as full architectural evaluation and business process management.
What is the team composition?
I work closely with Dennis (Senior Consultant), he worked closely with our business partners and our operations team. Bryce (Principal) and Mike (Principal) are two of the other team members that we work with. They occasionally bring in other people as needed, but I don’t work with them on a daily basis.
How did you come to work with SPR?
SPR was already working on the project when I joined. I inherited the resources when I took over the team.
How much have you invested with them?
I would say we’ve spent $700,000 per year since 2012.
What is the status of this engagement?
They started around July 2012 and the project is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We have a vendor evaluation process. We do score carding for different areas that they cover and how they're doing. We don't publish those numbers, since those are all for internal leaders.
They have done a good job overall. I'm satisfied with the work they do.
How did SPR perform from a project management standpoint?
The great thing about Dennis and Mike is that they keep me informed about the issues or risks for any project that they're working on. I never had any major issues.
They manage projects well. We had cases where they provided quotes and we did not move forward, but other than that we have great deliveries and no major issues overall with project management or delivery cycle.
We use Atlassian for any type of project program management. We also have Microsoft Project and our project management officer (PMO) is looking at other platforms, but these are the two we have right now.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The attitude, the willingness to help, and professionalism were impressive. I never had any problems like I’ve had with other consulting firms.
I've worked with SPR before joining my current employer. If I had to rank all these companies, they are in the top five of my list based on my experience working with them. They are definitely a great company and great people as well.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They can offer free sourcing in other technology domains. We have other technologies like Salesforce but I did not see a whole lot of exposure. They don't really have a big practice test for new technology platforms.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I would definitely recommend them to anyone out there. Any other companies, whether they're in financial services or not, could benefit from them. I know SPR provides services to other companies out there, they do a good job overall, have good management, good teams, and I do recommend them to anyone.
the project
Ongoing Development Partner for Horticultural Supplier
“SPR puts in the time and resources to get you as close to perfection as you can get.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We're a distributor of plant and seed products across North America. We also do other aspects of the horticultural industry including research and development. I'm the manager of application development. Any custom applications are handled by my group.
What challenge were you trying to address with SPR?
We needed help with a number of development projects.
What was the scope of their involvement?
First, they replaced the landing page for our customer portal. They also helped us create a mobile application for that same customer portal. Additionally, they helped us create a supplier portal and a catalog search for our products and re-tool our corporate intranet. Usually, they did a bulk of the projects but we would deploy them and we'd de-bug and fix issues ourselves. They also provide staff augmentation for when we need full-time support.
What is the team composition?
It's changed over the years, but we typically have one main point of contact.
How did you come to work with SPR?
We were having performance issues on our intranet and the company that was helping us at the time recommended them as another perspective. We were so impressed with the work they did in such a short period of time that we hired them for our next engagement.
How much have you invested with them?
We've invested more than $1 million.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working together in March 2012, and our engagement is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
For the mobile application, we were capturing metrics on downloads. We got more than half of our users to download the app, which was pretty significant. The customers really like it too. The mobile application is a watered-down version of the full application. We simplified the functions and they liked how easy it is to use.
How did SPR perform from a project management standpoint?
SPR will come in with a project manager but we want our personnel to be in charge, so it's difficult to judge them on that aspect. The few times their project managers were in charge, they kept us to the deadlines and kept us on task. In the past, we've used Lighthouse, Jira, and our own custom system.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their consistency has been great. They facilitate keeping the same resources for our accounts to keep us happy.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Not every project has gone successful. Sometimes the people that we're given just don't work out. They've always been open to switching the resources.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
My advice is to talk to the individuals placed at the head of their accounts ahead of time to make sure they're a technical and cultural fit.
the project
Software Development for Financial Regulatory Company
"They are constantly solution-driven and are willing to take on challenges that others may avoid."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
We work with highly confidential pre-market financial data to ensure regulatory compliance. Our software has large spikes of activity to mean various regulatory deadlines. Our company has over 150 folks in the Software Engineering department. I am SVP of Software Engineering.
For what projects/services did your company hire SPR?
SPR was hired to provide architecture and software development alongside our existing teams. They were able to combine large existing systems with new more modern approaches. There was a high level of use of Azure services.
What were your goals for this project?
The primary goal of the project was to replace unreliable components of the system that did not perform well under large amount of traffic.
How did you select this vendor?
We have worked with numerous consulting firms in different capacities. For this project, we knew we needed a high level of folks that could come in and make an immediate impact. We selected SPR because I knew that they could provide extremely experienced folks and work within our timelines.
Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.
SPR did an initial evaluation of the existing large distributed system and identified areas of improvement. They led the architecture of new components to replace the existing dated technology. Working alongside our existing team, SPR helped to deliver and fully test the new components.
What was the team composition?
SPR worked with us on a variety of different projects and had about 10 different folks that were part of our team at different times. The team was comprised of Architects, Automated Testers, Project Manager, and Software Engineers.
Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?
The solution was completed on time and was in place for the next large period of traffic to our site. The new solution results in far superior uptime and overall performance compared to previous peak periods. This allowed for our team to be able to deliver their work on time and meet aggressive deadlines.
How was project management arranged and how effective was it?
SPR integrated into our existing project management using Azure Devops. Their team seamlessly integrated with our standard SDLC.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
SPR delivers a higher level of quality and responsibility than other vendors that I have worked with. They are constantly solution-driven and are willing to take on challenges that others may avoid.
Are there any areas for improvement?
There is very little that should be improved. As with any vendor, great teams are built from great individuals. SPR keeps their quality high and anytime we had any sort of issue with a team member, they did not hesitate to replace that person with now questions.
the project
Data Ingestion Help for Health & Wellness Data Company
"The most impressive thing was how they scoped and got the job done."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Chief Product and Technology Officer for the leading Health & Wellness data company.
For what projects/services did your company hire SPR, and what were your goals?
Data ingestion help for incoming retailer data. The goals were to catch up on the existing backlog which was becoming cumbersome.
How did you select SPR and what were the deciding factors?
After reviewing multiple firms, we decided to go with SPR. They have proven consulting leadership in various IT realms.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
The scope of work was to normalize and help improve the data ingestion process for our incoming retail data from retailers. The scope of the project was to improve and cover our backlog. Key deliverables were to speed up our ingestion process, via steps such as FTP, sFTP, SQL, and Salesforce.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
One. A SQL expert.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
The project was a resounding success as we improved our process of ingestion and knocked down our backlog.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.
Working one-on-one with our data ingestion expert, most of the work was done in person.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
The most impressive thing was how they scoped and got the job done.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
Nope.
SPR has provided an outstanding service and remained the client’s go-to partner for several years and throughout three companies. They successfully identify and bring in talented resources. Moreover, the team is responsive, trustworthy, and willing to go above and beyond to please their clients.