SystemSeed

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Digital Product Manager of Innovate UK Business Connect

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We connect innovators with new partners and new opportunities beyond their existing thinking – accelerating ambitious ideas into real-world solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire SystemSeed to accomplish?

• Showcase the benefits of participating in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership
• Act as a shop window for KTP Associate jobs
• Demonstrate the impact of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
• Provide comprehensive information and resources on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

SOLUTION

How did you find SystemSeed?

Tender on gov.uk

Why did you select SystemSeed over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SystemSeed were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) need a new website in order to showcase the benefits of participating with KTP and give an easy to use location to view, access and apply for KTP related jobs, demonstrate impact for KTP, and provide comprehensive information and resources on KTP.

Key deliverables: 

• Workshop to define and prioritise requirements
• Flexible templates of pages and blocks 
• Job search
• Job posting
• Case study posting
• Map functionality

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Facilitate the right content to the right user
• Ensure that the new KTP website is easier to navigate
• Make case studies easier to find

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Great regular flow and rhythm of meetings during the main build. We were always kept informed of any changes to delivery/timelines of stories being worked on. The team was flexible with our schedules and always found time to accommodate us.

What was your primary form of communication with SystemSeed?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The team were able to grasp the complexity of the KTP programme and worked hard to translate these complexitiies into a streamlined digital user experience. They were great managing stakeholder expectations and finding compromises that catered to internal expectations while keeping the user at the centre of the design.

Are there any areas for improvement or something SystemSeed could have done differently?

Possibly an unforseen circumstance, but the lead designer in the intial workshop then left the team, which caused some teething issues early on as they had been critical in the scopoing of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Sustainable Health Index, and we’ve built a platform that leverages the data from our proprietary index to help organizations and communities better manage the health of their populations. We believe that the tech we’re developing will augment human function, and empower organizations to understand the current environment and where they can focus resources to have the greatest impact.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SystemSeed?

We needed a fully mobile and responsive digital platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SystemSeed has been providing us with numerous development and UX services. We are developing two products on one platform. The first product delivers our proprietary health index and aggregates and displays the data in a beautiful way. The second product leverages SystemSeeds customized LMS (Anu) allowing us to intervene at the individual and community levels necessary to advance the health of an organization or community.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with Evgeniy (CTO) and Emma (Full Stack Developer), but we also worked with their UI/UX team. Additionally, we work with Anthony (CEO) from a strategic planning perspective on how to best position our products in the marketplace.

How did you come to work with SystemSeed?

We had a failed partnership with an IT company that was initially tasked with building our platform — it just wasn’t working the way we needed it to work. One day, I had a lunch club meeting, which I have never done before, with a gentleman from the UK. I described our project and he told me that I should talk to SystemSeed.

He connected me to Anthony, we had a conversation, and I was amazed at how their core values aligned with our company — I was also amazed at his willingness to continue our conversation and pick us up as a client.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $95,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first meeting was on March 2021, and we’ve been working together ever since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

In the time that we’ve been working together, we’ve had eight sprints that covered 41 individual development and UX stories. We’ve met every single sprint goal and they were able to deliver our product so that we could go live with our first client.

How did SystemSeed perform from a project management standpoint?

From the beginning, they laid out a very clear map of how they would work and how they wanted us to work, and it has helped us become a much better team. Our team and theirs are held accountable, and the map is a repeatable process that’s yielded significant results for us.

We communicate daily using Google Meet and we use Slack to communicate in real-time. We also use a pivotal tracker for our stories and Trello for our product roadmap.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s just been amazing how much everyone understands our product, and the best thing about working with them is that they’re eager to support us. They’re very interested in helping us create a product that can have an impacted scale.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really have anything that I could call them out on. SystemSeed has been very transparent from the moment we began. We’ve only been working together for 8–9 weeks but it’s been very stable. They have an amazing review process that they go through after each sprint, and it helps us identify and understand our roles within our organization, so we can all work at our highest level of impact.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say to follow your gut. If you take the time to meet with the people at SystemSeed, you’ll immediately understand that their intentions are clear, and the expertise is there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a higher education institute in Zurich, Switzerland, and I’m the program manager for a banking and finance institute. The former is a small center that focuses on academic research on sustainable finance and training programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SystemSeed?

We engaged with SystemSeed for two projects. First, we connected with them to help us develop a website. Then, they helped us build a learning management system (LMS) for a training program.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SystemSeed developed a new website with new functionalities from scratch. We had an existing website on WordPress, but they switched it to Drupal. Some of the functionalities of the previous site stayed consistent and others were changed. The site was part of a new business model that, in the end, didn’t work out.

For the second project, SystemSeed has been developing an LMS. They’ve made some changes in terms of the usability of the system, and they’ve added a new feature. This feature is an overview of the quiz’s results and the answers from the users and students when they answer quiz questions. We’re now able to see their results from the administrator side.

We also requested some features that haven’t been implemented yet. One of the features that we’re looking forward to implementing is a community function where students can comment on each other's work on a message board.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, we worked closely with Anthony (CEO) and a couple of their developers. For the LMS, I’ve been mostly in touch with Tamsin (Head of Growth).

How did you come to work with SystemSeed?

We were referred to SystemSeed by a contact of ours that had a platform and a website in the space that we work in. We chose them because we trusted in this contact. We also really liked the way that they worked as a team, their values alignment, and the focus they had on their work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around €22,000 (approximately $27,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2019 when all the documents were signed. The first project was completed in two months. The LMS project is still open, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

For the LMS, we’ve received positive feedback from the users around the usability of the system — they’ve rated it really highly.

Even though the website wasn’t successful, it wasn’t because of SystemSeed’s work. It had to do more with a funding issue.

How did SystemSeed perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via Slack and hold meetings as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SystemSeed’s team is great at communicating. They’re very ambitious and thorough at their work, and they offer a very creative and holistic approach to what they do. They’re also very attentive to our needs and work in a professional and friendly way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

SystemSeed’s services are a bit expensive, but it’s part of the segment they’re in. Other than that, there is nothing they need to improve.

Any advice for potential customers?

Use SystemSeed for bigger projects that need a more creative approach. They can really bring a holistic approach with the different specialties that they have on their team. If you’re looking for web developers that use Drupal, go with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital communications manager for the UK for Concern Worldwide, which runs programs around the world to support the poorest people in the poorest countries. I’m responsible for the digital strategy and the website development for the U.K. Even though we’re a global organization, digitally speaking we operate regionally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SystemSeed?

We wanted to develop a highly optimized landing page, with a distinctive look and feel from our individual giving program, Through to Two. Currently, our website is a copy of our parent organization in Dublin. It is a legacy website built on Drupal 7, so the original configuration was neither flexible nor optimized for marketing campaigns.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SystemSeed developed a landing page for our current website (Drupal 7), and they did it in a way that will be compatible with the new site architecture (Drupal 8) they themselves are developing for our global new website. They did frontend design and testing, and they made the landing page available as a template for both regions (UK and ROI). They also helped us liaise with our internal stakeholders so that the process went smoothly.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with a project manager and a series of developers.

How did you come to work with SystemSeed?

Our organization was already working with them when I came on board.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

For the development, we worked together from November 2017 until December 2017. They continue to support our existing website and are currently developing our new website architecture in Drupal 8.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The landing page allowed us to be more autonomous and have a technical solution to scale that supported both marketing and fundraising efforts. The landing page they created is performing well, with a 20% increase in CTR.

They did more than development. They were so involved that they were helping me with my internal stakeholders. In the beginning, they met with key people and set expectations and goals for the project. Since everyone knew what the product was about, and goals were agreed in the kick off meeting, everyone was informed of the progress and I didn’t need to convince people at any point. Thanks to that approach, there were no delays or last-minute obstacles and we meet the deadline.

How did SystemSeed perform from a project management standpoint?

SystemSeed’s team is extremely available, as immediacy is a part of their service. There are no delays since they have an agile way of working. They are helpful and very transparent, giving accurate estimates of how long it would take to deliver a task.

We have a daily 15-minute call to discuss progress and a weekly support call to check our backlog and define the next sprint. We also communicate via Slack and Skype. During the landing page development, we had a weekly Scrum call with all key stakeholders involved from both regions.

During development, I could speak with the project manager, the UX designer or any of the developers at any time if needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SystemSeed is one of the best agencies I’ve worked with. They offer services beyond development, including UX, along with quite a bit of support to help your business. They’re very flexible, and they understand what we need as an organization and translate it into a technical solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I am very happy with their services so far, though they are perfectionists, and some projects could be approached in a less detailed manner.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re managing a multibranded website or a multiregional platform, get in touch with SystemSeed. Let them do more than just development work.

I’ve recommended them to my previous manager since I believe they can help my previous organization with their website challenges.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the project manager in the Anu division of Krengeltech. Kregeltech develops customized software solutions for a variety of different clients, and the Anu division is creating an online social learning platform

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SystemSeed?

SystemSeed was hired to help us develop our platform using Drupal. The platform is a social learning platform where learners can connect with other people in their company or industry.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SystemSeed has helped us build the platform from scratch using Headless Drupal. This allows for us to separate the front- and backend and gives us a lot of flexibility to develop while our end users can still use the platform without interruption. Using Headless Drupal meant we had to start the project over and build from the ground up, but it has been much more efficient.

The team also helped us develop a pretty robust roadmap with features such as a commenting system with up voting and a personalized notebook. They use an agile development strategy with scrum meetings, which has been a really valuable contribution.

What is the team composition?

I interact with their CTO and lead developer on a daily basis. We also work with their UX/UI frontend developer, and sometimes the company's CEO.

How did you come to work with SystemSeed?

Our in-house developer and SystemSeed’s lead developer are both based out of Minsk, Belarus, so we became connected through their relationship. We also knew a bit about them because they are very active in the Drupal community in terms of giving back and contributing to the Drupal core code.

How much have you invested with them?

About $30,000 a month. We are in a yearlong contract with them that will come out to around $360,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our contract began in January 2018 and will run through the year’s end and possibly further.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We currently have around 300 end users piloting the platform in beta for one of our primary clients, and plan on rolling it out to many more clients this summer. So far we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the pilot users. They have commented on how great the look and feel is, especially compared to what we had before SystemSeed. I have also been pleasantly surprised about how many fewer emails I receive from users expressing confusion about the platform and where they should go to find specific content. I think that is truly a result of the easy navigation the SystemSeed team has created. A lot of people are really enjoying the platform and are able to simply login and know exactly where they need to go, which was our main goal.

Additionally, we have yet to have any bugs or crashes. We did have one security issue, but SystemSeed really helped us navigate out it. We were very pleased with how they responded and took ownership of the issue where it was needed.

How did SystemSeed perform from a project management standpoint?

They have been great. We most frequently communicate using Pivotal Tracker and Slack. We also have daily standups and weekly scrum meetings, as well as backlog grooming calls as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Whenever I am talking to or about SystemSeed, I always say everyday feels like Christmas because each day more work has been done and they are always developing and improving. They are constantly looking for ways they can add value to what they are building, which means the world to us as we strive to provide excellent service for our clients. They are delivering better and better results on a consistent basis and it adds so much value to the products we can deliver. It just feels so good being in a partnership with them—we feel like we have struck gold with SystemSeed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I could always use more UX/UI help. Their frontend UX/UI developer has added so much value to the team, but he just doesn’t have enough hours in the day to help us with everything. To be clear, I am really pleased with everything the developers do—I have never met a finer team—but we would love to have another frontend developer.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would just give SystemSeed space to create. When this team puts their heads together and has a space free of pressure, they really come up with innovative and creative solutions that add value to whatever you are trying to create. They clearly love making people’s lives better by what they build. I think that if anyone working with them can provide their end users’ pain point, they will really want to tackle it to make the user’s life easier.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your company?

Concern is an international NGO [non-governmental organization]. It was founded in Ireland more than 30 years ago, and currently works in 28 countries around the world. We work with the world’s poorest people to transform their lives. We work in three key areas: health, hunger, and emergencies.

What is your position?

I am the head of digital.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with SystemSeed?

We made a decision that we needed a new website. We had an outdated and functionally obsolete website. It didn’t have e-commerce capability or anything that we required. The design needed refreshing, too.

Tom Kirkpatrick [Founder of SystemSeed] came in to work with us on concern.net, which is our main corporate website. We had the design done with a separate agency, so he implemented all the design requirements and various elements that we needed through that content management system, and provided training and support to the team as well. He worked on campaign-specific websites for us, such as an event-driven campaign we run each year in Ireland, and another one of our fundraising sites called Show Your Concern.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project? For example, did it involve custom design, backend development, training, and ongoing support?

We have our own CRM system here, which is specifically used for fundraising. It’s a system used primarily in the U.K. We have a lot of data coming in that has to be incorporated into our CRM system. We asked them to look at security and how our hosting was, and to benchmark it. We’ve just moved to hosting with Pantheon in the States. These things required considerable backend development, data preparation and migration, system testing, information architecture, training, and support.

How did you select SystemSeed as your solution partner?

I wasn’t directly involved in the selection because I had a different role at the time. There had been a very thorough process, which I had been actually a part of as a stakeholder, where we distributed our RFP [request for proposal] to a few potential vendors. We received eight responses back. We evaluated and scored the proposals submitted and chose to introduce ourselves to four of the vendors. Our team went with an agency in the U.K., but their output was very disappointing. From what I recall as an observer, our team was running into project deadlines with entirely non-functional components. And much of what had actually been completed was of subpar quality. We were amidst a crisis because our campaigns were scheduled for launch and we’d already invested significant resources into the work. It was at that point that we terminated our contract with the other vendor and commissioned SystemSeed.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms?

The cost was €70,000 [approx. $95,000].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics or metrics that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

We’ve increased our digital reach significantly in Ireland, in the U.K., and some of those are content metrics. About 4 percent of an all-public income a few years ago would have come in through our site, whereas now we’re at hovering at 8 percent. Those numbers can reach 15 percent for certain humanitarian emergencies.

In terms of SEO, our search positioning has significantly improved. Engagement on our site has improved by 300 percent, too. And hosting costs for us have come down directly because of the work we’ve done with them – from hosting in Rackspace to moving to cloud servers, and then over to Pantheon.

When working with SystemSeed, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other vendors you’ve worked with?

I think they have great expertise. One of the things I like about SystemSeed is that you get access to a wide variety of expertise. Their team is well versed in technical areas and they also have very impressive business acumen. I find them very honest, open, and flexible.

In retrospect, are there areas that you think SystemSeed could improve upon, or are there things you might do differently as the client before approaching this type of project?

For us, and I don’t think that nonprofits are different from any business, since you’re always watching your bottom line. You can’t exceed the budget. Working harder to reduce the scope of our projects would be the only thing I’d do differently. There are times when at the end of a finished project you realize certain things, often expensive things, didn’t actually need to be done. That can be really frustrating when you’re working within the confines of a strict budget.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

My organization is the marketing arm for the Islands of the Bahamas in terms of our number one industry, which is tourism. Our responsibilities vary in many different areas but, at the end of the day, our main objective is to increase stopover visitors or cruise visitors to the islands of the Bahamas via different means. My specific responsibility is focused on managing Bahamas.com, its email marketing, social media, and anything that relates to digital advertising.

What is your position?

My position is digital media manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with SystemSeed?

The relationship with SystemSeed was initiated when we redesigned Bahamas.com. We had an agency of record at that time that did the redesign, and they were handling the website maintenance for us. When we severed ties, we found that SystemSeed had a much better position for us to partner with for the ongoing maintenance of Bahamas.com. That’s pretty much how they became our partner in terms of maintaining the site.

Is Bahamas.com operating on the Drupal content management system solution?

Yes. When we first brought them onboard, our site was running on Drupal 6. The website redesign was based on Drupal 7, and that's what they maintain for us now. 

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project? For instance, did it involve custom visual design, backend development, training, or support?

Pretty much all of the above. Just like any other website, we have certain things that we want to add so we can enhance the overall experience of using Bahamas.com. We work closely with them to create and deploy those enhancements. Also, they've been very efficient in troubleshooting and correcting anything that might be malfunctioning on the website. We really use them for an array of items, where it’s literally bug fixes, troubleshooting, exploration of new enhancements, and the best way to go about it to use the best industry standards within the Drupal ecosystem. 

How did you select SystemSeed as your solution partner?

We went through a minor RFP [request for proposal] process where we selected individuals or companies that were vying for the business. Out of the companies that we had reviewed, SystemSeed was the one that won the account, and that was when the partnership was established.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms?

I couldn’t give you a historic number, but I can just tell you from an ongoing relationship perspective, our investment for the maintenance and what we do with SystemSeed is up into about $120,000 annually.

When was the project completed?

The most recent project completed with them was an audit of our new website, and it’s the acceptance of them to continue the maintenance of Bahamas.com, which was newly redesigned. They had to take a deep dive into the new site, how all the elements on the site work, integrate, and accurately assess how they would maintain the site moving forward.

They then conducted a performance audit and security audit. All of those were encapsulated or combined into one overall project. At that point, we moved forward with the work on our Drupal 7 site. 

When was this project completed?

It began near the end of 2013 and was completed in early 2014. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they've delivered?

It’s kind of hard for me to give you a specific metric in terms of results, per se. What I can say is that their turnaround time is very efficient. Because we have this ticketing system that we use for these type of requests, whether it’s something that is a bug or an enhancement, they’re very responsive. Anything that’s submitted will get a response, definitely within the day. Depending on the issue and how critical it is, a lot of times things might be resolved within the same day or within a day or two. Things that are more complex take a little longer to resolve. But, at the end of the day, on average, I would say the majority of the items that we charge them with, they resolve with a sense of urgency. 

Do you remain confident that Drupal meet your business needs currently and into the near future?

Yes. I do not have any lack of confidence within Drupal platform, especially because of how we are structured. I think we’ll have Drupal moving forward for a long period of time, unless something very impressive comes out that we feel is a much better fit for our organization.

When working with SystemSeed, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other vendors with which you’ve worked?

The thing that’s special about SystemSeed is that they take the time to understand whatever it is that you are asking them to do. They ask appropriate questions that ensure everything will be moving forward in the right way for the right reasons. They will offer insightful suggestions that could provide a better result. The point that I'm making is that they give us a justified query in some instances in order to make sure that it’s for the best interest of the website and also for the user experience. That kind of exchange is invaluable and healthy in our partnership.