What was the scope of their involvement?
From a corporate perspective, we did not have a handle on the number of projects going on at any given time. A year ago, I wouldn’t be able to tell how many health and safety plans had been generated for our company. Through the tool that Trigent has developed, we now have the ability to determine how many projects were executed in the last year. It also allows us to see the work being done at any particular time from an administrative perspective. I see everything that’s being generated through this tool.
The other component of this is that we changed the workflow so that corporate has final review and approval of these documents. Before, it was being done at a local or regional level, often by junior field staff who may not have a thorough understanding of the issues associated with that project. By changing that workflow, it added a significant amount of transparency to the work we do and ensured thoroughness and quality of the documents before they leave the office.
The previous model was one-size-fits-all. Recognizing that projects are dynamic and vary in scope and size, the tool allows us to expand or contract based on the hazards, the client requirements, the regulatory authority, and the scope of work. The document could be as small as 30 pages or as big as 100 pages, and the tool allows for that scalability. That was a critical component of the concept we implemented.
We spent a considerable amount of time developing the concept of what we wanted as well as functionality. Taking that concept and building from that is easier said than done. Once we had them on contract, we spent two weeks developing the wireframes and the functionality, so taking what was on paper and expanding on it considerably with Trigent’s involvement.
As they built out on the wireframes, they shared those with us and worked through any issues that required clarification. As we got further along, other items started to pop up that we hadn’t thought about during the initial design phase. We had a couple change orders about two-thirds of the way through the project due to an oversight on our end. Trigent’s flexibility and response to that was very helpful. They helped us work through thoughts we had for the functionality, what was feasible and what wasn’t.
How did you come to work with Trigent?
We interviewed three firms, one of which was Trigent. We learned of a couple firms through our IT department, who shared their thoughts on companies they’d worked with before. We wanted to do this on a SharePoint platform, which narrowed the field of programmers. We came across Trigent through an internet search, and I reached out to them. They gave their proposal to us based on their understanding of the scope of work and the concept we generated.
A considerable factor in choosing them was the cost. Although we had a concept, we recognized that it wasn’t an out-of-the-box tool. In developing a customized tool, we were going to encounter some challenges and issues as we went through the design and development process. So, having flexibility in cost really factored into the decision-making process.
We did our due diligence and contacted other firms they’ve work for, researching some of their previous clients, and reaching out to them to have conversations about the work. We made sure they were able to supply us with the end product.
How much have you invested with Trigent?
We spent about $110,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started the design sessions with Trigent in December of 2015, and then the build-out began in earnest in mid-January of 2016. The original plan was somewhere around five months to build it out, but due to the change orders, it was finished in September of 2016. We were fine with that, recognizing the add-ons over the development process. We went through the user acceptance tests, and we went live in November of 2016. After that, we retained their services for troubleshooting issues through February of 2017. After we had a comfort level with the tool, we ended the relationship.
The launch of the SharePoint platform has improved the connection between geographically separated work sites. Trigent is a task-oriented partner with an effective management process.