Vardot

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, which is a complex, global organization with 17,000 employees around the world. I advise on digital tracking and analytics for web/app projects across the organization.

For what projects/services did your company hire Vardot, and what were your goals?

We hired Vardot to migrate and re-work a custom tool we are using to generate UTM codes, into the Drupal framework (for tracking the impact of communication initiatives. The tool needed to be updated to cater for a growing number and type of users.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The vendor won an open, competitive bid (technical, financial) with UNHCR to move our global website and the UTM tool to the Drupal framework.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We started our project with a kick-off meeting where the developers working on the project were introduced. We showcased the existing UTM tool, and the business needs the tool addresses. Vardot quickly grasped the buisness needs and helped us translate these into possible Drupal based solutions.

At each iteration of the development work, we had the chance to do extensive testing on a staging site, and make comments and changes. Before launch of the new tool, we agreed on a launch timeframe, and post launch support model.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a team of 4-5 drupal developers, including the project lead. The project lead would oversee the progression of the project, make sure the solutions being developed addressed the business needs/requirements, and facilitated contact with the relevant developers.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

With the new tool launched we have been able to integrate several new key audiences onto our tool, including email marketers, and the Goodwill Ambassador team. The new tool has significantly reduced the time I spend on admin tasks, as it includes automated features for user registration and password reset.

Furthermore Vardot created the new tool inline with our corporate branding which creates a more coherent experience for our users.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We worked using Basecamp where developers, projects leads and UNHCR could communicate freely throughout the project. Vardot was highly responsive, both over email/basecamp, and to schedule calls when necessary. This was a key aspect that ensured the a timely completion of the project, and much appreciated.

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

Vardot had a highly professional approach to asking about our business needs in detail, and then translating those into viable solutions using Drupal. This not only enabled us to create a solution that catered to our stated requirements, but also helped us spot opportunities we had not though of ourselves.

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

I'm highly satisfied with Vardot, during the project work, the final product, and post-launch support and follow up.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director for learning innovation for American Community School, an international school.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

We needed someone to revamp our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vardot redesigned our site. We had a framework that we had developed with the intent of customizing our page around the content. It’s a Drupal site that they customize to suit our needs. They’ve done frontend development and templating of 50 pages and also the backend development.

In addition to that, they also do AWS hosting for us, using Cloudflare for our CDN. Their team is also helping with maintenance in the hosting and the site.

What is the team composition?

We work with around 6–8 people, including a project manager, several designers, and someone for wireframing.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

They responded to an RFP that we put out. We had several vendors that we had shortlisted, but we chose Vardot based on the American School of Dubai (ASB) recommendations. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $20,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

There’s been a substantial change in the interface — we feel that this project is prosperous. From an educational perspective, they work well with us to ensure that we have a product that communicates our targets and ensures they are successful.

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

They keep all the timelines, and in terms of communication, we use Basecamp and email.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their managers have developed a good relationship — they’re reliable, meet deadlines, and communicate clearly. They hold expectations with their staff and us to help set reasonable deadlines for our internal needs to ensure that the project is successful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d encourage you to engage with them, have an initial conversation, and see if they’re the correct fit. They’re very approachable as an organization, and engaging with their services was very easy.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a digital marketing manager specializing in e-commerce for an international organization. We provide fundraising solutions for the organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

We were looking to build a CMS for donation landing pages.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vardot helped us create a platform that facilitates building landing pages and emergency sites to fundraise in global markets. This system can be customized according to the local behavior in the different markets that we serve.

Initially, we wrote the requirements for them, and from there, they organized everything to fulfill those requirements. During this process, they asked a lot of questions and came back with a solution proposal that we went through.

After we signed the agreement, Vardot started the development phase, during which we had weekly meetings to check our progress and touch base in case they needed further clarification on the requirements. Everything went on schedule, according to the timeline that they had provided us in the beginning.

They worked on a Sprint model, doing batch releases and testing in parallel while continuing with the development. Eventually, Vardot started providing us with other solutions for the unforeseen challenges that normally arise during development projects like ours.

Finally, we launched the product with a little delay, which wasn’t necessarily their fault. It was due to the holidays and some technical issues that weren’t within their scope to fix. However, they also were there to follow up until the issue was resolved.

We had a very tight deadline, so we had to cut edges and meet halfway to deliver the product by the required date, dividing the project into two phases. The product they delivered didn’t have the full functionality that we asked for; it just had the critical functionalities that we agreed upon.

After launching the platform, we moved onto the second phase of the project, and we’re also working on other projects in parallel.

This platform is used by 7–8 different markets, and they use the same backend to build donation landing pages, defining the content and the donation amounts. As the pages are customizable, we can also test different approaches to optimize the conversion rates.

Although they also could have built a payment processing system to receive donations, we were already working with a third party for this purpose, and we wanted to continue working with them. Thus, Vardot helped us integrate the third-party payment system into our platform, so users are redirected to the payment app without even noticing. It was a very seamless implementation.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, we engaged with Vardot’s CEO. Then, their accounts director worked with us to create the whole documentation, including the scope of work and the project plan. This person was also leading all of the conversations.

Once we started getting into more specific details about the project, they assigned us a senior project coordinator, who has been leading the implementation. We’ve also worked with 4–5 senior developers.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

To work for the organization to which our agency belongs, companies have to go through a very intensive procurement process. We usually put out our terms of reference and an RFP, and they have to apply for it. Then, we go through a complete evaluation, where the applicant’s technical team is put together to evaluate their responses.

However, one of our sister companies had already procured Vardot for their services, and they recommended them to us. We also evaluated eight other development agencies, but Vardot stood out from the rest by meeting our requirements and being the most affordable option.

How much have you invested with them?

Including the cost of the second phase, we will be spending around $150,000 on this project alone.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

Vardot has demonstrated a clear understanding of our requirements, and they’ve provided solutions that meet our needs. When we launched a new website through the platform, it was error-free and fast, so everyone was happy and satisfied.

We’ve also tracked their response to requests, their speed on fixing issues, and their willingness to provide us with solutions, and they’ve performed really well across all that criteria.

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

Vardot is very clear in their communication and spot-on on the technical side. Their organization and project management are amazing, and everything has been just as we agreed on beforehand. Overall, they’re the best agency that I’ve ever worked with.

They’ve managed our expectations in the right way, and we’re very satisfied with how they’ve prioritized the issues that need to be fixed. Other agencies don’t always know how to prioritize, but Vardot always manages to know what is critical and what is not.

We use Basecamp and some of the Google products to manage the project and share the requirements. We also use Basecamp as our main communication channel because it has visibility to all of the participants.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Vardot’s technical knowledge, understanding, experience, and dedication are impressive. They’re very dedicated to their work, and they strive to deliver quality products.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve already discussed with them that the initial time planning could have been improved. Although Vardot expressed their limitations since the beginning, we started hitting other limitations and speedbumps along the way.

For example, as this was a global project, we didn’t foresee that they had different holidays than us in their region, which also differed from holidays in America. All of this caused delays, and the timeline estimations could have improved. However, it was a lesson for all of us.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the executive director and co-founder of a leading podcasting production company in the MENA/SWANA region.

For what projects/services did your company hire Vardot, and what were your goals?

We've adapted our website over the past few years as our goals and objectives changed. With this entirely new website, we've been able to modernize the listening experience, especially on mobile, to better serve our listeners.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We looked for a web development company that could deliver a high quality product on time and on budget. It was important to work with professionals after having poor experiences with other web development companies.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The entire process was very professional, all the way from our first introductory call, to the proposal, contracting and finally executing and handover. We felt there was much care given to the design process and ensuring the product we were building made sense for our audience.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The communication was excellent through out. We worked with a project manager and were very happy with the level of communication as we as the amount and speed of communication.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We finally received a professional website that reflects our high quality product. We have received many inquiries about our work recently though the website.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Project management was clear and the team communicated in a way that allowed us to finish the project on time.

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

I found Vardot to be extremely professional in both their pre contract work, as well as executing the actual work. It is extremely important to me to be working with professionals who are at the leading edge of their work.

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

No. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

EuroMed Feminist Initiative EFI is a policy network that provides expertise in the field of gender equality, democracy building and citizenship, and advocates for political solutions to all conflicts, and peoples´ rights to self-determination. EuroMed Feminist Initiative encompasses women’s rights organizations from the two shores of the Mediterranean and seeks to correct the gender power imbalances through ending discrimination of women and bringing about positive change for the whole society. Salam Nawafleh is a research administrator in the Regional Office in Amman-Jordan.

For what projects/services did your company hire Vardot, and what were your goals?

The Regional Civil Society Observatory (RCSO) is an independent civil society mechanism that follows up on measures and actions to combat VAWG in the South Mediterranean, in particular the implementation of the Ministerial Declaration of the 4th UfM Ministerial Conference on women's rights (November 27th 2017, Cairo) in the area of combatting all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG), Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPSA) and Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). we ask Vardot to develop a website that can our studies and publications be reachable to people who are interesting in VAWG and changing the discriminatory laws in their countries .

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed several companies but we were more comfortable working with Vardot. they are very supportive-creative and work with passion.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a kick-off meeting with the team to discuss our goals and objective. we used Basecamp as a follow-up and connection platform between us. the content was sent by us to the team. we got our website Live.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

A project manager and a technical team of around 5 people.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our project is targeting 7 countries in the southern Mediterranean region. So, the RCSO website is live and reachable for people in these countries and more. our members in the countries felt really excited and happy to share the website link on their national website and social media channels.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had several meetings with the team before and after each stage of work. it works smoothly and in a very professional way.

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

They were very supportive and ready for anything that we asked them to do. they gave us great ideas to improve and develop our website.

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

We had one small comment and we have mentioned it- they were very fast to solve it.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of a Digital consulting agency. The agency offers, project management for websites and apps development. We are specialised in Arabic websites.

For what projects/services did your company hire Vardot, and what were your goals?

A client has approached 5G digital to assess them building a new website and a mobile app. Vardot was shortlist and later selected to be the partner for the job. The website is to offer news and VOD integration.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Based on 5G digital previous experience, we looked for developers who understands the business requirements and is able to deliver in s tight deadline. A number of vendors have been requested to submit their proposals and so did Vardot. After a careful evaluation, Vardot was selected.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a needs-assessment session, initial business requirements have been revisted and confirmed by Vardot team. A project manager was assigned and the kick-off stage began quickly with clear instruction on the procedures and project platform. Project sprints were confirmed and within a couple of weeks designs were checked and completed. Development phase then began on time and deliverables were given dates to be delivered. All deliverables were delivered according to plan and launch dates were respected.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

In total there were 4 people, Business development Manager, Project Manager, Project Support manager and project Lead developer.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Deliverables were following a tight plan as the client was bound by an anniversary. All agreed deliverables were delivered on time and according to plan. Finally launch was successful despite the tight deadline.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had a weekly meeting after a few meetings in the beginning to insure a workable setup. Everything was documented on Basecamp and all project details and progress reports were posted regularly. When we had some design and a few request of changes it was dealt with in high professional manner.

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

The final product was great despite very tight deadline. Very organised project management fashion. Quality of delivery and communications were maintained across all project phases.

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

There were very few bug fixes and additional requests by the client that required Vardot to deal with at short notice. That was very much expected within any project of the size and nature.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Global Communities is an implementer of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) youth project. We’re currently implementing a youth-led project called USAID Youth Power Activity, and I'm the communications manager for it.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

We were tasked to design a digital platform for a large-scale website that was going to be used to engage youth, build their capacity, and ensure that they maintain a positive view of development. There was a challenge and a big vision behind the portal because it was basically four platforms in one. We engaged with Vardot to help us with this project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before we initiated developing the portal, we had several brainstorming sessions and meetings. Vardot offered very interesting methodologies, and they were able to understand and transcribe our mission and vision behind the portal. Through this, we were able to overcome the big business complication, which was aligning the vision behind the portal with actual physical capacities and know-hows.

Vardot was our technology partner and implementer. They planned, designed, and built the portal and some of its components from scratch. They used Drupal, mainly in the open-source form.

Additionally, Vardot has been involved in technical support and continuous digital delivery, which is basically having them with us after the platform’s launch to maintain the portal and make sure that it's working. They’re in charge of supporting us and advising us on data storage servers and other technical aspects.

What is the team composition?

There have been around 8–10 people involved in the project from Vardot’s team. There’s a project director, a project manager, a technical supervisor, a senior UI/UX designer, a rich internet application expert, and a head designer. My main point of contact is the project director.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

We put out a request for application (RFA) on local newspapers through digital media, print newspapers, and social media, and Vardot applied.

When we drafted our RFA, we received lots of questions from different companies that were competing to win this project. Their questions were about the large scale of the work itself — they were feeling that we didn’t have a coherent vision of the portal. This was not the case with Vardot.

We didn’t personally choose them; there was an evaluation committee that went through all of the applications received through the RFA, and they selected Vardot.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2020. We finished the main product, but we signed with them again for the continuous digital delivery. Working on a digital website never ends because optimization requires an ongoing partnership.

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

When testing the responsiveness, scalability, and compatibility of the site, there haven’t been technical errors or bugs — our site is perfect. It’s optimized, and we can complete tasks within all of the areas, even with a poor internet connection. I'm very happy with this company because we ended up with a very good design with very high functionality.

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

Vardot meets all of the deadlines. During development, they utilized Agile methodologies, which were systematic — I really liked that about their project management. In order to meet the deadline, sometimes we had to follow the same line processes and do tasks in parallel, but eventually, all of the deadlines were met. 

Even in times where we didn’t feel that we would be meeting the deadline, Vardot was committed to having their staff work overtime. One time, we were expected to do some sort of a demo. A minister of youth in Jordan had the team working during the holiday for everything to go faster. For communication, they use Basecamp. We also have a weekly meeting via Google Meets.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The aspect I like the most about Vardot is they’re very responsive and professional. I don't recall ever contacting them without having their project manager following up with us, either by email or phone. Whenever we have a concern, they always have a solution. Their dedication is also great. They're very client-oriented and tech-savvy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Vardot has been perfect in all areas.  

Any advice for potential customers?

Listen to their advice. If you have any concerns, reach up to them because they have business insight and technical savviness. Make sure to maintain a transparent approach with them, share with them your deadlines, and discuss everything with them. Always make sure that you get a time estimate from Vardot before jumping into the project and guessing how much time things will take on the go.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a consultant at a company that’s not publicly launched at the moment.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

I’m doing a media project in Iraq and needed a partner that had experience working in the Middle East. We needed a team that was familiar with Arabic that could do a knowledge transfer to help our internal team manage the project themselves.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vardot helped us come up with the technical architecture and strategy for our Drupal site. The team was able to come with a plan to get us to market. They helped us devise a plan of what to build, how we’d build it, and why.

The team also worked on the entire UX. They did the wireframes, the user journeys, flows, and design concepts for each screen. Vardot carried that design into the implementation. They delivered developed features of our website in incremental phases.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager as our main point of contact. We also worked with a technical lead from time to time.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

I’ve known them for many years and have worked with them to build other media projects in the Middle East. I had a high-quality experience with them in the past and knew they’d be able to fill in the gaps with any uncertainty based on their expertise. I also chose them because they had the best experience in Drupal.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $67,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020, and we wrapped up in October 2020. They completed the project but we haven’t launched due to some staffing issues.

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

The overall quality was great. It was a project that was being developed and tested at the same time. It was a very unconventional development style but Vardot was good at quickly addressing issues that came up. The CMS is stable and we’re happy with the current state of the project.           

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Basecamp for primary communication. We also used issue trackers. Once the development was completed, we also used a different bug tracking tool that was managed by a separate team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their foresight was impressive. They were able to aptly anticipate the needs of the project and the client. I’ve worked with other teams on CMS projects. It was refreshing for them to be a few steps ahead and anticipate the challenges I’ve faced with other companies. They went above and beyond and added some features that weren’t even in the scope at no additional cost.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

This project was a bit bumpy. Any issues I had I can attribute to the project itself. There was a shift in management during the project that shifted a lot of components. Vardot didn’t let those internal politics get in the way of their delivery.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you have someone with project management experience working with them. Have someone who can act on behalf of the customer and the client.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior ICT and operations manager at Questscope, a nonprofit organization for social development in the Middle East. We have a mentoring program that helps juvenile centers and refugees overcome any traumas from war or experiences they’ve had.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

Our website used an old technology that was obsolete. We had many major security problems. We needed a comprehensive website that would reflect the work we’re doing in the field. We needed to include more information about our work and overcome the challenges we had with our old website. 

We decided to allocate a budget for that. We wanted a website that was user-friendly with a good CMS that could help the non-technical users like my team add new content and update the website on a regular basis.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an initial meeting with them. We were introduced to the team and chatted about our current problems with the website, telling them what we needed. Then, we had the kickoff meeting for the whole project, which started with the analysis of information. Following that meeting, they returned with a solid project plan that detailed their vision for the website as well as the general timeline. I agreed to the project plan, and we started the work.

They provided the concept design for the website. After selecting that, they started building the homepage. After our approval, they started expanding to the wireframes of the whole website. They started to add new pages. We were including every step of the way, checking with us about large and small details. After approving the design, they started adding the content. In the RFP, I mentioned we needed a bilingual website Due to lack of content from our side, I asked them to finish the English side and we’d continue with the Arabic content after receiving the content.

They continued with the design and development of the website. After approving all the content and pages, they started moving to the actual development side. Until this moment, we have the staging environment and the live site, which provides me with the ability to test things before launching them. That’s a great feature. They built the website on Drupal. After the go-live, we kept a maintenance and support contract with them.

What is the team composition?

I worked with the account director and an account manager. From the development team, I worked with some of the engineers. My main contact was the account manager. There were three people from our team working with them.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

I did an online search for local companies here in Jordan. We interviewed different companies and chose Vardot. They stood out to me in the reviews I read. 

In the original proposal, we put the scores in front of the vendors and told them we’re going to be analyzing their offers. It wasn’t solely based on price— other companies provided more affordable estimates. However, their online portfolio, the list of clients that they’ve worked with, and testimonies from past clients made them stand out. The technical approach they provided in their original offer is what made their offer the most competitive.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $15,000 JOD (approximately $21,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–July 2020.

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

They provided a very good system. The end result was totally approved by us. When we went live, we did an internal meeting with our top management and shared the website with them. The response was quite satisfying. This is when we knew they did a great job. I’m satisfied with the CMS, the look and feel of the website, and the user journey. 

They added new features that we weren’t able to add to the previous website— that was a success. They also gave us great technical training on how to use the website and CMS. They’re very knowledgeable in that field. We trying to add new pages and content ourselves, and it’s been working great so far. I only had to extend a customer support ticket a couple of times for something that was deeply technical and needed a programmer to solve. One of our key success factors from the project is our ability to able to continue the work with minimal interference from the service provider. 

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

We received updates on a daily basis using Basecamp. It’d show the progress and any issues. They introduced us to all the tools necessary for this project. We had weekly meetings to show progress and resolve any issues. I’d call them as well and confirm tasks on Basecamp.

They were very flexible and task-oriented. They stuck to the timeframe and delivery schedule. If we missed any deadline, it was because of us. Our main issue was with the preparation of the content, which was on our end as well. At the same time, they showed great flexibility in helping us with design deliverables that were beyond the scope.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a high attention to detail, flexibility, and were committed to timelines. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could take their prices down a little bit.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go for it. Remember to do your homework first. Know what you need to have prepared— there’s no shame in asking them. Have everything written and approved.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the communications officer of an international organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

We wanted to revamp our website in terms of its design and look. However, we also wanted to build some more features because the site was a bit outdated and not editor-friendly. We wanted to have the ability to add more images, play around with videos, tweak colors, and those sorts of things.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vardot revamped our website from our existing Drupal code. For some of the features we asked for, they had to completely build those from scratch. For example, we asked them to build a searchable menu. Because we didn’t previously have that functionality, the Vardot team developed that feature from scratch. The overall work was a mix of building from our existing code and developing new functionalities.

They built our website with SEO in mind. For example, we have headers. Their team created a graphic that allows us to see if a title in a header is too long. So, the overall site is SEO-friendly because of the details they implemented. The Vardot team gave us some training as well. They provided us with some documentation as well as steps and tips to undertake internally in efforts to increase our SEO rankings. Their team is also tasked to do ongoing maintenance and improvement.

What is the team composition?

There have been 5–6 people working with us. We have a project manager who is our main point of contact. Sometimes, her supervisor steps in as well. They also pull in others as needed. For example, there was an issue with Google Analytics so they called in their Google Analytics expert. There were also different team members who gave the training.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

We had an open procurement process. Our organization had a call for orders, and there were many companies who applied. We put together the terms of reference for what we wanted and companies applied for about two or so weeks. It was an open competition, and we had some internal parameters as well.

Our selection was based on a matter of budget as well as reputation. One of the conditions was to provide reviews. Our team checked references and previous work. There were a lot of elements that went into the decisions and selecting who would receive the award under the contract. We had about 50 companies apply, and we chose Vardot in the end.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in July 2020.

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

We just launched two weeks ago and are already receiving positive feedback from our audience. They praise the website for how nice and modern it looks. Our team is very happy with the result. The website is much more appealing in terms of its visual identity. It has a lot of new features. We’re still trying to figure things out internally because we have a lot more capabilities now in terms of using graphics and photos. There are different types of displays that we didn’t have before.

What I appreciate about Vardot’s work is their availability. They really listen to us. We enjoyed their training and availability to show everyone how the different features work. Having a website that’s more user-friendly, editor-friendly, and has more features that allow us to show the results of our work in a more appealing way is a huge improvement.

Vardot built a knowledge library, and we’re now populating it. We’re an organization that generates a lot of knowledge in terms of publications and reports. These aren’t just from us; we’re a member-based organization so there are a lot of organizations involved. We want to use the knowledge library to reflect on all of the work of our membership. They’ve opened up the possibility to better display and raise our communications profile on the web. I’m confident about the new features and capabilities.

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

We really liked that they implemented a clear project management process. Vardot always told us what was happening and what they were working on, walking us through phases and timelines. Additionally, they were good with meeting deadlines. Their team required input from us. It was a challenge for us to be reactive, on time, and to keep to the timeline. Sometimes, that was a bit of an issue but it was more on our side.

In the end, there was a two-week delay but it’s because there were a series of things we needed to do first. Pages had to be changed and rebuilt. It took us longer to handle those. Vardot follows through on commitments. They do what they say, and say what they do.

We use Basecamp for project management. Our teams utilize it for messaging, tasks, and topics. Additionally, we have weekly check-in calls as well as ad-hoc calls but we’re in contact daily. They’re responsive, and we get answers quickly. Vardot is definitely client-oriented. They’re active listeners and great at solving issues. Working with them is very smooth.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness, client orientation, and the well-structured way they communicate and work in general. The kickoff meeting was super clear. From our first interaction, we could see they work with high-quality standards as well as were very reliable and professional. Over time, we built a trustworthy relationship which is very important for the implementation of this type of project. 

They thoroughly laid everything out, leaving no details behind. That was extremely good for us because it allowed us to plan on our end. They provide excellent communication and availability. Whenever there’s an issue, we can talk to someone quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had some issues with our web hosting, which needed to be improved to match the needs of the new website and be able to run all the new functionalities. This is managed by a different company so there were some delays due to the needed coordination. This was unexpected but the issue probably could have been identified earlier.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you want and what is required from you at each step of the process. If you present a clear agenda, they will meet your needs and expectations and deliver high-quality standards