VerticalWave Solutions

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and president of Vinostics Inc., an online automotive marketplace. Body shops can purchase all of their consumable supplies as well as parts. Once they build their cart and hit submit, it goes to bid. All of the automotive suppliers will receive a bid and they’ll have an opportunity to quote the body shop business. The body shop will select the winning job taker and they are responsible for processing and shipping the order.

What challenge were you trying to address with VerticalWave Solutions?

I hired them to bring the concept online. My biggest concern as the owner was making sure the website was indestructible from the start. So if there were ever any hiccups, the person who coded it could just go in and correct it.

What was the scope of their involvement?

VerticalWave Solutions built the website from scratch from my ideas. They did content creation and branding as well. I originally started with Shopify for payment processing and we still use that. We quickly learned that it was difficult to find products because we have so many, so they implemented a plug-in called Algolia to correct the problem. They developed the functionality and everything that allows the bidding to take place.

Currently, they're working on another granular search bar. In order to adjust the UX, we have ongoing work orders with them.  

What is the team composition?

We worked with Lawrence (Product & Growth Manager) as well as two team members including a main developer and someone for quality assurance.

How did you come to work with VerticalWave Solutions?

My brother consulted a few different places and I called three of them. Lawrence was quick to respond and when I interviewed him, he had excitement and some ideas already. I just knew right away he was going to be the right guy to build this.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in August 2019 and the relationship is currently ongoing.

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

The feedback so far from the body shop has been phenomenal. Everyone says how easy it is to understand and build a cart. Everything is of great quality. We’re constantly seeing improvements and updates to the website specific to what we ask for.

How did VerticalWave Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re phenomenal. We are in constant communication through Slack. We have frequent content reviews; Lawrence calls and gives us a full breakdown of the direction we’re headed in along with a timeline. From day one, he has had a great structure in place and is very organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lawrence comes up with his own ideas and I really rely on his expertise and experience. He has over-delivered in every area, so I’m very pleased. His ability to take my ideas and bring them to life, from a technology standpoint, is the most impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be helpful if they told me what the expectations were a little more and dumbed things down for me, as someone who has never built software before. Some things I didn’t realize were going to take as long as they did because I didn’t understand the process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get all of your ideas out because when you share them with the VerticalWave Solutions team, they might find an even better way to get it done.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the lead designer and digital content manager for a youth research organization. We provide research and evaluation services to youth organizations.

What challenge were you trying to address with VerticalWave Solutions?

Initially, we wanted to build an online library. Then, we engaged VerticalWave Solutions to integrate our sites.   

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, VerticalWave Solutions helped us conceptualize and develop our online library, which is a website of over 1,000 resources. They built the site on Drupal.

Now, we’re integrating this site with our main site using WordPress. VerticalWave Solutions is helping us migrate resources. They’re also developing different sections of the site, such as a community board where users can access events and resources. My team manages the site’s design.

What is the team composition?

We work with Lawrence (Senior Digital Project Manager, VerticalWave Solutions) and two developers.

How did you come to work with VerticalWave Solutions?

My organization is based at a university, and VerticalWave Solutions was on an approved list of vendors. Also, other university researchers pursuing similar projects had worked with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid $40,000 for the online library project, and the migration costs this amount as well. My company pays $300–$400 monthly for maintenance and support.

What is the status of this engagement?

The library site development project started in March 2015 and launched in the summer of 2016, and they’ve since provided maintenance and support. Our migration and integration project began in March 2018, and this work is ongoing.

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

The library site was the first-of-its-kind in our sector. VerticalWave Solutions helped us improve usability; they made navigation quick and easy for users while maintaining our visual designs.

Our integrated site hasn’t launched yet, but we’ve added quite a few new functionalities that will help us meet our goals.

How did VerticalWave Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

For the integration and migration work that we’re currently pursuing, we’re using Asana to track project timelines and Unfuddle for ticketing. We communicate daily via Slack. Their team doesn’t hesitate to ask questions. Whenever we have an issue, Lawrence is accessible and works with us to resolve the problem.

VerticalWave Solutions is more well-versed in Drupal than WordPress, so switching the library website from Drupal to WordPress has been a collaborative experience. Our teams work together to determine good solutions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The open communication enables VerticalWave Solutions to understand our needs. They’ve adhered to our budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Having someone on their team with a design focus would help bridge the gap in maintaining the integrity of the design. Designers and developers often speak different languages, so it would be helpful if the project manager had more of design experience.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be very detailed about what you’re looking for. After our first project together, I learned that having a thorough list of requirements and functionalities is important. Expect that there will be changes, and maintain open communication.

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I work at a science center in the international sales division. We create our own exhibits and manage their tours. After they've done their time here in Ontario, the exhibits go on the road for an average of 5–7 years.

What challenge were you trying to address with VerticalWave Solutions?

We have an exhibit that’s been on the road for a few years, and we want it out for another 3–4 years. The iOS app that was built for this exhibit had run into some problems. The original developer made some repairs but said he no longer had the bandwidth to manage it. The app is a part of the marketing guides so we needed to have it repaired so that the tour could continue.

What was the scope of their involvement?

VerticalWave Solutions took over the code and rebuilt the app to be functional. The interactive AR app is exclusively on iPads that travel with the exhibition. The main aspect of their involvement is to provide ongoing support. As I understand it, Apple forces iOS apps to update on a regular basis. Our expectation is that they will continue to maintain it year to year and provide any other maintenance that needs to be done. 

They did offer to make upgrades to the app based on what they found in the code. Our priority at this time was to get it up and running. However, I do think additional tweaks and adjustments will be a great value add. We'll look at that in our next scope of work. 

What is the team composition?

My main contact is Lawrence (Digital Product Manager, VerticalWave Solutions). I believe he has a team of people who worked on the app. 

How did you come to work with VerticalWave Solutions?

I had no experience with app developers so I reached out to a number of people recommended by a colleague. I wasn't having much luck so I started searching on Google. We ended up getting quotes from five companies in the US and Canada. There were a number of reasons why we selected VerticalWave Solutions. As a government agency, we have to have a certain number of quotes before we can make any decision. Their quote came in lower than the others, which is important.

Lawrence was also good at following up to my emails instead of making me chase him down. He reached out on a number of occasions to check on the status of the project, and he was the first one to get back to me with a quote. That built a level of trust that they were the right vendor. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $5,000–$10,000 to fix the app. There may be some minimal costs each year for updates. 

What is the status of this engagement? 

Work began in March 2019 and the app was done in early May 2019. It opens today as part of the exhibit in Oklahoma.

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

The app is operational, which was our basic expectation. While it's just opening today to the public, my tech in Oklahoma said it’s running perfectly. The app was completely non-functional at the last tour slot, so we're excited to get it back out on the floor. Internally we're really happy and looking forward to hearing the public’s response. We're in the planning stages of our next exhibit. If it requires any pieces like an app, we’ll make sure to send them the RFP. 

How did VerticalWave Solutions perform from a project management standpoint? 

VerticalWave Solutions managed the project in a completely professional manner. They exceeded our timeline and their invoices were accurate and itemized. Lawrence is so easy to speak with. He's been in touch frequently with my team and our tech in Oklahoma. I’m not fluent in technology but I didn't need to be. The other difficulty was that I’m new to this role. Lawrence was so patient in guiding me through the technical piece.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication is superb. Lawrence often reached out to us to make sure that line was open. He didn’t just deliver the app and disappear. He continues to check in on its installation in Oklahoma. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

I was surprised that they asked for us to pay their team upfront to look at the code. That might be standard for them, but they were the only company that asked for that to be included in the scope of work. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Call them as soon as possible. I don't have specific advice. In my experience, VerticalWave Solutions manages that well enough on their own.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a Canadian-owned publisher of children's books, with an award-winning list of over 500 picture books, non-fiction and fiction titles for toddlers to young adults. I am the digital business development manager of the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Vertical Wave?

We had a very old website which needed to be completely redesigned.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vertical Wave was in charge of our site's design and implementation, using the Drupal platform. It was set up so that someone with very little knowledge could work the CMS [content management system].

I've worked with at least 3 people from Vertical Wave's team, but there may have been more behind-the-scenes.

How did you come to work with Vertical Wave?

It was going to be a big project since it had been 5 years since we'd done anything to our site. We vetted a few companies, out of which Vertical Wave offered the best quote and timeline. They were able to deliver, which was amazing.

How much have you invested with Vertical Wave?

The cost of our web development project was between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe that we started working with Vertical Wave in early-2014. The site was launched in March 2014. We engaged Vertical Wave again after that time, to implement Shopify onto our site.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The feedback has mostly been anecdotal. People have told us how great the site looks since the update, asking us who was designed it.

How did Vertical Wave perform from a project management standpoint?

Vertical Wave has a very fast team. One of the things that stood out in their quote was the timeline; it was much less manageable than many people would think, but Vertical Wave always got the work done in time. Any hold-ups were on my end.

Vertical Wave was very good about remaining transparent with the budget. If we wanted to do anything beyond the scope of work, Vertical Wave let us know how much more it would cost, and we made agreements together.

We used a project management tool called Unfuddle, which allowed us to look into Vertical Wave's work and see what was going on.

Are there any areas Vertical Wave could improve?

Any problems came out of the fact that I assumed what knowledge Vertical Wave had about the book publishing field. I shouldn't expect them to know our business since selling books is a different world to theirs.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is a non-profit, non-partisan research institute that is committed to conducting and mobilizing research so as to contribute to solutions to homelessness. 

I am the communications manager of the institute. My team is in charge of maintaining the homelesshub.ca website, as well as performing a variety of tasks, from graphic design, to what we call knowledge mobilization - getting our research out to the general public.

What challenge were you trying to address with VerticalWave?

We had a flat website which had been developed around 2008. It acts as a research library and has over 30,000 resources, including PDFs and links to reports. These needed to be manageable and easy to access, which is something we'd been struggling with the previous website; people weren't able to find resources even if they were in front of them, the search wasn't working, and so on.

What was the scope of their involvement?

VerticalWave was tasked with redesigning our website using Drupal.

I was in contact with 3-4 developers from VerticalWave over the 4-year period during which we've worked on other sites as well. I can't say how many people have worked on particular projects. My main contact from VerticalWave was the one who got back to me for bigger changes, while other people also communicated small requests.

How did you come to work with VerticalWave?

I had used Drupal in the past for other websites, so I was looking for a company that worked primarily with this platform. VerticalWave had an extensive portfolio of websites they'd created using Drupal. One, in particular, was similar to what we were trying to create. I contacted VerticalWave's references and was pleased to find that they came highly recommended. One of the reasons we hired VerticalWave was that they'd implemented search engines on other websites.

How much have you invested with VerticalWave?

The cost of our project with VerticalWave was within $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

VerticalWave was contracted in 2013. Our project is ongoing, with constant updates and features which we're adding.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The search functionality was a big consideration during our redesign. Prior to starting the work, we consulted with stakeholders and had them perform usability testing on the old site. VerticalWave worked extensively in making sure that our search performed properly. We had a follow-up user experience review one year after the launch. People were pleased with how the navigation worked. I attribute this to our collaboration with VerticalWave in figuring out what would work best.

Our traffic increases by almost 100,000 users each year, but I can't attribute this to the redesign alone. The quality of our content also plays a role.

How did VerticalWave perform from a project management standpoint?

VerticalWave uses Unfuddle in order to track our communication. We use the tool for submitting tickets, which get assigned to one of VerticalWave's developers. We correspond with that person, receiving updates when the change has been made or is being worked on. I've found this system to be a huge improvement, compared to the development company we were using in the past. We can track the progress on the site, and follow-up requests.

VerticalWave is able to complete our tasks within 1-2 days. The speed is a very nice change compared to what we were used to. We have had to wait for months for small changes to take place, but VerticalWave can do the same work within a matter of days. We don't have frequent updates, but VerticalWave is happy to fix any bugs we identify.

What did you find most impressive about VerticalWave?

VerticalWave's customer service is amazing. Anytime I've contacted someone in their group, they were very gracious and happy to give us options. VerticalWave never tried to force us in any particular direction; they've broken up approaches into segments and price points, which is a big help for us as a non-profit.

Are there any areas VerticalWave could improve?

I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I've had a great experience with VerticalWave.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an independent not-for-profit research organization based in Toronto, Canada. We produce research on economic policy.

My position is communications officer for the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with VerticalWave Solutions?

We needed to revamp our website, which was quite limited at the time in terms of design and functionality.

What was the scope of their involvement?

VerticalWave Solutions has redesigned our website, moving us from a WordPress environment to a Drupal one. VerticalWave Solutions provided not only good design, but built functionalities, either through custom coding or through the installation of various Drupal modules, giving us a powerful search tool, an e-commerce section, and an events management system. We have a user-friendly layout through which the institute's research can be accessed.

I believe that VerticalWave Solutions assigned 4-6 people to our project, with varying levels of engagement. We had a dedicated project manager as well.

How did you come to work with VerticalWave Solutions?

VerticalWave Solutions was recommended to me by a good friend who is a top-ranking Drupal developer.

How much have you invested with VerticalWave Solutions?

The cost of our project with VerticalWave Solutions was around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the summer of 2014. We have an ongoing project with VerticalWave Solutions, who is our host and maintenance provider. We're constantly doing work in order to further build out the website.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Anecdotally, people have found our new site to be more intuitively-designed. It has a better layout and more functionality. Empirically speaking, we have compared user traffic before and after the revamp, and found that general users came to consume more content, staying for longer periods of time on each piece. Overall, the site has a better digital experience.

How did VerticalWave Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Unfuddle as a project management tool. As the client, I found it easy to use. It's a good way of keeping our tickets for changes and corrections organized. VerticalWave Solutions' project manager continued to be dedicated, quick to respond, and a good communicator.

What did you find most impressive about VerticalWave Solutions?

I don't have much to compare VerticalWave Solutions against, but overall, it's been a positive experience. No relationship is perfect, but I've always found VerticalWave Solutions to be willing to sit down and have conversations. Any miscommunication was addressed.

More than once, our site experienced a DDOS attack, causing us to actually lose service. It was for a very short period of time. When signing a contract with a host, there will be a guarantee of the uptime percentage. We've never gone below that percentage, despite 2 hiccups within the last year.

Are there any areas VerticalWave Solutions could improve?

On a few occasions, we felt that we had to provide a lot of specific and concrete direction to VerticalWave Solutions, in terms of design and functionality. As a non-profit, our budgets tend to be smaller, so we've engaged in waterfall projects most often. If we had an Agile approach, VerticalWave Solutions would display more of the leadership which we look for.

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH) supports an emerging global movement to end street homelessness. As a first step toward achieving this goal, we are working with key global strategic partners to eradicate street homelessness in 150 cities around the world by 2030. Our vision is that within a generation we will live in a world where everyone has a home that offers security, safety, autonomy, and opportunity. I am a project manager.

For what projects/services did your company hire VerticalWave Solutions?

IGH worked with VerticalWave to build the IGH Hub, a comprehensive, universally accessible online global research hub. The IGH Hub creates a space where leaders working to address homelessness across the world, particularly among people experiencing multiple and severe disadvantages, can access resources to inform and shape their work.

What were your goals for this project?

To create an intuitive, global, easy-access resource hub.

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to us through the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, which had contracted them to redesign their website.

Describe the project in detail.

The IGH Hub connects practitioners, such as service providers or advocates; decision-makers, such as politicians or community leaders; researchers and academics; and people with expertise from lived experience, both to one another and to the best ideas and practices. To accommodate this wide variety of needs, and to highlight knowledge and research gaps, the IGH Hub aggregates existing research and makes it readily accessible.

What was the team composition?

The team was a handful of people, with one project lead and a few technical experts. They were all available at any time to field questions, make changes, and address issues.

What outcomes or results can you share that demonstrate progress and/or success?

The IGH Hub was successfully launched with all the features we requested.

How effective was the project management?

Very effective. We used Unfuddle to communicate with the team, and they were very timely and responsive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were willing to work with us to find solutions for complicated features or issues.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

Some of the language used by the team was very technical. We found common ground, but it took a bit of a learning curve.