Webenology, Inc

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Grant's Farm is a local attraction in St. Louis, Missouri, recently divested by a larger company. I'm the director of business process and technology, and I was hired to help the company transition from the other company because they used to provide all our computer systems. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Webenology, Inc?

We had a unique situation where the park had run for several years while never knowing how many people were attending, and we wanted to solve that. There's no ticketing system because people don't pay to get in. However, most guests ride the tram, and our team was writing attendance down on a piece of paper or calling it in, so all the data we had was suspect. I proposed to the board that we could fix this through a custom app. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Webenology provides us with mobile app development using C#. They've built our attendance app, allowing us to track attendance to see how many people enter and exit the park. The combination of that data gives us a view of how many people are on the property at any given time since we don't have turnstiles. When customers ride the tram, we take a quick count of a few seconds to punch attendance into the app, giving us real-time data. 

For the second part of the project, the team has developed a leadership portal that our president and his direct reports use. In it, users can see numerous pieces of data, starting with how many people are in the park. The Webenology team has also included the total number of people who have come to the park and the daily sales, which are reported hourly. We also monitor how much money each visitor spends. Users can access this information wherever they are on a near-real-time basis, with around a 10-minute delay. 

We've also engaged Webenology to post our sales to our financial systems. Our company has a tour reservation system through which millions of dollars are processed. Since we can see reservations weeks or a month in advance, the team posts this data in our books as deferred sales. When people enter the park, the system takes that out of deferred revenue and recognizes it as business revenue. 

What is the team composition?

I've worked with Sehab (President) on the design, plus a couple of developers. 

How did you come to work with Webenology, Inc?

Initially, I found them through research; Webenology came up on Google searches. Then, our provider for managed network services gave us a reference to Webenology, saying they did a great job with custom work. I talked to a few of Webenology's customers, and they were all really happy, so I reached out to them and had many discussions that went well. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around December 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The apps Webenology has built are very nicely done and very powerful. They've enabled us to give data visibility to our company's owners. Additionally, the team has built in hooks for the app to be sustainable by us; we can add our own configurations to the app through a menu. 

The leadership app also shows us metrics with pass/fail criteria. For example, we were pulling information from our points of sale every 10 minutes, and the app allowed us to identify that we were calling them too often. The Webenology team rearchitected the feature to call fewer times a day, which has worked out fantastic. These metrics help us set expectations and flag issues early since the data is so visible. 

The team is very agile in their approach, making many changes on the fly. Although we gave them a lot of documentation, we've changed our minds a lot, and they've been very flexible. Overall, Webenology has the ability to adapt. 

How did Webenology, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Depending on the stage of a project is the frequency of our meetings. This week, we've had two meetings to check our status. However, we've had weeks with three meetings a week where they show us what they're working on. They're very thorough in their updates; one developer showed me all their work down to the code.

During design and development, we always left meetings with a week's worth of work to do. Since we were really close on design and development, they only moved to the next piece only after the previous week's work was approved. Additionally, they stay on budget, which is great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Trust is earned, and Webenology earned mine by creating what I wanted. At first, I asked many questions and wanted to see the details down to the code, so Webenology asked for time to see if they could deliver what I wanted. When they delivered, I didn't have to look at the code, even though they gave me access. I realized they understood what we were looking for, and I trusted them to figure out the how. 

Their team is great. I've worked with many developers, including some of the smartest out there, and I would march Webenology up with them. The difference is that the bigger the company, the more they divide the team into specific types of development. Meanwhile, Webenology is small enough to hire people who love to do it all, and they're very good. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they need to change. We have a very good relationship — they have my complete trust. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We're a retail nutrition chain that specializes in sports supplements as well as weight loss. We have 26 locations across 3 states. I am a Franchisee overseeing 6 locations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Webenology to create an inventory system that aimed to substantially improve our efficiency from warehouse to retail store. Within that system included automatic ordering, a fully built software suite housing all of the inventory, product scanning hardware to be utilized by employees at the warehouse and store level. Goals were very simple. Create more efficiency & accuracy for warehouse ordering thus improving the retail stores ability to serve customers.

SOLUTION

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

Vendor came highly recommended from a friend and it was important to us that they showed a high level of professionalism, had the ability to adapt fast, & was local to our area.

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

Scope of work included a operable inventory management system that could successfully communicate with our current POS. Timeline was accelerated & completion of entire project was on a 4-5 month deadline.

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

Most of the contact was the project manager. Although there were 2 senior developers available at all times as well as UI/UX role.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project is still ongoing, but it has dramatically improved our employees ability to check in inventory. Efficiency in warehouse has improved as well as the ease of checking off shipment pallets that arrive at the retail store. The automated ordering calculator has allowed us to have more proper inventory levels at both the warehouse and retail level. Overall, there is much less friction with how products move from warehouse to store or store to store.

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

Consistently met or exceeded project deadlines, very responsive when an error became known, has continued to be proactive in looking ahead on how the entire operation can continue to improve.

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

The most impressive was their attention to detail and sheer drive to address and resolve issues as fast as possible. It is difficult to find people that work with that much purpose.

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

The project was on an accelerated timeline so it is difficult to be critical, but set meetings & documentation could’ve been better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an operations manager at CACI, a multifaceted call center organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Webenology, Inc?

We’ve been working with Sehab (Owner) since before Webenoogy was formed. The IT service provider we partnered with outsourced any work they couldn’t handle to him. Over time, Sehab started Webenology and we’ve continued to work with his company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started using Webenology for a lot of different projects, mainly to do with our SQL database and processes. The team has rewritten a lot of that code to make it more efficient. 

We’ve continued to work with Webenology on a variety of projects. Most recently, we started pulling everything from our system through SQL queries. Webenology was able to pull the data the way we wanted it to be, and then they built an outside executable that converted that data according to our client’s needs. 

What is the team composition?

I work with Sehab directly because of our previous relationship, but he has a larger team supporting him.

How did you come to work with Webenology, Inc?

Our IT company was using him for his outsourcing needs, and we decided to partner with him when he started Webenology. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in June 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

If we have an idea for a product, we know how we want it to perform. If Webenology doesn’t get it right on the first try, we’re confident that they’ll always ge us there. 

There’s never been something that Webenology hasn’t been able to accomplish for us. The reason we use them is because they have incredibly quick turnaround time — they just get us.

How did Webenology, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Webenology has never missed a deadline. We usually don’t even have to set a deadline — we just tell them we need something done as soon as possible and they deliver. It’s a very efficient process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Webenology is just easy to talk to. They understand that not everyone they speak with is a technical guru, and we’ve never had any issues communicating what we need to get to the final product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think he waited a little too long to hire some help, but now that he has a team backing him up, he doesn’t have to pull so many late nights anymore.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You won’t be disappointed with Webenology. Also, their rates are incredibly fair. Sehab has never charged us for a consultation, nor as he ever asked us to pay for anything until we’re satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an IT services firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Webenology, Inc?

We needed help with custom development for our clients, which is not a service we provide.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide custom development from the ground up for our clients. In some cases, they’ll work on a project that was abandoned by the original developer for one reason or another.

In one case, there was a custom developer who had spent years on a project and never got to the finish line. It took about a week for Webenology to give our client the functionality they wanted and needed.

What is the team composition?

We have one main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Webenology, Inc?

We found them through a referral from an employee. We gave them a small development job and we’ve been working with them ever since.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000 over the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working in June 2012, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure success with a project being on time, on budget, and resulting in a happy client. They always hit those three goals.

How did Webenology, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Stereotypical software developers don’t do a good job of communicating and meeting deadlines. We’ve never had that issue with Webenology. We’ve always been able to set expectations and be able to deliver.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, we’ve been in the business for 24 years and Webenology has been our most consistent partner. We throw them over the fence with a lot of different projects and they always deliver.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve done great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to scope out any project with them beforehand. I have no reservations about recommending them to anyone.