Weil & Jones

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Real Tactical Solutions LLC - which is a technology consulting firm and my role is senior partner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Weil & Jones?

They provided an end turn key web and mobile application development. They complete the assessment, design, development, testing and implementation of a new application for our company.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal for this project was to implement and solution within budget and timeline so we could launch by the end of Q2.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have used Weil and Jones in past on other very successful projects.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project was a six month waterfall delivery web and mobile application development effort. They provided very easy and efficient software delivery methodology that allow our team to integrate well and provide the support they require to be successful.

What was the team composition?

The teams included about 14 resources with technical and product members.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

This project success has provide us with about 8 new clients who really like the product that was created.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their project manager did an excellent job keeping everyone on track and producing high-quality deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their delivery model and how efficient their processes are.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would recommendd they do not change a thing because what they are doing is working.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an author, and the Live Events Streaming Coordinator & Sr. Digital Marketing Executive at MADDCity.Live. And if you were to inquire about what exactly is MADDCity, an abbreviated description would be that MADDCity.Live is concert performances, major sporting events, and stage plays live over the Internet! We work in tandem with venues, promoters, booking agents, and musical artists, managers and recording labels as well as theatrical stage plays to bring their live performances to fans around the world via a pay-per-view platform over the Internet. In effect, we instantly broaden the seating capacity and single event performance royalties of performers by millions simply by offering their live performance over the Internet. It’s what fans want and what the artists need.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Weil & Jones?

Weil & Jones we’re hired to develop an innovative, appealing, and intuitive landing pages for MADDCity.Live.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal for this project was very specific. We desired an initial Internet impression that easily and effectively communicated in the most excited fashion what MADDCity was, what we were offering, and how to reach out to us for your next live event. We realized that people generally don’t have a lot of time or the desire to read long, elaborate descriptions about your company or its products and services. So we required a cost-sensitive solution that was effectively concise and informative yet sensory stimulating.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Many years ago, I worked with Weil and Jones on what was clearly a much more complex, costly, and dynamic Internet application. This was at a time when app development was much more costly, time consuming, and increasingly challenging to achieve.

The Internet architecture and the limitations in the digital infrastructure of those lines facilitating the Internet back then made the more dynamic and robust apps incredibly difficult to accomplish at times. But working together with the team of Weil & Jones helped to transform an expensive and stressful development experience into one that was remarkable and memorable. Their thinking was as dynamic and 3-dimensional as the app that we were working tirelessly to develop. It was this work ethic and unyielding Drive towards a creative and complete solution that I never forgot about.

So when the concept of MADDCity.Live was given life, I instantly reflected back to the Weil & Jones experience. And while there were other companies that were considered, Weil & Jones simply made sense. Why continue looking when the obvious complement to what we were looking to accomplish was right there in our faces. Weil & Jones simply were the right people for the job.

Describe the project in detail.

As previously mentioned, the project involved developing landing pages for MADDCity.Live.

What was the team composition?

I worked personally with Weil & Jones to coordinate content development and the flow of the information. We also collaborated on imagery. The design was ultimately Weil & Jones.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The outcome reflected how fluid and focused Weil & Jones continue to be. The result was an efficient and effective introduction to the MADDCity.Live experience. It’s clean and consistent with the representation that we were looking to achieve.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Weil & Jones were always accessible. Whether it was through a telephone call, a Slack thread, or text messaging, they made certain to make themselves available, which made the workflow practically seamless between our two organizations. Questions were almost immediately answered, and concerns were quickly addressed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The element that I found most impressive about Weil & Jones was their unrelenting optimism and openness to dialogue. These are two characteristics that you don’t often find in web or app development companies once you step beyond the sales and marketing persons. But Weil & Jones maintained.a degree of professionalism, positivity, and openness to dialogue that is always refreshing.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As a client, we will always want deliverables faster and for less. We wouldn’t be normal if we desired otherwise. But Weil & Jones were proficient in getting the job done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an American association that fundraises on behalf of a large international relief agency. As the director of digital marketing, I am responsible for all of our online fundraising efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Weil & Jones?

We needed to migrate from an all-in-one fundraising solution into a custom technology stack that is flexible and scalable. Weil & Jones handled the implementation and integrations between the Umbraco CMS and Salesforce. They also assisted in the research and assessment of various options ahead of the decision to move in this direction.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We've worked on several major projects together over an extended period. Most recently, Weil & Jones developed our association's new website and donation platform on Umbraco as well as their integration with Salesforce. A project of this scale presents several challenges, which Weil & Jones helped us troubleshoot and overcome.

They integrated Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for performance tracking and helped with all the transaction tags on our new systems. They implemented the payment system, which includes ApplePay integration. They also handle maintenance for our system.

What is the team composition? 

We worked with Anthony and David (Managing Partner, Weil & Jones). They provided all of our web development and integration services from Umbraco to Salesforce. 

How did you come to work with Weil & Jones?

Our company has been working with Weil & Jones since before I started my role here. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Weil & Jones on this integration in early 2017 on the planning side. The project is complete at this point, but we're constantly enhancing the stack that they helped us build. We're hoping to add other payment methods and are building out a figurative gift catalog with their assistance. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Weil & Jones helped us implement the project successfully. We are enjoying a significant increase in conversion rate as a result of our new donation forms and much more flexibility in terms of new initiatives and campaigns we want to implement.

How did Weil & Jones perform from a project management standpoint?

Weil & Jones’ project management was satisfactory. They communicate frequently and are able to be agile with time frames in response to technical challenges and shifting priorities. We used Slack and Jira to work with their team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Weil & Jones has a rare collection of different skills. With their team as a partner, I don't have to go to multiple vendors to find the web development work we need to complete. Whenever we encounter unique technical challenges, they are quick to learn and get the job done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have any areas of improvement for them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a reliable partner and a creative problem-solver that gets things done, I recommend choosing Weil and Jones.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the former e-commerce manager for EO products, which sells bath, body, skin, and hair care products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Weil & Jones?

We needed help building a new e-commerce website, since ours was on an outdated platform. We wanted a more modern and robust UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Weil & Jones redesigned and developed our e-commerce website on a Magento platform, integrating NetSuite and other custom features as requested.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people who provided consulting, senior leadership, and development services.

How did you come to work with Weil & Jones?

The company was already working with them on smaller projects when I joined the team, but I increased their capacity since they already had a strong understanding of our company and our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $40,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May until December 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Weil & Jones significantly improved our e-commerce site, leading to increased traffic and conversion rates.

How did Weil & Jones perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great—they always delivered on time and at or under budget. They were also very honest and open, providing feedback whenever we made certain requests to ensure that the site was built properly and efficiently first and foremost.

We mostly communicated through Jira, but I could also call at any time, even over the weekends if necessary.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated their openness in communication, knowledge, and willingness to take on challenges. Everything I threw their way, they had an answer for and were ready to tackle.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open in communications with them. They're always willing to help clients accomplish specific goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a senior manager at McKinsey and Company, a consulting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Weil & Jones?

We've worked with Weil & Jones for about 15 years. They've helped us with many different types of projects as an onboarded vendor over that period of time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As a full-service agency, Weil & Jones is thoroughly versed in development and server architecture. They also staff resources to supplement and outfit our in-house teams. As an advisor, they consult on our internal practices. For end-to-end builds, they manage from conceptualization, discovery, and wireframes to design, development, and full execution. 

Weil & Jones has built several web applications for our firm. Frontend technologies they've used include JavaScript and React. Some implementations involve IoT. They've built sites on Umbraco, Drupal, and Sitecore. Our first projects together were database and server-side heavy and involved Silverlight, Flash, and ColdFusion. They championed a massive migration from our static servers to AWS across a couple hundred sites. They manage internal and external requests from specific hubs for accounts and hosting. 

Each SEO strategy they plan considers the type of product and how publicly facing it will be. For internal projects, they calibrate sites to be easily searchable and use Meta tags. They've set up several of our clients with Salesforce CRM tools like Pardot. Application processes range from building microsites to complex, in-depth AI tools. The team’s spectrum of agency-style services ranges from analytics to customer retention and product setup paired with a full report and assessment. Weil & Jones caters to each of our clients based on their individual needs. 

What is the team composition? 

Weil & Jones usually provides resources for design, development, and video animation. I worked with Anthony (Managing Partner, Weil & Jones) the most closely. We often work with them a la carte and embed specific frontend, backend, and full-stack developers into our projects. For other endeavors, they provide a fully staffed team to work directly with our client for full executions. In these cases, they'll assign programmers, system architects, and server engineers. 

How did you come to work with Weil & Jones?

Weil & Jones was recommended to my former lead and replaced an unsuccessful vendor. After they did a great job on their first assignment, we continued our partnership. At the time, they staff specific developers to work directly with our internal departments, like our solutions team. We usually choose them over other vendors because they're reliable. Weil & Jones has a proven record within our firm as a stable and efficient partner. 

How much have you invested with them?

Projects range from microsites that cost $5,000–$20,000 to larger applications in excess of $100,000. Weil & Jones has managed budgets up to $300,000. They provide services as an agency, rather than on a one-off project basis. Their income streams are monthly retainers based on applications or servers they manage. We also pay for a la carte services when we need to pull in a specific developer. Per year, they could make between $300,000 and $1,000,000 depending on the workflow. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2003. Weil & Jones is still on retainer to maintain projects for several of our in-house teams. Along with client-facing solutions, they’re producing internal and internet tools. Most notably, they support 13-14 products for our new ventures team, which is the old McKinsey solution. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Weil & Jones is extremely resourceful. We have a continuous relationship that I don't see ending anytime soon. We've referred them to multiple external clients of ours and other people I've worked with in the past. All of these contacts have had an excellent experience. 

Many projects they work on are very high visibility and get a lot of hits. If a product is intended for one CEO, the impact is the same for us as an app with 100,000 anonymous users. We rarely experience issues like a backlog or ticket reports, which is how we measure success. Most of the items and applications they've built add considerable value and are long-lasting. Some of their applications have been up and running for 15 years. We most value their deliverables’ stability. Each one has virtually a 100% run time. 

How did Weil & Jones perform from a project management standpoint?

Weil & Jones is exceptionally skilled at project management. They’ve never missed a deadline and are transparent about their abilities and limitations. If there's a risk involved from moving too quickly or having inadequately defined expectations, they’re not afraid to push back. 

If I need a proposal, they send it within 24 hours to meet our demanding deadlines. We use Jira for ticketing and processing, Slack for internal communication, and Asana for collaboration with individual team members. At times, we've also used RealtimeBoard. The team is highly responsive and fastidious about following up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I can't emphasize Weil & Jones' reliability enough. We work with many other contractors but have been with them the longest because we can always depend on them. They're realistic and communicative, which makes me feel comfortable trusting them with my toughest clients. 

Weil & Jones take the time to embed themselves into a project so they can understand the material. Anthony has worked in consulting and has the right perspective on how to relay material. One of the most significant benefits of working with them is that they understand the content, culture, and language in our industry space. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, we use other vendors based on scope or technology. Many of our internal projects involve Drupal, which isn't Weil & Jones' main focus. They're more proficient at server-side for native application development. Most of their proprietary tools are Microsoft-based. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Weil & Jones excels at problem-solving. I've learned to be incredibly transparent with all the requirements and include them as a thought partner. They’re equipped to offer useful insight and recommendations. We usually gather all our information, get the process started, and then come to them and request the build. Although they can backtrack and pull out relevant questions, I've had the best experiences when I’ve included them in the initial process.