Intranet Project Case Study
This project had a tight budget, but the client was clear what was wanted. Many of the features were 'desirables' required by many other projects, so we were able to make considerable time savings by using an Open Source content management system.
This did require a few minor compromises on the exact display of some of the data, but allowed us to build a very powerful system with extra functionality on top of that originally required, within the two-month development time.
"Here at STC Carbon Services we deal with a lot of clients across the UK, in August 2006 we decided that a web interface for coordinating our offering would be a good way to improve communications and streamline the process at the same time. This is a key area of our business and we were keen to make sure we developed a user friendly and easily maintained site.
We prepared a rough specification of the site in Excel but from then on we were in uncharted waters. We had no idea of what was available as a standard package or even roughly what the cost of a bespoke solution would be. Because of this we realised we needed to do some extensive research and so sent the design specification to eight web developers to see what came back. The replies were varied, to say the least. One company wanted to project manage the work whilst outsourcing it to Sri Lanka; another came back with a quote three times higher than the others! One thing was clear about most of the quotes and it was that they were prepared from a standard template, with little thought given to the detail of our specific request.
Victoria Clare came back with two quotes, one for the specific design we had asked for as a bespoke package and the other proposing an off the shelf solution using modular software. Introducing this standard element meant the costs were significantly reduced and the modules still did what we were looking for. Victoria gave a detailed breakdown of the work proposed and it was clear that she had thought about the project before writing the proposal.
We went with the proposal for the modular site as it both cut down the cost of the development and delivered extra functionality.
Of the eight quotes we received, Victoria was the only developer who offered us the option of off the shelf software and as such it felt like she had our best interests at heart. During the two months of development we have maintained good contact with Victoria and she kept us well informed of progress, whether positive or negative. We agreed deadlines and had review meetings that worked well. The project was delivered on time and on budget, with some changes to the specification agreed during the work.
Because of our very positive experience in an area which we started out knowing nothing about we would like to offer our recommendation for Victoria’s service. We feel that she made a big effort to tell us all our options and always enabled us to make informed decisions, even when they meant less development work for her.
We have finished with an excellent website that will become a key part of our customer management; replacing lots of emails, faxes and phone calls etc. We have also appointed Victoria Clare to be our maintenance contractor for the site on the basis of the positive development experience.
Thank you Victoria for your professionalism and quality service in guiding us through a process we knew little about. And thank you again for such a user friendly website, which has already added value to our business!
Best regards
Mark Standeven
Director
STC Carbon Services"