Icreon

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Johnson Control is the global leader in smart building technology. I currently lead demand in North America generation across Johnson Controls security product and intrusion portfolios. Website: Competitive Audit and Messaging for Demand Gen Campaigns

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

New Solution Selling Messaging: We needed new messaging to help transition our organization from product selling to solution selling. We needed this help jump start content creation for a new demand generation division across sales and marketing.

SOLUTION

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

Internal and external referral

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

They conducted an audit of our competitor’s messaging. They conducted about 40 interviews with clients and key stakeholders. They built out buyer personas and put together key messaging recommendations.

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

We worked closely with a project lead, but they many people working on this. We had regular meetings weekly, but met with them more frequently.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The key messaging that they developed for us has been used across sales decks, landing pages, ads, presentations, and webinars. They were instrumental in helping us transform from product selling organization to a solution selling organization. We have seen increases in numbers of leads and our sales our peaking to new levels.

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

ICERON is an amazing team! We had a great experience working with them and will use them again for projects in the future.

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

I was impressed with their detailed approach to develop the right messaging. They went beyond clever punchlines, and really gave us the content we needed to help showcase the value we can bring to our clients.

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

I really don’t have any suggestions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Johnson Control is the global leader in smart building technology. As the director of marketing at Johnson Controls, I currently lead demand generation, campaign strategy, and marketing asset production for 9 of the largest security brands in the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Website redesign with enhanced capabilities and all new content. The goal: Through new content and visual design, enhance the digital experience for the Johnson Controls security portfolio with a website that is performant and provides a space where people in our market can learn, share, and discover the many different types of security solutions available and how they are used across different scenarios.

SOLUTION

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

When we started researching agencies some of our colleagues at other companies highly recommended Icreon. We did a long, thorough audit and compared them to all the top agencies. After many committee meetings we selected Icreon. They beat the competition on many factors, but what struck me was their detailed, data driven process to deliver the best digital experience for our customers and partners.

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

Here’s a high-level overview:

• Competitive analysis, Stakeholder interviews, Content Audit, SEO, Keyword audits.
• Design concepts and user story definitions.
• Frontend and backend development.
• Website Launch We built our website on the Sitecore Experience Accelerator (SXA).

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

There were many people on their team that we worked closely with, but they had dedicated project manager and a key client engagement expert leading the project. We met with their lead content editor and development team. They are an amazing team to work with and just a talented group all around.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website has been a success. We have seen an increase in traffic from SEO. It really helped transform our messaging and digital experience in a way that has increased webform completes and helped us grow our sales pipeline.

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

The dynamic between our two teams felt seamless. They were very easy to work with. We had bi-weekly stand ups and had the ability to talk with them anytime.

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

We work with biggest agencies in the world, but Icreon proved that the biggest isn’t always the best. I was extremely impressed with how they were able to speed up digital transformation across our large company. They used data with their deep understanding of our digital platforms to show us how to modernize our processes. They are now a preferred vendor at Johnson Controls, which is not easy to become.

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

I just wish we had started working with them sooner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of e-commerce at a yoga mat brand that creates one of the most eco-friendly yoga mats in the world. We work daily to create beautiful, sustainable, and functional yoga mats and accessories using organic materials. One of our biggest value propositions is that we give back to the environment every time we sell our products; we’re also planting trees for each sale we do. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Icreon?

We were growing through a significant growth period and figuring out how we could accelerate our e-commerce growth and sales. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, we had a discovery period and a digital strategy planning phase as Icreon conducted market research. Specifically, the team did a competitive analysis for us and showed us what we were going up against in terms of our competitors. Our teams collaborated to build customer profiles. From there, we started evaluating our existing UX design and e-commerce experience design. 

Once we finished that first phase, Icreon worked with us to determine the right technology that could help us increase our sales goals. They helped us further understand the best platforms that we could use. The team ended up rebuilding our digital ecosystem on Sitecore, which they also integrated with our inventory management and supply chain platform. Finally, we launched the e-commerce platform after four and a half months. 

So far, we’ve continued to use Icreon’s services in the last 6–7 months. We’ve also been adding new features and capabilities to the e-commerce website on an ongoing basis. 

What is the team composition?

Around 10–15 team members have worked on the project with us, but we’ve only consistently communicated with two direct points of contact. The team members include e-commerce strategists, consultants, and UI/UX designers. Their engineering team focused on e-commerce features. We’ve also interfaced with some of their marketing performance specialists. 

How did you come to work with Icreon?

We reached out to a number of companies known for their e-commerce capabilities, and then we went through a private bidding process. Eventually, our team put out an RFP. We looked at two major things: the company should be able to help us go to market quickly, and they should know how to build high-transaction-oriented websites. 

This process took about a month, and we interviewed about five companies. After reviewing the process and proposals, we ended up going with Icreon. 

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we’ve invested about $750,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We always track our engagement rate and average order values. So far, our engagement rates have increased by about 400%, meaning more people are spending a lot more time browsing our product. They also understand better our eco-friendly advantage, and they’re engaging more with our wellness content — this has truly boosted our customer engagement rate. 

Meanwhile, our average order value has increased by about 50% after redesigning the platform. We’ve been doubling down a lot more internally on our marketing dollars, and we’ve been seeing much greater returns on our ROAS. The team has also provided us with more cross-sell and upsell opportunities, and their design resources are great at finding opportunities for our customers to increase their basket size. 

How did Icreon perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of scheduling, they deliver fast. They’ve launched the product on an aggressive timeline, and then they continuously reiterate. The team also bested our internal expectations. In terms of budget, Icreon’s services are reasonable in terms of costs. 

For tools, everything is integrated into Jira. We also use Confluence and BitBucket to manage our e-commerce requirements. Our sprints are done on Jira, while our code is managed through Bitbucket. Beyond these tools, we also use Productboard to manage our backlog. Icreon also uses their proprietary Icreon 360 tool to help our leadership have more executive oversight into how the project is going. This tool has been effective in showcasing the product with other managers that aren’t exactly a part of the project. 

To communicate, we use a lot of emails. We also primarily use Office 365, so we also talk via Teams for the most part. We also use the platform for meetings and sharing documents. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Icreon rolls well with the rapid pivots and changes in directions that our space has. Some parts of the process are non-negotiable, but they’ve been fluid on the whole. I appreciate that. Overall, their team has effectively integrated their best practices into how our business works. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. I’m pleased with them, and any improvements are more marginal than anything else. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s best to share as much as you can about your end goals and ambitions in terms of digital experience and your e-commerce needs. This will help Icreon understand your needs and think creatively about solving your problems. Overall, give them all the context that you can — that’s when they can work best and be incredibly effective. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of KTP Advisors. We’re a specialized advisory firm in the group retiree health care space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Icreon?

We wanted them to work with us to conceptualize and build a digital marketplace for purchasing health insurance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went through two phases— the first was conceptualizing. What the product would look like, how it would function, and all the different stakeholders involved. All the stakeholders were involved. This included the business processes, all the different requirement, workflow, tech integration, and managing all the different stakeholders.

Then, once we had those ducks in a row, we’re moving into the development phase.

What is the team composition?

From their team we’ve consistently worked with five people, from someone who owns the project management piece of it and scheduling, and obviously we haven’t worked on the engineering side yet, but we’ve been able to pull them in as we needed their feedback.

How did you come to work with Icreon?

We found them through word of mouth recommendations. In addition to looking for a partner with the technical expertise we required, I was looking for an advisor.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We officially engaged with them in January 2018 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been able to pull all the processes and requirements of various stakeholders together in a seamless and organized fashion. They grasp all the complexities of our industry and were able to translate them into technological requirements.

How did Icreon perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re lifesavers. They went above and beyond. They’re everything I could want in a great partner. They’re not just a tech vendor; they’re an advisor and strategist. For me, it has felt like they were part of our team.

They’ve been accountable and trustworthy. They check in frequently and are with us every step of the way. They schedule every meeting and have facilitated different partners coming in. This was a complicated project because we had to integrate various technologies from other insurance company. Icreon helped manage, coordinate, and follow up meetings with these other providers. They were involved every step of the way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re not just a technology company—they go far beyond what is expected of them. They had to understand the ins and outs of our industries, and they picked it up quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they need to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Their team is very smart. They can take on challenging work, so don’t be afraid to bring them your biggest challenges. You can definitely use them for things outside technology; they’re excellent advisors.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the applications manager for an international manufacturing company and full-service provider for quick-service restaurant kitchens. We’re working with several well-known fast-food restaurants. We have a manufacturing presence in four countries, and we have offices in every continent. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Icreon?

The initial challenge was to develop an e-commerce platform for our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Icreon developed our e-commerce platform in its entirety. We have websites for all our major markets, and we have iOS and Android apps on top of those. Icreon has been involved in the design and specification of all our improvements. 

They’re fully responsible for the implementation and management of the entire system. We’ve constantly refreshed and evolved the product over the years, and Icreon has helped us do that.

They’ve also built an integration for our ERP. Over time, we’ve merged our IBM AS/400 instances in Europe and the US, and Icreon has been heavily involved in reconfiguring our e-commerce platform for those transitions of our ERP.

They maintain our Microsoft SQL database, and the coding is in .NET.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked closely with four people in Icreon. We have an account manager in England, and we have a project manager and two full-time development resources in India. I’ve occasionally dealt with other resources.

How did you come to work with Icreon?

It was before my time, so I'm not sure. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I joined the company in May 2017, and I’ve been working with Icreon on a daily basis since then. They’d already set up our e-commerce platform app when I joined and have refreshed them since then.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the main reasons for continuing to work with them is history. Icreon has been involved in developing every part of our platform. Secondly, they have good subject-matter knowledge and a good vision and good ideas when it comes to moving from support to development projects and vice versa.

We can gauge the success of their work through our online sales, which have continued to grow and are now an important source of revenue for us. We’re getting good feedback from customers, particularly in relation to our app.

How did Icreon perform from a project management standpoint?

Our maintenance resources run small development projects under that maintenance arrangement, and the process is managed by myself or my colleague. Icreon’s people are just part of our team. They always come in on budget and ahead of schedule.

Our two resources have been working from home since the COVID-19 situation, and they’re working totally European hours, which is midday to 10 p.m. their time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

If we contact them about an issue at 3 am in India, they’ll get on it straight away. They’re willing to work on weekends to push new deployments. Icreon stands out in terms of flexibility, reactivity, dedication, and enthusiasm.

We’ve had a very close relationship with Icreon. We have a pretty good setup.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing stands out to me.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I'd advise clients to make sure they’ve done all their homework. On the maintenance side of things, they need to spend time with the team and treat them like actual team members.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Working Voices. I was brought in to sort out their software development function. Most of the software that’s created by the company is e-learning software for the financial industry, like big banks, insurance companies, and corporate enterprises. We deliver communication and soft skills training to everybody, from lower management to senior executives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Icreon?

The company had issues with a previous supplier that had limited resources. I came in and did a review and realized we needed to work with a new company that was cost-effective and would benefit the end-user. We were looking for a supplier that could take over somebody else’s code, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped improve our existing web platform, which is primarily PHP. They also helped with our native iOS and Android apps. We’re working on a fairly large project at the moment.

What is the team composition?

We have an ongoing agreement with them. We decide at the beginning of the year how much work we have to do, and they bring in the appropriate people. We have several people that we always interface with. When we’re more concentrated on iOS, the iOS team gets involved. Similarly, we have an Android person who coordinates all that work to make sure that things look the same on both mobile platforms. We also have front- and backend teams working with our own internal designer. There can be 5–10 resources at any given time, depending on the need.

How did you come to work with Icreon?

We went through an extensive process of interviewing a number of potential companies that could help us. Icreon accepted the challenge on the basis that they would own the software — as well as its existing issues — on the development side. It was important to have someone that was partnering with us as opposed to providing ad hoc services. Icreon could work at the pace at which we wanted to do things, and they offered flexibility with requirements at varying points of the year, rather than requiring a huge plan.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent £250,000 (approximately $333,800 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2016, and it’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done everything that we’ve needed them to do. We’ve done a lot of work over the last few years transforming what we had.

Being from a software development background, I’m able to have detailed conversations with them about the way in which they approach things. Sometimes we agree, and sometimes we disagree. Regardless of how we end up doing something, they’re willing to take a slightly different approach if needed. They often come up with different ideas as well. We give them free rein to come back with suggestions, and, on a number of occasions, they’ve exceeded our expectations by proposing a critical design or approach that has saved us money and time.

How did Icreon perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly conversations, and we talk on a biweekly basis if we’ve got something major on the go. Our dedicated project manager sustains the in-between time, so we don’t have to have a high level of monitoring going on. We’ve developed such a good working relationship that if there is a problem, they’ll tell me about it before it actually is an issue. They don’t hide anything from me. They’re honest, and I trust what they’re doing. They’re responsive and give me good feedback. They get things done on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have the ability to just get on and do something once we’ve agreed on what we’re doing. As with any piece of software, there are challenges. Sometimes, we have to rethink or reschedule things we’re doing. They help us decide the best way in which to deliver something that will ultimately help our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When there are issues, we talk about them right away. Nothing gets carried over. Sometimes, we have to go into great detail for them to really understand what’s going on, particularly when we’re talking about legacy code. However, we generally don’t have any issues. If we do, they get resolved. There’s nothing I have a particular complaint about.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When it comes to asking another company to design your software, you’ve got to be very clear about what it is you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT manager of a textile manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Icreon?

Icreon was initially hired to develop and launch a new website. Since handling that, they now support our site and internet system; those are two applications that are tightly coupled together.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our intranet is a homegrown system developed by an internal team member. Since then, that person has left. Icreon stepped in and did a complete audit of that intranet. Per that evaluation, they made some modification changes and continue to support it to this day. They support us in every way from new features and functionalities to taking care of any problems we encounter.

Icreon isn’t only our support mechanism, they’re also our development team for the website and intranet system. They handle all the front- and backend development tools. There’s a strong emphasis on digital transformation, inventory platforms, and e-commerce. We have a lot of content on the site we need to manage. Our product management system is Drupal-based.

We’re currently working on a big project with Icreon to enhance the e-commerce platform. It’s going to be a complete rewrite of the existing site and auditing of the intranet.

What is the team composition?

I work with Prasant (COO); he’s my main contact. There are also a couple of project managers in their New York office. The development team is in India, and I deal with them on a daily basis for the most part. There was also a salesperson who was instrumental in assisting us with creating the statement of work for the new project.

How did you come to work with Icreon?

When I joined my company, Icreon was already a vendor. I’ve been instrumental in enhancing that relationship over the past five years.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $600,000–$700,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started around January 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Icreon has been instrumental in our digital transformation; their team has assisted us to move away from paper-based paraphernalia and onto an online digital experience. They really excel in this area. Their development skills coupled with their creativeness on the design side has been instrumental as well. We didn’t have to hire a separate design company because we were able to rely on their design expertise.

There are two categories: vendors and trusted technology partners. The latter are people I trust implicitly. There are maybe two or three companies I consider a trusted technology partner, and Icreon is one of them. I give them the highest praise because they always go above and beyond what I ask them to do.

How did Icreon perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management has been great, I give them 100%. I can’t ask for much more than what I ask of the development team and project manager I deal with. My team speaks to them every single day, numerous times a day.

There have been many times when we’ve been in a crunch situation, and they’ve always performed for us. They’ve never said no and have always come through in the timeframes we needed. Their team is organized and committed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with their attention to detail and proactivity. They never fail to bring something to my attention when they foresee that what I’m asking will cause an issue. They have our back, and we have comfort in knowing that they patrol issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have no complaints. The quality of work is there and so is their commitment to get the job done right away. We have a good relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend 15 minutes with them on the phone and they’ll tell you how committed they are and how they’ll work with you. Their quality is top-notch; I wouldn’t hesitate to work with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the database manager of a law firm. We’re in a niche industry that deals with securities litigation on the plaintiff side. My primary responsibility is to oversee and be a gatekeeper for the massive amount of historical trading data done by our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Icreon?

We have proprietary software that was designed in the early 2000s when our data group started. The software is significantly outdated in terms of speed, efficiency, and flexibility. Not to mention, it was designed for 15 clients and we’re well over 250 clients now.

As year after year went on and we received more data, the software was getting slower and slower. I put what I call duct tape on the proprietary software, but it was just a matter of timing. It came to the point where we weren’t working with the right tools so we engaged with Icreon.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Icreon came in with an open mind, and we started with digital discovery. They came into our office, and I taught them about our entire business. The discovery phase lasted about three months.

Their team corresponded with our business analyst to understand what we do and how it impacts our clients and numbers. They got a great feel for our vision of the new platform and translated that into user stories.

We’re leveraging Microsoft’s cloud service because our tech stack is based on Microsoft. We’re in the midst of the solution’s development right now. The platform is being built through Microsoft Azure and Java for the frontend.

What is the team composition?

I work with all the designers, CPO, and a project manager on their Fifth Avenue team. I’ve also talked to their teams all over the world, whether it was the UK or India; they’re a global company.

How did you come to work with Icreon?

We sent out an RFP and asked firms to give us a proposal based on what we needed. Ultimately, we selected Icreon because of their sincerity. Like many firms, our firm has found embracing technology to be a challenge. Icreon gave a sense of comfort to our executive management. They did multiple presentations and phone calls. It was clear we’d have a partnership for the future and not just a client-to-contractor relationship.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over seven figures.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in October 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The solution will be something we can access outside of the office and that’s something we were never able to do before. We’re excited for it to go live; we’re in the final stages. Because of Icreon, we’re ahead of our sprints, and that’s vital for an industry where all the attorneys want information yesterday.

We’re very happy about our partnership with them. We’re in the user acceptance testing stage right now, and we’ve already hit the first milestone. Anything that needs reshuffling, Icreon is more than happy to reshuffle their sprints to accommodate us. That mindset is better than any metric of having a shoddy product made just to meet a deadline. They go above and beyond.

How did Icreon perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager is great. He’s been here since the very beginning. He’s my point person, and we communicate on a daily basis. He pulls in the members that I need to talk to and coordinates everything I need. It’s all been very accommodating and an overall great job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been most impressed with their ability to not back away from technological challenges. What we do is very complex, and they’ve been able to learn our business, have different channels, and keep everything organized at the same time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any areas. When I need something, I always get a response within five minutes. Everything that we needed has been hit. If not, it was delivered earlier and in the same quality that we’d expect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Put in the time. If you’re juggling too many things, it’ll slow down the process. They’ll be committed to your project, so you must match that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for a mid-market tool manufacturer. We sell our products through big-box retailers and industrial accounts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Icreon?

We were looking for innovative ways to launch a new product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve had multiple projects with Icreon to launch multiple new products. The core of each involved creating digital marketing campaigns, landing pages, and e-commerce connectivity. The strategy was to promote the product that it would land on Amazon or encourage customers to buy from us directly. 

One product used a mobile app for connectivity. Icreon worked with us to take the original app design and significantly improve it.

What is the team composition?

We had a core team of 4–5 that we interfaced with, but we also took advantage of their international teams. That gave us a lot more resources to work with.

How did you come to work with Icreon?

We came across them when we were developing the original app for our product. We passed on their team at first because we thought they were too sophisticated for us. However, as soon as we realized that our first-choice vendor wasn’t working out, we went back to Icreon and immediately started working together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017, and the last campaign we did ended in December 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because of our private equity owners, we judged Icreon’s performance based on the sales we saw. On that metric, we proved successfully that the work they were doing outperformed our expectations. Our internal team worked closely with theirs and received their work well. 

How did Icreon perform from a project management standpoint?

Having access to a lot of resources gave us incredible nimbleness. I could call their team in the morning with a request, and they’d fully implement it by the next morning. As we’d get results back, we could adapt and change. We communicated through email, the phone, and texting at all hours of the day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

From my experience working with similar companies, I’d say two things stood out about Icreon. First, they had an incredible strategic approach to problems. Second, they effectively used analytics to dial the performance of our campaigns.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing they weren’t timely about was sending invoices so we could pay them!

Any advice for potential customers?

Their experience is so great. The best advice I can give is to trust the direction that Icreon recommends—it will lead to top-notch results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The company I work for hosts one of the world's leading obstacle course events. We put up around 75 events worldwide in Europe, Canada, North America, China, Australia, Dubai, and so on. 

What is your position?

I am the vice president of technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Icreon?

Being a relatively young entrepreneurial organization, we needed to build up our technology infrastructure, which is why I was brought on board. Our internal team was running at maximum capacity, with more work than they could handle. After getting the lay of the land and understanding what our strategic initiatives should be, as well as our tactical day-to-day business operations plan, it became obvious to me that we needed to get some outside help, especially around our website and e-commerce engine.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Having known Icreon in the past, I reached out to their team and asked them to analyze our website's efficiency. Icreon helped me understand where we were with respect to architecture and scalability helping me develop a strategic plan.

The results of Icreon's initial survey findings lead to a relatively good plan. I asked them to work with our internal development team, taking on some of the project overflows. This quickly progressed to Icreon taking over the project work as well as offering staff assistance. Icreon helped me plan a strategic plan for our 2017 platform.

We've used three to five resources from Icreon at any given time. I have an on-site point of contact, and I don't deal with the team on a daily basis. We're able to track our projects using JIRA. There was never any unexpected turnover within their team. We actually brought in a lead developer from Icreon as a full-time resource. We felt that we needed him here more than one day a week.

How did you come to work with Icreon?

In this business, it's not what you know, but who you know. I came across Icreon through a friend from a previous position. He gave Icreon a very good reference, so I decided that I could also trust them. I liked the output that Icreon was giving for that other company.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The cost of Icreon's services has been in the six-figure range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Icreon in May 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Icreon has a very good ability to take on challenging work, not just run-of-the-mill design. We have a very complex structure – not for the faint of heart – including multilingual support and e-commerce tracking tools. The people assigned by Icreon for our work have been strong in being able to understand the platform. There are many different people, including data scientists, asking for information. The web development team's ability to understand that information and make it a reality made for a very close working relationship. If we simply handed the work to the developers and let them work alone, we'd be left with a broken solution.

How did Icreon perform from a project management standpoint?

The other element which Icreon brought to the table was an understanding of the business context. When I got here, the first thing I did was to setup sprints. It's not that another organization wouldn't have been able to handle an agile development process, but Icreon quickly took over JIRA, and understood the tool set. JIRA is our main development tool, but we also use Smartsheets for project management, as well as Slack and Basecamp, the latter being used mainly by our marketing team. JIRA is used for delivery planning, and Smartsheets is the means by which the delivery schedule is communicated to people like me.

What distinguishes Icreon from other providers?

Icreon has a very strong ability to work with other vendors. One of our major projects within the last six months [since February 2016] was a Salesforce integration. We used other third-party vendors for this, given that it wasn't a core focus for Icreon. They stepped up and worked directly with that vendor, making sure that they had exactly what they needed. There was never a turf or change-of-scope issue.

Icreon gave me peace of mind in knowing that I won't be hit with unexpected invoices. They understood the scope and took on my pain points. Other organizations, especially developers, won't want to take responsibility beyond what they're delivering to the client.

Is there anything Icreon could have improved or done differently?

As a business owner, I always want volume discounts, but this would require overall planning sessions with Icreon, creating the budget for a year. I don't know if this would be an improvement specifically, but I'd like to see this within any partner organization.