Vardot

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Communication, Media & PR Manager of ISG

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a district of five international schools offering the American and British curriculum.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Vardot to accomplish?

• Create a new website for ISG
• Consolidate all 6 previous websites in one website
• Develop an online application for teachers and staff applying to ISG

SOLUTION

How did you find Vardot?

Online Search

Why did you select Vardot over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Vardot were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Vardot developed our new district website that now houses all our five schools in one website. We used to have six websites to manage, and now we only have one. The website also has the functionality to accept work application online. They developed a crisp and clean look for us to match our brand.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Milestones in the project were met on time. The Vardot team was patient in understanding the requirements and was committed to making sure we were 100% happy with the deliverables.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They delivered milestones on time. They were committed to making sure we were happy with the deliverables. They were patient when listening to understand the requirements at each step. They were flexible to make changes when needed.

What was your primary form of communication with Vardot?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their commitment to the success of our project, their support on launch day, they were very polite and respectful. They were knowledgeable and could find good solutions to challenges.

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

Sometimes, we felt their experience with developing a smooth final UX could have been better. The final part of the project was developing the online work applicant application for teachers and staff to apply to our school. We asked that it would be developed exactly like the one we had previously. 

This took a lot of time to cover all the details of the application. It was also left to be the final part of the project when maybe it should have been addressed earlier in the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, which is a complex, global organization with 17,000 employees around the world. I advise on digital tracking and analytics for web/app projects across the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Vardot to migrate and re-work a custom tool we are using to generate UTM codes, into the Drupal framework (for tracking the impact of communication initiatives. The tool needed to be updated to cater for a growing number and type of users.

SOLUTION

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

The vendor won an open, competitive bid (technical, financial) with UNHCR to move our global website and the UTM tool to the Drupal framework.

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

We started our project with a kick-off meeting where the developers working on the project were introduced. We showcased the existing UTM tool, and the business needs the tool addresses. Vardot quickly grasped the buisness needs and helped us translate these into possible Drupal based solutions.

At each iteration of the development work, we had the chance to do extensive testing on a staging site, and make comments and changes. Before launch of the new tool, we agreed on a launch timeframe, and post launch support model.

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

We worked with a team of 4-5 drupal developers, including the project lead. The project lead would oversee the progression of the project, make sure the solutions being developed addressed the business needs/requirements, and facilitated contact with the relevant developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With the new tool launched we have been able to integrate several new key audiences onto our tool, including email marketers, and the Goodwill Ambassador team. The new tool has significantly reduced the time I spend on admin tasks, as it includes automated features for user registration and password reset.

Furthermore Vardot created the new tool inline with our corporate branding which creates a more coherent experience for our users.

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

We worked using Basecamp where developers, projects leads and UNHCR could communicate freely throughout the project. Vardot was highly responsive, both over email/basecamp, and to schedule calls when necessary. This was a key aspect that ensured the a timely completion of the project, and much appreciated.

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

Vardot had a highly professional approach to asking about our business needs in detail, and then translating those into viable solutions using Drupal. This not only enabled us to create a solution that catered to our stated requirements, but also helped us spot opportunities we had not though of ourselves.

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

I'm highly satisfied with Vardot, during the project work, the final product, and post-launch support and follow up.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director for learning innovation for American Community School, an international school.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

We needed someone to revamp our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vardot redesigned our site. We had a framework that we built with the intent of customizing our page around the content. It’s a Drupal site that they customize to suit our needs. They’ve done frontend development and templating of 50 pages and also the backend development.

In addition to that, they also do AWS hosting for us, using Cloudflare for our CDN. Their team is also helping with maintenance in the hosting and the site.

What is the team composition?

We work with around 6–8 people, including a project manager, several designers, and someone for wireframing.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

They responded to an RFP that we put out. We had several vendors that we had shortlisted, but we chose Vardot based on the American School of Dubai (ASB) recommendations. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $20,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There’s been a substantial change in the interface — we feel that this project is prosperous. From an educational perspective, they work well with us to ensure that we have a product that communicates our targets and ensures they are successful.

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

They keep all the timelines, and in terms of communication, we use Basecamp and email.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their managers have developed a good relationship — they’re reliable, meet deadlines, and communicate clearly. They hold expectations with their staff and us to help set reasonable deadlines for our internal needs to ensure that the project is successful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d encourage you to engage with them, have an initial conversation, and see if they’re the correct fit. They’re very approachable as an organization, and engaging with their services was very easy.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

EuroMed Feminist Initiative EFI is a policy network that provides expertise in the field of gender equality, democracy building and citizenship, and advocates for political solutions to all conflicts, and peoples´ rights to self-determination. EuroMed Feminist Initiative encompasses women’s rights organizations from the two shores of the Mediterranean and seeks to correct the gender power imbalances through ending discrimination of women and bringing about positive change for the whole society. Salam Nawafleh is a research administrator in the Regional Office in Amman-Jordan.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The Regional Civil Society Observatory (RCSO) is an independent civil society mechanism that follows up on measures and actions to combat VAWG in the South Mediterranean, in particular the implementation of the Ministerial Declaration of the 4th UfM Ministerial Conference on women's rights (November 27th 2017, Cairo) in the area of combatting all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG), Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPSA) and Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). we ask Vardot to develop a website that can our studies and publications be reachable to people who are interesting in VAWG and changing the discriminatory laws in their countries .

SOLUTION

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

We interviewed several companies but we were more comfortable working with Vardot. they are very supportive-creative and work with passion.

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

We had a kick-off meeting with the team to discuss our goals and objective. we used Basecamp as a follow-up and connection platform between us. the content was sent by us to the team. we got our website Live.

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

A project manager and a technical team of around 5 people.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our project is targeting 7 countries in the southern Mediterranean region. So, the RCSO website is live and reachable for people in these countries and more. our members in the countries felt really excited and happy to share the website link on their national website and social media channels.

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

We had several meetings with the team before and after each stage of work. it works smoothly and in a very professional way.

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

They were very supportive and ready for anything that we asked them to do. they gave us great ideas to improve and develop our website.

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

We had one small comment and we have mentioned it- they were very fast to solve it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of a Digital consulting agency. The agency offers, project management for websites and apps development. We are specialised in Arabic websites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

A client has approached 5G digital to assess them building a new website and a mobile app. Vardot was shortlist and later selected to be the partner for the job. The website is to offer news and VOD integration.

SOLUTION

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

Based on 5G digital previous experience, we looked for developers who understands the business requirements and is able to deliver in s tight deadline. A number of vendors have been requested to submit their proposals and so did Vardot. After a careful evaluation, Vardot was selected.

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

We had a needs-assessment session, initial business requirements have been revisted and confirmed by Vardot team. A project manager was assigned and the kick-off stage began quickly with clear instruction on the procedures and project platform. Project sprints were confirmed and within a couple of weeks designs were checked and completed. Development phase then began on time and deliverables were given dates to be delivered. All deliverables were delivered according to plan and launch dates were respected.

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

In total there were 4 people, Business development Manager, Project Manager, Project Support manager and project Lead developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Deliverables were following a tight plan as the client was bound by an anniversary. All agreed deliverables were delivered on time and according to plan. Finally launch was successful despite the tight deadline.

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

We had a weekly meeting after a few meetings in the beginning to insure a workable setup. Everything was documented on Basecamp and all project details and progress reports were posted regularly. When we had some design and a few request of changes it was dealt with in high professional manner.

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

The final product was great despite very tight deadline. Very organised project management fashion. Quality of delivery and communications were maintained across all project phases.

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

There were very few bug fixes and additional requests by the client that required Vardot to deal with at short notice. That was very much expected within any project of the size and nature.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior ICT and operations manager at Questscope, a nonprofit organization for social development in the Middle East. We have a mentoring program that helps juvenile centers and refugees overcome any traumas from war or experiences they’ve had.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

Our website used an old technology that was obsolete. We had many major security problems. We needed a comprehensive website that would reflect the work we’re doing in the field. We needed to include more information about our work and overcome the challenges we had with our old website. 

We decided to allocate a budget for that. We wanted a website that was user-friendly with a good CMS that could help the non-technical users like my team add new content and update the website on a regular basis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an initial meeting with them. We were introduced to the team and chatted about our current problems with the website, telling them what we needed. Then, we had the kickoff meeting for the whole project, which started with the analysis of information. Following that meeting, they returned with a solid project plan that detailed their vision for the website as well as the general timeline. I agreed to the project plan, and we started the work.

They provided the concept design for the website. After selecting that, they started building the homepage. After our approval, they started expanding to the wireframes of the whole website. They started to add new pages. We were including every step of the way, checking with us about large and small details. After approving the design, they started adding the content. In the RFP, I mentioned we needed a bilingual website Due to lack of content from our side, I asked them to finish the English side and we’d continue with the Arabic content after receiving the content.

They continued with the design and development of the website. After approving all the content and pages, they started moving to the actual development side. Until this moment, we have the staging environment and the live site, which provides me with the ability to test things before launching them. That’s a great feature. They built the website on Drupal. After the go-live, we kept a maintenance and support contract with them.

What is the team composition?

I worked with the account director and an account manager. From the development team, I worked with some of the engineers. My main contact was the account manager. There were three people from our team working with them.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

I did an online search for local companies here in Jordan. We interviewed different companies and chose Vardot. They stood out to me in the reviews I read. 

In the original proposal, we put the scores in front of the vendors and told them we’re going to be analyzing their offers. It wasn’t solely based on price— other companies provided more affordable estimates. However, their online portfolio, the list of clients that they’ve worked with, and testimonies from past clients made them stand out. The technical approach they provided in their original offer is what made their offer the most competitive.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $15,000 JOD (approximately $21,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They provided a very good system. The end result was totally approved by us. When we went live, we did an internal meeting with our top management and shared the website with them. The response was quite satisfying. This is when we knew they did a great job. I’m satisfied with the CMS, the look and feel of the website, and the user journey. 

They added new features that we weren’t able to add to the previous website— that was a success. They also gave us great technical training on how to use the website and CMS. They’re very knowledgeable in that field. We trying to add new pages and content ourselves, and it’s been working great so far. I only had to extend a customer support ticket a couple of times for something that was deeply technical and needed a programmer to solve. One of our key success factors from the project is our ability to able to continue the work with minimal interference from the service provider. 

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

We received updates on a daily basis using Basecamp. It’d show the progress and any issues. They introduced us to all the tools necessary for this project. We had weekly meetings to show progress and resolve any issues. I’d call them as well and confirm tasks on Basecamp.

They were very flexible and task-oriented. They stuck to the timeframe and delivery schedule. If we missed any deadline, it was because of us. Our main issue was with the preparation of the content, which was on our end as well. At the same time, they showed great flexibility in helping us with design deliverables that were beyond the scope.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a high attention to detail, flexibility, and were committed to timelines. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could take their prices down a little bit.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go for it. Remember to do your homework first. Know what you need to have prepared— there’s no shame in asking them. Have everything written and approved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an outsourcing company that hires people from different professions at different professional levels. We have 3,000 employees, including the head office and the outsourced employees themselves.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

We brought Vardot on board to develop our company’s website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vardot managed the project, which had three phases: requirements analysis, development, and deployment. We asked Vardot for ideas, and their team gave us three design samples. After we fell in love with one option, we gave Vardot the greenlight to use it. Their team built the website in Drupal.

What is the team composition?

We exclusively communicated with Vardot’s account manager who was with us from beginning to end.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

Our internal process requires that we get quotes from three vendors. We chose Vardot based on their technical experience and financial bid.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Vardot between July–December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We established a committee with members from our finance, HR, business excellence, and technical support departments. Each member provided feedback to Vardot and approved each stage as their team finished them. We never ran into obstacles with a committee member. The committee immediately gave us their consent to proceed to the next phase of the project. We announced the successful delivery of the website to our CEO who was happy with it.

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication made this project easy. We had one point of contact from Vardot’s and used Basecamp, which was a useful tool that I could use on any device. When their team posted or replied to one of our messages, I received a notification. After Vardot posted a message, we made comments until our teams reached a unified agreement. We also attached the required documents to posts. There weren’t any overwhelming email chains.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Vardot created a page for tickets that transferred to our internal Salesforce. We didn’t know how to build this page and handed Vardot our Salesforce code to embed it into our website. Even though this request was outside the scope, they designed and built the page for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The whole process was really smooth, and we had no troubles. Everything was perfect.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I would recommend anyone to Vardot, telling them to go ahead.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Company, Radiant Vision Systems, designs and manufactures high-end electronic systems: imaging photometers, colorimeters, and specialized lenses for light and color measurement. I am in the marketing department and was responsible for coordinating the website project with Vardot

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had a large B2B website, content dense, integrated with Marketo, in two languages (EN and CN) that had been built on Drupal 7. Due to Drupal 7 end of life, we had to migrate to Drupal 8, which would involve a complete rebuild of the site structure, and then migrating over the hundreds of pages of content and content assets that we had.

During it's lifetime, the D7 site had also accrued a number of changes and features that made it very unwieldy and frustrating to use on the back-end. The website is a very important tool in our global marketing and lead generation, a critical channel for providing the rich technical content (e.g., Webinars, White papers) that our engineering customers want to see. Our goals with the project were:

1. we wanted to make some improvements to site design, navigation, and user experience
2. Needed to ensure continuity of all site functions, integration, etc. for lead gen and extensive tracking
3. Wanted an improved back-end experience for our internal users who are on the website almost daily updating and creating content.
4. We wanted a partner who would not just execute the migration effectively, but who would also contribute design recommendations, help us adopt best practices for a modern, mobile-responsive site an optimize the user experience.
5. We had not been happy with our prior vendor's customer service, effort to solve problems, or even just basic QA of work they did as our ongoing maintenance/service vendor.

We really wanted to find a vendor who would be more responsive and quality oriented.

SOLUTION

How did you select Vardot and what were the deciding factors?

We did a broad search for Drupal vendors, talked to and solicited proposals from about 6 different firms.

In their proposal and in video presentation and conference calls with Vardot we were impressed with their professionalism and polish, with their expert level of competency with Drupal, their clean design aesthetic, and their responsiveness/customer service focus that was evident from the very first contact.

There were 4 of us who participated in the decision-making process to select a vendor, and we were all unanimous in our choice of Vardot.

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

Migrating a large B2B website from Drupal 7 Drupal 8, including: Discovery/discussion of both design and functional requirements, goals, preferences Design phase - we were presented with redesigned pages for review and approval, allowing for multiple revisions until we were completely happy with the proposed designs.

Then moving into the development/building phase, followed by automated migration of large amounts of our content (saving a lot of time!) We were able to see and test all site pages on a staging site prior to launch.

The launch itself went so smoothly, we just went to bed one night and came back online in the morning and there it was without a hitch. Subsequently, Vardot has continued to be fast and responsive doing the inevitable minor changes and fixing little glitches that only become evident in live environment.

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

We had one dedicated project manager who coordinated with the designer and the development teams on our behalf. She has been awesome. We also had a regular technical/development contact as we worked on various site elements.

A director and other various team members have also been part of the communication loop, ensuring that any questions we had or requests we ,made were addressed promptly.

On the support side, there are several folks responding to any tickets or questions we submit, always within LESS than 24 hours of when we submit even the most low priority request. Responses are always thorough and accurate, fixes applied are correct and effective. The service is fantastic.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Both our marketing project team and others in the company (including our CEO) are very happy with the result. The launch went smoothly in both US and China simultaneously.

Everyone likes the new design and improved features of the site for user experience. And our internal admins and content managers are very happy with the improvements in back-end site operations. Project came in on time and on budget.

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

Project management style is communicative, collaborative, and very hands-on, with thorough (but not excessive) documentation of project steps, dates, deliverables, and both client and customer expectations and responsibilities.

Excellent communication and responsive with tracking tools and systems that kept things moving forward. Such as Basecamp for managing tasks and sharing files, and a collaboration tool during the design processes that made it easy for us to review and add comments directly onto page designs.

We are in Pacific Time zone and much of the project team was in Jordan, but we barely noticed any communication issues due to time zone, due to their rapid responses.

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

Their customer service is top notch, we always felt well taken care of, problems were solved quickly, new solutions and options suggested, and proactive management of many elements we didn't even think of such that they never even became issues.

These folks really know their stuff re: Drupal and website design/dev/function/best practices. We have been delighted with the whole process and the ongoing support/maintenance service we're receiving.

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

Not a thing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work as a Marketing & Communications Specialist at the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development in Jordan. The Queen Rania Foundation was established by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah in 2013 with the aim of improving education outcomes in Jordan and the surrounding region.

Since then, we have endeavored to achieve this objective by focusing our efforts on a range of overlapping areas including Early Childhood Care and Development, innovation in learning, and teacher training. Today, the Queen Rania Foundation continues to carry out research, design innovative programs, and support policymakers as they develop education programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Vardot is and were responsible for the below:

• Developing, hosting, and maintaining QRF's 'Education Entrepreneurship Award' competition's website: https://www.educationentrepreneurs.org/ 
• Hosting and maintaining QRF's website: qrf.org  
• Developing different sections in QRF's website

SOLUTION

How did you select Vardot and what were the deciding factors?

We've approached over 3 companies and set up a procurement committee where all three companies were evaluated based on a scoring form. Vardot were chosen based on the below:

• Quality  
• Cost
• Experience in Drupal and our requirements
• Flexibility when it comes to deadlines

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

Hosting & maintenance: Multi-environment setup (3 environments) Multi-layer caching SSL support on all environments Content Delivery Network Drupal 8 Amazon hosting: Linux operating system, Nginx and Apache web servers, PHP 7.1 25 GB disk space 50 GB data transfer per month 1 x 25 GB MySQL database Security updates to CMS core and plugins Website updates Checks to security, analytics, SEO, backups, recovery as well as general spot checks As for developing sections on the website:

1. Design and develop a new section for the Parental Engagement Guide to follow a combination of these pages in the design
2. Develop a new content type that allows for resources to be uploaded and categorized under Parental Engagement Guide
3. The section will also include Main Recommendations listed on the landing page along with the resources.
4. Resources should have the categories as such Presentations, Guides, Handouts, Case studies, etc
5. Resources should also be grouped and categorized by type on the landing page
6. The landing page for the Parental Guideline will include content about Why this Guide and How to Use this Guide.
7. Each resource will have a detailed page template with information about the resource and download information
8. Develop a new section for Recommendations to be viewed as a widget with a background video
9. Develop a new content type that allows for resources to be uploaded and categorized under Teaching Resources
10. Resources should have the categories: Worksheets, Exercises, Lesson Plans, Teaching strategies
11. Resources should also be grouped and categorized by skill
12. Users should be able to filter and search for resources by skill, keyword search, and type. The type of filter will be user-focused such as “I want to help my student in pronunciation”
13. Landing page for Teaching resources can and might include sections such as Why these Resources, Values, Benefits, etc
14. Each resource will have a detailed page template with information about the resource and download information
15. Design and develop a landing page to display all the EEF toolkits on the website with its detailed information.
16. Development of the landing pages for all resources and an individual page for each resource will be done

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

We typically one point of contact. And then we have various people 3-4 from account manager to developers and designers that work with us on the product

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• All deliverables are being met within the specified deadlines. 
• A vendor comes with innovative and practical solutions to what we envision the website to be  
• We've witnessed a 10% increase of users on our website after launching one of the sections

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

We currently use the below:

1. Slack
2. Basecamp
3. Google docs and sheets to track progress
4. Meetings

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

The fact that they also train us on the different areas in which their scope lies.

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

Not in the time being

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the principal of the Modern American School in Jordan.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vardot?

We wanted to redesign our website. We needed a platform that was functional for students and effective for marketing the school. We also wanted the website to be easy to navigate on smartphones, tablets, and computers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vardot redesigned our website on Drupal 7. They created various functionalities including a store and an application portal for interested students. Their team also built a portal into the website where people could submit applications for employment. They also created a 3D virtual tour of the school.

They make regular updates as well as host and maintain the platform. Their team will start another redesign of our website on Drupal 9.

What is the team composition?

I've communicated with two people from Vardot.

How did you come to work with Vardot?

We surveyed the market for website developers in Jordan. We wanted a local vendor that understood the market and could visit the school. We looked at a bunch of companies, but Vardot was by far the best.

How much have you invested with them?

The website redesign cost between $20,000–$25,000. We pay them about $3,000 a year for updates and hosting.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project around August 2015 and launched the website in December 2015. We just signed with them last week to redo the website again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We receive between 8,000–10,000 hits to the website per month, which is a lot in Jordan. The platform also always ranks on the first page of Google search results. The website effectively directs traffic to our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts too. All of the parents who register at our school tell us that the website was helpful and made them choose us. It's amazing.

How did Vardot perform from a project management standpoint?

We initially communicated via email but a couple of years ago, they switched to a ticket system. Their team usually gets back to us within 24 hours. They’re a great team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their reliability’s the reason that we signed on with them again. After launching the website, they worked with us to tweak the website. We’re a school, so we constantly change. Their team supports us in those changes. They’re extremely helpful when we want to add certain pages, remove certain content, and change pages' layouts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To be honest, I can’t think of any improvements. They’re slightly more expensive than their competition, but it’s worth it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re a small company with a lot of heart. There are huge firms where you don’t know who’s running what. I meet with Vardot’s CEO all the time. Over the last five years, I’ve worked with the same team, which has been really nice.