Discovery, MVP, & Agile Development

It’s simple - build a new system leveraging our .Net expertise. ISS was not going to try to fix the old one. So, after an official discovery process and documentation done by Engage’s CTO, Brian Dukes, we better understood the issues, the technology, and all of the functionality of the old system as well as what ISS wanted in the new system. We understood that each office had its own Custom Client Portal (CCP - the tool we’re rebuilding) and while leveraging the DNN multi-portal capabilities seemed like a possible approach, bringing everything together was a better solution. Management at ISS can view their CCPs as one whole system, running reports, editing flex staff across multiple offices, and more. Utilizing permissions, ISS gives access to a CCP or multiple CCPs depending on the responsibilities of that staff person.

We started by building just one CCP and migrated the data from the old system keeping all of that history intact. We built out the table-like structure for the Admin Dashboard allowing ISS staff to quickly see their employees. Next, we tackled the complicated processes around employee evaluations and counseling. In the old system, the eval forms and counseling intake sheets were hardcoded, meaning that they could not be re-used for other clients. The forms were not customizable. Now they are. Then, with the new forms in place, we were able to create workflows using roles and permissions based on job-specific responsibilities. One admin staff person could request an eval, while another person has the role/permissions to write it, and then yet another approves it. Furthermore, we incorporated the new feedback from the ISS management team. We didn’t just rebuild the CCP, we completely redesigned it. We gave it a fresh new look by using large format “cards” instead of a table structure, allowing admins to not just quickly see the display of employees, but also see any data specified in the new, robust search and filtering tools. And lastly, we integrated this new CCP with their current 3rd party system for employee applications, hiring, and payroll so that all CCP data flows back into this other system as the source of truth.

Happy ISS Management, Staff, and Sales Team

The search tool allows admins to easily find the data they need by filtering by tenure, shift, when an eval is due, and more. Then the data on the cards shifts to display only the information designated by the filter. A future enhancement is the ability to save filters.

The data can be counted on. The reporting tools are much better. We’re able to give them access to data that they’ve never had before, run reports, and make comparisons that are helpful for them and their customers’ businesses.

The sales team is excited to show off their fancy new system with its intuitive designs and clean navigation. Sleek features like the quick view slide-in of the employee details as opposed to taking the admin to a whole new page and a search/filter stays loaded on the page allowing the admin to quickly see and make notes on slide-in without losing their search or losing their spot when scrolling the page.

As of July, 20+ offices are launched with hundreds of customers (companies that ISS is doing the hiring for) and thousands of employees. And best of all, it only takes 30 minutes to set up a new CCP and have it launched by a normal, everyday user. No more being dependent on developers.

Full Quote From Chad Clevenger, Chief Information Officer at ISS

“The team at Engage did a fantastic job on our project. I was impressed in our very first meeting when they knew almost nothing about our company or our project. At the end of our first meeting, their CTO (Brian Dukes) was able to summarize in detail almost the entire project that I had just spent about 2 hours describing. I knew they were true listeners at that point."

"The project evolved every step of the way and each hurdle and roadblock that we encountered was overcome. There were features I wanted that I could barely describe myself because they were so complicated, and they nailed every one of them. Engage has a team of developers who each bring something unique to the table. Some of my favorite conversations were with their Creative Director (Anthony Overkamp) and Senior Developer (Jon Bockhorst). We would start the meeting with a very vague concept and would use the meeting to hash out and truly develop the idea into something real. Oftentimes, Anthony would have the idea mocked up in real time before the meeting ended. Sometimes the next day, I was already testing that functionality myself. These development meetings weren’t just me telling them what I wanted, they were confident enough in their abilities to push back and take the idea even further than I had imagined. Sometimes we would argue like brothers going back and forth about what was the best way to accomplish the goal, it was fantastic to work with their team knowing we were all fighting to build the best product possible."

"Engage ownership stayed in touch with me throughout the entire project and always was aware of the next big idea we were working on. One of my most important goals for Engage was to make the software intuitive enough that it required no instructions and no training in order to use it. Just prior to the release, I put the software in front of 10 everyday users and gave them zero training and asked them to accomplish a list of 20 activities in a 30 minute period….it went flawlessly. I would highly recommend Engage, they make any idea possible." - Chad Clevenger, Chief Information Officer, ISS