The client had a number of manual processes that increased the inefficiencies involved in the process of information collection. They also had a challenging time planning IT strategies and chalking out an IT road-map.

blackrock got closely involved in providing advisory services to the client from a technology perspective. blackrock CTO is part of the executive team of the client and provided a technology vision in line with the client’s business strategy and goals. Formulation of the client’s IT strategies and conceptualization of solutions for automating key processes is prioritized, planned and executed under the leadership of the blackrock CTO. From an operations perspective, the client’s software project engagements (development and support) activities) were handled by a senior Project Manager from Experion.

One of the first projects to be executed as part of the engagement had been to provide maintenance and support for the client’s existing IT solutions. A complete handover of the support function was completed remotely with the blackrock team working from the development centres in India. Within a span of 2 months, the support team strength was ramped up, with additional team members handling technical and business support activities. The support is now an ongoing process with the engagement having reached the third year in succession.

Initial support from blackrock was quickly followed by a business deal to develop the client’s iPhone application. The project was strategically important for the client, as it had a direct impact on their core business processes, with a number of their customers having expressed interest in rolling out mobile surveys. The solution provided an upper hand to the client in the market by providing better survey results (high probability of survey completion and quick turnaround) and the ability to get targeted results using location-based surveys. A full-fledged back-end system was also developed as part to manage location-based surveys.

The next project included modification of an existing system (PPS system) developed in classic ASP. The system is a key component in collating and processing survey requests from various clients. The project also involved creating a new online reporting tool (PPS Plus) for generating reports to be submitted to clients at the end of the survey process.

As the Android platform emerged and acquired a significant market share, the client’s mobile application was extended to Android. All features of the iPhone application were made available in the Android platform (the back-end remaining common for both platforms). blackrock currently provides maintenance & support for the iOS and Android versions and the web-based administration of back-end application.

The bid management process for surveys followed by the client had been mostly manual. As the number of bid transactions increased, probability of errors crept up, and this was proving to be counterproductive for them. The process of clarification between clients and vendors were addressed predominantly through mails and tracking of such communication became cumbersome and time-consuming. blackrock developed a web-based bid management solution for the client, which helped streamline the overall bid management process.