What is our primary use case?
We use it primarily for the resource management function. From a use case point of view, we use it across all our initiatives, such as projects, agile teams, etc. We also use the portfolio management function to provide us with our top-down, bottom-up planning.
How has it helped my organization?
On the resource management side, prior to Daptiv implementation, most of our projects were running late causing a issues with the delivery of our products due to the limited number of resources we had available at any given time.
It provides us the means to optimize our resources by role and match them to the appropriate piece of work at the right time, without the overcapacity for that individual.
The scenario planning option provides us with the means to be able to evaluate our work in a variety of different situations.
The dashboard and analytics function helps our executives and our directors in understanding what's going on across the company from a portfolio management point of view.
What is most valuable?
The resource management feature is certainly the most valuable for us. It is the supply and demand. Like most companies, one of the hardest nuts to crack is understanding where your people are and getting them to do the right thing at the right time. So, certainly, out of all the functionality, this has been the saving grace for us because it now provides us with the insight to do future planning and stop taking on more work than we are physically capable of doing as a company.
I've worked at many different companies in the past, and the customer service and the support from Daptiv are unlike anything I've encountered before and far excel any other company I've worked with. I always say to people that Daptiv is like another department in your own company as you do not realize they're a vendor.
What needs improvement?
The agile functionality can be improved. The tool was definitely built around the waterfall PMBOK PRINCE2 methodology, and although there are great functions within the tool for agile, it is often compared to dedicated tools like LeanKit or Jira. At the moment, the only integration we would have is to Jira itself, not to another Planview product. I believe that's coming in 2022 at some point.
There should be the ability to store historical functions, but this is not just for this tool. It is applicable to many tools. It would be great if we were able to store specific historical data, such as risk management.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been a user of Daptiv for about four years, but prior to that, we were also a user of the Changepoint system for two years. Planview bought Changepoint and Daptiv at the same time.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution has been pretty stable since implementation in 2018, with no real downtime due to issues out of our control. That being said the few time we have encounter issues they have been dealt with very quickly and professionally by the company.
A minor negative would be the time it takes to refresh data, but that could be attributable to our network traffic as much as an issue caused by the solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of the project waterfall methodology, the scalability is there. We are seeing improvement around the agile side in the software, but it's not at a level we think we can reach in the timescale we have. However, with the Planview products on the market, we are looking potentially at something different to help us with that element of our work.
We have 250 licenses at the moment, and 80% of them are basic users. They are time-keepers who are just updating projects, etc. Probably 15% of them are in the management category, such as project manager, capability manager, and portfolio manager. So, they're the ones maintaining the workspace and the projects, and then, of course, we have about three or four users who are administrative. So, all in all, we only have three types of users in the system, and they are basic, management, and administrator.
At the moment, it is being extensively used in the IT department, which probably covers about a third of the company. We are currently trialing the software in other departments with the view of expanding out across the whole company at some point in the near future. What we are looking at is an end-to-end deployment. So, with it now joining the Planview family, there are other options we're looking at potentially to help us provide end-to-end functionality; for example, Spigit being the upfront or the idea-generating piece of tool to maybe LeanKit being with us for the agile element.
How are customer service and support?
We find the platform to be very stable. The few times we've had to contact them have usually been after they had done a software update. We had encountered a couple of issues after that. Because we're a government department, and we deal with the gaming industry in British Columbia, we have a lot of firewalls and cybersecurity. So, one of the things we sometimes have problems with is their techs being able to get access to our system, but that's more a fault of our own because we lock down the system so tight.
We have reached out to the techs a few times, and the work has been done pretty much straight away, depending on what we've asked. Any time we have encountered a problem, the customer service and the techs pretty much responded straight away, and most problems have been fixed within that 24-hour period. Those that couldn't be fixed are being worked on until they are done. So, there is nothing outstanding. The support from their side couldn't get any better. The fact that they have their own dedicated call center, that massive triage, and the queries going in also helps as well. You deal with the same people. So, when you have a problem, that individual stays with you from start to finish. I would definitely rate them a solid nine out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Daptiv, we used its sister product Changepoint. We switched because of the usability side. Changepoint, although a really good product, was too complex for our needs, and at the time, we were having issues. The Changepoint company had been bought out by the Daptiv company, and we switched over software at that point, which helped us with the adoption on our side.
I have, personally, used several different pieces of software from different companies: PowerSteering, Open Plan Professional, COBRA, Microsoft Solutions, et cetera.
How was the initial setup?
For us, it was straightforward because we had the right people on our side to implement. We also had a customer service manager in the team supporting us. If the customer service manager wasn't able to work with us to understand what our business challenges and goals were and hadn't provided that customer success roadmap view of how we're going to get there, the implementation would've been longer than what we would've liked it to be. We became a test case for the company, and it only took us 90 days to implement the tool from start to finish, and since then, we've had a 94% adoption rate.
The actual prework, before the tool was turned on, probably took about two months. That was working ourselves to understand what we wanted and then converting that to a sort of roadmap and how we were going to turn the system on. When we turned the system on, it took about four weeks for us to get fully up and running at that point, so it took 90 days from start to finish.
We had an implementation strategy. We have our own internal strategy in regards to what we want to deliver and when and how we want to deliver it. So, from the tool point of view, it was about turning on the functions, and we did not want to boil the ocean. So, we decided to sit with our own internal stakeholders to understand the "why," that is, why we wanted this, and that was then converted into, "Okay. Then we're turning on this function first, and then 90 days later, we're going to turn on another function." The biggest problem that we encountered was when we changed our methodology from waterfall to agile, it, of course, changed our strategy and how we were delivering the tool.
What about the implementation team?
We did it ourselves. We had the right people to do the job internally, as well as the support from Daptiv itself. The customer service manager and the team were there 24/7 with us along the way, and without that support, I don't think we'd have deployed anywhere close to 90 days.
The deployment and maintenance are normally with our portfolio team. They are administrators. When we do deploy, we work with the company, and the timescale could be a day to months, depending on what we're actually deploying. From an administration point of view, it's probably half a person a week on the administration itself. It is not a time-consuming piece of software for administration as compared to some other ones we use.
What was our ROI?
We've seen the drop in the time it takes to deliver a project and the amount of money it takes to deliver as well. We've not done an ROI on that, but we have seen that reduction. So, we are seeing savings.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing for me is more about understanding your own needs in the company because it is one license for one person model. So, you have to really understand how many licenses you need and what may be the influx of your staff. The good thing about Daptiv is that we just need a quick telephone call to our customer success manager if we want to increase our licensing and we can upscale very quickly. We've never downscaled, but I'm guessing if we had to, we'd have to wait till the contract completes or renegotiate a different licensing cost.
There are costs in addition to the standard licensing fees. We have the reporting functionality for which we pay separately for 10 hours per month. To help us design and build our customized reports, we require the system. There are hundreds of out-of-the-box reports and dashboards, but we have some very specific requirements, so we bought that extra functionality.
We're also a premier customer. So, we do have the customer success manager and the premier support from the other staff within the company.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
It was just a straight swap because it was a sister product. It was in the same company. Before that, we went out to RFP, and we looked at several different solutions that were certainly in the top 10 of the Gartner, Forrester Magic Quadrant. The Daptiv/Changepoint company won hands down on all the different asks we had.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise understanding your requirements and asking what the "why" is. The very first time we implemented a piece of software in the company before I got involved, they failed because they didn't understand what the end goal was. It was all about trying to get a tool in to provide support to the PMs. The reality is that a company has many different facets, and for me, it is definitely about understanding what your north star is and what you want to deliver. You then work backward to understand how you're going to do that. Once you've done that, the implementation becomes very quick and easy with the tool. I've been at many companies where they've implemented and tried to do the "why" at the same time, but it doesn't work. That's where the support from the customer success managers in Daptiv is helpful. They provide that roadmap at the very beginning to help you get there. We spent two months prior to even turning the tool on in doing all the prework so that when we did turn the tool on, people knew what to expect, they knew what the tool was, and they knew how to use it.
The biggest lesson I have learned from using Daptiv is to utilize the company's experience, and when you do your implementation, in the beginning, try and use as much out-of-the-box functionality. The more you customize, the more chance you're going to fail initially. So, for me, the biggest thing is just to use the ability that you've got in the Daptiv and do a phased approach. Try not to turn everything on at once. It doesn't work. You should also get your senior managers involved straight away. You should get your executives on board and then fill that down for the company.
Overall, its rating has to be a 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.