#20 – Envisio

Posted on September 22, 2020


envisio

It’s #ELGLHaverford time! We’re pleased to recognize the top 25 local government companies as nominated by ELGL members. Learn more about the Haverford Award, and then check out our website every day this week to learn about five new companies added to the 2020 Haverford Award list.


Contact information:

Company information:

  • Industry sector(s): Performance Management
  • Minority/Woman Owned Business: No
  • Shared content/expertise with ELGL: Yes
    • https://envisio.com/blog/how-women-in-local-government-are-shaping-our-cities/
    • https://elgl.org/podcast-building-trust-through-strategic-planning-with-kevin-knutson-envisio/
    • https://elgl.org/local-government-strategic-planning/
    • https://elgl.org/how-the-cares-act-will-benefit-local-government-and-school-districts/
  • Participated in ELGL events/activities: Yes
    • https://envisio.com/our-resources/women-in-city-leadership-planning-our-future/
    • https://elgl.org/event/stonewall-to-nashville-50-years-of-progress/

Nomination information:

Describe your work and interactions with the nominee – how have you worked with them, on what projects, and in what capacity?

  • We officially kicked off Envisio implementation in February 2020. Over the course of the next few months, we successfully implemented the Analytics and Plan modules. During this time we created a data analytics dashboard, organized by key processes, for every department and made them available to everyone in the organization through our intranet. City management has described these dashboards as a “game changer” in how we treat data as an asset in the decision-making process. We’ve also created a customer report card, providing a visualization of organization-wide point-of-service surveys, and strategic plan report card, providing a visualization of achievement towards strategic goals and made available both internally and externally. We anticipate launching a public facing dashboard for both our strategic plan and smart city plan initiatives in the next few weeks. Envisio has been our cheerleader through all of this and celebrate each new milestone with just as much enthusiasm as we have for the work being done. They routinely check in,  ensure that implementation continues to move forward, and that we are getting the support we need. 

What was the product/outcome of your relationship with the company?

  • We went from spending at least 40 hours every quarter auditing data for (non-human) errors and creating static reports that lacked visual appeal and meaningful content to a system that 1) provides dynamic dashboards, accessible to everyone, and 2) automatically emails monthly reports to the leadership team with the latest, value-added updates on strategic initiatives in their portfolio. We also created a custom report for our Comprehensive Plan that is a definite asset and saves staff from having to do duplicate work. We created a Strategic Plan Report Card that provides a visualization for stakeholders to better see the city’s progress towards achieving our strategic goals and initiatives.

What are three words you’d use to describe the company?

  • Enthusiastic, Friendly, Supportive 

Describe the on-boarding process for your work with the company – either when you personally started working with them, or when your organization did. What could someone else in local government know about starting work with this company? 

  • For us, onboarding and transitioning to a new performance management system meant migrating hundreds of data points and dozens of projects from our old system. Envisio worked to understand how we functioned and, knowing that I was completely open to change, guided us through best practices and, ultimately, a structure that works flawlessly and consistently meets our needs. We were able to implement the software virtually with my team and most of city staff working remotely. Not only did those of us working on the back end of the product find it incredibly user-friendly, department users also quickly adopted Envisio and described updating their data and initiatives as “easy peasy”. The support Envisio provided throughout the implementation, and to this day, has been outstanding. They have demonstrated dedication to their customers and their eagerness to grow Envisio in a manner that best suits customer needs.

What’s the most interesting or fun aspect of your work with the company?

  • When Envisio mentions selecting colors three or four times on a call and you’re still having fun creating visualizations that are “reflective of each department’s personality” and coming up with new color combos using a tool you found online….stop and listen. Colors matter. Because we (finally) listened, we have some amazing dashboards that mesh well with our city’s website colors and look truly professional. So, not the most interesting but definitely a lesson learned. Listen to the implementation team, they know what they are doing!

What is the company’s pricing structure? Please be as descriptive as possible.

  • Mixed: per license for users, unlimited for viewers (plan module) 

How has your relationship with the company evolved or changed over time? How has the company reacted to or addressed any changes that your organization has requested in the scope/focus of your work together?

  • We began interacting with Envisio representatives, as well as other similar vendors, at least a year prior to the decision to move forward changing performance management platforms. During that time we saw Envisio’s place in the market grow. For us, this was important as the software we were using at the time only had one other municipal customer. I think Envisio’s growth in the sector helped them continue to refine their product. During that short time, their solutions continue to evolve.

    We haven’t made many requests of Envisio as implementation has been extremely easy. There were two or three minor things along the way that we expected to work differently. Each time, the fix or change was available in the next version of the software if not within a day or two and there was never a delay in the project moving forward. Envisio’s level of responsiveness was definitely a change for us. I’m also appreciative of their efforts to create a customer panel. This tells me that they are very focused on the voice of the customer and using it to grow the product further.
     

Anything else to add about the company that we haven’t already asked you?

  • I think I covered it all. Bottom line is that Envisio is a company focused on being as asset to cities in making their data an asset and in ensuring that they are achieving their goals. 
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