Apricot Brokerage: online training skills needs analysis tool
- Services Used: content management, online surveys, web application development, accessibility compliance
- Technologies Used: ASP.NET, C#, JavaScript, MS SQL Server
- Web: www.apricotbrokerage.co.uk
- Site design: Kukimedia
Solution
Apricot Training Brokerage Limited is an independent training brokerage and training management company which specialises in helping organisations across a range of sectors to identify, locate, service and evaluate their training needs. Centrally based in Leicestershire, the company was established in 2002 and is now a thriving business with a healthy turnover.
Hilary Hale, Managing Director of Apricot, approached Xibis having heard of the company via the Business Advice Team Ltd. She was looking for an organisation which was capable of creating an effective online skills needs analysis tool for the Apricot website – a key part of the service that they offer to clients. "We needed a redesign of the graphics for our main website to ensure that it met marketing information designs. We also wanted to help our clients ensure that they could return an ROI for the training they booked through us."
Apricot’s brief involved a tight timescale and a detailed specification of exactly what was required. Hilary was full of praise for the commitment that the Xibis team showed to customer care and communication throughout the whole project. "Not only did Xibis manage to fulfil our specifications promptly, they also suggested complementary elements and made considerable improvements to the overall design. The process of development was very much facilitated by close client contact throughout – all our requests were responded to in a speedy and supportive manner."
Whilst the process was completed within a relatively short time frame, Apricot was delighted with the end result. "The graphics were excellent, making the functionality really visually appealing," comments Hilary.
Stage Two of the project involved producing a tool to demonstrate ROI on training from Apricot’s individual specification. "Once again, the team at Xibis went beyond the basic requirements and enhanced this tool through a variety of helpful suggestions – they also developed a CMS (Content Management System) to help us update and manage the site ourselves. This has proved invaluable," explains Hilary. "The impressive end results can be seen on our website. With Xibis’ help we now have an effective skills analysis tool which is used successfully by small businesses across the East Midlands. We have also been able to customise this tool for use by individual organisations making it a crucial component of the service that we can offer our clients."