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Jerts' Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft Excel Specialist

 

Why the name Jerts? (Or the related question - don't you think the name "Jerts" sounds a bit too close to "jerks"?) 

Jerts is derived from the Principal Consultant's initials and was a nickname used by a favourite uncle.

Who else have you worked for?
Jerts is proud to count among its clients Maple Leaf  Foods of Canada, Barrick Gold Corporation, the Government of Ontario, Canada Bread Inc., Staples Canada as well as many other small and medium sized businesses.  Geographically our clients are primarily in southern Ontario but we have   clients based in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and the US.

What size of projects can you handle?
We recently completed a project that required over 750 hours of requirements gathering, design and development work.

How do I know you'll provide quality work?
Jerts is small enough (1 principal consultant, 1-5 contract analysts, designers, developers - as needs require) that the business relationship is also a personal one.  I want every client to be delighted with the work - 99% or some other percentage of client satisfaction is not high enough.  

I could easily find someone else to do this work, why Jerts?
Many providers of similar services are people that do this kind of work on evenings and weekends as a part-time job.  These "code jockeys" are easy to find and have often have very low rates but the quality is often abysmal.  Fundamental principles of design and/or programming principles are ignored (or not known), their limited product knowledge leads to buggy, unstable solutions.  Because it is occasional, part-time work to them their "real job" and other priorities come before client needs.

I have tested offshore and freelance websites that promise quality work at cut-rate prices but I found the language challenges required me to spend an inordinate amount of time developing extremely detailed design documentation (which was still not perfectly understood).  To add insult to injury, though the hourly rate was low, so was the efficiency - the estimated hours were 5 times what would be considered standard.

Further, Jerts includes these value-added services at no additional cost: 
  • - Quality standards based on VBA best practices and years of experience
  • - Secure (SSL encrypted) client sites for progress and issue tracking
  • - Fully encrpyted development environment to ensure the security and privacy client data and intellectual property
  • - Digitally signed code, with the certificate backed by Comodo, one of the largest issuers in the world
  • - Easy collaboration (audio conferencing, desktop sharing, video chat, live-chat and of course email and a toll-free phone number)
  • - Post-project support
 
Does your digitally signed code expire, forcing me to come back to you to unlock it?
No, the signature never expires, even if Jerts were to change certificate providers or choose not to renew its certificate.

How much do you charge?
Most projects are quoted on a flat-rate basis - together we collaborate on defining the requirements for the tool/dashboard/reporting package


Do you work on-site or off-site?
Both, according to client requirements.  Generally we're onsite for design sessions, meetings, project milestones, product delivery, training, cutover.  Most development activity occurs offsite in our offices which are configured for maximum efficiency.
Nevertheless, we're easily accessible via phone, email, Skype, live-chat, audio conference and desktop sharing.


Contact Us to get started on your project.
 


 
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