Ciris Informatic Solutions – Cloud Computing with Scala

3 thoughts on “Ciris Informatic Solutions – Cloud Computing with Scala”

1. 1) My initial impression of the homepage is that it is simple. It has scrolling information about 2 technologies, “mongoDB and “Scala”, which can be inferred from the page that this company is the first in the country to use. However, it is not clear what those technologies are. If you click on more information or technologies at the top of the homepage, you can get more information on these two things. However, after reading this page, I still do not feel like I got enough information. The homepage itself is clean and simple looking, not overwhelming the user with information which is nice. However, I would like to see a little more than what is provided as this is the first page you see when you arrive and I couldn’t tell exactly what it was all about.
   2) I could not tell from the homepage that this company focuses on software development. I had to navigate the links on the page to learn more about the company and its purpose. Even the “About Us” page is fairly vague, although it does get across that they are a Costa Rican company who builds software. 
   3) If I was looking to do business with a software development company, I’m not positive that I would do business with this particular company based on their website. All it really tells me for sure is that they are a Costa Rican company, they build software and use Scala and MongoDB. There are short blurbs on each of these technologies as well as “Cloud Computing” and “Contact 506” which don’t fully explain what they’re all about. Perhaps someone who knows more about the subject would be able to discern if this company is worth doing business with by just viewing this website, but I don’t feel that I personally am.
   4) I used google to search for other software development companies, and found SaM Solutions (https://www.sam-solutions.com/). On their homepage you will find a statement that explicitly states they are a software development company that focuses on IT consulting and offshore programming services. It is, like this homepage, a simple and clean one but with more information available. There are links to technologies they work with, services they provide and an about the company page with more information than Ciris. Also at the bottom of SaM’s page is some awards they have obtained. In all there is a lot more information on this company and what they do than on Ciris’ homepage. Based on this alone, I would probably be more likely to do business with SaM Solutions. 
   5) I think the Ciris homepage looks nice, but to improve on it I would like to see a bit more information about the company and the services it provides. It only offers short blurbs on each subpage which doesn’t seem like enough to get a real feel for what the company is about.

2. 1. My first impression is that things are moving a little too fast for me to read. I’m not a big fan of rotating slideshows because of that problem. Thankfully, it seems to have stopped rotating after one or two times through, and now I can click through it at my own pace.
    
   My second thought is that I’m confused about the service your site offers. One of your slides tells me this is cloud computing, but when I scroll down a little, I see logos for other companies, including one that tells me it’s “the most advanced system for contacting people in Costa Rica.” Huh? What does Costa Rica telecommunications have to do with cloud computing? I also don’t understand why you’re telling me that you just marked your first year in business or that your business is “the first company in the country to use these technologies.” If I’m a potential customer landing on your site, I don’t really care how long you’ve been in business or whether you’re the first company to offer cloud computing or the fiftieth. What I want to know is, in a nutshell, what you can offer me, how it’s going to meet my needs, and why I should choose you instead of your competitors.
    
   2. I don’t get that message from the home page. The home pages seems to focus on cloud computing, not software development. However, as soon as I click on the “Company” tab, I do immediately see the subheads “We Love Software” and “We Build Software,” so it’s pretty clear from that point on.
    
   3. Probably not. First of all, if I was looking for a software developer and landed on the home page, I’d think you were trying to sell me a cloud computing service, so I’d probably leave. If I made it to your informational pages, I’d still be left wondering why I should choose you over your competitors. You don’t highlight any unique selling points for your services. You write about your business philosophy under “About Us” but don’t list clients or testimonials. Although you have photos of your team, there are no bios. You don’t display rates. There’s just not much here to encourage me to choose you instead of some other developer.
    
   4. I searched on “software developers.” One of the results on the first page was a company called Itransition. I find their home page to be a little too dense with text, but notice that, from the minute you land, there’s no question that this is the web site for a software development company. It’s right there in the tagline. Notice also that their slideshow stays on point–it presents the five main services they offer. It doesn’t wander off into details about how long they’ve been in business or who their partners are. Above the fold is a navbar with tabs that have drop-down menus. I don’t even need to click through all of them to see that they go into much more detail about what makes their company stand out from their competitors, what services they offer, and what clients they’ve served. And they even have a prominently displayed button to “Get a Free Quote.” Then, if you scroll down below the fold, you see a fairly short introductory summary. I like their site quite a bit, and I’d say that if you want to improve yours, you should consider using theirs as a model.
    
   5. I’m going to identify potential trouble spots for the Ciris web site:

   Home Page
    
   –The identity of your company is in doubt. Up in the header, I see that it’s called Ciris, but then there are all these references to Scala, Mongo, and Contact506, all of which, at first glance, look like logos for other companies. Unless I’m already familiar with these as programming languages, this is very confusing.
    
   –The slides in the slideshow don’t sell me on your business. It doesn’t really matter to me that you’ve been around for one year or that you’re the first in your country to offer a specific service. I want to see slides that tell me what services you offer and why I should choose Ciris.
    
   –The focus of the home page is strangely on cloud computing even though you offer several other services. You need to let those other services share space with cloud computing on the home page. Don’t make visitors seek them out.
    
   Company
    
   –Your “About Us” page is attractive but vague. After reading it, it sounds like you specialize in decision-making software.
    
   –Your “Team” page has nice photos but no bios to help built trust and reputation.
    
   –I don’t understand the purpose of your “Alliances” page. Are these companies you’ve worked for or companies that are affiliated with you in some way? Why display them here?
    
   Technologies
    
   –I would actually rename this tab “Services” to emphasize that these are services you provide.
    
   –You do a decent job of promoting the languages you specialize in on your “Technologies” page. There are some spacing issues, though.
    
   –I don’t understand why your “Services” page has “Cloud Computing” as its headline. I understand you offer more than just cloud computing, so why not choose a less specific head? After reading this page, I’m once again confused about what you do. You need to identify the main services you provide (e.g., cloud computing, software development (specializing in Scala and Mongo), Contact506 software, etc.) and list them all on this page with a short description of each.
    
   –I don’t quite understand the concept of “Contact506.” The page assumes a familiarity with the software that I don’t have. If it’s something geared toward billing departments or collections agents, as I think it might be, you should really state that upfront. Again, it assumes that visitors know what “Contact506” is.
    
   –After reading all the pages under the “Technologies” tab, my recommendation is that you rename the tab “Services” and then create one page for each service.That is, there should be one for “Software Development,” including a description of the languages you use; one for “Cloud Computing” services; one for “Contact506”; one for “Web Consulting” if you offer it; etc.
    
   Conclusion
    
   You may well be an excellent company, but this site doesn’t sell your services very well. I’d recommend that you look closely at Itransition and model your site after theirs. They get it right. You need a clearer, more comprehensive home page with a slogan, tagline, and selling points; better organized informational pages; a portfolio and/or testimonials; and rates. You also need a copy editor to clean up grammatical errors. If you can do these things, you’ll have a much better shot at attracting business. Good luck!

3. ) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
   -I am using a Windows 7 Pro edition with chrome.  My display settings are 1024×768.  The entire webpage does not fit vertically onto my screen.  I understand most newer PC’s and Laptops have a much higher resolution. 
   –  Website overall is clean and efficient and to the point.
   –  Colors go well together and the addition of “clouds” for cloud computing is appropriate.  
   2) We focus on software development. Do you get that message from the site?
   –  After clicking “Company” I can see this is what the company does.  
   –  The first thing I see is “Cloud Computing with Scala”.  When clicking on this all I see is information about cloud computing.  At this point you could be a data storage company, a backup company or something such as a virtual desktop company. 
   3) If you were looking for a software development company, would you contact us based on the information on the site? Would you do business with us? Why? Why not?
   –  It would depend on the pricing of the product.  If I was a large company I would tend to go with bigger companies for virtualization and/or cloud computing.
   –  If the price was right and I was a mid to large company (50-100) employees I would maybe try this company out.  They could make a nice product for things such as a scheduler/meeting room checkout that would be easy to access anywhere on / off the LAN.
    
   4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
   – I googled “Cloud Application Development” and the first hit was https://www.intermedia.net/products/cloud-server
   –  I like this site better.  
   –  The first reason is I know  what they do for the first part of the page.  They develop business applications in the cloud.
   –  The second reason is they have there phone number right on the front page.  It stands out.  I do not have to go to a “Contact Us” to track down the number.
   – The third reason is they give “Promises” such as uptime and 24/7 support on the front page.
   –  The fourth reason is they have a form to fill out to get more information via email.  This is nice because then I don’t have to call or email the company for more info.  I am guessing mongoDB can have form inputs easy.
   –  The fifth reason is they have pricing for there products.
   5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
   -I have heard of MongoDB before.  I clicked on the link on the front page and link was dead.
   –  Does not need “team” under Company header.  I don’t think many people really care to find out who the programmer is as long as it works.
   –  Make all pages “Company, Technology, and Contact” all have the same format.  Company and technology do but contact is missing the little green bar.  It took awhile to figure out why the page looked so out of place verses the other pages.

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