Function Point Productivity Software Celebrates 19th Anniversary
Vancouver, Canada (PRWEB) February 19, 2016 -- Function Point Productivity Software is celebrating its 19th year in business providing an integrated, cloud-based project management system to creative agencies, design studios and internal marketing departments. The company ascribes its longevity and success in the fast-paced tech market to staying true to the values of its core vision, successfully adapting to the market through innovation cycles, and a relentless focus on customers.
The seed of the Function Point story was planted in 1994, when Chris Wilson, Founder & CEO of Function Point, was speaking to a client of another business he was involved in. The client was struggling to develop a computer-based custom time sheet and creative project management system that would also provide financial management tools, such as quoting, purchasing and invoicing. Intrigued by the problem, Wilson seized the challenge and spent the next year developing a software solution, which was subsequently used for several years. “From the start, my focus was on increasing productivity, and ultimately, profitability for customers,” said Wilson.
In 1997, Wilson founded Function Point Productivity Software Inc., naming the company to reflect its mission—to help clients be more effective and more efficient. In late 2002, and based on his experiences developing software, Wilson decided to adjust course, and direct the focus of Function Point from being a service-based business, towards creating a SaaS based tool for the niche market of creative agencies. The Function Point product is now a cloud-based, all-in-one software solution that enables businesses to streamline their workflows, organize resources, and view the health of their projects and their business as a whole.
In the early days Function Point had seven employees, but has experienced steady expansion to include 41 staff. “We’re growing, but we’re still only half the size of our competitors,” said Wilson, “which means we’re able to maintain personal and individualized service with our clients.” In addition, the longevity of the company contributes positively to the continuity of client relationships and a sense of trust.
Although Function Point has made a number of small pivots and one large shift in the marketplace, the company has held true to its core values. “Our vision is to grow an organization where customers’ needs are embraced,” said Wilson. “We also want Function Point to be a place where everyone feels respected, and that they’re doing important work, contributing to the growth and direction of the company.”
Wilson believes one of the reasons behind Function Point’s longevity is its priority of demonstrating that clients matter. Function Point’s user experience employees actively seek to understand the needs and challenges of their clients by engaging in constant dialogue and feedback. These insights are delivered to Function Point software developers who work on building and releasing updates and improvements in two-week sprints using the Scrum methodology. Wilson said, “When our clients have a question, they love talking to a real person, and they appreciate speaking to experts who understand their issues.” Claire Strande, Account Executive at Judson Design, said, “The real value of this software is the customer service, any small issue that arises I can pick up the phone and it’s fixed.”
From the germination of Function Point nearly two decades ago to the present, the company has endeavoured to help clients organize and streamline their businesses by reducing the number of platforms needed to achieve financial visibility, and manage their workflow and human resources. “Before Function Point we used a whole conglomeration of apps and duct tape to manage our production company,” noted Red Sanders, President at Red Productions. “We did CRM with Salesforce, estimating in QuickBooks, project management in Basecamp, hours tracking in Harvest, and then had to manually sync everything back into QuickBooks for invoicing. It was such a waste of time and really created a lot of logjams that slowed down important steps like invoicing. Function Point came in and brought all five of those apps (including the duct tape) into one clean system for us.”
While the team at Function Point will be happily reflecting on the growth of the company and celebrating the success of reaching the 19-year milestone, their attention is fully focused on the present, and the objective of developing the company’s product vision. Function Point is currently enhancing its “finance first” approach, by increasing the links between the project management system and financial reporting, so that creative agencies have even more tools at their fingertips to measure the productivity and profitability of their businesses.
About Function Point Productivity Software Inc.
Function Point Productivity Software is the leading all-in-one project management solution specially designed for ad agencies, design studios and internal marketing departments who are looking to streamline their business. Our integrated software combines project management, time tracking, CRM, financial, and business reporting tools in one convenient cloud based system. Easy, effective, and efficient — do more with Function Point.
For more information about the company and the services Function Point offers, please visit http://www.functionpoint.com
Jehanne Burns, Function Point Productivity Software, http://www.functionpoint.com, +1 604-731-2522 Ext: 223, [email protected]
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