Implementing Dragonboat typically follows a structured onboarding and setup process that ensures alignment with a company’s strategic portfolio management goals. The duration can vary depending on organization size, complexity, and readiness, but generally ranges from a few weeks to a couple of months.
Implementation Process:
Discovery and Planning: Initial meetings are held to understand business goals, current processes, tools, and desired outcomes. This step helps tailor the implementation roadmap.
Setup and Configuration: Core system configurations are carried out based on business needs—this includes defining portfolios, programs, teams, objectives, and integrations with tools like Jira, Azure DevOps, or Salesforce.
Data Migration and Integration: Relevant historical data, if applicable, is imported. Integrations with existing tools are established and tested.
Training and Enablement: Dragonboat provides training sessions for various user roles, including portfolio managers, team leads, and contributors. This phase ensures that users can effectively operate the platform.
Pilot and Feedback: A soft launch or pilot is conducted to validate configurations and processes. Feedback is gathered and adjustments are made.
Full Rollout: Once the pilot is successful, the software is rolled out organization-wide, with ongoing support provided during the initial period.
Timeframe:
Small to mid-sized teams: ~2 to 4 weeks
Larger or more complex organizations: ~6 to 12 weeks
Customisation
Yes, Dragonboat is built with flexibility in mind and can be customized to suit varying organizational structures, workflows, and strategic goals. This adaptability makes it suitable for organizations across different industries and maturity levels in product portfolio management.
Customization Capabilities:
Strategic Alignment Tools: Organizations can define and align initiatives with OKRs, strategic themes, and business goals to reflect their own priority-setting models.
Custom Fields and Views: Users can add custom fields and create tailored views to focus on relevant data, including filters for team, program, product line, or business unit.
Workflow Customization: The platform supports personalized workflows, including how ideas are collected, evaluated, prioritized, and transformed into initiatives.
Team Structure Flexibility: Companies can define and manage teams based on their operating model—cross-functional squads, departments, or value streams.
Integration Support: Dragonboat integrates with a wide range of tools, and configurations can be adjusted to reflect the company’s ecosystem and data flow requirements.
Role-Based Access and Permissions: Custom access controls can be defined to manage who sees and does what within the system.
Additional Costs
Dragonboat typically operates on a subscription-based pricing model, with costs varying based on the number of users and features required. While some services may be included, others such as advanced support, training, or custom integrations may incur additional fees.
Potential Additional Costs:
Implementation or Onboarding Fees: Some packages may include setup and onboarding support, but tailored onboarding or enterprise-level implementation may carry extra charges.
Training Services: Standard user guides and resources may be included, but live training sessions, custom workshops, or certifications may be available at an additional cost.
Customer Support Tiers: Basic support is usually included, but premium support (e.g., dedicated CSM, priority response) may come with added fees.
Maintenance and Updates: As a SaaS product, ongoing updates and maintenance are generally included in the subscription. However, specialized maintenance or change management support could be extra.
Customization or Professional Services: Deep customization, API development, or consultancy work to align Dragonboat with unique business processes might be billed separately.
Integration Services: While standard integrations are supported, complex or bespoke integration requirements may involve professional service fees.
User Scaling Fees: Pricing may scale based on the number of users or administrators, particularly at the enterprise level.
Training
and help them become proficient with the platform. The company provides a combination of self-serve resources, live sessions, and personalized support, catering to various learning preferences and organizational needs.
Training and Support Offerings:
Onboarding Programs: New customers are typically guided through structured onboarding programs that include live walkthroughs, implementation support, and access to best practices based on business goals and team structures.
Live Training Sessions: Regular live training webinars are provided, targeting different user roles (e.g., portfolio managers, team leads, contributors). These sessions help teams understand both basic and advanced features of the platform.
Knowledge Base and Help Center: A comprehensive self-service portal is available with articles, video tutorials, how-to guides, and troubleshooting tips. This is ideal for users who prefer learning at their own pace.
Dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM): For enterprise clients or customers with complex needs, a dedicated CSM may be assigned to provide strategic guidance, monitor success metrics, and ensure long-term value realization.
In-App Guidance and Tooltips: Dragonboat includes contextual tooltips and onboarding checklists within the platform to assist users as they navigate the interface.
Email and Chat Support: Users can access technical and functional support through email and live chat for timely help with platform-related issues.
Community and User Forums: Dragonboat fosters a user community where customers can share experiences, tips, and ask questions from peers and experts.
Security Measures
Dragonboat prioritizes the security and privacy of customer data through a multi-layered approach that aligns with industry standards. The platform incorporates robust technical, organizational, and procedural safeguards to ensure secure data handling and protection against potential threats.
Security Measures:
Data Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS/TLS protocols and at rest using industry-standard AES-256 encryption.
User Authentication and Access Control: The platform supports secure login methods including SSO (Single Sign-On) and role-based access controls, ensuring only authorized users can access sensitive data.
Regular Security Audits: Dragonboat undergoes routine third-party audits and penetration testing to identify and address potential vulnerabilities.
Compliance Standards: The software aligns with key compliance frameworks such as GDPR and SOC 2, ensuring data privacy and regulatory adherence.
Data Backups and Disaster Recovery: Automatic data backups are conducted regularly, and disaster recovery protocols are in place to restore service quickly in case of a failure.
Activity Monitoring and Logging: User activity is logged and monitored to detect and respond to any unusual or unauthorized behavior.
Minimal Data Retention and Control: Customers maintain ownership of their data and can request data deletion or export in accordance with contractual agreements.
Updates
Dragonboat maintains an agile development cycle with frequent software updates that deliver new features, improvements, and bug fixes. These updates are managed to ensure minimal disruption and maximum benefit to users, with clear communication and support materials accompanying each release.
Update Frequency and Management:
Regular Release Cadence: Updates are typically rolled out every few weeks, often monthly, depending on the complexity and priority of the enhancements.
Incremental Improvements: Smaller feature additions, UI/UX enhancements, and performance optimizations are released on an ongoing basis to improve user experience without overhauling workflows.
Major Releases: Larger functional updates or new modules may be bundled into quarterly or biannual releases, often introduced with webinars or release notes.
Change Management Support: Release notes and update summaries are shared with users in advance, detailing new functionalities, enhancements, and any potential impacts on current configurations.
User Communication Channels: Updates are announced via in-app notifications, email newsletters, and the Dragonboat knowledge base. Users are kept informed about both upcoming changes and newly available features.
Backward Compatibility and Testing: New updates are tested thoroughly for backward compatibility to ensure that existing workflows and integrations are not disrupted.
Optional Feature Enablement: Some features may be rolled out in stages or offered as opt-in to allow teams to adopt changes at their own pace.
Data Ownership and Portability
Dragonboat follows industry best practices by ensuring that customers retain full ownership of their data. The platform provides tools and support for data access and export, which allows businesses to maintain control over their information and move it if needed. This ensures transparency, legal compliance, and operational flexibility.
Data Ownership and Portability Policy:
Customer Data Ownership: All data entered or generated within the Dragonboat platform is owned by the customer. This includes user-generated content, strategic plans, OKRs, resource allocations, and portfolio insights.
Access to Data: Customers can access their data at any time during the subscription period through the user interface and various export functionalities, ensuring transparency and autonomy.
Data Export Capabilities: Dragonboat offers built-in tools to export data in structured formats such as CSV or Excel. These exports allow customers to retain local copies or use the data in other systems if needed.
Portability Support: Upon request, Dragonboat can assist with bulk data exports to support migration or compliance activities. This is particularly valuable when transitioning systems or ending service contracts.
End of Contract Procedures: At the termination of a subscription, Dragonboat typically provides a grace period during which the customer can retrieve their data. After this period, data is securely deleted according to retention policies and in alignment with data protection regulations.
Privacy and Compliance: The software adheres to data protection laws such as GDPR, which reinforces user rights regarding data access, transfer, and deletion.
Scaling Up / Down
Dragonboat offers scalable subscription plans designed to accommodate the evolving needs of organizations. Whether a company is expanding or contracting, the platform supports flexible user licensing and feature adjustments, making it suitable for organizations at different stages of growth or transformation.
Scalability Terms and Flexibility:
Modular Licensing: Dragonboat pricing is often based on the number of users or seats, allowing companies to scale usage up or down by adjusting the number of active licenses.
Feature-Based Plans: Different pricing tiers include varying features. Organizations can move between plans as their operational complexity or strategic needs evolve.
Upgrade Flexibility: Customers can upgrade their plan or add more users at any point during the subscription term. Upgrades are usually applied immediately or at the next billing cycle, depending on the agreement.
Downgrade Conditions: Scaling down—such as reducing seats or moving to a lower-tier plan—is typically allowed at the end of the contract term or with a notice period as defined in the service agreement.
Enterprise Customization: For large enterprises, Dragonboat can customize plans to support fluctuating needs, seasonal demands, or project-based expansions.
Support for Organizational Change: As teams grow, merge, or shift priorities, Dragonboat supports reconfiguration of team structures, portfolios, and permission sets without requiring a full re-implementation.
Contractual Adjustments: Terms for scaling (both up and down) are often outlined in the Master Service Agreement (MSA), including any notice periods, pro-rata charges, or restrictions.
The terms & conditions for contract renewal and cancellation
Dragonboat typically operates under annual or multi-year subscription agreements, with clearly defined renewal and cancellation terms outlined in its service contracts. These terms are designed to provide customers with clarity and flexibility, while ensuring continuity of service and support.
Contract Renewal and Cancellation Terms:
Automatic Renewal: Most subscription plans are set to auto-renew at the end of the contract period unless a cancellation notice is provided within the specified time frame. This helps maintain uninterrupted access to the platform.
Renewal Notification: Dragonboat generally sends renewal reminders or communications before the contract end date, giving customers time to review, adjust, or terminate their agreement.
Cancellation Notice Period: Customers are typically required to provide written notice of cancellation 30 to 60 days prior to the renewal date, depending on the terms agreed upon in the Master Service Agreement (MSA).
Early Termination Policy: If a customer chooses to cancel the contract before the term ends, early termination fees may apply. These fees are generally based on the remaining value of the subscription or negotiated terms.
Grace Periods and Data Access: After contract termination, there is usually a short grace period (e.g., 15–30 days) during which customers can export or request their data before it is permanently deleted.
Downgrade vs. Cancellation: In some cases, customers can opt to downgrade their subscription rather than fully cancel it, which may preserve access to historical data with limited features.
Contract Adjustments for Renewal: Upon renewal, customers may renegotiate terms such as user counts, support levels, or feature access based on evolving needs or budget considerations.
Compliance
Dragonboat is committed to meeting recognized compliance standards that ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of customer data. The platform adheres to regulatory and industry benchmarks that promote strong data security and responsible data management practices.
Compliance Standards Met:
SOC 2 Type II Compliance: Dragonboat has achieved SOC 2 Type II certification, which demonstrates that its systems and controls meet rigorous standards for security, availability, and confidentiality. This is especially important for customers handling sensitive business data.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): Dragonboat complies with GDPR requirements, ensuring that personal data from EU/EEA users is collected, processed, and stored in line with European data protection laws. It supports data subject rights such as access, rectification, and erasure.
Data Encryption Standards: The platform uses AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS encryption in transit, which align with standard compliance expectations for secure data handling.
Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC): These controls help ensure that only authorized users can access specific data or system functionalities, supporting compliance with both SOC 2 and GDPR.
Audit Logs and Monitoring: Continuous monitoring and activity logging are built into the system, enabling traceability and accountability, which are essential for compliance audits and incident response.
Data Residency and Transfer Protections: For clients with regional data storage requirements, Dragonboat may offer configurations or assurances about how and where data is stored and processed, in line with compliance needs.
Third-Party Vendor Management: Dragonboat assesses and manages the risk of its own third-party service providers to ensure that any subprocessors also comply with relevant standards.
