Item: Progress Telerik
Rating: 10
Author: Ray Levron

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it within our entire organization. It is used in our business applications both internal and external. Our clients enjoy the visual UI appearance and the functionality and flexibility of the controls. As for business problems, it makes implementation easier because it contains a lot of functionality built into the controls that we would have to otherwise write ourselves.

Pros and Cons

The numeric text boxes provide validation and ensure only numbers can be entered without having to write javascript code.
The datepicker control offers a very feature rich calendar that meets all of our client needs and I don't have to add any javascript code.
The grid is incredibly feature rich, with paging and sorting and filtering built in and I don't have to add any server side code to perform these functions.
I find the dropdownfor control is very easy to implement and is richer than the standard control and easier to customize

I wish the order of scripts were not so particular. You absolutely have to load the external scripts in the correct order to implement due to the range of icons that are used in some of the controls, like the grid.
I wish there were more formatting options for text boxes for things like zip codes and social security numbers.
It would be nice to be able to just add a script file and css file to the end of whatever external files we are already loading. Kendo tends to be very picky about this part.
I would love to see telerik offer report controls
It would be nice for telerik to offer complete basic forms

Return on Investment

The clients love the flexibility of the controls, thus they readily ask us to create more applications, improving our ROI.
The controls are easy enough to implement into our applications and easier to code against than the standard .Net controls which speeds up development time.
We can easily move our applications from Test to QA and then to PROD because the control libraries support our environments, making the deployments faster.
The only negative I would say - the issue with the external scripts order is a bit of a learning curve for incoming developers. It slows them down just a bit at the beginning.

Alternatives Considered

javascript datagrid - This is a pretty lightweight javascript library that takes a database query and converts it into a javascript based grid. The grid has sorting, filtering, and paging capabilities.

I prefer the Telerik grid personally once the styling and script files are implemented correctly. The Telerik grid is very flexible in that the data can be consumed from either server side or javascript, depending on the needs of the application at the time. I also like the way most features and functionality in the grid can be just hooked in via properties or events.

I will admit, however, that the javascript datagrid has a quick implementation learning curve because it is basically one js file. After that, it is all javascript code.

Support Rating

Any time I have needed support, I just log into their website and create a trouble ticket. They have always responded within 24 hours with easy-to-follow, broken-down instructions. In all cases, they have provided code snippets for example for any difficult scenarios. If I get an answer that I don't completely understand, they explain it in more detail and usually provide code snippets to help illustrate difficult tasks. I have also had tickets answered and have asked for more detailed explanations. Instead of closing the ticket and opening new ones, they have just kept the ticket open for me until I was completely satisfied with the answer.

Key Insights

Do you think Progress Telerik delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Progress Telerik's feature set?

Yes

Did Progress Telerik live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Progress Telerik go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Progress Telerik again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Jabber, Cisco Webex Meetings, Google Hangouts

Likelihood to Recommend

We use a lot of forms that include dates, numeric inputs, drop downs. We also use a lot of grids to present groups of data to our clients. Along with this, the grids allow sorting and filtering. Our clients love that kind of stuff. In addition, the controls are much prettier than the standard .Net controls.

Products Replaced

Yes - javascript datagrid. Telerik grid provides much more functionality out of the box without having to write additional code. The UI is much prettier and professional looking. Most common functions can be revised or added in by simply setting properties in the HTML. The users love the sorting and filtering capabilities and responsiveness of the grid

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Usability
Product Reputation

The features in the grid were a big sell to most of our clients. We have several applications that display query results based on date ranges. This often includes sorting, filtering, and paging. The grid performs these functions naturally right out of the box with just a few property settings. This reduces development time dramatically.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

I would probably spend more time smoke testing various components, including various reporting components. I would kick the tires on them as much as possible, doing larger queries so I can put the grid and reporting components under various stress tests. I would also compare these components side by side against other popular vendor components for value and return on investment.

Easy to use, quick to implement, feature rich

Overall Satisfaction with Telerik