Liventus

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner of City Threads children's clothing

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Liventus, and what were your goals?

Design magento website for ecommerce.

SOLUTION

How did you select Liventus and what were the deciding factors?

Recommended by colleague

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Made a scope of work and timeline for website development.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Tim was the main contact, and sometimes the designers we would communicate with. Now we communicate with many of the team members depending on what the project is.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Tim and his team created a very reliable and good looking website for a good price. They continued on to be our maintenance and development team on retainer ever since.

The team is strong in design and technical help. Anything we've ever asked for they've researched, given us quotes and timelines, and done significant research to see the best way to implement new features to the site, or fix issues.

They always are in favor of fixes that are better quality. The work is always exceptional and if there are issues, they take care of it promptly. They take great concern and care for our site and all the features it has. They have earned our trust completely from the years of consistent quality work, and punctual, clear communication.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Tim has been our contact for meetings and new projects. He then meets with the team, and comes back to give me pricing and timelines and specifics to the project. He gives advice on what he thinks is the best way to move forward when there are multiple options.

They also respond to urgent matters promptly. When our servers have gone down on the weekend or holiday, I've been able to reach them and they've restored our site quickly.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They have an enormous amount of integrity in their work. They only like to do things the right way. If they make a mistake they take accountability and fix it asap. No project I've brought them has been beyond their ability.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Sometimes they get really busy with big projects, and we have to wait a little bit longer than we would like, but they are clear about the communication and they will get urgent issues taken care of even when they are busy. They always catch up and get our work done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and founder of Engaging Minds. We’re a learning center that focuses on teaching executive function skills to students in grades 2–12.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Liventus?

We asked them to create a new parent portal for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I shared with them a very rudimentary model that we’ve been using. Our old portal was ready to be retired and upgraded. They took the functionality that we created and made it a little bit better.

What is the team composition?

Dan (President & Co-Founder) is always available to me. Ha (Associate Application Development Manager) also works with us. They’ve had various other people working on the portal throughout our engagement.

How did you come to work with Liventus?

It was a word of mouth referral.

How much have you invested with them?

I’d say between $25,000–$35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They’re good listeners and problem-solvers. Liventus helped us figure out different ways of approaching what we wanted to do. We wanted to make it easy for our families to connect with their instructors. Their team was creative and thoughtful about how they approached that.

How did Liventus perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been really good. They have an inside ticketing system that they like to use. I don’t always use it, but they haven’t penalized me for it. Their team is responsive whenever we need them to be.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like working with Dan. He’s a good guy. Even though we’re a small client, they take us very seriously and treat us like they would any other client.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to identify one person that can stick with you for the long haul. We have that in Dan and Ha, but the people who are doing the groundwork have shifted a bit over time and they needed time to get up to speed. It’s not a fair criticism because, with that level of employee, there’s going to be turnover. We’ve been working with them for four years so it hasn't affected us enough to make a change!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the group president of an incentives and recognition company. We’re part of a summit group that also does branded items as well.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Liventus?

We needed to create a web platform that would host various incentives and recognition programs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team worked closely with them using an agile process to design the platform and then they handled the entire development process from the ground up. The platform allows us to process files that we receive from our clients and then send that information out through both social media and emails directly to the recipients of the awards.

It also hosts sales and loyalty programs by which employees are able to receive points, bank those points, and then ultimately redeem them for cash on a virtual Visa card. We primarily used .NET for all of the actual infrastructure of the project.

What was the team composition?

We have a core team of three people assigned to the work, and then we add or subtract people depending on the bandwidth we need for whatever stage of the project we’re at.

How did you come to work with Liventus?

We met their CEO during another project that we were working on and began a relationship with them that made it easy to reach out when this particular need arose.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of the project has been a little over $3 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around August 2016, and they continue to maintain the platform for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

For a sense of their level of performance, we can point to the management of the new programs that we implement. For example, in a huge client that we brought on recently, there were a lot of changes that we had to make and maybe one or two issues that came up at all in that process, which really speaks to the level of attention to detail and commitment to the work that they have.

How did Liventus perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve really become integrated within our own team, so in terms of project management, we’ve really been pleased with how they’ve communicated in our own internal operations. There haven’t been any issues when it comes to maintaining the speed of development, hitting all of our milestones, or ensuring that everyone is on the same page throughout all of the work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our biggest reason for selecting them in the first place was the ability that they demonstrated to really listen to what we were saying and then deliver that we needed rather than taking existing code and trying to force it into the functions that we wanted it for. They are focused on our core business needs, and for that reason, we are very happy with all the results they’ve achieved.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think the only main thing we could improve is to have an assigned account manager besides the developers working with us so that if we did have any issues, we could maybe address it from a more holistic perspective rather than with the individual developers. That’s something we’ve talked about with them, so we wouldn’t really call it an issue for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work really closely with them regarding timelines and let them lead you through the work because they are excellent at mapping things out ahead of time. We found our best success came when we were visiting them once a month to spend time reviewing and planning each step together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an online marketplace for used industrial equipment, and I’m the operations director here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Liventus?

We’re a small business that’s been operating on a mobile platform that’s run by a third party. The platform is out of date, and the third party submitted a quote that detailed what it would cost to upgrade it. I called on Liventus to submit a competing quote.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team proposed converting my site into something more responsive. In this effort, they converted a few pages to give us an example of what this technology could do. It performed much better than what the other company could provide, so we went with them. They’ve since converted my site to be fully responsive, so tablet and mobile users can attain a much better UX. Every .NET page has been redeveloped and reformatted from top to bottom.

What is the team composition?

I’ve had four people working on the project from their team: a senior manager, a UX liaison, and offshore developer, and an engineer that I’ve been working with for many years. 

How did you come to work with Liventus?

The development team that we’re working with was recently acquired by Liventus, which allowed us to maintain the same team. 

How much have you invested with them?

On this project, we’ve invested about $15,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2011, and our collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They provided me with a much more efficient solution. I’ve seen offshore relationships go wrong when the offshore company doesn’t feel engaged as part of the team. I’ve had a weekly call with them every week since the start of this project, and I can tell that they’re all engaged with us. They’re set to deliver the final product soon, and we’re so happy with their work that we’re already planning another project for them.  

How did Liventus perform from a project management standpoint?

The team worked in concert to ensure that we were communicating effectively and that their work would not impact my production environment at all. I’ve been working with my senior contact there for many years, and this is the most efficient collaboration we’ve ever had together. They haven’t exceeded costs and have managed to keep us on time with deliveries. It’s a huge bright spot to have new functionalities being created, especially given the global pandemic.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They take ownership of issues and have worked to develop a close relationship with us. More than any team I’ve worked with in the past, they feel like an extension of our staff. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re in good shape here. This was a bright spot in a dark time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate your needs and goals. I don’t micromanage them because they’re creative, intuitive, and knowledgable in their field. There have been very few times that I’ve had to send work back to them for modifications.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Fruitful Yield is a health foods store with 13 brick and mortar locations in the Chicago suburbs. Fruitful Yield also has an online retail site that ships products nationally. I am the eCommerce Manager at Fruitful Yield.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Liventus?

Liventus was already hired when I began working for Fruitful Yield. I know when Fruitful Yield hired them that they wanted to have an online retail site but did not have a team to design, create, and manage the backend. When I started at Fruitful Yield, Liventus was about to start redesigning their current website and that's where I became involved.

What were your goals for this project?

The website had to have a responsive design, eCommerce capabilities, built on Magento, include custom integrations to meet specific needs, include a Wordpress blog, and have employee access for phone orders. These goals would help us meet our customer needs and expand our brick and mortar business to online.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

When I started at Fruitful Yield, Liventus was already working with the team. Our IT department is heavily involved with the selection process.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Liventus listened to our needs. We had weekly calls and a few in-person meetings. They returned with mockups of what the website could look like. We went through many revisions until we nailed a design we all felt comfortable with. We also looked to them for recommendations on design and function throughout the process.

What was the team composition?

The team that works with us is comprised of 2 main people. A project manager and a developer. They also bring in a few others depending on the expertise needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

After the launch of the new website sales increased by 2%. Right now we are on pace to increase sales by over 40% this year.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We have weekly calls setup to touch base on completed tasks and future tasks. They are very responsive. Once an email is sent, they usually respond within minutes. If there is ever a delay on a task or project they are very transparent and keep us up to date every step of the way. Communication is usually through conference calls, Join.me, or Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Most impressive to me is their skillset and communication. They are able to problem solve and tackle projects in a timely matter. Their quick responsiveness to emails is impressive. I'm never left wondering.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is not much that I can think of that they could improve. Actually nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I am the Director of Information Technology for the world's leading distributor of arcade and amusement equipment.  With over 85 years of expertise and distribution centers nationwide, our family-owned business also provides parts, service and financing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Liventus?

We needed a partner who would be able to fully support our existing eCommerce sites, as well as assist us in building additional websites that focused on other areas of our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Liventus came in and began engaging us immediately to learn more about our business and needs. They helped improve the functionality, stability and security of our existing e-commerce sites.  Since that time, they have developed three additional websites that provide more information about our businesses and products.  Currently, they are upgrading our sites to the newest version of Magento. 

What is the team composition?

The team consists of approximately five people, depending on the nature of the project.

How did you come to work with Liventus?

We had been working with another vendor who was not able to provide us with the level of service we needed in a timely and cost-effective manner. Our Magento rep introduced us to Tim and his team at Liventus. We met with them and were immediately wowed by their knowledge and commitment to customer service.

How much have you invested in them?

We have two types of engagements with Liventus.   We have retained their services to apply security patches, troubleshoot issues, and make minor changes to our sites. For this, we pay a monthly retainer fee.   We also commission them for additional projects as they surface.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2015, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They always deliver on time and we have complete confidence in the quality of their work. Liventus understands the importance of security and proactively responds to address any potential issues. There is open communication between all parties via phone and email, as well as weekly status calls with all team members. Liventus understands our business and we’ve built an outstanding relationship with them.

How did Liventus perform from a project management standpoint?

Their knowledge of Magento and Wordpress has been key. They stay on track and, by doing so, keep us focused as well.  They understand our business and are able to suggest areas of improvement that we did not see. We hold weekly project status meetings, in addition to phone calls and emails, as needed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of customer service is second to none.  Liventus consistently delivers quality solutions. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't really think of anything at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT director for a manufacturer and retailer of health products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Liventus?

We’ve had a well-over-10-year partnership with Liventus on many projects involving web development, management, and hosting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first brought in Liventus to set up a website in Magento for one of our divisions. They also handled their order processing. Over the years, they’ve designed, developed, and managed multiple websites for us — all in Magento — for different departments. We’re now upgrading our sites to Magento 2.

Liventus also helped us recently consolidate our web hosting options from 5–6 companies to just one: Rackspace. Their team led the project as a technical vendor and now manage our Rackspace environment for all of our public- and private-facing websites. 

Other projects that Liventus is involved in include our “sell online, pick up in-store” project and our mobile app. Liventus created the middle tier that links the app with our Magento platform, cleansing the data and presenting it in a way that can be processed on either side. 

Lastly, they support our websites and order processing functions, which are managed through Oracle. They create patches and run regular security checks to be proactive.

What is the team composition?

We work with three people: Tim (EVP of Client Relations), who’s our account manager; Jason (Senior Software Development Team Lead), who manages our technical environment; and Kevin (Senior Application Developer), who’s our Magento programmer.

How did you come to work with Liventus?

I joined the company five years ago, and we were already working with Liventus (although they went by a different name back then). 

How much have you invested with them?

On average, we spend about $300,000–$400,000 per year. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership started in January 2007 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve always had a good relationship with Liventus. They’re always on time and on budget, and when they’re not, they let us know. They’re also extremely generous when it comes to making things right. They’re willing to eat some costs for the sake of our budget.

How did Liventus perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a great job. Tim communicates very well, setting clear expectations and explaining the technical side. We have a large project team on our side, and we have separate calls each week with Tim. We highly recommend Liventus and enjoy working with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, Liventus is a step above a lot of other companies in this space. We’ve worked with others, and they always come in more expensive and their solutions are not as elegant and functional. We’re just very happy with Liventus.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When I first got here, some people at my company were unhappy with how Liventus was handling the marketing side of things. I believe most of those issues came from our project manager at the time, who wasn’t as good at managing people’s expectations. Once we brought it up to Tim, he remedied that right away and came on as our project manager instead. Since then, I haven’t heard any complaints from the marketing team. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Liventus’ technical capabilities are very good, but I’m not as involved when it comes to their marketing services. That’s probably an area where they need to do more due diligence to make sure a strategy works. But, as I said, our marketing folks have been very happy with them for the past 4½ years.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital director here at ParkerWhite Brand Interactive, a creative agency based in San Diego, California. We focus on digital marketing and branding services. I’ve handled all our partnerships with outsourced vendors over the past four years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Liventus?

We typically engage Liventus for enterprise-level challenges. We rely on them for anything that’s for a larger organization, or for work that calls for complex backend development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Liventus has provided custom development of the front- and backends of websites, as well as of CRM portals. They've helped architect platforms that are integrated with a number of different services. Their work—and especially the last two projects—have called for coding in .NET, but the tech stack has varied depending on the project.

One of our recent clients was an egg-donation bank. To facilitate their acquisition of more donors, Liventus took a deep dive into their marketing process. They then architected an automated backend system that would enable the client to see where their customers were in the conversion pipeline.

What is the team composition?

The team size fluctuates, but I usually work with 3–5 people.

How did you come to work with Liventus?

They were a referral from another client of ours. We started working together on a shared project, and the relationship grew from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere between $50,000–$200,000 for each project, and we’ve had four or five projects in the last few years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June of 2015, and it’s an ongoing partnership. Any time we have a project, we can reach out to them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They consistently deliver excellent work, which has led us to continually rely on them. In the project for the egg bank, they underwent a sophisticated process to produce a complex end product. The results of their build were dramatic—the system increased the client’s conversion rate from <1% to over 40%.

How did Liventus perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is fantastic. The project manager is always on top of scheduling and making sure that they’re on top of tasks. Their communication—from status meetings to emails—has also been stellar. I believe they use Jira for project management, and we use Microsoft Project on our side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They always do a deep dive into the project requirements to understand the true scope of the project. They don’t simply agree to a task—they work to get a full sense of the business impact of their work. They ensure that they can deliver the most value for our clients.

They’re educated, tech-savvy professionals who really pay attention. Whenever I ask them a question, they can give me a workable solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. I don’t see anything that could be improved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to actually scope things out, and make sure you talk to the principals and the people who’ll be working on the project. They’ll be diligent in trying to understand your needs so that they can deliver you the best results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Technology Officer of a consulting company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Leadership coaching and development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Liventus to accomplish?

• Sustaining Engineering

SOLUTION

How did you find Liventus?

Referral

Why did you select Liventus over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Liventus were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Sustaining engineering activities including product defect investigation, remediation and testing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Remediation of issues with consistency freeing full-time resources to work on more important projects.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Delivery of requirements was generally timely. The team was responsive, professional and the remedies offer sufficient.

What was your primary form of communication with Liventus?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their ability to find resources that were technically competent while also being a cultural fit was unique.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Liventus could have done differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of Consult Disrupt

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Operations and Technology consulting to the equipment finance industry

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Liventus to accomplish?

• Build a custom report for a client

SOLUTION

How did you find Liventus?

Referral

Why did you select Liventus over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Liventus were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

I have a consulting client that needed to make a customization to an existing report. The timeline from their existing vendor didn't meet their immediate need. I worked with a Liventus resource to document the clients specific report requirements. These requirements were turned over to a development resource and we were able to turn around the entire project in less than two weeks and even come in under the original cost estimate.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Turning around a project ahead of time and under budget.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Based on the timeline and scope, every aspect of this project was very professional and timely.

What was your primary form of communication with Liventus?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

There ability to understand customer needs and turn around development work in an expedited and accurate manner.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Liventus could have done differently?

Not for this project.