Oyova

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the product marketing manager of Bacharach. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Oyova?
Our website is on WordPress, and one of our plugins was bringing in a lot of spam. We tried adding antispam plugins to counteract it but were still getting the spam through. Essentially, our team reached out to Oyova to see if they could come up with some custom code to stop the spam and fix the plugin.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
Oyova built a code that fixed some of the plugin’s script so that the spam didn’t get added to our site. 

What is the team composition?
There were 3–4 individuals on the team. At the beginning of the engagement, I was in contact with their CEO. Then, I was handed off to our account manager.

How did you come to work with Oyova?
When we were trying to work out how to reduce all of the spam, one of the links we happened upon was a plugin created by Oyova. I got in touch with them because they had worked with this sort of issue before.

How much have you invested with them?
We invested under $1,000.

What is the status of this engagement?
The engagement happened over the course of two weeks in April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 
Everything is resolved now. There’s no more spam coming through the plugin. If we need any more support, we’ll definitely engage with them again.

How did Oyova perform from a project management standpoint?
Project management was perfect. Our account manager made sure we were always informed. Oyova delivered a bit sooner than we expected so we were very pleased. We mostly communicated through Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?
They really understood where we were coming from and what the issue was. Their team grasped that right from the very start.

Are there any areas they could improve?
There were a couple of issues at the beginning where they misunderstood what I was trying to achieve. However, we ironed it out later on so everything worked out. Establishing those key issues from the start would be beneficial. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
We had a very niche situation, so definitely get in touch with Oyova if you have a similar need. 
 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

TSG Realty is a property management company in North Florida. We manage commercial real estate.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Oyova?

We have a website to provide our potential clients and partners with information about our business. It shows them the scope of our business in terms of what we do and what we’re involved in. We work with Oyova to help us with the maintenance and operation of our site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Oyova helps us maintain and keep running our site the right way. They’ve done some modifications to our site, and they've helped us change the hosting system. We’ve had them update and fix aspects of the site, as well as do some other changes to the content and the media.

We used a different vendor to create the site because I didn’t know them at the time. There were many aspects of it that needed back and frontend improvements, and Oyova's team has done all that. If I were creating a new website, I would hire them again.

Oyova has also helped us with a little bit of SEO, reconfiguring some of that part. However, as we’re not a customer-facing business, our goal isn’t to market widely. We haven't invested a lot in SEO work with them because it’s not critical for us to appear on top of search results.

What is the team composition?

We work mainly with two people. Our main point of contact is Beth (Account Manager). She’s the main person that we talk to, and the one that facilitates what the staff and the engineers are working on. She’s extremely friendly, professional, and responsive — she’s excellent and does a great job.

How did you come to work with Oyova?

Someone recommended them, but I can’t remember who. Based on this person’s recommendation, I reached out to them. I’ve always felt good about this partnership since then.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around the first quarter of 2017, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve got a lot of positive feedback from the people that work with us. They think that our website looks good overall and that it’s maintained up to date. We’ve also got feedback about the performance of the site. Oyova recommended we use a different host provider, and it really sped up the site. We do get comments about it —we feel really good about our site.

They've always been an excellent, responsive, and professional vendor for us. They've done a great job, and they’re wonderful people to work with.

How did Oyova perform from a project management standpoint?

Oyova performs really well. They work really promptly and always meet deadlines. They also have great communication, which is definitely a strength. We communicate mainly through email and sometimes through phone calls. I’m sure they could offer more project management tools if I asked for it, but for me, email is fine.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Oyova’s most impressive qualities are their reliability, confidence, and professionalism. They’re a really professional vendor and make me feel that, when we’re interacting with them, they’re definitely going to get back to us, take us seriously, and complete the task promptly. They’re great vendors, and we’re very pleased with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

According to my experience, I have zero complaints — it has been a very positive relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There’s nothing special I would recommend to a company to work with Oyova. As with any other relationship, you need to have clarity of communication and detailed expectations. This is a responsive and professional company that doesn’t need micromanaging.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Executive Creative Director of a Creative & Marketing Agency

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I hired Oyova to quickly help me scale and build a website for a tight turnaround Client that was launching a new Book with a massive PR budget behind it.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I needed a responsive team with flexibility to work on tight timelines, and deliver development at high quality

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

I worked with Oyova to outline the technology needed to quickly spin up an e-commerce solution with a custom theme. Based on their guidance we created a Shopify store, with a scalable plan that allowed us to build the site out in phases.

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

I worked with 3 people from Oyova – A project manager, development manager, and a developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to hit our rushed timelines. The team has been great at pivoting to handle last-minute requests.

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

Beth and Ryan have been incredibly responsive and easy to work with. As my point person on the project, Beth has been incredible staying on top of requirements, questions, solutions, and deliverables.

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

Their ability to quickly scale to our specific needs with a tight turnaround was exactly what I needed.

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

Nope! Great team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the General Manager of a company that provides internet services to mostly rural communities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Oyova to assist us in redesigning and rebranding our website. We were looking to freshen things up, some help with organizing the flow of the website to better tell our story, and to also assist with back end clean up of products and systems.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

A prior team that we used were non responsive, did not accurately help with resolving issues, and often found we had to follow up several times to get something done to completion. So when we decided to begin looking for a new team that better fit our company's culture, we also were looking for a team that would provide more professional and be more timely. We have not been disappointed with the professionalism and speed of the Oyova team once!

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

We have had several team meetings for creative design concepts, including wireframes and examples of how the website will look; zoom meetings and discussions centered around the story we want to tell; and we consistently have updates emailed to us regarding the status of projects, our retainer, and anything else we ask for.

The team is incredible thorough and always is well prepared for meetings, coming not only with concepts and great questions to make us think of things that we may not have considered otherwise, but also to talk solutions so that there are actionable items in place to keep the ball rolling.

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

We have two project managers - one that focuses on the creative aspect and drives design concepts, another that has been on top of back end development and clean up. We also have a third team member that assists with booking meetings, keeping track of deliverables, and is our go to for communication on current developments.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At this time we are still in the early states of the website redesign. However, they have been incredibly prompt (within 24 hours) of executing changes on website terminology, we have already upgraded and cleaned up internal applications to streamline changes, and we also have upgraded our customer communication platform to assist in making customer marketing communications easier. We have only been actively on the project and began discussions on this project in April.

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

We use email, Zoom, and other similar video conferencing tools in order to communicate and stay up to date. As mentioned, the team is always prepared to lead discussions and meetings are very productive.

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

They are refreshingly fun to work with, while being very on top of things. Their communication style is very personable and professional! I also admire that we never have to dig for answers. When something comes up, we not only get a solution but a thorough explanation for the problem so we know why something happened, and how the fix will keep it from happening again. This team is very experienced and knowledgable in what they do!

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our union is over 25,000 workers strong in Oregon in Southwest Washington, and the largest private-sector labor union in Oregon. We are a diverse group of workers who take pride in acting as a strong collective voice for working people. Our members come from a number of industries, including grocery, retail, food processing, manufacturing, and healthcare.

My title is Social Media Coordinator. I run our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, creating, scheduling, and posting content, in addition to moderating comments and replying to direct messages. I also update the website, using the Wordpress engine/dashboard to create, edit or update, and publish pages and web posts, including member spotlights and our newspaper.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Oyova?

Website hosting, development, and maintenance. On demand support

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We needed to transfer from our former host, and wanted a company that reflected our Union values. Our deciding factors were responsiveness, Oyova's competency and professionality, and particularly their flexibility for our unique needs.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

They ensured the transfer from our former host was smooth and worked with another company to make that happen. Beth, as an account manager, has checked in on a regular basis personally to ensure our needs are met. Beth also quickly and affordably worked with her team to update our site on short notice to support larger file uploads from form submissions and provided support and guidance on how to use tools on the website we are unfamiliar with as needed.

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

Beth, our account manager, has been fantastic! As I've said, she is attentive, effective, and pleasant to work with!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Beth walked us through our best options when we needed to accommodate larger file uploads, including cost-effectiveness, and her attention to detail ensured the tool would accommodate our needs, including anticipating factors that we had not considered on our end. This program, on short notice, was set up to meet our needs quickly and solved our problem.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Beth checks in regularly to make sure we have everything we need and responds very quickly when we reach out.

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

Their flexibility and excellence in anticipating our needs are impressive.

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

I honestly can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Operations and Technology at a High Visibility Apparel Manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were left out in the cold looking for a developer to take over our custom ECommerce website. Oyova stepped up to help us. For the past 10 years, they have exhausted every effort to help keep our site functional and up-to-date. They plugged in improvements as requested. Gone beyond their responsibility to assist in break-fixes with 3rd party integrations. They have developed offline apps for our production floor. They had a solution whenever we needed one. They have felt like a partner that was an extension of our business.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We found them by recommendation. We have stayed with them because they have been reliable, easy to work with, and they get projects done when they say they will.

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

Our site is a Custom Content Management platform built on .net. They have provided hosting. Sandbox Services. SSL management. App development. Currently they are working with our new marketing team on rebranding exercises.

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

Beth has been an amazing point of contact and project manager. We get acknowledgements of requests and timely follow ups. When we need to pull the team together, she rallies the troops. Chenoa has always been a friendly voice on the phone and helpful in the rush emergencies.

Daniel has saved our company at least once. He worked for 2 weeks strait with developers from other counties to resolve a credit card processing issue. The overseas team was unable to solve it. He created a brilliant workaround and got us back functioning. Lastly, when I have had the pleasure of speaking with David, he has been a gracious partner who has had his team bend over backward to continue to support us. He has been fair in his negotiations and given us grace when we were indecisive to the detriment of his company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website consistently grew 20-25 percent per year while in their care. I know much of that was the compliance efforts they put into it. They also kept us on hosting environments that allowed performance to not inhibit our SERP rankings. Many of the projects I found to be a success, I would not have been able to implement (custom customer portals and unique catalogs) would not have been feasible if their costs were not so reasonable.

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

For our projects, we tended to only need emails and follow ups. The responses were quick, even after hours or at the end of the day.

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

Their Name. They have awesome people who care and do their best to get it right.

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

Some junior members at time struggled with understanding our heavily customized environment. A little more oversite may have helped? But if they never tried to use them, we would never be able to have an expanded pool of developers to lean on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder and CFO, including oversite of technology development and operations

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Oyova replaced an overseas development firm, and handles various app development projects as assigned.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Referred by another local IT vendor.

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

Oyova's team has a good process for onboarding. We met with the entire team and principals.

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

Have worked with 8 to 10 members of the team at all levels.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Oyova has been able to easily step into the shoes of our original development team.

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

Very responsive through email, our helpdesk, and assigned tickets.

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

Broad scope of service, but not too large of a company. Also based locally.

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

No problems.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO for a small marketing firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Oyova was hired to help me update and maintain a WordPress website that was built over four years ago by another team prior to my engagement with the client. My goal was to find a group capable of helping me to update the functionality and content of the client website without a full redesign.

SOLUTION

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

Oyova came to me as a potential partner through a person on the Oyova team and a mutual friend of ours. After meeting with him and discussing my needs with their team it was pretty obvious that Oyova could handle any work that I might need for any WordPress client.

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

Backing up the site, creating a staging environment, updating WordPress, themes, and plug-ins as well as custom development and speed/SEO optimization.

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

Mostly I work with Beth as a Project Manager and Ryan as a developer but also with Ryan the owner and with Ryan in Bus. Development/Partnerships. Lots of Ryans.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I've been impressed with Beth and her ability to coordinate multiple projects for me at the same time. We appreciate how the team built custom build options to use even in aging designs.

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

Beth and I manage everything via email. I'm not sure what they use internally.

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

Their ability to understand the older technology and give me great options for updating to more current standards without breaking the existing site.

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

I think they are working through a lot to better understand how to part with agencies to better serve clients as a white label partner. My hope is that as this continues they'll understand how to package things so it's easier to sell to customers instead of everything being custom.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Director of Web Development at a smaller design, advertising and communications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Oyova to help fill a skills gap left by an employee moving on from our company. We decided to work with them rather than hire a replacement at the same skill level. Our goal was to utilize their superior knowledge and broader skills base so that we could rehire for a more hybrid design/development position.

SOLUTION

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

We have worked with Oyova in the past and knew they could deliver everything they promised. They were able to put us on a monthly retainer at a cost point that worked for our needs, but the biggest deciding factor was how knowledgable and confident their team members were as we walked them through our worries and desires. It instantly won us over.

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

We had a kickoff meeting to discuss the changes that needed to be made to the site, and then I sent over a more formal list.

Beth, the PM, worked with me to use our project management system and kept me informed the whole time as to where in the process we were. Her team worked within our existing site structure using WordPress, Gravity Forms, and AirTable, and delivered the updated site just as we asked for.

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

Beth was our project manager who we worked with most closely. We also had several developers supporting our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have not finished this project quite yet, but we are very happy with everything we've seen so far.

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

Oyova communicated via email and through comments on our preferred project management system, Wrike, to ensure we were always in the loop about the project. We get weekly timesheet reports from the team.

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

We had a very specific request as far as how we wanted to work with Oyova as an agency, and I was extremely impressed that they were able to deliver that with no questions asked in the best way possible. We are very lucky to have them as our go-to resource for web development questions and projects.

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

I don't think so.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a tech lead and developer for Mojo Media Labs. We’re a growth marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Oyova?

Oyova is one of our go-to development partners. If clients want custom functionalities or custom applications, for example, they’re our go-to team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most recently, Oyova worked on a Google Maps API integration project. They built a custom search functionality, custom geolocation functionality, and a feature to calculate distances to our client’s franchise locations. Their team basically created everything our client needed as far as search results and maps to display on their website.

Oyova also worked on an IDX (information data exchange) project for a realtor. Their team was able to parse the IDX feed and then synced it with the website. They also built custom functionalities for showing properties, maps, and properties' details.

What is the team composition?

I generally have 3–4 main points of contact during a project, including a project manager, a technical lead, and a developer.

How did you come to work with Oyova?

I met Oyova through the Digital Mastermind Group. It’s an organization of many small business owners that brings them together to share best practices and help each other grow. Their owner is part of that group, and that’s how I met him.

How much have you invested with them?

On their services, we’ve probably spent between $200,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Oyova about 7–8 years ago. Our most recent project ended a few weeks ago, but our partnership’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Oyova has helped us numerous times. We track whether or not their team meets deadlines and whether or not they accurately scoped projects, so estimating timing and billing. Everything always comes out right in the ballpark. We’re absolutely happy with their services and Oyova has had a positive impact on our business.

How did Oyova perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication’s clear, upfront, and straightforward. They also meet deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Honestly, I’m most impressed by their communication and knowledge.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t believe so.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Deliver them as much information as possible to help them best plan the project.