Pedrera

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the marketing and communications manager for FMI, a consulting and investment banking firm that focuses on the built environment. My role was project managing a new website -- complete rework of the design, user experience and content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website was outdated, impossible to use and difficult to update. We hired Pedrera to help us start over. Previous teams had been unable to deliver a new site for us and timelines dragged on until the projects were abandoned. After giving Pedrera our new brand guidelines, we worked to build an entirely new site that would highlight our two separate business units, yet demonstrate the power we can bring to clients. Our project included several searchable databases of content and prior investment banking deals. We also needed specific content displays, enhanced search functionality and integration with HubSpot to gate content. We also engaged Pedrera to help us move to a more secure website, manage the server and improve the usability of the site. Our team now relies on Pedrera for monthly site maintenance and security updates, improving our security and usability.

SOLUTION

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

The vendor had the best presentation and the diverse array of skills to build all the different components we needed for the site. Their work is modern, functional and timely. They came highly recommended and we couldn't have been happier with the choice.

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

This project took nearly seven months to deliver. Pedrera helped every step of the way to make smart technology recommendations, help us understand best practices and create site mock-ups. We have a lot of internal stakeholders and Pedrera helped us demonstrate our vision for the site and efficiently create consensus in order to move the project forward on our timeline. They were a transparent and honest partner, explaining why certain ideas would work and others would not. Any request we had was handled immediately, or an honest conversation was had to reach a better decision. We opted to build the site with ExpressionEngine, change our domain name, migrate our servers and improve our security based on Pedrera's recommendations. The team worked with our internal IT department to help them understand the changes and implement changes needed. The team also went above and beyond to make sure all our stakeholders were happy and provide prompt, exemplary customer service. This project would not have been successful without their guidance and partnership (as proven in past failures.)

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

A project manager was our main point of contact with two other developers to help.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Two weeks after launching our new site, traffic increased 34% and time spent on the site was up 15%. We only expect this to increase since the site is incredibly functional and clients will now view it as a resource. We finally have the ability to clearly display our content, highlight our people and demonstrate what we can do for clients in a clear, easy to navigate site that is incredibly robust. Creating something simple and easy to use from a complicated start is incredibly difficult and we're already getting leads and better traction in the market.

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

We had weekly check-ins with the team where we talked through project needs and priorities. Steps were clear and organized with responses laid out. It was always clear what decisions we needed to make and the deadlines in order to keep our project on time. I also greatly appreciated the honest and transparent approach by everyone on the team. It truly felt like an extension of our marketing team, tapping into true expertise.

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

Everything. I honestly haven't worked with a vendor that has this level of client service and attention to detail. They are truly professional and experts in the field. We had the team join calls with various business leaders and they were able to explain the technology and benefits as well as why we made certain decisions. Having a partner with this level of knowledge, organization, design, and professionalism has been incredible.

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

Honestly, any issues or bugs were handling right away and minor. Because of their experience, we were able to mitigate issues and anticipate problems before they arose. The launch was incredibly smooth and our marketing team looks like heroes.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the brand marketing manager for Wyffels Hybrids, an independently-owned seed corn company. Basically, we sell seed corn to farmers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pedrera?

We were looking for a partner to launch a complete website redesign. We hadn’t updated our website in over 8 years, so it was one of the key initiatives that were waiting for me when I onboarded the company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pedrera executed a large-scale redesign of our ExpressionEngine platform. They wholly reconfigured the structure and layout of the solution. We were working with our other long-standing agency partner on its branding elements but relied entirely on Pedrera to implement those designs.

They initially conducted a refresh of our backend, which allowed us to further rely on them for a complete frontend overhaul.

What is the team composition?

I had three points of contact.

How did you come to work with Pedrera?

I was looking for a provider whose specialty was truly ExpressionEngine. I found Pedrera through internet research, and since they did so well on the backend project, we decided to engage them for the frontend redesign.

How much have you invested in the engagement so far?

The website cost somewhere around $50,000–$60,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2019, and our new website went live in July of 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Pedrera truly over-delivered. We’ve seen great results with the new website, both from traffic and usability standpoints. We’ve seen increases in both lead generation and engagement, so we feel very good about where we are now.

How did Pedrera perform from a project management standpoint?

I appreciated how I could engage directly with the owner of the company, as well as the teammates actually executing the work. I never felt several steps removed from a request. They were extremely timely and transparent about project progress. They maintained excellent communication. They abstained from using fluffy jargon but instead were always matter-of-fact, which was also great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re amazing to work with. They get the job done and deliver what they promise. I never felt worried about whether I was going to receive something or not.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. They run a tight ship over there.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you want a transparent and efficient partner that will tell you how it is, they’re the partner for you.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for a nonprofit that specializes in holding corporate polluters responsible for climate change, and I'm the digital content strategist responsible for our web and social media content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Pedrera to take over our web development contract and to move our website from HTML to a CMS system so we could use it. We then have hired them for three website projects since then, as well as have kept them as our sole web developers since.

SOLUTION

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

I have worked with them before at a previous company, and I loved their attention to detail, problem solving skills, and quick-draw way of working.

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

For web maintenance, I email Pedrera and we set up a meeting to discuss the scope of work and how they can support us within the parameters of our current website. After I work with my internal team, I report back to them and they update me on their process as it moves along. For bigger web development projects, Pedrera acts as project manager with other web design vendors, setting up meetings and doing scoping of the project with our internal team as well.

We meet a few times a week, keeping the project moving. We use LastPass for password management, BaseCamp for project management, Google Domains, RackSpace and GreenGeeks for hosting, and ExpressionEngine for our CMS.

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

I have worked with Tim, the owner of Pedrera, on every project. He is also available via phone call every day (within reason) if we need him. I have also worked with Matt, a developer, and John, a UX/UI designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Pedrera has hit every milestone and outcome we have set for every project. Since we are a small non-profit, our goals can change quite rapidly, and the Pedrera team always has their head on a swivel and can adapt quite quickly to our needs.

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

We use Basecamp to keep track of bigger projects, and email to keep track of maintenance projects. Timelines vary depending on the project, but response time is very quick and they are always willing to hop on a call if we need something.

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

They are always very quick to answer us and shift priorities if we need to, no matter what we are working on! They can always find a solution to a problem, no matter what we throw at them.

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

No - for a small team, they always have things in order!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of network and system engineering for a utilities company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pedrera?

Our corporate site was living in-house. We decided to move it to the cloud in case we had any downtime or anything. We hired another company to redesign our whole website 3 years ago, and that relationship didn’t go well. We also wanted to do a slight redesign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I gave Tim [ExpressionEngine Developer, Pedrera] a backup of the database. He took that and recreated the whole server. When he was done, we switched all of our DNS engines to point to that one. He set it up so we can do QA internally. Most recently, Tim did an update of the backend, ExpressionEngine, as well as an assessment for security reasons. When Pedrera’s team did the backend, some links were broken, so they worked with our QA site to get them fixed.  

When we did the update, there’s a place to register for a request for proposal that’s supposed to send out emails to third parties. That was broken, and he fixed it. We’re also looking at contracting him for a penetration test of that. They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do.

Currently, we have a group that handles updates to the website. Tim and 1 other person work on the project, but my direct contact is always with Tim.

How did you come to work with Pedrera?

We did an RFP and selected 3 firms. I had built the original server and worked with that group exclusively. They gave me the code, and I would update it. That relationship went bad, and we decided to push the site to the cloud. I didn’t end up making the final selection for who we would work with.

How much have you invested with Pedrera?

We have spent $30,000–$50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Our corporate website is available externally to 500,000 customers. Even if we have internal problems, we experience zero downtime because it’s not living here. Support for the website is being handled by Tim and Rackspace, where it actually lives. Now, if we have a problem internally and our website goes down, we don’t lose revenue. We are governed by a gas commission, and an email is sent out to the group every time we post an RFP to the website. I had the highest people in the gas commission emailing me and asking why they weren’t getting the emails. It was a major problem. If Tim hadn’t fixed that, we wouldn’t have been able to buy or get new services from people.

How did Pedrera perform from a project management standpoint?

It is excellent. We communicate mostly through emails and phones calls. We have 2 project managers—1 in the beginning and another 1 since the first PM left. I’ve called Tim anywhere from 8 in the morning until 9 at night. Tim is very responsive. He answers the phone when I call and makes himself available whenever I need anything. We also have weekly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about Pedrera?

Tim’s availability and responsive is impressive. I get an immediate response to emails. If something is broken, I can call him at any time and he would immediately fix the issue. They’re a good group. I wish we had contacted them when we did our website.

Are there any areas Pedrera could improve?

Not that I can think of. I am extremely happy with how the whole project was done and their services now.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Pedrera?

I work exclusively with Tim. If I had to choose, I would stay with him. If you’re going to work with Pedrera, try to get Tim Carter because he knows his stuff and he gets his work done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the editor-in-chief of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. We are a nonprofit founded in the late 1990s and chartered by Congress to disseminate information about the Constitution. We are a museum and educational center in Philadelphia across the street from Independence Hall.

I handle all the customer-facing stuff for digital: digital content, digital production, the web, our blog -- which has a pretty wide audience -- social, video, and podcasts. I also supervise freelancers and work with educators and other experts like attorneys or academics in the building.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pedrera?

When I was hired here in April of 2012, Pedrera had been engaged here for three to four years already as a primary contractor for much of the digital work.

When I inherited the site in 2012, it was not mobile friendly. What we had to do together was figure out how to get it into a Twitter Bootstrap environment so that we could keep the database and our design consistent but produce the mobile version at the same time as the desktop version.

I have a pretty extensive background in digital. My first website was in 1996 but I had worked for the Dow Jones in the early 1990s. It was the pre-internet online space. We went to corporate clients and showed librarians how to use online content before there was really a public internet. I've been doing websites for 20 years not only on the content side but also on the production and technical side and project management.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There was a whole process where we had to inventory all the different templates we used and expressions matching our CMS, and then modify the templates to work both on mobile as well as the desktop version. Then we had to make decisions about how we were going to modify content. That was about a six- or nine-month project to really get that squared away. It's not a huge website, but we had between 3,000 and 5,000 pages. At one point, we had about 80 different templates because of special projects over the years. We had to really chop that down to a list of 15 templates and then make sure those templates worked well on mobile. We had to do the redesign work in the backend with Bootstrap and his environment, and then I would work with them staging those things out.

It was a complicated project, but it was essential for us because we deal with a lot of younger people. About half of our audience is under 34 years of age, so that's a highly mobile user base. We couldn't really have a big digital product that wasn't mobile-friendly, especially for people between 18 and 34. It was a critical project that we got done under budget and before the deadline. We had an audience of roughly 70,000 monthly unique visitors on our digital side. Right now, we're averaging about 1 million uniques per month. A lot of that are programs that I worked on with Tim [Carter, Owner] at Pedrera to build out new content that I could promote in an SEO friendly way. It was state-of-the-art content to reach a wide audience of educators and teachers.

Since then, I’ve worked with them on numerous large projects that have been funded by grants and other sources to add to our content set. What I used Pedrera for are a series of projects that I scope out. I will find a designer if I need a designer. I will reuse design elements if they're existing. I work with them on the CMS and wireframes and making sure content is SEO friendly for the web. I provide a blueprint of what I want, and they come back and build the architecture behind the blueprint. They will do the development, and I’ll do the code, or together with the capabilities of the CMS, to make sure I get what I need to promote the published content. It's more of a partnership where I bring a certain skill set to the equation, and they bring the heavy lifting on the backend which is really the structure of the products and code. There's also all the database administration work where you have to host content, make sure it's backed up two or three times, that it's secure, and that everything is cached so we don't have any service issues. I’ve done six or eight projects with them over the past five years, including one very large project that was about a year in development.

We scope out things like overall deadlines and key milestones for projects. They’re written into usually a project agreement. The way that I work with them is that I have a monthly retainer for maintenance and then the projects are all scoped out as individual projects where there’s an agreement about the start date, the end date, the deliverable, and key milestones. Within that agreement, we will work out different review points: whether I’m going to provide a design, whether he's going to find a designer, whether we're going to use the current design. There’s also things like testing, developing a staging server or test environment, and the review process.

He has a relatively small team, but he knows other people in the area locally and also nationally that we can bring for work. I will jointly work with them on product and project management, so I have a suite of products in the building. I will work with Tim on schedule for the project management part.

How did you come to work with Pedrera?

They were working with the company before I came here. They were the legacy developer.

How much have you invested with Pedrera?

We don’t give out financial information. That’s just corporate policy.

What is the status of this engagement?

It may have been 2007. What they would do prior to when I came in is that every department had their own digital needs, and they would go out and get their own developer for the product. They would do a one-off microsite about a museum exhibit or Liberty Medal Ceremony. When I came in, they were starting the process of consolidating everything into one CMS. That's when I start working with them. We still have ongoing projects with them scheduled until the end of the year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

One case example is the blog. When I came in, we had about 78,000 total users, maybe 50,000 on the website, and 23,000 on the blog. We spent a lot of money with a different design firm doing a frontend for the blog which was originally on WordPress in 2011. I came in and basically flipped the entire blog around, working with them to make it SEO friendly (I had SEO training from running other websites, so I knew certain things weren't working well). We took the existing design we had been given by a prior designer and replicated it but made it much easier to find SEO content especially with WordPress which is a pretty friendly platform for that.

The fact that we did the investment work in SEO doubled our traffic immediately. I made sure that I worked with him a lot on basic SEO stuff: making sure everything was crawled, that all the links worked, that we didn't have any dead pages, and really redesigning all the page titles to make sure they were SEO friendly. There's a lot of simple things you can do in the backend of a product that makes it perform well in Google search. In my world, everything is Google, Apple, and Facebook, but especially Google with our kind of content. We went from having about 30,000 blog readers to about 200,000 in about two years’ time.

We ditched WordPress and moved into ExpressionEngine, and we still have about 400,000 uniques on our blog which is significant for a museum website. I don't think there's another one in the country that has more blog readership. That's also part of a relationship we leveraged with Yahoo News where they take our RSS feed (we’re a contributor for that).What I was able to do with that was take my traffic from the blog and put linkbacks to other products on the main website to drive traffic back to that. That's a strategy that I wanted to execute, but I couldn't do it until I had them make WordPress and then ExpressionEngine much more SEO friendly. It was critical having a good developer who understands SEO.

That would be one good example of the metrics: going from 23,000 to 200,000 to 400,000 over a five-year period. Since we don't have advertisers, we get our money from people who are donors or corporate sponsors. When we go out into development, we pitch our reach to people, especially young people. We have the numbers to bring the money in to pay for our products.

How did Pedrera perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a lot of my project management work. We'll have an agreement on a project, scope everything out (start date, end date, milestones), and have an agreement on when and where the content will be. Then I hand it off to Tim and his team, and they actually do the project management for me. We use the same format, which I’ve been using for years, about how the whole system works. We have deadlines. They’re very good about meeting deadlines, I’ve never had then miss a deliverable deadline in five years which, for me, is unusual because I used to work with a lot of developers especially when I did TD websites where you would hope that you can hit your launch date. Because I worked with advertisers, you would have problems if that didn't happen. They've never missed a launch date for us in five years, and we've had some pretty large projects. That's why I like working with them. I’ve worked with a lot of developers in the past, and it's hit or miss especially for specialized products like we do. They’re quite good at scoping work and they're always on budget. We've never gone over budget with them nor missed a deadline.

I do the high milestones. We talk all the time. We do check-ins if they have questions for me. We share the project management responsibilities. It's a joint agreement about how it's going to get done, and I trust him at this point to get it done. He'll handle the backend stuff. Occasionally I will get involved if it’s a last-minute customer change request, which doesn't happen a lot, but it is a business and we do that occasionally. They do a lot of the project management for me, and it's all done to the deadline. I'm very happy with that part of it because I also do a lot of content creation and I don't have time to micromanage projects.

I’ve used Basecamp when we get a third-party vendor that’s a designer. For example, we did a project with the University of Texas where they had a product that shows the evolution of rights and how different parts of the Constitution were written. A third-party developer did the frontend. When I had to manage two developers at the same time, I would use Basecamp just to make sure I have an overview. If I work directly with Pedrera, I don't need to use Basecamp; we just do everything via email. I do have a product document where we have a road map, so I use the email to make sure we're on the road map.

What did you find most impressive about Pedrera?

It’s the fact that they have hit all of our deadlines. We've had some major projects from nonprofits and corporations that have had last second changes to products, and they've been very good at handling the curveball stuff. When you get a last-second change request, it's not really in the deal, but it’s something that someone who is a prominent donor, or for whatever reason, will want at the last second. They're very good at handling crisis management and security issues. We've had very little downtime in five years for our products. To me, that's very impressive because, at the end of the day, I have to deliver a product to the people I work for and the customers, and we've never had a problem doing that.

Are there any areas Pedrera could improve?

Not really, and I have worked with a lot of developers. I could tell you horror stories. I ran TV websites for 13 years, and we would always have the debate—whether you’re going to buy or build. You could either hire your own developers at a corporate level and have a team of developers. They deal with 13 stations, or you could farm it out to a company that does that. There was always drama with the developers, but I didn’t have drama with Pedrera. That makes my life a lot easier because I do a lot of other things aside from managing the digital production part of the equation.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Pedrera?

Have a clear sense of what you want to accomplish, what the end goal is, understand what your limitations are, and see where they can fill the gaps in for you. For a lot of people, project management can be difficult especially if you don't have a lot of experience with digital projects. Make sure everything is scoped out in advance and that you have a clear understanding of the deadlines, the deliverables, and the budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Web Walker: I am the Creative Services Manager of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, an almost 200-year-old nonprofit dedicated to bringing people and communities together through horticulture. We are best known for the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, an annual event that brings in a quarter of a million guests every year. I oversee our graphic design department, websites, photography and videography.

Joe Robinson: I am the associate director for technology services at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. We are an educational non-profit which has been in existence since 1827, with a primary goal of horticultural education throughout the Five County Area, near Philadelphia and extending into Delaware and New Jersey. We’re also a national and international membership organization, and produce the Philadelphia flower show annually, which brings in about 300,000 people to the city, for nine days of glorious pre-flowering. In other words, we attempt to fight the elements a bit, and bring some spring in early-March. My role is to oversee technology and its infrastructure. Websites fall under my purview, as do VoIP accounts and general network support.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pedrera?

Web Walker: Our old websites were tired and too complicated and confusing for our users. We hired Pedrera to do a complete rebuild. We have three main websites that are interconnected. We have a very wide group of ages that use the site and come to our events and workshops, so we want to make everything easier.

Joe Robinson: Our site includes ticket-sales location for the flower show, which amounts to a lot of people and transactions that have to work. The site is also a host for different facets of the organization, including a Meadowbrook Farm presence and the main PHS pages themselves.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Web Walker: The content management system that we use is called Expression Engine. Pedrera did all of the backend development work. I work hand in hand with them by developing the information architecture and working with them to build the wireframing. The core feature we need is stability, especially for our main event website because that gets hit by like over two million users a year. We have a robust calendar and event section. The three sites work together. If I put on an event that is relevant for both two of the sites, I can set it up so I only have to put it in once and check a few boxes so that it will now appear on the calendars for both of those websites. We also did major changes to the calendar function so that it’s easier and cleaner for people to find what they’re looking for with search functions. The website is bright and easy for people to use. I was the main contact point with Pedrera. They used various members of their team to help put this all together.

Joe Robinson: I needed the proper management, support , and technical prowess in case something went boom. Pedrera does all of this. Pedrera has also referred a very good website host for us, Rackspace.

How did you come to work with Pedrera?

Joe Robinson:  We were introduced to Pedrera and Tim as part of the overall migration project from our previous setup to the one we now have. They were a component of the outfit we hired to take a look at the overall face of the website, and perform general marketing-level tasks. Tim was more the technical and support person, undertaking much of the work in the sector. There were many dreamers and creative people talking about things for a while, but Tim was the technical component for the team that put much of the site together. This is how I met him, and how he became my go-to person for fixing things which went boom. We developed a long and lasting relationship which I kept going, since I liked what I received, namely responsiveness, answers to my questions, and the kind of help I needed on, say, Sunday at 6 AM, when the UK suddenly can’t connect to our systems. This kind of emergency support and personal answering of trouble tickets, from my end, is critical. Tim may not have been the person with their hands actually in the engine, but he was the one who caught my call.

Web Walker: Prior to me working here, we had used an advertising agency for certain projects. One was the previous website. Pedrera used to work with this ad agency in developing of websites. We had grown disillusioned with that agency, but were very pleased with Pedrera’s work on the backend including their hosting, their managing, and their building of development sites for us. We went directly to them and have been very pleased ever since.

How much have you invested with Pedrera?

Both: It’s probably mid-range.

What is the status of this engagement?

Web Walker: We started working on this project in August 2016, and it was completed in December 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Joe Robinson:  It all centers around the timeframe for our flower show. During the lead-up time, from November until early-March, we have a tremendous run-up, since the activity is also tied to our publicity plans and everything else. Not only are the ticket sales skyrocketing, we’re also getting many hits from all kinds of visitors. Previous to Pedrera having full run of fixing things and making adjustments on behalf of the people who initially carried us across, we were getting calls during the critical buildup. We had site lag, responsiveness issues and other troubles. Those weren’t tied to the hosting system, but simply to some coding issues inside the backend, which Pedrera inherited from the other people intermixed with the project.

Pedrera’s team straightened this out, and, as a result, the last two shows in 2015 and 2016 have had very good, responsive website activity. I attribute a lot of this in the careful interaction between our creative services people and Tim’s team at Pedrera. The two of them have worked together just fine, and we haven’t run out of resources. This was a problem three or four years ago, which they’ve put their finger on and helped fix by simply setting up flags and beginning adjusting resources ahead of the curve. On many occasions, it was simply a matter of early code which needed to be redone or cleaned up. That involved a lot of work between our two teams.

It’s a general success story. We couldn’t have users calling and telling us that they tried to buy something or get access to a map two weeks before the show opens, and couldn’t.

Web Walker: We’re very pleased with the work. Everything has gone well, and we’ve been able to accomplish our goals of making it easier for users. It’s a complicated website, but it’s as easy to navigate as it’s going to be.

How did Pedrera perform from a project management standpoint?

Web Walker: I felt that they were outstanding. They helped us every step of the way. They were in constant communication via email, text, and phone. For our QA, we used Google Docs so that we knew exactly where the project was. We had immediate feedback through these sheets where we were in the process. The fact that they’ve got this massive thing up in such a short timeframe was remarkable. I couldn’t be any more pleased with my partnership with Pedrera.

What did you find most impressive about Pedrera?

Joe Robinson: There is a professionalism which we find to be sincere, and Pedrera has that. I’ve dealt with other organizations, and there seemed to be a gloss to their responses. We started to wonder about the amount of substance beneath. In this case, when talking to Tim or to his people, we have the feeling that they know what they’re talking about. There’s not a lot of flash in their dialogue. There is a lot of “What do you need, how do you want it, and are you sure you want to do that?”. The last piece is also important.

Web Walker: They were very well-rounded. They’re knowledgeable and their communication was great. The pricing was also reasonable, and the speed at which they worked was great. Overall, it was very strong top to bottom.

Are there any areas Pedrera could improve?

Web Walker: I can’t think of anything. I’ve been very pleased. I’ve recommended them to other companies. I think the owner is outstanding. The people that work for him are unbelievably responsive and helpful, and they get back to me lightning fast. Of all the vendors I use for different things, they are absolutely a bright spot. I’m sort of like a middle technology guy. I bridge the gap between people who know nothing and those who know a lot, and they’ve helped me when I’ve run into snags. They’ve helped teach me a lot of things. It’s been a wonderful partnership and I recommend them to anybody.

Joe Robinson: There aren’t too many. No one’s perfect, but I don’t have any areas for improvement. Everything I’ve asked for got done.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Pedrera?

Joe Robinson: It’s almost common sense for anyone looking to start a project, namely to have parameters in place before hunting for a consultant to do any work. Those parameters are what gives the partner the opportunity to figure out what it is that you actually want. Otherwise, the first two meetings are going to be spent throwing darts at the dartboard, figuring out what it is that you actually want. You need to actually have done your background work ahead of time, which implies a bit of exploratory probing. Unless the contractor is specifically hired for consultation, the client needs a concrete idea of their scope and necessary processes. If the inhouse processes aren’t in place, it will delay the entire project. You’re not paying Pedrera to be a process designer for your own team. As murky as that sounds, this is my advice.

Web Walker: Call them up. They make everything very easy. They explain things.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Wolters Kluwer, which is a medical publisher. We publish books, charts, and medical journals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pedrera?

We had been approached by a commercial supporter to create a website geared toward the multiple sclerosis patients and their caregivers, as well as healthcare providers. We are rich in that content, but the client wanted to create a website. We reach out to Tim and his team at Pedrera to create the sub-site for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, we mainly worked with Tim. He has couple members on his team who are both named Matt, and they helped after the site launched. Tim sat with us from the beginning, and he made our vision come to life. We told him what we were looking to do and the functions we wanted for the site. Multiple sclerosis patients often have symptoms related to eyesight, so Tim suggested that we add an option to change the sizing of the typeface. Also, he suggested that we have buttons to make it easier for patients with declining motor skills. There’s a hero slider image which is helpful, and he suggested that as well.

I think Tim and our designer worked together to come up with the identity for the website. We were going to include a glossary of medical teams that may be confusing to a patient, but we haven’t implemented that yet on our end. We’re using ExpressionEngine as the platform for our site.

How did you come to work with Pedrera?

We create microsites for some of our journals, and we were working with a developer in the past, but his skills weren’t up-to-par with what we wanted to do. That’s when we went online and started researching local firms. We went through the portfolio of what Tim has designed and developed before. We liked the look and feel of his websites, so we reached out to him directly. We really liked what he had to offer, and we just went from there.

How much have you invested with Pedrera?

The cost of the entire site was around $90,000. This includes the amount charged by the separate design agency, but I don’t know the exact split for the two companies.

What is the status of this engagement?

Tim and his team created the content management system and did all the development between mid-October and the end of November 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I know that when people are visiting the site, they’re staying on for a long time. Our bounce rate is pretty low. It’s under 50% right now, which is great. We know people are interested in the content they’re seeing. We use Google Analytics, and I have information from November 2016, to the end of April 2017. We had a little over 20,000 page views, and about 4,500 visitors. An average session on the site is 3 minutes and 12 seconds.

We will be asking Tim to work on any other sites we need going forward. Everyone in the company is very pleased with his work. I think we have a great rapport. The team is very fast at getting back to us. I usually manage the backend of the site. If there’s something I can’t figure out, they get back to me the same day with help. We want to use them moving forward in any other project.

How did Pedrera perform from a project management standpoint?

They supplied us with a timeline, and then we worked with Basecamp to communicate. I think we had weekly calls in the beginning, and then they moved to bi-weekly calls just to see where we were standing with everything and determine the next steps. That’s when we would also be provided with samples of how far the project had progressed. The first or second week was the logo discussion, and then we moved into how the site would be laid out. They were responsive to any request we had.

What did you find most impressive about Pedrera?

I think it’s how quick they get back to us. They treat any inquiry we have with a sense of urgency, which is great. If there’s something we can’t figure out, they quickly fix it for us. I’m not an authority in this area by any means, so it’s nice to have the backup and quick response from them.

I also think it’s great that they offer a lot of suggestions. Tim runs monthly reports on the site to make sure it’s working correctly. This past month, he suggested that we update to a new version of ExpressionEngine. I think it’s great that he’s looking out for the future of the site, and not just leaving it for us to handle.

Are there any areas Pedrera could improve?

We didn’t have an issue working with them at all. They’re always available, and they’re very flexible. If I did it all over again, I don’t have anything that I would change.

Do you have any advice or recommendations for potential clients?

I guess it would just be to ask any questions you have. I’m not an authority in this at all, so working in the CMS was new to me. They answered all my questions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work on the digital team for a telecom company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pedrera?

We don’t have WordPress expertise in-house. Also, it was on Linux service, but we mainly have Windows support here.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We used Tim [Owner, Pedrera] to provide support for our blog, which is hosted on WordPress. He managed the complete server environment and supported it. When things fell over, he would jump in and fix them. Tim would also help us with any custom developments that were required on the blog and any other technical things that we could pass his way.

We also had requirements for some JSON programming for a digital magazine we were doing. I think the magazine didn’t have the capability of capturing content and registration, so we asked Tim for support to see if he had any ideas for that, which he did. So, Pedrera has done ad hoc jobs here and there for us. If we couldn’t do it in-house, we’d go to Tim.

Another side project Tim worked on was to come up with a proof of concept for making our main global services website responsive. At the moment, we have separate desktop and mobile sites. Tim came up with a design for the homepage to make it responsive for mobile. That was a complete customization using technologies such as HTML and CSS together. Tim has also helped us with setting up Windows servers and configuring those so we can do additional applications that we couldn’t do ourselves.

We’re a global company, so we have multiple sites. He had to globalize the blog for languages. He was using PHP to develop the backend. We knew it had to be developed in a way where translation functions worked. There was some good custom work that had to go into that globalization of the blog.

We worked mainly in sprints. The initial setup of the blog was a big chunk of the project. We started with the English blog then moved into having Portuguese, etc. Those were additional things which we latched on. When we went through redesigns of the main website, we had to ask Tim to do the same on the blog site. He also handled the management of the WordPress environment to reflect the changes we were doing elsewhere in the business. I primarily interacted with Tim and Matthew[ Front End Web Developer, Pedrera]. We didn’t require more resources than that.

How did you come to work with Pedrera?

That was before my time.

How much have you invested with Pedrera?

We normally had a budget of about £20,000 [US $22,415.] a year, which went up or down depending on what we could handle in-house.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from January to April of 2016. We still engage Pedrera for ongoing maintenance and support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I don’t have specific metrics as it’s been quite a relaxed relationship since I joined. Tim is excellent and always responds quickly. Last week, someone accidentally deleted the blog server, and he had it fixed and back up within an hour. That’s the level of service that we’ve come to expect from him. Pedrera has the skillset to handle our ad hoc requirements. We’ve had no problem with Pedrera as a company.

How did Pedrera perform from a project management standpoint?

The only barrier was the time difference, but that just meant we had calls at 2:00 pm. When we had these projects running, we’d have weekly calls to go through progress and it was all done over conference calls. We never had issues. Everything was delivered on time.

What did you find most impressive about Pedrera?

They have a wide skillset. There haven’t been any questions asked where they weren’t able to help. We were getting stuck with HTML email templates, which was another ad hoc project we gave him about six months ago. It was probably quite difficult for them, as they didn’t have Outlook to test on. I was quite impressed that they managed to deliver an HTML template that worked cross-platform, including Outlook.

They respond quickly to everything, and they just have a calm way of dealing with things. They never panic and always gets things fixed.

Are there any areas Pedrera could improve?

Not really. We’ve never any problem at all. Every time we’ve asked for something, it’s been done in the time that we asked, so I don’t have any criticisms.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Pedrera?

Everything we’ve asked for has been delivered as expected and when expected. They charge a little more than some other companies, as we use their senior developers. However, we find that that balances out in terms of the speed at which things are fixed. We pay an hourly rate, and things that we expect to take two or three hours are done within an hour with experienced developers. I’d certainly recommend them for any development project.