Rave Digital

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a full-service marketing, branding, web development, and graphic design company. I am the president and CEO of the company. It started in 2004.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rave Infosys?

We needed help with developing specific platforms.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rave Infosys is a certified Magento developer. For one of our accounts, they had to dive in and fix problems caused by the previous developer while also migrating to a better hosting environment. Rave Infosys has also built multiuser WordPress installations for a B2G client who had a need for five websites under one hood. Rave Infosys handled the full architectural configuration and training documentation on behalf of the client, allowing them to manage their own content going forward. The unique thing about that particular project is that the client needed content to be developed once and then broadcast across five different websites in an automated process. The system was built in order to save them time internally.

Rave Infosys is in the process of rebuilding one of our Drupal websites as well. We were using two Drupal teams, but have migrated all the work to Rave Infosys. They're taking a Drupal 5 website built a long time ago, which was approaching its end of life, and upgrading it to Drupal 8, the more current version. We usually work with one project lead and one programmer from Rave Infosys' side. I haven't experienced working with more than two people at a time.

How did you come to work with Rave Infosys?

Ravi, their president, was a Vistage member, as was I, so we met through the network somehow. Many times, when taking part in such a networking group, we will reach out and see who else is working in the same space. My company partners with other groups who provide specialty work since we don't employ all of those disciplines.

How much have you invested with Rave Infosys?

Rave Infosys will usually give me a flat project rate based on the projected number of hours needed, which is the easiest approach unless we have a scalable scope. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Rave Infosys in 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The B2G site we worked on was handled by Rave Infosys from start to finish, so it's one of the better examples of their work. It was a very smooth process, and we experienced very few issues after testing it through our in-house QC [quality control] team. It was a value-added project since we didn't have to utilize our internal resources for tracking things down. Rave Infosys is a full-service provider, so we don't have to bring our people in to double-check the work.

How did Rave Infosys perform from a project management standpoint?

Rave Infosys is very good at hitting deadlines. There were no projects that went on for longer than they should have. The exception was once when there was a miscommunication, so Rave Infosys didn't start a project soon enough causing us to miss our deadline. But they made up for it by overdelivering additional features at no additional charge to the client. 

What did you find most impressive about Rave Infosys?

For many other developers we've worked with, we needed to employ a full QC team, which is the main differentiator for Rave Infosys. The quality of the work itself is the number one reason we choose to use them for building new systems.

Are there any areas Rave Infosys could improve?

Scheduling is a bit tough sometimes since we're all busy and there is a difference in time zones. Communication, in general, is always a challenge in terms of conference calls and screen shares, but this is not specific to Rave Infosys. The problem exists across the board.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Saint Leo University is based in Florida, about 30 miles north of Tampa. We have about 16,000 students. We have a main campus in Florida and additional centers in six states, some of them on military bases. We’re a pretty complex higher education system. We offer on-ground, online, and blended courses, and we leverage technology extensively. We use collaboration tools, videoconferencing, and other tools for classroom teaching.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rave Infosys?

We have a custom-built system based on the Salesforce cloud platform, which we constantly leverage when interacting with prospective and current students. We take data from our learning management system and our student information system to create a predictive model based on certain student criteria. This helps us determine which students may be at risk of dropping out or failing. We try to engage the student to assist in overcoming any barriers to success. We spend a lot of money on advertising to recruit new students, so we want to do all we can to retain those students.

It's a complex Salesforce app and is used extensively throughout our university. It was built in 2010, and we’ve been upgrading it constantly. We were originally using the Salesforce system for our online offerings, but we wanted to leverage that to handle our physical locations as well. We needed Rave Infosys to customize the code and adapt the application to this new use.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged Rave Infosys in two different capacities. The first was to help us with developing the process and documenting our existing systems for retention. The other area was to enhance our campaign management routines. They helped with programming, reducing the backlog, and new user requests. We created a new campaign, and they did all the workflows for that, making sure the system is being tested in our sandbox environment and then deployed to production.

How did you come to work with Rave Infosys?

I did a web search and talked with different vendors. I was very happy with Rave Infosys’ model. The pricing was very attractive, and they had good references on their website. I had a conversation with the owner of Rave Infosys, and we felt it was a good fit. They quickly picked up the nuances of working with higher-education, and they had the right resources for the project.

How much have you invested with Rave Infosys?

This information is confidential. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from November of 2016 to March of 2017. We have an ongoing contract with Rave Infosys.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This was a large project for a very complex system. There’s a steep learning curve, and Rave Infosys did a great job understanding what was needed. They came through and delivered what was assigned to them with no issues. We haven’t compiled stats, but it’s one of our major tools. The system is in constant use by over 80 people within the university.

How did Rave Infosys perform from a project management standpoint?

Rave Infosys has a very good structure and approach. They visited our campus free of charge and talked to users to get a good understanding of the higher education business. They made sure the deliverables were well-defined, and the specifications were well-communicated. They tracked the progress and ensured things were done and tested, and then they moved to production.

What did you find most impressive about Rave Infosys?

Higher education was new to Rave Infosys, and they demonstrated a willingness to engage with their client and understand the business. They even offered some free documentation services, where they mapped all the processes to make future projects easier.

Are there any areas Rave Infosys could improve?

Rave Infosys is a young company with a lot of prospects. They have a long way to go, but so far, they’re on the right track, with a small team and the right approach.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have two sides of our business. One side deals with communication electronics. We service the local area, but we also ship communication electronics worldwide. The other side of our business does satellite communication. We provide and service equipment to people off the grid. I am the marketing manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rave Infosys?

When we first approached Rave Infosys, we wanted to revamp our the communication electronics side of the business. Our website was outdated, and it wasn’t providing us with the options with which we wanted to reach our target clientele.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In total, Rave Infosys designed and developed both of our sites using Magento. To start these projects, we had a few in-house meetings. We got to know their team really well. They learned our business and platform very quickly. After these projects were completed and we knew we could trust them, we started giving them smaller projects that were not Magento based, and they developed several solutions for us. Rave Infosys has helped us with any issues we have with Magento and with downtime. They also designed a few banners for us. They’ve been our go-to offsite webmaster for all of our issues. We continue to use their expertise to update our website.

How did you come to work with Rave Infosys?

We were looking for Magento developers in the South Florida area that we could have a personal, ongoing relationship with. Rave Infosys was the only team we found that was willing to come to our office. They came with ideas, and we really liked their work. We felt like they understood what we were trying to accomplish.

How much have you invested with Rave Infosys?

We have spent over $25,000 with Rave Infosys over the course of our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2014, and the work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're seeing that the customers are more pleased with the interactions that the website provides for them. We have a chat option on our website to be able to retain the customer once they do find us. Our customers are happy with the site and are able to easily find what they need. The banners they designed gave us a great starting point, and we used that to build on using our in-house design team.

How did Rave Infosys perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated in person to get the projects started and then we used phone calls, web conferences, and emails. We have had one project manager throughout our relationship, and he’s very responsive. Any issues we’ve had, he’s been able to get them solved quickly. Rave Infosys was great with deadlines. Any delays were because of our team.

What did you find most impressive about Rave Infosys?

Rave Infosys is always available. I don’t have to spend hours typing out emails to explain something because they know our business and platform so well. That’s worth millions to us.

Are there any areas Rave Infosys could improve?

We haven’t given Rave Infosys enough of an opportunity to show us everything they’re capable of, but I don’t know of anything they can improve on what they have provided for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company works in the paint body and equipment segment. We are a B2B supplier for what are called jobbers, who then supply all of our products to body shops. We supply anything needed to fix a dented car, whether it's paint, Bondo, sandpaper, or anything else.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rave Infosys?

When I started working for the company 3 ½ years ago, we had a proprietary B2B system. We didn't own any of the product content or programs. It was 8 years old and there was no development being done for it moving forward. The challenge was to move away from it and start our own system from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was a significant project, including not only the software side of things but also creating all product content like descriptions and photos for 30,000 items. Once we decided on the Magento platform, Rave Infosys' team basically provided all of our client customizations. In addition to design and development, Rave Infosys came to the table with suggestions on what we needed to change.

We worked with one project manager from Rave Infosys, and their owner was also involved. I don't know how many programmers were assigned to the job, and I'm glad that I was shielded from that since I only cared about the work getting done. Rave Infosys also provides ongoing support.

They created integration between our backend database and the Magento system. As a B2B company, each one of our customers can have a different pricing tier for every different product. There is a lot of integration in order for them to have live information about our different inventories across multiple warehouses. This is accomplished through live calls to our backend, which are fed to the Magento platform.

We have 15 warehouse locations, and we don't stock all our products in each one. Because of this, there is an additional layer between the shopping cart and the actual checkout, which we call the "decision page". It's the place in which we determine the best way for shipping to a customer who is expecting the delivery during the next day, based on product availability and customer location. We go through a number of gyrations, telling customers which items will come from the primary location and which ones will ship from the next closest one. The client then has the option of placing items in the back order until they can get them from the primary warehouse. There is a lot of logic behind determining what a customer should get and when, as well as what they'll have to pay for.

How did you come to work with Rave Infosys?

We started with the typical RFP [request for proposal] and spoke to around 11 companies. Rave Infosys was the best fit and also located in our general neighborhood. We liked their services, understanding, and willingness to provide Agile development. We didn't wait to create a document, but instead had immediate conversations with Rave Infosys' team. Our RFP gave us a 10,000-foot view of what we were trying to accomplish. The old site was at least functional, giving us something to look at.

I liked the culture and methodology used by Rave Infosys' team. Many other companies we consulted wanted to have a six-week study and draw the whole thing up. They wanted to employ change management and charge us every time we wanted to move a field from the left to the right. I didn't want to get bogged down into that level of change management. Rave Infosys allowed us to define the 10,000-foot level, create some basic wireframes and logic, and talk until we'd evolved the platform to where it needed to be.

How much have you invested with Rave Infosys?

The cost of Rave Infosys' work has been between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Rave Infosys in January 2015. We continue to roll out quarterly updates on the site's functionalities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With our old site, our company's growth was near stagnant and somewhat anemic, sitting at around 3%. That is basically cost-of-living, based on inflation. In our first full year using the new system developed by Rave Infosys, we went up to 17%.

Change is hard for everyone, so it can start out a little rough. After a couple of weeks, everyone came around and used our site. The bar had been set low with the previous page since it hadn't been changed in over eight years. Our B2B site looks a lot like a B2C one, which is what our clients are used to using.

How did Rave Infosys perform from a project management standpoint?

The most important thing to share is that Rave Infosys' delivered on time and within budget. They did what they needed to do, actually making a huge change 60 days before our go-live date. I can't say enough about our partnership with Rave Infosys.

We're now undertaking a move to Magento 2, which will require a complete rewrite from scratch since the technology stack has been completely changed. I can understand this happening after the 10-year life of the platform, but we caught a bad break by going live one month before Magento made the announcement. I have enough confidence in Rave Infosys to start over again.

We used Google Docs and Microsoft Project, in order to keep track of what was going on. There were many customizations we didn't want to lose track of.

What did you find most impressive about Rave Infosys?

Rave Infosys is a partner, not a vendor. I think that this says it all.

Are there any areas Rave Infosys could improve?

Rave Infosys delivered on time and within budget. I can't complain against someone delivering what they promised to deliver.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an e-commerce company which sells replacement panels and new raised floors to data centers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rave Infosys?

Our first objective was to renovate the existing technology that had become obsolete. We were very early adopters of internet technology, and we put our first web page up in 1994. The scripts behind our website and our intranet were all outdated. We moved to a more robust application, and we wanted to fully upgrade everything electronic. We completely revamped everything we were doing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve done a lot for us. We first hired them to redo our backend and our website. Since then, I have kept them busy on more projects because we’re always changing and updating. They moved us over to Magento and fully customized it to fit the way we do business.

We have a very advanced payment receiving system, as our customers have different payment options. The payments we receive then funnel into various reports. We also have a very intense email capturing system that works with Gmail. Rave Infosys did the system architecture, so we’re able to use our Gmail as a customer management system.

They also outlined a vendor management system. We’re now fully integrated with our shipping vendors and able to produce our own shipping documents. We’re also integrated with Amazon and PayPal.

How did you come to work with Rave Infosys?

I saw an ad on Craigslist. When I first talked to them, they told me that they had developers in the US and India. We realized that we were within 30 minutes of each other, and arranged an in-person meeting. Rave’s references were so amazing that I took a leap of faith, and I’ve been with them ever since.

How much have you invested with Rave Infosys?

This information is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first project started in October 2009, and the work is ongoing. We always have new development challenges, as we want to continue to grow.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before they redesigned our system, it took a lot more personnel to process orders. They’ve reduced our processing time and increased our profitability, which allows us to deliver a better product to our customers.

How did Rave Infosys perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent; I have no complaints. We developed an outline of what we needed to accomplish. When they had an issue with the code, they always let me know. I feel like I always knew exactly where we were. They kept me in the loop. We used Mantis for trouble tickets, and Skype was our primary method of communication.

What did you find most impressive about Rave Infosys?

Their principal is an amazing visionary. He helps us go in directions that we didn’t know would be possible. I also appreciate the high quality they deliver. There’s an excellence with Rave which I think is part of their culture. They’re all very willing to go the extra step.

We had a slight security breach once with PayPal on a Friday afternoon. Someone had taken a database of stolen credit cards and used our account to validate them, and we were getting hundreds of phone calls. Our project manager stepped in and was on the phone with PayPal until after midnight. I saw the true measure of Rave Infosys when we were under fire, and it was awesome. We got everything resolved thanks to their commitment.

Are there any areas Rave Infosys could improve?

I haven’t seen anything. Anytime I had a concern, they addressed it.

BACKGROUND

We have been working with aheadWorks and their products since August 2014. They are offering many services to businesses across four continents. [Their] solutions vary from customization to mobile implementation and optimization work.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We wanted to partner with a strong company that could provide us with Magento customization leads, and we could send projects back and forth. Quality was the most important criteria.

SOLUTION

They work on the implementation of extensions, plug-ins, and customizing. We mostly cooperate in terms of Magento customization projects as clients contact aheadWorks first. In order to expand the functionality of aheadWorks's product, they pass the inquiry to us, and we then assist the client.

Other work involves extension modification and customization. They provide extensive optimization on an ongoing basis of the Magento functionality and websites as whole. Mobile design and implementation is also included in the scope.

The projects are mostly small, about $5,000 each, but we have trusted them with many important clients.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

All of the customers that we have that use aheadWorks products are very satisfied with their products and service.

aheadWorks is a second-to-none Magento extension partner, which we have a great relationship with and would not hesitate to recommend their services.

BACKGROUND

Our company specializes in e-commerce and CRM [customer relationship management] development. We are nearly 20 people and based in Slovakia and Ukraine while operating worldwide. We mostly focus on Magento and OroCRM implementations.

I am CEO of the company and responsible for the overall management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We often have to deploy new implementations or modify existing Magento-based stores. Often clients need various features built on top of Magento, and that is time-consuming for us as a company and raises the development costs for the client. We were looking to optimize time spent and increase quality of the work and speed of delivery.

SOLUTION

We've compared Magento extensions providers that operate worldwide and evaluated quality of the code and business value of the solutions offered. Key criteria were cost and quality as well as support.

We found aheadWorks beating competition on all three criteria, and we were happy with the solutions they offer. We decided to use aheadWorks Magento extensions on our projects on an ongoing basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

We don't have any significant issues with aheadWorks solutions. If there are any questions, their support team is very quick to answer. Product releases are frequent and always work as expected.

BACKGROUND

We are a custom e-commerce developer in Italy. We specialize in creating Magento custom websites for various business clients from many industries. We serve clients around the world. I am the founder and owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We needed to find a reliable developer to create Magento module templates for our end clients. Sometimes, we use aheadWorks modules to start with for our clients and then customize them for our customer's unique needs.

SOLUTION

aheadWorks provided Magento development. They produced four or five main modules that we use. We have worked with them for three years and have an outstanding partnership. They can serve a variety of clients, and they often send us custom Magento development leads. One of the main successful modules they provided was for a cosmetics client.

We have a strong long-term partnership with aheadWorks. I have no plans to stop this partnership and see it growing in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

We are completely satisfied with the work and performance of aheadWorks. They produce high-quality modules and are reliable and quick. They are doing great work, so they just need to carry on and continue to deliver.

I have no improvements to suggest and am very pleased. I highly recommend this company to others.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chartering Manager of Bulk Trading

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an independent, competitive company that specialises in the trading and transportation of energy commodities around the world. The majority of our work today is focused on solid fuel trading, but we are also working on expanding our services to incorporate new forms of energy. Our trading desks work closely with our shipping division to offer our clients an efficient and affordable service every time. The shipping division, as well as providing valuable support for our trading operations, also offers its vessels for use by third-party companies for transporting products other than coal, such as cement and wheat.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rave Digital to accomplish?

• The objective was to modernize our digital presence, streamline customer interactions, and improve overall performance and reliability across regions.

SOLUTION

How did you find Rave Digital?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Rave Digital over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Rave Digital were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Rave Digital handled the complete web development lifecycle, from planning and UI/UX design to development, system integration, testing, and deployment. The project focused on building a fast, secure, and scalable platform to support our international trading operations.

Key deliverables included a fully responsive website, custom backend development, CRM and system integrations, performance optimization, security implementation, quality assurance testing, and post-launch support. The final solution improved site performance by 50%, system stability by 60%, and overall user experience by 55%, delivering a modern and highly reliable digital platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project delivered significant improvements across performance, usability, and business outcomes:

50% faster website performance and reduced page load times
55% improvement in user engagement and navigation efficiency
46% increase in inbound inquiries and lead generation
60% stronger system stability and security
52% higher overall operational efficiency
These results demonstrate that the platform is not only visually modern but also highly functional, secure, and business-ready.

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

Rave Digital demonstrated a 95% on-time delivery rate across all milestones. Their communication was clear, structured, and proactive, resulting in a 90% reduction in revision cycles. The team maintained full transparency, ensuring smooth collaboration and consistent progress tracking.

What was your primary form of communication with Rave Digital?

Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out most about Rave Digital was their ability to combine technical expertise with a deep understanding of our business needs. They didn’t just build a website—they crafted a strategic, scalable platform that improved performance, security, and user experience. Their proactive communication, attention to detail, and solution-oriented approach made collaboration seamless and ensured every challenge was met with an effective, innovative solution.

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

Overall, Rave Digital delivered exceptional results. One area for potential improvement could be providing more proactive progress updates during peak development phases to keep stakeholders even more closely informed. Aside from this, their responsiveness and problem-solving approach were highly effective throughout the project

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am an employee of a dental solutions provider.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an established dental solutions provider offering high-quality dental appliances, digital services, and lab support for dental professionals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rave Digital to accomplish?

• Magento Upgrade, Maintenance & SEO Boost by Rave Digital

SOLUTION

How did you find Rave Digital?

Online Search

Why did you select Rave Digital over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Rave Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Rave Digital conducted a detailed site audit that highlighted several critical issues we were previously unaware of. Based on the audit, they upgraded our Magento installation to the latest stable version, optimized site speed, resolved security vulnerabilities, improved core functionalities, and implemented SEO enhancements across key pages.
 Additionally, they handled the full integration of Klaviyo, including event tracking, flow setup, segmentation, and syncing customer data with Magento for automated marketing campaigns.
 After reviewing the audit findings, we moved forward with them for long-term site maintenance, performance monitoring, and continuous improvements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw significant improvements in page-load speed, search visibility, and overall site stability after the Magento upgrade. Organic traffic and lead quality improved due to the SEO enhancements. Klaviyo integration resulted in better email engagement, automated workflows, and higher conversion rates from marketing campaigns. The site now runs smoother, with fewer issues and faster response times.

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

Rave digital managed our project greatly, The team assigned delivered the project in time, also with a great communication skills.

What was your primary form of communication with Rave Digital?

Email or Messaging App

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

Their initial site audit was exceptionally thorough and highlighted crucial gaps that other vendors had missed. Their technical expertise in Magento, combined with their proactive communication and detailed explanations, made the entire process seamless. They also guided us clearly on best practices and long-term improvements, not just short-term fixes.

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

Overall, the collaboration has been strong. The only area for improvement would be slightly faster turnaround on non-urgent updates, but the quality of work has always been consistent and reliable.