RDA

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior digital marketing manager at a global law firm. I help manage our firm’s website and other digital marketing technologies. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with RDA?

Our firm’s website had not been redesigned in about five years, and it needed a fresh and modern look. We contracted another vendor for the visual design, and we worked with RDA to bring that design to life and build a new website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

To start, RDA met with us to define the requirements for the project. Based on those discussions, they provided a budget and timeline. RDA then built the new website in separate phases, and they worked with us throughout the process. The CMS platform they used was Sitecore, which was RDA's specialization. 

Over the course of about seven months, they developed pages one by one until everything was complete. The final phase was putting everything together and transitioning the old site over to the new one. This required bringing all the content over, polishing the site, and ensuring a smooth launch. 

We worked with a separate vendor that specializes in web design to handle the wireframes and visual elements. They handed RDA a package of design files to work with in developing the site.

The old website did not work well on mobile, so RDA made the new site to be compatible with Android and iOS devices. They also added a new search functionality using an advanced tool called Coveo — this improved our site's search function. Additionally, RDA added personalization features to the website, so that its components can be customized based on the characteristics of the user. The organizational structure of the website stayed the same. 

What is the team composition?

We regularly worked with a team of between 5–10 people, and our main contact was Tejas (Project Manager). Their team consisted of project managers, web developers, and web designers. There could be more junior people working at the project, but we only interacted on a regular basis with those 5–10 people. 

How did you come to work with RDA?

RDA started working with our company a year before I got onboard. That said, I know that the firm was dissatisfied with the original vendor that managed the website, so they switched to RDA. I don't know why they chose RDA, but they came highly recommended because they have worked with other law firms. They're also based here on the East Coast, so it's very easy for us to work with them. 

As far as continuing that relationship and having them build the new website, it was a no brainer. For the last 4–5 years, RDA has really shown itself to be total experts in Sitecore. Additionally, they were very easy to work with — they knew our website like the back of their hand, and they knew our firm's needs really well. They were the only vendor that we seriously considered for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent between $500,000–$1 million.  

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from May 2020–April 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website more accurately reflected the values of our firm, and it better showcased us as a modern legal service provider. Meanwhile, users praised the website because of how great it looks and works, and how easy it is to find content there. Such user feedback indicates to me that the project was a great success. 

We also saw encouraging metrics, such as an increase in email newsletter signup, home page traffic, and user engagement.

How did RDA perform from a project management standpoint?

RDA was outstanding at project management. I have been involved in so many website launches throughout my career, and this was the smoothest I've seen. RDA was really good at keeping an accurate schedule, staying organized, and asking questions that would end up saving time later on. They were able to anticipate a lot of issues and we were able to stay on schedule and launch on time. It was really just because of their strong project management capabilities. 

We met every Tuesday for a status call where we reviewed all of the items in Azure DevOps, the project management tool that RDA uses. We logged issues with the website and kept track of everything using Azure DevOps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understand Sitecore more than any vendor I've worked with — I know RDA is a certified Sitecore partner vendor. Sitecore is a very complex system and RDA knows everything about it; when they aren't certain about something, they always find a way to make it work. For a company that uses Sitecore for their website, it would be hard to find a better web developer than RDA. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

During the course of the project, we never had any critical feedback for RDA. They were just very professional and easy to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Having an initial requirements call with RDA to go over all the details of the project is important. I feel like they have a system for those requirements meetings and defining everything that needs to happen in the project. They're really good at that initial stage.