BizStream

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Digital Content Team Lead of PPG Industries

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Chemical manufacturing, paints and coating company serving multiple industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Kontent AI project migration and consultation on new content model

SOLUTION

How did you find BizStream?

Referral

Why did you select BizStream over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from BizStream were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We brought on Bizstream to assist us as we handled a replatforming of Kontent AI our enterprise CMS. We had several issues in how it was previously implemented and they provided consultation on how have the platform meet our evolving needs and also create a solution to migrate the contents of our project to a new project. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project needs to be completed on time and estimates/high level requirements were completed so project could stay on time based on business needs.

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

They have delivered everything on time. BizStream has been very responsive and an incredible partner in guiding us through this transition. Their knowledge and expertise has been invaluable. 

What was your primary form of communication with BizStream?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their Kontent AI knowledge and project migration capabilities

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

None, they have been wonderful partners. They have even traveled in to our global headquarters to be in the room during discovery sessions/workshops. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director, Marketing of a healthcare third-party administrator.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're a healthcare third party administrator whose robust product and service catalogue highlights our commitment to innovation and service excellence with a compassionate, member-centered touch. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Build and maintain website
• Build secure, easy-to-use and maintain marketing toolkits
• Enhance the design and functionality of our website

SOLUTION

How did you find BizStream?

Existing corporate vendor

Why did you select BizStream over others?

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

How many teammates from BizStream were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

BizStream has helped us with a number of web projects of various sizes:

• Separated our business's content from a larger, consolidated corporate site and migrated it successfully to a stand-alone site
• Upgraded our version of Kentico
• Designing and building custom marketing toolkits within Kentico, including much needed search capabilities
• Strategizing, designing, and building new innovative design elements and functionality to enhance our website
• General web support and bug fixes

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project is still ongoing, but increased traffic to our website, including lower bounce rates and higher time of page, will be key metrics for us. Additionally, internal feedback will be key in determining the success of the toolkit project, when completed.

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

BizStream is highly responsive and deadline oriented. We know we're never more than an email away from our BizStream team, whether it's a bug we discover, a functionality question, or a completely off-the-wall idea, our BizStream team always brings patience, expertise, and tactical solutions to the table. They are a valued partner.

What was your primary form of communication with BizStream?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The team. Brad, Tucker, Spencer, and Rex are an absolute dream team. They are knowledgeable, organized, bring creative solutions, and ask important questions. Plus, and this can't be overstated, they are amazing humans who are a complete joy to work with. We consider part of our own internal team. 

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

Honestly can't think of anything. There are hiccups in every project, especially when technology is involved, but BizStream always seems to be two steps ahead of our issues. We really appreciate ya'll.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CIO of National Food Group

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Wholesale Distributor to Correctional Facilities and K12 Schools

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Maintenance and improvement of Website

SOLUTION

How did you find BizStream?

Online Search

Why did you select BizStream over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from BizStream were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Collaborate on maintaining and improving our website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Too long to list.

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

Right from the start, Bizstream impressed us with their meticulous approach. After conducting an exhaustive audit, they laid out a well-planned roadmap. Each month, they stuck to their commitment, executing tasks efficiently and sticking to the set number of work-hours. What really set them apart was their transparency. They were clear about the time investment required for each element, facilitating trust and allowing us to allocate our resources more efficiently. 

This transparent approach was both refreshing and valuable, given its rarity in today's business landscape. But what made our experience truly exceptional was Bizstream's willingness to go the extra mile. They didn't just execute tasks; they made sure we understood the why and how behind each change. This educational component empowered us to make more informed decisions about our online strategy going forward. 

In an industry flooded with service providers, Bizstream stands out for its unparalleled blend of professionalism, efficiency, and transparency. They exceeded our expectations on all fronts, making them an ideal choice for anyone in need of website development or maintenance. If you're looking to elevate your online presence, you can't go wrong with Bizstream.

What was your primary form of communication with BizStream?

Virtual Meeting

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

We were impressed by their transparency and ability to hit deadlines.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Software development manager of the company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Vermeer is a manufacturing company for many types of equipment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Launch a multi region website in multiple languages
• Create through iterations a dealer website
• Create custom security options for content trimming

SOLUTION

How did you find BizStream?

Referral

Why did you select BizStream over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from BizStream were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

BizStream architected complex security structure to fulfill business compliance requirements, built a custom solution to trim our content and supported the launch through support after. Using many of our current integrated systems a custom website was launched using multi-language, multi-region, trimmed specific content. BizStream has also continued to support our products post launch as an expert in the Kentico platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Custom trimmed dealer website with search
• Custom regionalized external website

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

We have had several project managers throughout our relationship, they focused heavily on managing through the sprints, coaching our team through how to think in smaller incremental planning and holding both teams accountable. They've been receptive to suggestions as we completed retrospectives.

What was your primary form of communication with BizStream?

Virtual Meeting

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

BizStream was always willing to work with us as a partner. Our team did have to work through some difficult conversations and they completely handled everyone with respect, thoughtfulness, and partnership.

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

Transitioning to support from project was sometimes difficult for teams to figure out how to work best.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Engineering of The Bridgespan Group

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We work to build a better world by strengthening the ability of mission-driven organizations and philanthropists to achieve breakthrough results in addressing society’s most important challenges and opportunities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Website development in Kentico CMS
• Ongoing support of website

SOLUTION

How did you find BizStream?

Kentico Connection Conference

Why did you select BizStream over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• MVP Partners

How many teammates from BizStream were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Rebuild of the company website using the latest version of Kentico CMS using the latest best practices for the CMS in an ASP.NET Core MVC environment. The site deployed to Azure using Azure DevOps services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Improved site performance both front and back end.
• Reduced number of templates necessary to operate the site.
• Improved/simplified taxonomy.
• Movement to PageBuilder pages.
• Advanced search capabilities.
• Easier disaster recovery and deployment to the cloud.

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

Agile model with month long sprints. They delivered on time in general with adjustments to sprints made with approval of the entire team. They responded to needs as we posted requests in Jira or via Slack. They were very interactive and responsive to our needs as issues arose and provided meetings twice a month to make adjustments to sprints and keep us aware of their development work.

What was your primary form of communication with BizStream?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The comfort we had with working with BizStream and integrating their development and project management teams with our own internal development team. Their knowledge about Kentico was a key reason for our choice to work with BizStream and their knowledge of our team and our work over previous years was important to expedite discovery and getting our site back up in the new platform version.

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

Sometimes they run in a silo without some communication of the work they have done that could impact others working in parallel with their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

 I’m the CFO of a retail seller of plants, flowers, nursery items, home decor, and hard goods. All of our products are related to plants and flowers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BizStream?

Firstly, we hired BizStream for a branding exercise. We wanted to get an update on our sense of ourselves, our messaging, and how we wanted to present ourselves to the industry.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our engagement with BizStream started with a branding exercise. A lot of it was a series of brainstorming sessions directed by their team. They asked very specific questions in order to get information and get us thinking in the right direction. These sessions aimed at developing our brand itself, which included defining the colors, tone, messaging, and brand pillars.

Toward the end of that exercise, BizStream also created a new logo for the company along with new brand guidelines. These guidelines detailed our brand pillars, messaging, colors, and fonts. Once we completed the branding exercise, BizStream used some of that information for a second project: a website refresh. Their team pretty much overhauled our company website, using WordPress and Elementor. After the website launch, they helped us with testing.

Both projects are now complete. Moving forward, BizStream will continue to help us with website hosting.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Rex (Creative Lead), who was in charge of the graphic design. We also worked with a business analyst, who ensured the backend work was done according to what we were looking for. Moreover, we worked with a project manager, who oversaw the budgeting and kept everyone on schedule. This teammate also oversaw and planned our meetings and schedules.

In addition to the three main teammates involved, there was also a salesperson who was involved in the project from time to time whenever we had questions. There could have been more teammates working on the project behind the scenes, but we never met them.

How did you come to work with BizStream?

We were already aware of them due to their location. We're both located in the same fairly small town; we're five miles apart.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2023. The branding project was completed in November 2023, and the website was launched in March 2024.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although it is still a bit early to see results, this project already helped us internally. Some of the work we did was to simplify and quicken our own workflow. We were able to add forms on our website that customers could fill out right there instead of having them ask for those forms from us, which helped us save time.

In addition to that, the new contact form was cleaner than the one we used in the past, which improved our workflow as well. Moreover, we sell gift cards online, which we can also mail to our customers. Thus far, we've seen a 20%–30% uptick in gift card sales online. BizStream made the gift card purchasing process easier and look better, which probably contributed to that sales increase.

Regarding the quality of BizStream's work, we know that we paid a lot for the website, but it was absolutely worth it. Their creative work was quite special, so the new website looked very professional and fit our brand. The work that Rex did in that regard was exceptional.

How did BizStream perform from a project management standpoint?

BizStream stayed on budget and hit all the deadlines. Deadlines were never an issue, even though we had a fairly aggressive timeline. Our business is seasonal, so we wanted to hit a certain date. Still, BizStream was fantastic in moving everything forward — we never had a slow period or a road bump. Thanks to this, we achieved a steady progress.

As mentioned above, they were only five miles down the road, so we had around 25 face-to-face meetings in total. Still, a lot of our communication was via email. BizStream's project manager did a very good job summarizing everything that was covered in those meetings and the main takeaways. It was all very clear.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Rex was constant throughout both projects, and he was especially very involved and instrumental during the website development project. He also had a background in graphic design, so he helped create the new logo and came up with the new website design and colors.

Our project wasn't very complex, as the website didn't have many bells and whistles, so we were mainly looking for an updated look. Doing that required creative ability in order to create something fitting with what we were looking for. In that regard, Rex did a fantastic job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

BizStream's creative work was their most impressive asset. Moreover, they did their best to understand our business, and they obviously knew what they were doing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There's nothing BizStream could have improved on; it was a really good partnership. We had a good idea of what we wanted, which I'm sure helped the process. Still, it was very easy to work with BizStream.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The brainstorming process is very important, and the branding work is really vital before creating a new website. Oftentimes, a lot of people have the idea that they need a new website but they don't have any idea about what their brand is. Therefore, it's a very good idea to take ownership of that.

For us, it was really important to go through the branding exercise to take some time and invest in that thought process of understanding who we were, how we wanted to present ourselves, what our voice was, and what our messaging was. Thus, I recommend doing all that work for anyone who's looking for a major refresh of their brand and website. Once you have your brand defined, the work related to the website refresh becomes much easier to do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Gibson Law Office

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Statewide criminal defense law firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Built a web site on the Kentico Platform
• Enhance SEO
• Create Automation for Web Site

SOLUTION

How did you find BizStream?

Online Search

Why did you select BizStream over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from BizStream were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Web Site on Kentico platform.
• On-going tech support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

BizStream met every objection. SEO objectives were achieved and site looks great!

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

BizStream is a superstar company. All deadlines were met and communication was friendly and clear. Anytime I had questions or concerns, BizStream exceeded my expectations.

What was your primary form of communication with BizStream?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

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

I have been a BizStream client for more than a decade. They were a superstar company; they did great work and inspired us to achieve new heights. Mark and Brian have built a highly skilled team and created a culture that makes them fun to work with. In 24 years in business, I have never worked with a better group of people.

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

No.They were just awesome!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of IT and Consumer Services of Sauder Woodworking Co.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We make and sell RTA (Ready-To-Assemble) Furniture.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Website Rewrite

SOLUTION

How did you find BizStream?

We have worked with BizStream for many years. We found them when we purchased Kentico.

Why did you select BizStream over others?

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

How many teammates from BizStream were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

BizStream helped us with our public website rewrite.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• A delivered solution with a smooth cutover to production.

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

Excellent project management.

What was your primary form of communication with BizStream?

Virtual Meeting

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

We were impressed with their development skills and talent. Great people!

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Marketing and Communications of a medical nonprofit.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a nonprofit serving medical professionals in a highly specialized, international, multidisciplinary field.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Upgrade our Kentico platform
• Stabilize and improve our website's functionality
• Ongoing projects and improvements

SOLUTION

How did you find BizStream?

Referral

Why did you select BizStream over others?

High ratings, Pricing first our budget, Good value for cost, Referred to me

What was the size of BizStream’s team?

30

What was your primary form of communication with BizStream?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

Bizstream started with us by upgrading our Kentico CMS based website from version 10.0.x to version 12.0.96, a long overdue upgrade. This included backing up the site, content migration, and a variety of upgrade processes to get our site from 10.0 -> 11.0 -> 12.0-> 12.0.96. The project included quality assurance and deployment, as well as some optimizing the site while we moved through the process. We also engaged in an agreement for ongoing general support with Bizstream, which included consulting and project management on Kentico tasks as they arose. We also contracted with Bizstream to create a new standalone website for us to promote our new charitable arm. The site connects to Kentico and allows us to manage content for the site from our existing CMS, while living separately on Azure.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Upgraded site came in on time and very close to our budget, impressive given a variety of surprises
• Decreased load times and smoother integrations with our 3rd party platforms

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

Bizstream gives you a dedicated project manager who tracks all of your projects and provides updates on a regular basis. Our project manager was friendly, approachable, reachable, and always transparent about the state of the work and the needs of the project. We were able to get updates on the project on demand and had regular check-ins as the project demanded it. Work was delivered on time and often ahead of schedule.

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

Bizstream are masters at their craft. If we were working in Kentico, we'd be foolish to work with anyone else. They have a deep understanding of the platform and how to make it work for a wide variety of applications.

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

Their schedule gets PACKED because they are popular and great at what they do. It's challenging to have to think of projects far enough in advance to get on their schedule, but they're always accommodating and squeeze you in as soon as they can.