OAK3- Out of Business

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Landys Chemist is a large independent retailer in the UK. We sell a range of perfumes, skincare and vitamins.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OAK3, and what were your goals?

We had been using a web developer in the UK who had initially built our magento 1 website. It was very frustrating working with them because they were extremely expensive per hour and I think they seemed a lot more interested in prioritising their other clients.

We needed a range of work done on our site at the time and felt like we weren't getting the attention we needed to help push our business forward.

SOLUTION

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

We were recommended them by our SEO agency. Pricing was really attractive and they seemed responsive and confident that they could jump onto the project and help.

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

Over the course of two years they did a huge range of work; front end styling, improving how different elements on the site worked and interacted with each other, work on our checkout and also adding additional plugins to help us gain functionality.

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

We mainly spoke to our project manager. Even on weekends when things went wrong she was quite responsive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work they did for the most part was exceptional. The quality of work was really good but also the pace of delivery was very quick which we weren't used to. This allowed us to improve the site which had both SEO and functionality benefits. We saw a period of strong growth whilst working with them.

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

Mostly we spoke via Skype and email. They were always quick and responsive.

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

Generally I think the work was of a really good standard.

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

In the end the reason we stopped partnering with them was because of the migration to Magento 2. I felt really disappointed about this work in the end because I felt it wasn't up to standard.

The site became really unstable and we lost functionality in certain areas that we'd had on M1. I ended up feeling like they were experts on M1 who could solve and resolve any issue but I wondered if they lacked the experience working with M2.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

FultonFishMarket.com is a one stop shop for the freshest quality seafood anywhere on earth. We have the largest assortment of fresh and frozen seafood all under one roof. President

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OAK3, and what were your goals?

In early 2014 my company CIO began the difficult process of who to partner with to begin the build out of our e-commerce platform. Jeff flew all over the world and luckily came across Vlad and his amazing team at Oak3.

SOLUTION

How did you select OAK3 and what were the deciding factors?

Jeff, our CIO decided on Oak3 because of their ability and expertise to build us the best possible platform from concept to completion.

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

The scope of work was vast and detail. Oak3's flexibility to to complete projects was a wonderful experience. Vlad and his teams experience in building customization into our Magento platform was exactly what we needed.

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

Vlad, including himself made themselves available around the clock to us to ensure projects were completed on time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Oak3 worked tirelessly around the clock to complete projects on time.

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

There was always a direct line of communication with Oak3. Working from different timezones was never an issue. Vlad made his team available to us around the clock.

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

I was most impressed by Oak3's experience and timely results.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the lead IT technician at Meade Digital Enterprise. We operate out of the Fulton Fish Market in New York, the second-largest marketplace for fresh seafood in the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK3?

We were looking to expand our network in order to increase the number of orders we process on a daily basis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OAK3 provided IT and web development services. Their team helped us develop the front- and backend of our website, as well as the peripheral equipment and servers connected to it that processes the order. We had some trouble with our scales and barcode scanners, and OAK3 helped us develop that system.

They also helped us virtually set up the applications for running the software. OAK3 provided technical support for any issues we had. Their team would walk us through troubleshooting step by step. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with about five members of the OAK3 team. I worked closely with Vlad (Managing Partner) on the development.

How did you come to work with OAK3?

We started working with OAK3 before my time at the company, but they were chosen for their expertise in creating and building website applications. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $9,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement ran from November 2015–March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We went from having 150 order lines per night in 2018 to over 2,000. OAK3 has been the key to our company’s success. Our entire company is built on the system they developed. We still use and expand on that system today. 

How did OAK3 perform from a project management standpoint?

Our teams worked remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so we primarily communicated via email, Skype, and Slack. I was able to contact them anytime I had an issue, and at one point was reaching out to Vlad almost nightly. They were always available and communicative. Vlad even flew all the way to New York to develop our stations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their creativity and ability to come up with simple solutions to complex problems impressed me. They are problem solvers who are able to think outside the box.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We might have had a longer-lasting partnership if they were based in the US because we eventually needed local support. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hear them out, they have a lot of great ideas. Work with them to try and figure out a strategy that best fits your business model and schedule. Dealing with a partner halfway around the world can be a challenge, but OAK3 is a great company with a smart team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of Hoesjes Outlet, which is an e-commerce website that primarily sells phone cases and accessories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OAK3?

We started working with them to migrate from Magento 1 to Magento 2.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They migrated us to Magento 2. We had to rebuild everything, and they also implemented a new design. We migrated all the old data to the latest Magento platform.

What is the team composition?

I think about five people were working on our project. There was one project manager, two developers, one front-end developer, and a tester.

How did you come to work with OAK3?

We are from the Netherlands, where we have very high wages for developers, so we were looking for an agency that had reasonable hourly rates and would be able to spend a lot of time on the project. A contact of mine who has all kinds of connections around Europe felt that OAK3 would be a good fit for us with our requirements.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around October 2019, and the partnership is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The migration went well. We had stable organic results, and we didn’t lose our Google rankings. Our conversion rate has been steadily climbing since the new website went live. 

How did OAK3 perform from a project management standpoint?

I think project management is one of their strong points. Our project manager was available to take all my input. I’m not very technical, so I just spoke from my business standpoint and tried to brief her on the tasks as well as I could. I have limited abilities in that sense, and our project manager translated all those requirements into tasks for the development team. It was also crucial that she was always available if something was wrong or if we had an urgent question. If there was a high priority issue, she was still there to respond to it quickly, and I think those two things were important as well.

We communicate through Skype and email. We use Skype to do screen sharing and demos and, we email task descriptions and invoicing and all that kind of stuff. At the beginning of the project, I set up Jira. Now that we have grown more complicated, we also started using Trello, a tool to structure workflows and priorities. We currently use both of those tools in combination.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They give me the feeling that they care about my business succeeding. I don’t feel that when their job is done, they will stop caring. They go the extra mile to make sure we're successful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should be comfortable giving a little more pushback. We try to squeeze in as many tasks as we can into one budget, and they try as hard as they can to fit everything in. Sometimes, they could give me a bit more pushback on stuff when things might not be achievable within the budget, for example.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In the last year, I learned is that you should compile small tasks and put those together in one project or one sprint. Separate those from the significant issues and big projects, and don’t mix those two. 

Sometimes we tried to make a list of simple tasks and add something complicated, and I felt that it disturbed the workflow, so I learned to do that differently and separate those two.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of Cupio, a beauty brand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Busteco?

We reached out to Busteco to migrate our Magento website to Magento 2. They originally built our website almost seven years prior. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Busteco migrated our website over to a Magento 2 platform. 

What is the team composition? 

I work with Margaret (Senior Project Manager and Managing Partner, Busteco).

How did you come to work with Busteco?

I think I came across them online and decided to reach out to them, but it was a long time ago. 

How much have you invested with them?

In the most recent project, we've invested between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for about seven years, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Busteco continues to be a very strong long-term partner. Their work is critical to our business considering that our website acts as our main store. We fully trust their team to manage the site and fix any bugs that come up quickly. It's as if they're part of our own team. 

How did Busteco perform from a project management standpoint?

Having worked with us for a long time, they're very familiar with our projects. We don't have any communications issues with them. We can reach them fairly easily through Skype, Slack, phone, or email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're certified developers with a lot of experience with Magento. In addition to their expertise, they contribute a lot of value to our business. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No one is perfect, but they're very responsive to our needs and feedback. They make any changes we need and are willing to work out other issues as they come up in order to improve their services.