Oyova

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our union is over 25,000 workers strong in Oregon in Southwest Washington, and the largest private-sector labor union in Oregon. We are a diverse group of workers who take pride in acting as a strong collective voice for working people. Our members come from a number of industries, including grocery, retail, food processing, manufacturing, and healthcare.

My title is Social Media Coordinator. I run our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, creating, scheduling, and posting content, in addition to moderating comments and replying to direct messages. I also update the website, using the Wordpress engine/dashboard to create, edit or update, and publish pages and web posts, including member spotlights and our newspaper.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Oyova?

Website hosting, development, and maintenance. On demand support

SOLUTION

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

We needed to transfer from our former host, and wanted a company that reflected our Union values. Our deciding factors were responsiveness, Oyova's competency and professionality, and particularly their flexibility for our unique needs.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

They ensured the transfer from our former host was smooth and worked with another company to make that happen. Beth, as an account manager, has checked in on a regular basis personally to ensure our needs are met. Beth also quickly and affordably worked with her team to update our site on short notice to support larger file uploads from form submissions and provided support and guidance on how to use tools on the website we are unfamiliar with as needed.

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

Beth, our account manager, has been fantastic! As I've said, she is attentive, effective, and pleasant to work with!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Beth walked us through our best options when we needed to accommodate larger file uploads, including cost-effectiveness, and her attention to detail ensured the tool would accommodate our needs, including anticipating factors that we had not considered on our end. This program, on short notice, was set up to meet our needs quickly and solved our problem.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Beth checks in regularly to make sure we have everything we need and responds very quickly when we reach out.

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

Their flexibility and excellence in anticipating our needs are impressive.

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

I honestly can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Operations and Technology at a High Visibility Apparel Manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were left out in the cold looking for a developer to take over our custom ECommerce website. Oyova stepped up to help us. For the past 10 years, they have exhausted every effort to help keep our site functional and up-to-date. They plugged in improvements as requested. Gone beyond their responsibility to assist in break-fixes with 3rd party integrations. They have developed offline apps for our production floor. They had a solution whenever we needed one. They have felt like a partner that was an extension of our business.

SOLUTION

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

We found them by recommendation. We have stayed with them because they have been reliable, easy to work with, and they get projects done when they say they will.

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

Our site is a Custom Content Management platform built on .net. They have provided hosting. Sandbox Services. SSL management. App development. Currently they are working with our new marketing team on rebranding exercises.

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

Beth has been an amazing point of contact and project manager. We get acknowledgements of requests and timely follow ups. When we need to pull the team together, she rallies the troops. Chenoa has always been a friendly voice on the phone and helpful in the rush emergencies.

Daniel has saved our company at least once. He worked for 2 weeks strait with developers from other counties to resolve a credit card processing issue. The overseas team was unable to solve it. He created a brilliant workaround and got us back functioning. Lastly, when I have had the pleasure of speaking with David, he has been a gracious partner who has had his team bend over backward to continue to support us. He has been fair in his negotiations and given us grace when we were indecisive to the detriment of his company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website consistently grew 20-25 percent per year while in their care. I know much of that was the compliance efforts they put into it. They also kept us on hosting environments that allowed performance to not inhibit our SERP rankings. Many of the projects I found to be a success, I would not have been able to implement (custom customer portals and unique catalogs) would not have been feasible if their costs were not so reasonable.

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

For our projects, we tended to only need emails and follow ups. The responses were quick, even after hours or at the end of the day.

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

Their Name. They have awesome people who care and do their best to get it right.

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

Some junior members at time struggled with understanding our heavily customized environment. A little more oversite may have helped? But if they never tried to use them, we would never be able to have an expanded pool of developers to lean on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder and CFO, including oversite of technology development and operations

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Oyova replaced an overseas development firm, and handles various app development projects as assigned.

SOLUTION

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

Referred by another local IT vendor.

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

Oyova's team has a good process for onboarding. We met with the entire team and principals.

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

Have worked with 8 to 10 members of the team at all levels.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Oyova has been able to easily step into the shoes of our original development team.

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

Very responsive through email, our helpdesk, and assigned tickets.

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

Broad scope of service, but not too large of a company. Also based locally.

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

No problems.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO for a small marketing firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Oyova was hired to help me update and maintain a WordPress website that was built over four years ago by another team prior to my engagement with the client. My goal was to find a group capable of helping me to update the functionality and content of the client website without a full redesign.

SOLUTION

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

Oyova came to me as a potential partner through a person on the Oyova team and a mutual friend of ours. After meeting with him and discussing my needs with their team it was pretty obvious that Oyova could handle any work that I might need for any WordPress client.

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

Backing up the site, creating a staging environment, updating WordPress, themes, and plug-ins as well as custom development and speed/SEO optimization.

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

Mostly I work with Beth as a Project Manager and Ryan as a developer but also with Ryan the owner and with Ryan in Bus. Development/Partnerships. Lots of Ryans.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I've been impressed with Beth and her ability to coordinate multiple projects for me at the same time. We appreciate how the team built custom build options to use even in aging designs.

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

Beth and I manage everything via email. I'm not sure what they use internally.

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

Their ability to understand the older technology and give me great options for updating to more current standards without breaking the existing site.

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

I think they are working through a lot to better understand how to part with agencies to better serve clients as a white label partner. My hope is that as this continues they'll understand how to package things so it's easier to sell to customers instead of everything being custom.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Director of Web Development at a smaller design, advertising and communications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Oyova to help fill a skills gap left by an employee moving on from our company. We decided to work with them rather than hire a replacement at the same skill level. Our goal was to utilize their superior knowledge and broader skills base so that we could rehire for a more hybrid design/development position.

SOLUTION

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

We have worked with Oyova in the past and knew they could deliver everything they promised. They were able to put us on a monthly retainer at a cost point that worked for our needs, but the biggest deciding factor was how knowledgable and confident their team members were as we walked them through our worries and desires. It instantly won us over.

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

We had a kickoff meeting to discuss the changes that needed to be made to the site, and then I sent over a more formal list.

Beth, the PM, worked with me to use our project management system and kept me informed the whole time as to where in the process we were. Her team worked within our existing site structure using WordPress, Gravity Forms, and AirTable, and delivered the updated site just as we asked for.

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

Beth was our project manager who we worked with most closely. We also had several developers supporting our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have not finished this project quite yet, but we are very happy with everything we've seen so far.

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

Oyova communicated via email and through comments on our preferred project management system, Wrike, to ensure we were always in the loop about the project. We get weekly timesheet reports from the team.

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

We had a very specific request as far as how we wanted to work with Oyova as an agency, and I was extremely impressed that they were able to deliver that with no questions asked in the best way possible. We are very lucky to have them as our go-to resource for web development questions and projects.

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

I don't think so.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a tech lead and developer for Mojo Media Labs. We’re a growth marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Oyova?

Oyova is one of our go-to development partners. If clients want custom functionalities or custom applications, for example, they’re our go-to team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most recently, Oyova worked on a Google Maps API integration project. They built a custom search functionality, custom geolocation functionality, and a feature to calculate distances to our client’s franchise locations. Their team basically created everything our client needed as far as search results and maps to display on their website.

Oyova also worked on an IDX (information data exchange) project for a realtor. Their team was able to parse the IDX feed and then synced it with the website. They also built custom functionalities for showing properties, maps, and properties' details.

What is the team composition?

I generally have 3–4 main points of contact during a project, including a project manager, a technical lead, and a developer.

How did you come to work with Oyova?

I met Oyova through the Digital Mastermind Group. It’s an organization of many small business owners that brings them together to share best practices and help each other grow. Their owner is part of that group, and that’s how I met him.

How much have you invested with them?

On their services, we’ve probably spent between $200,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Oyova about 7–8 years ago. Our most recent project ended a few weeks ago, but our partnership’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Oyova has helped us numerous times. We track whether or not their team meets deadlines and whether or not they accurately scoped projects, so estimating timing and billing. Everything always comes out right in the ballpark. We’re absolutely happy with their services and Oyova has had a positive impact on our business.

How did Oyova perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication’s clear, upfront, and straightforward. They also meet deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Honestly, I’m most impressed by their communication and knowledge.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t believe so.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Deliver them as much information as possible to help them best plan the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of IT for Stenner Pump Company. We are a manufacturer. We manufacture, sell and distribute peristaltic metering pumps.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website was created in over 6 years ago and even then, when it was created it was not created with content management and usability in mind. It was very static with an outdated aesthetic that was not mobile friendly.

We hired the team at Oyova to help us re-envision our website and build it on a modern WordPress platform with an emphasis on content management, SEO and analytics.

SOLUTION

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

We chose to work with Oyova because of their portfolio, cost estimates, and their flexibility and commitment to working with our small team on our schedule.

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

We used a kick-off meeting to discuss our goals and objectives. From there the team delivered mock-ups and wireframes for our site. We had a few meetings to discuss some adjustments and tweaks to the mock ups.

Our site is quite large with some nuances and custom functionality that required special attention to programming. Oyova worked through all of these challenges and went above and beyond to meet the needs of the project and delivered a quality well designed site.

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 throughout the process. There was also 2 full stack developers and a designer working on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our customers love our new site and can now more intuitively navigate the site to find the information they need about our company and products. Our internal staff can now update site pages with ease and flexibility.

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

We had free and open communication with our project manager via email and met frequently with our development team using Zoom.

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

Oyova worked so well with our team and listened to all of our feedback and took into consideration all of our concerns and needs as we went through the design process.

Our team can be quite challenging to work with and Oyova showed nothing but consideration and absolute professionalism throughout the entire process. Thee also took the time to re-train and create detailed documentation to help our team be more proficient at working within the WordPress CMS.

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

We had some minor bugs in some of our custom pages when we first launched, but they were quickly resolved after we contacted them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-owner of a food and travel website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

At the start, we hired Oyova to finish developing our custom CMS for our website--we had prior to that worked with a string of freelancers who had left us high and dry right before finishing. Oyova literally rescued us and got the job completed. Over the years Oyova has provided continuous updates and improvements to the site, and eventually hosting.

In 2020 we wanted to update further and discussed our options with Oyova. Ultimately they migrated half the site to Wordpress and added WooCommerce capabilities. Our goal with this last project was to modernize the look and functionality of the blog, add a shop for our products, and increase traffic.

SOLUTION

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

Back in 2012, we selected Oyova based on their professionalism, their rates, and the ease of working with them.

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

For this last Wordpress project, the biggest we've undertaken in years, we had several meetings with key players at Oyova (led by senior implementation engineer Ryan Boulware) to figure out the best way forward. Because of our custom CMS we had a bunch of challenges before us. Oyova gave us a few workable options, and we chose our solution based upon our primary goals and budget/time constraints.

During the process we had several meetings to review, discuss wish lists, and collaborate on the best way forward. Account manager Beth Rener was always quickly responsive with my questions, which I appreciated!

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

The team included senior implementation engineer Ryan Boulware, lead technology specialist Daniel Rener, web developer Max Nemeth, frontend developer Ian Svoboda, and account manager Beth Rener.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The completion of the Wordpress project unfortunately coincided with the start of the pandemic, which killed a lot of our travel traffic. We are still waiting to see a traffic increase because of this; however it is beginning to improve. We have seen product sales in our new shop and love the look of the new blog--it is infinitely improved from the old version.

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

We had several Zoom meetings to discuss this project at the start and in the middle of it, and thereafter primarily used email to communicate. I could always expect a same-day reply from Beth. The time line was slightly extended to account for the complexities of this project, but overall we were happy with the schedule.

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

We really appreciated the cost-saving solutions the team put before us in undertaking this project, the responsiveness of Beth (as mentioned), and the confidence with which they worked--this was a big deal for us, and they reassured us the site would be majorly improved. We felt we were in good hands.

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

We have worked with Oyova for many years, and sometimes glitches happen or bugs are overlooked. When they are noticed, the team is always quick to address and fix them. Sometimes I need more clarity on charges I see on invoices. Beth is always quick to clarify.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Marketing manager for multiple firms in the A/E/C Industry

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Hosting, web dev, and account management services for three A/E/C firm websites.

SOLUTION

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

Oyova knew what we needed and felt like an extension of our own team!

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

As a vendor we see oyova as an advanced extension of our marketing team - they have assisted in providing web dev support, updates, upgrades, provided recommendations and suggestions. They are supportive and understanding of our needs.

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

Maybe about 2-4. Beth is our main point of contact as our Account Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Improved user experience and improved front end/back end of certain parts of our websites. Assisted on any issues or concerns we have.

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

Efficient and timely. They are very communicative and leverage email and if needed a phone/zoom call.

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

What I found most unique or impressive is that Oyova just completely understands. The employees at the company are down to earth and are able to listen and understand fully what unique needs we have.

They do not push or have ulterior motives for recommendations or suggestions. One of the most humble, genuine, and honest agencies I have had the pleasure of working with! I have complete trust in all employees at Oyova.

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

Nothing that I can think of!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the President and Solutions lead of Digital Solution Partners, a small marketing technology consultancy. We are a small team of consultants with experience from a multitude of world class organizations.

We bring together front-end customer experience with back-end technical knowledge to work alongside our clients internal teams and partners. We help lead our clients through the necessary transformation to the digital age.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Oyova?

We had a project with Trapollo to migrate their website from a legacy system and server to a newly hosted Wordpress application.

We hired Oyova to be our technical infrastructure setting up the ecosystem, configuring the Wordpress instance, setting up caching, etc. In addition, they were responsible for ongoing server maintenance, keeping Wordpress apps up to date and ensuring stability of the site.

What were your goals for this project?

Complete the migration as quickly as possible to take advantage of the growing opportunity for digital medical services (Trapollo's business) due to COVID-19 to enable exponential growth of the business.

SOLUTION

How did you select Oyova?

They have been our development partner on programs in the past and have exceed expectations every time.

Describe the project in detail.

The initial migration happened very rapidly. Within the first week, we had detailed discussion of the Wordpress setup, configured the AWS environment. By week three, we had an instance of the site migrated over and Trapollo team was doing UAT.

We were ready to go live less than 30 days after initial SOW approval. Upon security screening, it was discovered that some of the approved apps had security gaps that were no longer acceptable.

Oyova team made custom modifications to ensure compliance and get final approval. Post launch, we've had 100% uptime and no issues.

What was the team composition?

We worked with an account manager and development lead. They were our interface.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Unfortunately, we can't share numbers, but I can say that our contract was renewed for 2021 with no questions.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It's been great. We use Slack with them, communication is easy and they are very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are good people, easy to work with and committed to doing top-class work. They want more than a project completion, they want a relationship and it aligns with what we want from our business.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everyone can always be faster, get to information more quickly and be more polished in communication; however, the bar they have set is high and it's why we like working with them.