SteadyRain

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your organization?

I work for an engineering firm that specializes in automotive after-market products, [such as] lift racks, alignment systems, tire changers, and bumpers.

What is your position?

I’m the Web manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you first approached SteadyRain?

We wanted to overhaul our existing public website. We wanted a complete redesign with some additional functionality. Our old site was old and obsolete. It really wasn’t doing much for us. It was an old ColdFusion site and we were looking to transition to something new. 

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of work delivered during the course of this engagement?

Like I said, our current website was in ColdFusion, so everything had to be rebuilt and rewritten. So, they’ve helped with everything from building database mind maps, identifying problems in our current code and how to improve them. The old website also wasn’t mobile friendly, and obviously that was one of our biggest concerns, because so much traffic now comes exclusively from mobile devices. We had to make sure we were going to capture that traffic. It was all done in DotNetNuke, which was the content management system that we decided to build the new site on.

Had you selected DotNetNuke as your preferred CMS prior to approaching SteadyRain?

No. They were a part of that selection process. I brought in several different consulting groups to propose ideas for our new site. After looking at the various options, and taking SteadyRain’s recommendation into consideration, we decided that DotNetNuke would be the best route to take.

How did you select SteadyRain as your solution partner?

We brought in a few different vendors. Some were marketing companies; some were Web development companies. We spent time with each really evaluating their previous work and discussing ideas they had for our new site. SteadyRain came across as the most capable and experienced. We were impressed by some of their past work, and they seemed to have a very thorough development process.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

I don’t know if I have the exact figures. I want to say it was a couple hundred thousand.

Is this project ongoing or completed?

Ongoing, and we’ve been in the process for a few months now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

We’re not at that point yet. We’ve got a staging site, but it’s fairly limited in terms of functionality. It’s just too early to be evaluating their progress like that. What we’ve seen thus far is strategic process. They’ve come up with some great ideas that we’re excited to have implemented into our new site. There’s a lot of room for growth, which we’re only now discovering.

When working with SteadyRain, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

They have a pretty incredible development team there. I have to give them credit where it’s due. I was rather surprised when I found out how proficient their developers were, not only at coding, but also at communicating with us in our own language, on our own terms. That isn’t all that common, especially with technology firms. They’re very conscientious of our needs and they make the effort to tailor the solution to those needs wherever and whenever possible.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think SteadyRain could improve as a service provider?

No. It’s been a very good relationship thus far. We’ve only been working together for probably six months now, but it’s been very solid. I don’t have any complaints.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

[We are] a community bank with 52 locations across 29 different communities, stretching from Missouri down to Texas. We’re valued at $2 billion in financial assets.

What is your position?

I’m a marketing manager. I’ve been in this position since June of 2011. I’m in charge of most of our advertising efforts that are of the digital nature.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you first approached SteadyRain?

That actually predates me by a few months. As I came on, we were really getting up to speed with them. It was definitely an SEO [search engine optimization] need for additional organic search results. We also wanted to have a partner manage and explore our pay-per-click campaigns, too. They’ve designed the website for us and they continue to optimize our content for search.

SOLUTION

How did you select SteadyRain as your solution partner for this endeavor?

That decision was made by my senior VP as well as my direct predecessor. They were the ones that filtered through the vendors and selected SteadyRain. They’re a St. Louis-based company, so I assume geography was an important factor in addition to technical ability.

Could you describe the scope of work delivered during the course of this relationship?

They built our current website, the aesthetic and functional elements. They continue to manage our PPC and SEO efforts. They’ve also designed a mobile app for us for our real estate lending line of business. So far, that’s what they’ve done. We plan to expand the relationship even further as more resources are freed up.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Cost is very reasonable with them. Our interactive advertising, which encompasses more than just the website and marketing services, is about $300,000.

When was the most recent project completed?

They’re mostly ongoing, like the PPC and SEO. It’s really a month-to-month project wherein we’re building out new content for the website. Everything gets tagged and optimized for search.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?  

We’ve seen our organic search traffic increase by 30 percent after about 18 months of work with them, and the paid traffic increased approximately 360 percent. We’ve continued to grow, and we’ve seen additional increases since that 18-month window. We’ve been very impressed with their work. It’s made a considerable impact thus far. 

When working with SteadyRain, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

They’re a very personable group of folks. They’re very attentive to our business and technical needs. If it’s a functional change that we want to the site or a stylistic change to our copy, they’ve been very receptive to our suggestions and have adapted as necessary. They’re extremely flexible.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

I know they’ve hired some new design people, but it would be with creative design. The first draft for the mobile app that they’ve designed for our real estate line of business was very boxy. It didn’t have the fluidity or polish we were expecting. We sent them back to the drawing board a few times. We’re very happy with the final product, but that first version was very underwhelming. It’s an area I think they’re really trying to improve, so it’s probably only a matter of time.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

We are a state tourism organization whose goal is to inspire leader travel to our states. All of our marketing efforts direct consumers back to our website where we hope they will research and plan their trips, although we do not have a booking feature on our website.

What is your position?

I'm the communications manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you first approached SteadyRain?

As a state agency, we enter into contracts with various outside businesses for different kinds of work. Several years ago, a website company was contracted to develop a new site for our agency. After a year, it became clear that they could not meet our expectations. There were several issues with the site. It would crash, it didn't function properly, etc. Their services were not retained. SteadyRain was brought in to help fix those issues. As a result, the improvements they made got the website on a much better footing. In subsequent years, they've been a successful bidder to retain the state Web development services provider contract. We recycle the bid process every four years.

How many consecutive cycles have they retained your services?

I believe that because they were brought in after one contract was canceled, they were retained in an ad hoc capacity for about three years. They're now in the third year of a four-year cycle. So, they're slated to be our Web development services provider through the end of fiscal year 2016, which would be June 30, 2016.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project?

They provide the CMS [content management system] on which our website operates. It's a DotNetNuke platform. They manage the technical aspects of the website. Control of the website is in our hands. People in our industry submit information to us. We review it and approve it, and then it gets posted on our website. But, they handle all the technical details. They do all the bug fixes and troubleshooting. When improvements are needed, they do all the development, wireframes, programming, deployment, testing, [and] configurations.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Significant projects have cost somewhere between $40,000 and $50,000. We generally spend anywhere from $120,000 to $150,000 a year on the website. It seems like we usually have one fairly significant project a year. Then we have a monthly maintenance retainer, which translates roughly into $40,000 to $45,000 for 12 months worth of monthly maintenance and support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they've delivered?  

First of all, the site works a lot better now than it did when they first inherited it. That's a given. I believe the site is a whole lot faster. We've seen continuous positive growth in traffic to our site. A couple of years ago, they brought to the table and we implemented a feature on our website called "Trip Ideas." Outside of the home page, it's probably the most popular section of our website. It really functions very nicely. It's a very interactive component of our site, which the users seem to enjoy. They've also implemented for us a mobile responsive website. In the last year, we've seen our mobile traffic really skyrocket.

In June of 2013, our mobile and desktop sites had about 230,000 visits. In June of 2014, they had about 265,000 visits, which is an increase of 15 percent. Looking at it year to year, the first six months of 2013, the desktop and mobile had about 775,000 visits, and 2014 had 975,000 visits, which is roughly an increase of about 26 percent. Both of those are indicators that the separate sites are working and they're working in ways that are consumer-friendly. We've been very pleased with these results. 

When working with SteadyRain, is there anything you'd consider unique or special about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

I've only been with this office for five years, so they're the only Web development services provider with which I have experience working. As a result, my insights are severely limited. I will say, however, that as a service provider, we've really had very few issues emerge. We may have experienced some issues in the beginning, but there's always some form of learning curve when beginning a new collaboration. They've been invaluable.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

I'm a consultant working for a manufacturing company in St. Louis, Mo. The company is a major manufacturer of commercial refrigeration equipment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were attempting to address when you first approached SteadyRain?

We were developing a new line of products that we wanted to have controllable via a Bluetooth with an app on your smartphone. We had no experience in that realm, or any kind of resources to develop anything like that, so we had to go out and find a developer that would be able to build it for us. We really wanted to work alongside a local vendor, and SteadyRain was one of a handful we approached.

SOLUTION

How did you select SteadyRain as your solution partner for this endeavor?

We did some basic online research for vendors in our area with Web development and design experience. SteadyRain was one of a few companies that emerged through that initial research. We spent some time evaluating their services and capabilities before deciding to submit an inquiry. They ended up submitting a very reasonable proposal, so we invited them to come demo some of their previous work. We found their presentation very convincing, and their cost estimates were well within our specified range, so we awarded them to project.

Could you describe the scope of this project in greater detail?

They were responsible for the functional development of our app using the iOS platform. The project began with user requirements gathering and project scoping. Once we'd come to an agreement on the deployment process, they began to the work of building the application. They handled the UI/UX [user interface/user experience] work, too, as well as the unit testing. They continue to offer ongoing support to us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We've invested around $100,000.

When was this project completed?

We're not quite done yet. Once we've cleared and approved the iOS version, then we're going to have SteadyRain develop a corresponding Android version.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they've delivered?  

The development cycle for a refrigeration product is an extremely lengthy and cumbersome process. Developing the application responsible for its control is, in actuality, much faster. Unfortunately, SteadyRain has been inhibited by our own inability to get our product in order. We've run into unexpected issues with the functionality of the product, so we're in the process of fixing that. Until the product is ready, the mobile app really can't move on anymore. We can't even fully test the app because the product isn't ready yet. I can tell you, however, that we've been pleased with the quality of the mobile component. We're not worried at all about syncing the app with the product. We're quite confident that we'll experience minimal issues once we begin the testing phase with the actual product.

When working with SteadyRain, is there anything you'd consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

When compared to the other folks in Denver that I've hired, they're far more professional in terms of process documentation, feedback, [and] responsiveness. They've done pretty much everything we've asked them to do, and they've done it very well.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think SteadyRain could improve as a service provider?

That's a difficult question. The only critique I would be willing to pose would be with regards to their approach to client relationships, I guess you could say. SteadyRain is the kind of vendor that takes a client requests and simply delivers what they desire, regardless of whether or not that desire is truly warranted. This isn't necessarily a negative; it's simply the way they approach projects. If a company were to approach them with relatively unstructured and/or inaccurate requirements, SteadyRain would still build the solution, so long as the client requested it and paid them. Other vendors take a more pro-active approach, tending to offer recommendations and sometimes actually disputing their client requests. We never experienced that with SteadyRain. It might be an area that they should consider building out. I honestly think they could win more business if they approached client projects from a more strategic standpoint, rather than simply a development and design standpoint.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

I work at a local botanical garden. We're a large botanic garden in St. Louis; one of three major botanic gardens.

What is your position?

I'm director of planning and systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were attempting to address when you first approached SteadyRain?

We engaged them a number of years ago. It was to establish a Web presence, primarily, for scientific purposes, back in the early days of the Internet. Our research group used to exchange data with other interested botanists in other horticultural institutions and botanic gardens.

After having done that, we've migrated to the public use of the Internet as others have done. But, our legacy system has grown organically through the years. We have a variety of interphases and a multitude of websites, all focused on niche topics. Our desire had been to unify our Web presence and do a better job of branding ourselves. We wanted a standard platform for all of our various websites.

We looked for a variety of vendors and SteadyRain seemed to offer the most comprehensive capabilities, especially with the system we'd decided to deploy.

SOLUTION

What content management system did you select?

We were using an enterprise version of DotNetNuke.

What was the selection criteria used to choose your solution partner?

We looked primarily at experience with DotNetNuke and what their qualifications had been in that regard. Of course, we wanted to understand the size of the institution or the organization we'd be dealing with, and having a local presence and being familiar with the work of the garden was important to us. We needed to make sure the company could scale in accordance with changing requirements, if necessary.

Could you describe the scope of the project?

We really started out with master planning the changes we were trying to implement. They performed due diligence and reviewed our business processes. It was an entire Web audit. 

From that point, we worked with them to devise a strategy for how were going to modify and eventually unify our entire Web presence. We also strategized how we wanted the user interface to look and feel. They were indispensible in that regard, too. After having done the strategy work, we then moved onto execution and management. They designed and developed the website that we were migrating our content to, and they worked with us to train a number of our staff members. They also performed all of the integration work and configured the various systems.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We've been at this for multiple years and we've probably spent, not including internal staff time, out of pocket, on the order of magnitude of $100,000 to $200,000 a year.

This remains ongoing relationship, correct?

Yes, that's right. We still have projects with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they've delivered?

We've done quite a bit. We've increased our Web presence in terms of footprint and content, and traffic has responded accordingly. We have millions of visitors per year to our websites. In terms of user feedback, we get a lot of compliments from our user community, in terms of the modified and updated look and feel that we're presenting. The vast majority of all the comments have been very favorable. We're happy to have completed the core work. It feels as if, as an organization, we've received great benefit from the work.

When working SteadyRain, is there anything you'd consider unique about their strategic approach and/or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

One thing that stands out is that they're clearly our partners, and they're very interested in the nature of our work. Because they're also working with other local institutions, they look for opportunities for us, as an organization, to consider working with other organizations within the area on similar topics. They're always exploring possibilities in that regard. That's above and beyond what we've expected from them; it's certainly not in their contract to function as a business development arm, too. We really haven't sat down to initiate anything with other institutions here in town, but they keep percolating ideas that might work. They're extremely pro-active, which is great because it means we're both bringing new ideas to the table.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think SteadyRain could improve as a service provider?

There were a number of tasks that required custom backend development. Our requirements for some of that work were a bit fuzzy at the outset. It was largely an internal inability of ours to describe exactly what we wanted to have performed. But, the development process, in an environment where requirements are vague, can be very difficult. We ended up spending more money on development-related work than we anticipated, most likely because of that initial problem. I wouldn't attribute that exclusively to them and their processes, but it'd have been nice if they could've caught our error or perhaps handheld us a bit more. At the end of the day, they're supposed to be the experts.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

[We are] an automotive reconditioning company that specializes in smart repairs, which are small- to medium-area repairs. We provide ding and dent removal. We provide wheel repair, bumper repair, headlight brightening. Anything that can cosmetically be done to a vehicle is pretty much what we can offer to our customers.

What is your position?

I’m the director of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were the challenges you were attempting to address when you began the relationship with SteadyRain?

When we began the relationship, we were looking to update our website. We had a website that was quite outdated, and we wanted to partner with a company that could really look at our overall business and provide the best recommendations on how to move forward. We wanted to promote what we do across our multiple lines of businesses to our various audiences. The whole thing really began with building us a new site using DNN.

SOLUTION

Had you selected DotNetNuke as your preferred content management system before approaching SteadyRain?

No. We hadn’t selected any platforms yet. They were a vital part of that puzzle since we had no real knowledge of the space.

How did you select SteadyRain as your solution partner for this endeavor?

We conducted some research online. We were considering several different local vendors here in St. Louis. We sent our statement of work to about five or six companies and received a handful of proposals, one of which was from SteadyRain. They had a whole diagram explaining the entire development and deployment process. It was very well researched and conceptualized. We found ourselves very impressed with them, so we decided to have them come in and present some of their previous work. After their demo, we felt confident that they’d be able to deliver our site as expected.

Could you describe the scope of work delivered during the course of this project?

They were responsible for the design and development of the site. That included the wireframing and template design, and color arrangements. They also build and customized all of the functional elements of the site. They prepared and migrated all of our content, and crafted some of our new copy. The configured and optimized all of our content for search, and right now they’re helping us manage and execute our pay-per-click marketing campaigns.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I don’t know for certain because I don’t handle the contract directly, but I want to say that it’s right around $100,000.

This deployment remains ongoing, correct?

Yes. We’re in a closed beta test now. We’re scheduled for launch in a few months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback you’ve received that might demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

Well, we definitely don’t have any metrics or statistics since we haven’t even launched it yet. I can tell you that most of our executives have seen the mockups, and they’ve been very impressed. The work they’ve completed so far is of very high quality, and they’re consistently hitting their marks. We’d have to circle back around after the deployment to dive into some of the analytics.  

When working with SteadyRain, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach or their development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

The initial planning phase with them really stood out. They took the time to come to our office, meet our team, and discuss at great length our project details. More than that, they asked a lot of fantastic questions that really made us sit back and consider exactly what we were looking to build. A lot of vendors tend to come in and start to build after they have a basic idea of what the client wants, but there are times when, in fact, the client wants something that might not work, or something they might not actually need. That’s why we really appreciated how much time was spent trying to understand our business objectives.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think SteadyRain could improve as a service provider?

I would have to say no for that particular question. I don’t think there’s anything that I would have changed along the way. As mentioned, our deployment is still ongoing, so this is really something I’d only be able to answer after launch.