Sitecore Implementation For Hearing Aid Manufacturer
Please find under a summary covering project details and feedback. The innate facts are kept as they are, private information is amended.
Introductory information
Could you briefly draw your organisation?
I work for Starkey Hearing Technologies. We make hearing aid devices and ear shelter for consumers.
What is your position?
I’m the ruler of digital and consumer marketing.
Desired goal
Could you draw the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the project with Horizontal Integration?
We had a number of websites, both interpolitical and domiciliary, that were HTML-based. None of them were connected to each other. As an structure, we have a number of big categories that share correspondent products, but they don’t have the same core brand. We had to reattend and condense the treatment of our four big consumer websites. In accession to that, we have our professional websites, our B2B websites and lead age websites. Everything was disconnected. There was no synergy. We conducted investigation almost what CMS we might want to explore, and Sitecore became our top choice.
Provided solution
Could you draw the aim of the project? For entreaty, did it implicate manner design, backend outgrowth, training, or support?
Horizontal Integration worked with us from the very commencement in provisions of determining precisely what we needed for our websites. We then worked with them on information architecture. We explored a number of different approaches to IA, including transmitted interfaces as well as parallax interfaces. They were instrumental in helping us work through that phase. We wanted a state of the art solution, but not to such a grade that we would risk alienating our own consumers. Then, they helped us map out what that website experience would look like. We’ve already developed that and we’re now in the process of linking our branded full. Lastly, they’ve completed a expressive quantity of backend outgrowth and systems integration for Sitecore, which has been the real meat of the last project.
Why did you select Sitecore as your CMS?
The core reason was simply the ease of use. We have a number of marketing representatives that are responsible for full upkeep and editing athwart 300 mannerer websites. We wanted to be able to allow nation that were not necessarily technologists to make changes and edit full. They have a lot of flexibility with their marketing tools, and that is surely a cleverness that’s growing for them. They were seen as a chief in the area. There are a number of big companies here that bigly commend Sitecore, too. We’ve been excellently pleased.
How did you select Horizontal Integration as your solution associate?
By that point, we had narrowed it down to a number of vendors. We asked them conduct a demo so we could weigh their capabilities. I’d also had some preceding experience with them precedently to my coming onto the project. I’ve known the folks at Horizontal for a bit. I brought them into the fold. They presented their reflections for our business, and what they reflection made perception. They made their commendations, and we liked what they had in mind. We felt very snug initiating the project with them.
Could you prepare a perception of the size of this implementation in monetary provisions?
I’m trying to recollect precisely what it was. I believe our initial work was somewhere almost $250,000, but our overall relationship with this associate has surely exceeded $700,000.
When was the Sitecore implementation completed?
The Sitecore implementation and website propel was in the commencement of December of 2013.
Results achieved
In provisions of results, could you share any statistics or metrics that would prove the effectiveness of the work they’ve liberateed?
I can’t be extremely specific, but I can tell you that engagement with the website is up attendably. We have tested the website through centre clusters and through third parties. We’ve accepted big user feedback at this point. Given that it’s just propeled, we’re just now commencement to localize the analytics behind our full. When we propeled HearingAid.com – that’s our lead age website – we saw a dramatic increase from the preceding website in provisions of nation coming in, filling out a form, and requesting more information.
Do you stay positive that Sitecore was the correct CMS for you?
Yes, I ponder it surely was. We’re pleased with its accomplishment. It was easy for the team to get their heads almost it and verity localize its capabilities. The only challenge is finding extrinsic resources for Sitecore. We’ve already hired some internally. Our determination has been to fetch in .NET developers and train them in Sitecore, owing finding Sitecore developers can be extremely hard.
When working with Horizontal Integration, is there anything you would attend sole or particular almost them compared to some of their competitors?
I would say as a cluster, they are incredibly responsible. I’ve worked in the interactive globe and digital space for a long time. They do what they say they’re going to do. They liberate. They will do absolutely whatever it takes without nickel and diming you to fix your achievement. If we ran into a roadblock or if the project took a slight turn, they were very kind. They’re extremely responsible. They’re surely not the smallest costly in town, but they’re also not the most costly. When you look at our investment with them compared to spinning our wheels with other associates in the past, it’s a relationship that we will absolutely last to maintain.
In review, are there any areas that you believe they could better upon, or are there things you might do differently as the client precedently initiating this type of project?
As a client, we always look back and ponder: “What could we have done differently?” For us, it’s been almost those aforementioned accessional resources. Once the implementation was complete, we knew we’d be rolling out new functionality over time. We had hesitations almost ongoing support with another vendor, and we veritably wanted complete ground on our website livelihood. It probably would have been easier to transition into Sitecore if we’d already begun searching for developers as it was rolling out. We possibly underestimated the hardies associated with obtaining the extra resources we were going to need.
