Case Study: ROCK/CREEK
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Case Study: ROCK/CREEK
Case Study: ROCK/CREEK Tenzing delivers exemplary support and commerce expertise. Key Challenges A mid sized retailer needed expert support for Oracle Commerce. Solution + Tenzing Site Optimizer + Amplifi Commerce Development + Tenzing Infrastructure and Managed Services + Oracle Commerce Platform Business Benefits + Doubled Mobile Conversions + Improved Speed and Performance during Busiest Holiday Season to Date + Reduced Service Response and Resolution Time The Client Founded in 1989, Rock/Creek is an independent retailer that sells specialty outdoor merchandise. Rock/Creek has translated a passion for the outdoors into a thriving business by investing in their community and engaging with their customers through events, demonstrations and workshops. Their ecommerce store is an extension of their retail experience, designed to showcase their brand, products, and values online. As their ecommerce business grows, Rock/Creek is focused on building a web store that continues its legacy of passion, quality, and service. Platform Decisions Rock/Creek invested in the Oracle Commerce platform after outgrowing a custom ecommerce solution. It was getting harder to find developers to support the inhouse platform, and the team was losing sleep over its ability to keep the store running. The team at Rock/Creek evaluated a number of ecommerce platforms, including two SaaS based solutions, evnually deciding to go with an on-premise platform to ensure they had full control over their store. They did not want to fight for feature requests from a SaaS platform with a broad customer base. The Rock/Creek team quickly learned the amount of work involved in a platform migration. Not wanting to repeat the exercise, the team focused their search on a long term solution. When they found that other on-premise solutions did not have convincing case studies or demonstrations of scalability, they decided on Oracle Commerce. A Rocky Start Their original implementation partner managed the sites’ development and infrastructure, but issues arose. Timelines were missed, budget was exceeded, and the Rock/Creek team made the decision to replace the partner. They began their search for a systems integrator that could build an exceptional web store, but also be realistic and forthright about the project. There was a significant level of investment in the project but, as a mid-sized retailer, there were constraints. Their search brought them to Amplifi Commerce, who brought worldclass experience to the project, with a practical and consultative attitude. Choosing Tenzing More than manged hosting Commerce Delivered. With a platform and systems integrator in place, the last piece of the puzzle was the infrastructure, on which the project’s success hinged. A well-designed site could not drive results if there were performance issues or service interruptions. The team decided early on that they needed help managing the sites infrastructure. Their previous site was regularly affected by inconsistent performance and downtime, which they didn’t want to repeat. Rock/Creek decided to invest in managed services to ensure the platform and infrastructure were kept up to date, secure and continuously monitored. They looked for a provider that was familiar with ecommerce, a proactive partner that would help optimize performance. The team looked at a number of options but struggled to find a provider that balanced expertise and affordability. At one extreme they would be paying as much as a second development partner. On the other, the general feeling was that the expertise was not there, that it was not deep and ingrained in the business. Tenzing provided the balanced solution that Rock/Creek was looking for; they demonstrated experience and expertise at a fair price. “We were looking for people that had done this before, with proven experience,” said Mark McKnight, eCommerce & Marketing Director at Rock/Creek. “We chose Tenzing because of their demonstrated expertise and proactive attitude, we felt like they understood our business and the project.” Going Live Through the project deployment and launch, the Tenzing team worked with Rock/Creek to get the site ready for the busy holiday season. As part of the onboarding and deployment, Tenzing outlined support procedures, RACI matrices and escalation processes that demonstrated the depth of their expertise. Their advanced monitoring and 24x7x365 service desk support gave the small Rock/Creek team peace of mind. Tenzing’s Technical Account Manager guided the team through the onboarding process, engaging technical and engineering resources as needed, ensuring the project was set up for success. “From a service point of view, it is night and day,” said Mark McKnight. “The Tenzing team challenges us, they take the time to understand what we need and work with us to find the best solution for our business.” Their Technical Account Manager proved a valuable advocate for the project, working with them through holiday capacity planning exercises. Tenzing’s holiday preparation programs made sure that the Rock/Creek site and infrastructure was well prepared for their peak season. A few months later, the planning paid off, and Rock/ Creek saw its busiest holiday season ever, without any issues or performance degradation. More than Infrastructure Beyond the backups, monitoring and patching expected from a managed service provider; Tenzing provides Rock/Creek with proactive recommendations and optimizations. To improve the Rock/Creek sites speed and conversions Tenzing worked with industry partner Yottaa to set up a trial of Tenzing Site Optimizer. In a matter of weeks Rock/Creek could see the impact of the front end caching and CDN service; the site was faster than ever, and their mobile conversions had soared. After implementing Tenzing Site Optimizer in the fall, mobile conversions grew steadily as the holiday season approached, eventually doubling the previous years results. Looking Ahead “We are extremely passionate about our business, and it gives me great confidence to work with partners who demonstrate the same dedication,” said Mark McKnight. “We are a small and nimble team, and Tenzing provides us with the flexibility to access expert help when we need it. We are continually impressed with their involvement and level of support. With Tenzing behind me I am no longer losing sleep about our site staying up, I know it is in good hands.” ABOUT TENZING Tenzing solutions optimize performance, enhance security and simplify compliance for ecommerce. By combining deep technical expertise with exceptional service delivery and support, Tenzing helps clients alleviate risk and optimize revenue from their digital investments. Tenzing partners with Oracle, Hybris, Magento, Microsoft, Redhat and IBM to manage infrastructure, performance and security for ecommerce. With offices and customers in the Americas, EMEA and APAC, Tenzing is regularly recognized as a high growth company and industry leader. Tenzing is SSAE16 Type II, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS and VISA PCI certified with datacenters in the Americas and EMEA and a partnership with Amazon Web Services for the global delivery of managed services. To learn more about how to scale your ecommerce business call 877-767-5577 or visit www.tenzing.com