Getting used to new things usually takes time, but not for Envative, a New York-based software development agency. Within the first two years of using Umbraco, they accelerated the process of finishing an installation by up to four weeks, which allowed them to double their number of Umbraco projects.
Here’s how Envative quickly incorporated Umbraco into their business strategy - and how their commitment to partnerships paid off with their status as an Umbraco Registered Partner!
Who is Envative?
Envative is a New York-based software development company that specializes in custom web portals, mobile app development, IoT solutions, and advanced system integrations. They started using Umbraco in 2019 and became a member of the Registered Partner network in the same year.
How did Envative work before they joined Umbraco?
One of Envative’s multiple specializations is delivering marketing websites to their clients. These are smaller-scale sites that may contain 15-20 pages that clients primarily use to market themselves to users. The agency has therefore always had a need for a CMS. In the last 15 years, the company has used four different systems, but when the partnership with their previous CMS ended due to high price increase, their search began again.
Why Umbraco?
Though price was the main trigger that led Envative to switch up their CMS partner, it was not the main reason they chose Umbraco - the flexibility of the CMS was key. “Making sure that the system we implement is flexible was a major factor as we sometimes have to integrate with third-party tools or add something very custom,” Guy Vigneri, Director of Creative Strategy & Solutions at Envative, explains.
The developer team at Envative was also comfortable with the language Umbraco is written in. Vigneri appreciates that Umbraco has come a long way and is very well-organized with great documentation and customer support. “Every time I have a question, I get an answer from your online chat within 12 hours,” Vigneri compliments the service.
As a software development firm, we firmly believe we should have partnerships with any tools we offer to our clients.
How did Envative grow with Umbraco?
With a new CMS, there is always a learning curve, but the friendliness and ease of use of Umbraco allowed Envative to quickly become immersed in the software. Now in their second full year of using Umbraco, they are on a good track to double the number of Umbraco installations compared to their first year. “By the end of this year, we should be at 10-12 installations. Getting more familiar with Umbraco has sped up how fast we can get them up and customize them,” says Vigneri, adding that documentation and support of Umbraco also accelerates the project creation.
Currently, the agency is able to finish a project in about 6-8 weeks. “On average, we cut two to four weeks out of a project. Now we know what we are doing, and can take bits and pieces from previous projects and implement them instantly to a new project.” The flexibility of Umbraco, for example, helped Envative deliver a healthcare website that required a very unique search tool and needed to house documentation about health conditions. “We customized Umbraco quite heavily and even made a couple of our own modules,” describes Vigneri.
Envative has also been able to maintain a very efficient overview of their projects with Umbraco Cloud. “We have four or five clients on the Cloud, and their management is effortless. They all live in one place so you can easily access any project,” comments Vigneri. The agency also appreciates automatic updates and quick communication from Umbraco during issues or maintenance. “Of course, it all depends on the client’s needs. Some clients need a little more control, so we sometimes do installations on their own servers. But we will continue to try to work with Cloud.”
Getting more familiar with Umbraco has sped up how fast we can get the installations up and customize them. Now, it takes us about 6-8 weeks to finish an Umbraco installation. On average, we cut two to four weeks out of a project. We can take bits and pieces from previous projects and implement them instantly.
What does Envative value about the Umbraco Partnership?
No matter what CMS Envative would switch to, Vigneri knew it had to come with a partnership option. “As a software development firm, we firmly believe we should have partnerships with any tools we offer to our clients,” he says of Envative’s commitment. With Umbraco, the agency’s main reason for becoming a Registered Partner was access to support and a Partner Manager in case the agency had any questions.
Looking ahead
Umbraco fulfills Envative’s need for a CMS very well and it has brought great value to the agency and their clients alike. The team is therefore committed to staying with Umbraco.
Despite getting more and more comfortable with the CMS over the past two years, there are still unexplored avenues for Envative in terms of the different products Umbraco offers. “For the most part, we have only focused on Cloud. But in the future, if Umbraco Uno and Umbraco Heartcore are something we need, it’s nice to know they are offered,” concludes Vigneri about the future possibilities Umbraco provides.
Managing our clients on Cloud is effortless. They all live in one place so you can easily access any project. I appreciate that updates happen automatically and Umbraco does a very good job notifying us when an update is going to happen, or there needs to be maintenance.
Key takeaways: What did taking Umbraco to market mean for Envative?
- In Umbraco, Envative found a CMS without high licensing costs and with a high degree of flexibility.
- In their second year of using Umbraco, Envative is on track to double the number of their Umbraco installations compared to the previous year.
- The friendly learning curve of Umbraco allowed Envative to quickly get comfortable with the CMS and speed up project creation by two to four weeks.
- Umbraco allows Envative to create custom projects and produce unique tools for their clients.
- Umbraco Cloud gives Envative an efficient way to view and access all their projects, and provides them with automatic updates and timely notifications.
- Becoming a Registered Partner opened Envative up to possibilities for more support through a Partner Manager.