Firm Takes on More Projects with Webvanta’s CMS and Development Services

Helping Hundreds Create an Online Presence

Since the early days of the web, Outer Banks Internet, Inc. (OBI) has helped hundreds of organizations establish a professional online presence. Located on North Carolina’s Outer Banks barrier islands, OBI serves the businesses of this unique resort area, as well as nationwide.

OBI has long set itself apart by bringing expertise in both sides of the website equation — design and custom application development. Since the company launched in 1995, OBI has performed all development in-house with staff programmers. Yet in recent years, the firm has found it challenging to attract and retain these high-value staff members due to its relatively remote location.

“Programmers required a lot of training time and expense, and we still had to advance client projects in the meantime,” said Chris Hess, president. “Yet firms we know that outsource to contractors have issues with losing control over development.”

Webvanta CMS: More Control for OBI, Clients

Hess discovered Webvanta, a hosted content management system (CMS) that benefits the firm and its clients. With plug-in databases, Webvanta empowers OBI to add sophisticated features to sites without requiring programmer expertise.

“We view Webvanta as a hosted CMS that allows us to offer additional capabilities to advance our clients’ sites,” Hess said. “It was very important to us to have a solution where the software is continuously updated, patched and advanced without our having to get involved.”

By comparison, Hess notes that other content management solutions like WordPress and Joomla would require regular patching, plug-ins and upgrades, all of which would add additional cost to the client.

Additionally, OBI now affordably offers greater site control to all clients with Webvanta’s CMS. Clients can edit their own content without waiting or having to engage OBI, helping keep content fresher.

Webvanta Development Services — Focus on the Backend

OBI had in-progress projects that required quick development work before the firm could get the Webvanta solution up and running. Webvanta stepped in to provide the backend development for these projects. Through this relationship for development, Hess finds greater project control over working with individual contractors.

“We have relied on Webvanta to partner with us on the development side of some projects. There’s been collaboration and brainstorming to render better solutions for clients,” Hess said. “We hadn’t initially seen them as that kind of partner but they are able to take on the backend development for us while we really focus on the client’s needs and front-end interface.”

Sites Completed One Month Faster — On Average

Today, OBI uses Webvanta’s CMS and development services for the majority of its new sites. With the opportunity to create database-driven sites more easily, or by partnering with Webvanta development services, OBI completes projects faster now.

“A complex, dynamically driven development job could take 60-90 days. The average now with Webvanta is 30-60 days or less,” Hess said. “By completing sites faster, we can take on more projects, which increases monthly revenue.”

Delivering sites in less time also boosts client satisfaction by enabling OBI to meet tighter deadlines without increasing costs for clients. In fact, the firm can keep costs steady for clients even as they develop more complex sites. Plus, Webvanta has built-in security that gives the firm peace of mind that client sites are protected.

“Going with a solution like Webvanta saves our clients money and reduces the potential for downtime. Our designers get to focus on design and the client has a well-functioning site. It’s a win-win solution,” Hess said.