We first started working with USAopoly™ when we were contracted to design and develop a stand-alone website for their award-winning game Telestrations™. When brands rely on first impressions, a website’s uptime becomes increasingly important. A reliable website hosting provider is key to reliable hosting.
Hosting is not as simple as you may think. Many factors determine how much your hosting will cost. Factors include how many people visit your website, how much bandwidth you need, and how much storage you need. You also need your server to perform, and a lesser solution won’t deliver that. We’ve endured the headaches, so you don’t have to. Let Intrepid Network guide you in choosing the best solution for your business needs.
In addition to hosting most websites, we build them on a CMS (Content Management System). Almost every website we design & develop lets our clients edit, update, and add content themselves. This is not the same as using a website development tool like Yahoo Site Builder or a more advanced tool such as Dreamweaver™. We custom-build each website to meet the client’s needs. Our custom content management solutions let you apply system checks to ensure files are the correct size, text meets minimum length requirements, all data is entered, and more. We automate the workflow and apply rules to ensure it’s followed. This reduces the training end users need. In fact, the average time for getting your employee up to speed is less than one hour.
Our website features advanced automation that can run daily or even hourly, depending on the tasks. Some, but not all, of these robust automated features include SEO, database backups, metadata generation, search engine submissions, scheduled content publishing/unpublishing, workflows, update notifications, etc.
As Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and the technology behind these great website features requires maintenance, just like our cars. A website is a vehicle that takes you places and even lets you show off. You want it to look great and run great. If you don’t change the oil and tires, it will simply degrade over time and eventually stop working altogether.
Maintaining a CMS website is not as easy as changing tires, though. It’s more like changing a transmission or upgrading engine parts. That’s why we offer and highly recommend contracting with us to make recommended security updates to the core system and contributed modules. Over time, developers improve or upgrade modules to meet other modules’ requirements or to protect your website against security threats, hackers, etc. I’ve been called upon to repair poorly developed websites that have fallen victim to SQL injection hacks. Restoring a website after an attack is time-consuming, and without proper system backups, it can be impossible.
We were very pleased when USAopoly™ not only asked us to maintain their Telestrations™ website but also contracted with us to maintain USAopoly.com! It’s a pleasure working with such a creative company, and the free games are a nice fringe benefit as well.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am the vice president of operations and information technology at a game company. We design and sell board games and puzzles.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with Intrepid Network?
We engaged Intrepid Network to build us a Drupal website to showcase one of our party games.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
Josh (President/CEO, Intrepid Network) designed and developed a Drupal website from scratch so that we could highlight a specific game. We shared our vision, and he presented design options. After a series of discussions to refine the designs, Josh developed the site from the ground up. He also helped us maintain and host the website, along with our primary site, for several years.
What is the team composition?
Josh was our single point of contact.
How did you come to work with Intrepid Network?
I learned of Josh and Intrepid Network through a reference from an IT consultant we worked with at the time.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our engagement with Intrepid Network began in 2012 and ended in February 2019, when we moved our main website from Drupal to another platform and, therefore, to another developer. The microsite to showcase the game went offline a few years ago.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Josh helped us accomplish our goal of showcasing one of our flagship products and selling the idea that it was a fun party game. I don’t recall the website ever going offline due to an error, and Josh’s creativity was evident on the site.
How did Intrepid Network perform from a project management standpoint?
It can be challenging to find a vendor that delivers on its promises, but we never had that problem with Josh. He responded quickly and gave accurate timelines. He removed a lot of guesswork. I always trusted that Josh would deliver on what he promised.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Josh runs a one-stop shop. He knows web design, development, web hosting, and marketing. We got lucky to work with somebody who knows how to do it all.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I’m thrilled we got to work with Josh.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Make sure everyone’s role in the project is clear, and set a timeline for deliverables.
Let’s discuss your project and how Intrepid Network can help.