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