By Jim Fletcher
Guest Columnist
In the past, when you went to a design studio for website design, that’s pretty much all that you got—design. Sometimes they would have an on-site developer, or more likely you would have to partner with another agency to build out your site. And hosting? If you were lucky your design agency would suggest their hosting company, and might even help you get set up with them. Most of the time though, either they had a server in a closet somewhere, or you were flat out on your own.
As website design becomes increasingly more complex, the "design-only" shop is no longer a cost-effective or even productive way to build websites. More and more studios are developing fully integrated teams that work hand-in-hand with each other throughout the design, development, and deployment phases of creating a website. Programmers are available during the initial phases to help with creating a design solution that can actually be produced, and the design team is involved during the development process to ensure that the creative vision is maintained.
The final step is to deploy and test the site before pushing it live. Rather than test on one server in one location, then push the live site to another server in a different location (potentially requiring even more time testing and proofing), integrated studios are able to manage all phases in-house, in one place, with one team. Once the site is live, it’s not in the hands of a third-party hosting company, but managed and maintained internally. If any problems arise with the site, they are typically fixed before the client is even aware there is an issue.
Not only does this produce better work, it produces it more efficiently and cost-effectively. Designers have more creative freedom knowing that they are working within a set of tools that the programming team can produce. Programming is able to work hand-in-hand with the deployment team to make sure the development and back-end technologies are supported by the server that will be hosting the site.
The end result to the client is obvious. With a single point of contact they are able to manage their site from concept to launch without having a Rolodex full of people to call. Not only does it maximize their time spent on the project, but gone are the days of calling one agency, only to get a response of, "Um, that’s not us, you need to call these guys…."
Although my own company has made a significant investment into building a solution that delivers a seamless experience to our clients, smaller shops can achieve the same quality of service and delivery of an integrated shop. By taking the time to form solid partnerships with other agencies and teams who deliver services outside of your area of expertise, you can deliver the one-stop shop experience that today’s clients are expecting. In the end you will create a better product, more efficiently, than doing it by being "just" a design studio.
Jim Fletcher is the CEO of Opus:creative and lives and works in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1994, Opus:creative is a full-service creative and technology agency specializing in graphic and interactive media design, e-commerce development, and Internet application development. Its sister company, Opus:interactive, is a full-service, Tier 2 ISP. Visit www.opuscreative.com.
