With no major updates to the company’s website in five years, the time had come for Ottawa-based Titus to hit refresh.
The data protection firm set out to find a company that could streamline the user experience of its site – both for visitors and Titus staff.
“We wanted to modernize our website and show the world a truer representation of who we are,” says Karen Wilson, who works with Titus as Manager of Marketing Communications and Content.
The new Titus.com, which goes live on Nov. 1, will offer visitors an updated, streamlined experience. Through the company’s new site, users will be able to easily navigate to its many expert blog posts and informational pages, as well as an internal portal for clients to access educational documents.
As a data protection company, the focus of Titus’ work is educating clients as to how to protect themselves.
“If organizations don’t know what data they have, they can’t actually protect it appropriately,” says Wilson.
Drupal
OPIN is uniquely positioned as a digital agency because of its commitment to using the Drupal open source CMS.
Drupal is a content management system and currently runs approximately five per cent of websites around the world. As an open-source platform, there is an ever-growing community of Drupal developers who are constantly working to improve it, with newly developed plugins and updates to existing ones.
For Titus, the benefits of making the move to Drupal are myriad.
Kendall Abraham, a Product Owner with OPIN, explains that Drupal’s open-source framework means any security vulnerabilities are quashed immediately.
“It ensures that no matter what security issues arise, someone in the Drupal community is already on it and ready to fix it. It leaves very little room for any security issues,” she says.
As a CMS, the Drupal platform on the new Titus website will also streamline the process of uploading content.
“Drupal makes it easy for anybody, no matter what their technical background is, to use and manage the site.”
Prior to the update, the site was hard coded, so any significant changes had to be made by an experienced web developer. With more than 3,600 pages, this left little room for Wilson and other Titus staff to make updates without calling in an expert.
“Drupal makes it easy for anybody, no matter what their technical background is, to use and manage the site,” says Abraham.
With the new Drupal CMS, Wilson and her team will be able to update the website themselves through the back end of the site.
“Between the security considerations and just being able to work in the website, working with OPIN to make this switch is key at this point in the growth of our business,” says Wilson.
Website architecture & design
Though Titus is a global firm, it’s headquartered in Ottawa and the majority of its employees live here.
When Wilson and her team set out to find a partner for the website redesign, they hoped to stay local.
“When we have the opportunity to work with local vendors to help our business, it’s an opportunity to strengthen the Ottawa network of businesses helping other businesses,” says Wilson.
OPIN sets itself apart from many web development firms because of its collaborative approach to website design and architecture.
Using the Agile methodology, the team at OPIN works iteratively and checks in with their clients on a regular basis to ensure their projects are moving in the right direction. Should things change as a project comes together, this approach allows the team to regroup without spending months working on something that will ultimately go unused in the final product.
“Working with OPIN has gone so smoothly,” says Wilson. “The team has made the whole process easy.”
The initial design concept for the new Titus.com came from another local firm, TRUEdotDesign. It was the team there that pointed Wilson to OPIN as a great partner to work with to have the site built out.
“OPIN has become a collaborative partner in making sure that our web presence is comprehensive and modern, built with the functionality we require to support our business needs,” says Wilson.
Learn more at OPIN.ca.
Canada’s fastest growing companies
OPIN Software was recently announced as one of the 500 fastest growing Canadian companies. On the newly released Growth 500 list, the firm ranked 69th in Canada and 3rd in Ottawa, with five-year revenue growth of 1,165 per cent. It’s an impressive feat for a digital agency that saw its start seven years ago with a couple of desks in a small office.
“OPIN’s rapid growth is driven by the passion of our dedicated and talented team,” says Chris Smith, OPIN’s Founder and CEO. “We strive to create a culture of learning and collaboration internally that extends to our clients.”
Today, OPIN boasts a team of 40 highly engaged professionals both in its office on Catherine Street and a satellite office in Saratoga Springs, New York. Smith attributes the agency’s growth to its commitment to putting clients first and thinking outside the box.
