Is Your Digital Agency Holding You Back? The High Cost of Vendor Lock-In
Have you ever worked with a development agency and felt like you were stuck in a rigid plan, even as the needs of your business began to outgrow the initial scope?
We frequently speak to companies experiencing this kind of vendor lock-in. They’ve worked with digital agencies on a new site, only to quickly find that it severely limits their flexibility. As a result, they’ve become dependent on development teams for any changes and their ability to scale and expand is dictated by the constraints of their system.
How Agency Lock-in Manifests Itself
Companies who are locked in to an inflexible site commonly experience these symptoms:
Inability to Pivot Quickly
You might want to change direction with your business. Perhaps you release a new product targeting enterprise clients. However, with an inflexible website it takes months to update the site to match the new target audience. So now you’re stuck with a site that’s mismatched with your products.
The “Developer Bottleneck”
In a rigid system, teams are often unable to make changes themselves and rely on developers to update their content. This means that even small changes require dev tickets, resulting in a backlog that slows the pace of updates and stifles momentum for marketing teams.
The Sunk Cost Trap
Teams often realise mid-project that they’ve taken the wrong approach. However, having already invested a significant budget, they feel forced to continue with a suboptimal solution.
Tech Stack Isolation
We often see companies locked into systems that don’t allow them the flexibility to integrate new elements into their tech stack. This limits their ability to grow and scale effectively.
Stalled Marketing Momentum
Needing developers for every change particularly affects marketing campaigns. Time-sensitive promotions get bogged down waiting for developers, and changes in direction lose momentum.
Inability to Experiment
Since changes are such a large commitment, teams simply stop trying new things.
These issues lead to:
- Higher TCO
- Missed competitive opportunities
- Burnout and frustration in teams
- Inability to scale
- Stagnation
Solving Lock-In: Collaborative Strategy & Composable Tech
A major feature of our development philosophy is building systems that enable flexibility while serving as a foundation for future growth.
We achieve this through:
- A detailed understanding of your roadmap, workflows, and points of friction
- Composable development methodology that ensures sites can grow and scale quickly and easily
Our approach to project management involves close collaboration with our partners. We make sure to maintain regular communication and ensure we are aligned on direction as well as encouraging openness and two way communication so that our partners can share ideas, new directions and feedback. We’re constantly evaluating the project against the ‘why,’ giving us the flexibility to adapt and make smart pivots together as the landscape evolves.
Similarly, when it comes to what we build, we create site architecture that serves as a foundation, giving you flexibility and independence. Using composable architecture, we empower our partners to have more control over their site: teams can make changes quickly and without relying on developers and content management is fluid and intuitive.
Regain Control of Your Digital Ecosystem
A site that’s built to grow with you gives you not only flexibility, but scalability, competitive advantages, and a lower TCO. If you’re looking for a site that empowers, rather than restricts, you, then we’re here to help! Schedule a free, 30-minute Strategy Call with us and start unlocking your site’s potential.
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