Sitecore Support Options for the Enterprise

Implementing Sitecore can be challenging, especially for companies who are new to it. But no matter the level of experience, everyone needs help from Sitecore experts at some point during — and after — a Sitecore-powered site launches.

Who Can Give You Sitecore Support?

Official Sitecore Support

One of the good things about Sitecore is that it offers you plenty of options when it comes to getting official assistance. There are two kinds of support, Standard Support —which includes open source support from the Sitecore community — and 24x7 Premium Support— a support service with increased levels of responsiveness. Typically, Premium support is channeled through Sitecore partners to ensure that the customer has an experienced implementation partner in their corner providing direct support.

Read more about Sitecore’s support options: Sitecore Support Options

Sitecore Partner Support

Through trusted Sitecore partners like Oshyn, Sitecore can deliver closer and faster support that’s specifically tailored to your needs. Sitecore partners are proven specialists with the know-how necessary to give you all the support you need to make the most of Sitecore. A partner can not only help you build a better experience but also create plans and deploy a long-term strategy to ensure maximum success during your product lifecycle.

Types of Sitecore Implementation Support

When working with a Sitecore partner like Oshyn, you can expect two main types of support: support during implementation and post implementation.

Implementation Support

Implementation support is a planned approach to integrating new software to the existing organizational structure to enhance operations and improve system health. An implementation partner can guide you through a series of planned tasks.

All Sitecore implementations are different, and to avoid issues you should begin with a comprehensive Sitecore architecture document that outlines your requirements and gives every stakeholder visibility over what the implementation will entail so as to avoid nasty surprises in the future.

For a successful implementation to work, you need to establish the timeline by meeting with key stakeholders. This should also include your Sitecore implementation partner if you’re using one. The timeline will provide a rough estimate of how long the project is going to take and can help you to plan for potential downtime where software may be unavailable.

These are some of the activities that compose Sitecore implementation support:

• Determine implementation type
• Create an implementation document
• Establish a timeline
• Outline expectations
• Understand costs
• Implementation process

Post-Implementation Support

After every project is complete, you want to conduct a post-implementation review to get the most out of your Sitecore installation and the project you’ve created in it.

After completing a project, you want to make sure that your team achieved what they set out to do. In a project, the objective isn’t to simply deliver a product; but to deliver a product that addresses a specific customer need.

In fact, not conducting a post-implementation survey can harm even the best-laid project; it’s also a good idea to do a post-implementation check sooner than later while the project’s details are still fresh in your team’s mind.

A trusted partner who is an expert in Sitecore can ensure the implementation continues to work well as market conditions change. With comprehensive post-implementation support, you learn more about how your implementation is working with end-users and what needs to be done to keep your installation running smoothly.

These are some of the activities that compose the post-implementation support:

• Usability testing
• Benchmarking
• User group research
• Creation of implementation roadmaps

The process of implementing a new digital experience platform (DXP) is a crucial investment for any business, but it can also be daunting for inexperienced or non-technical users. There are so many variables to consider and many ways things could go wrong. That’s why Sitecore support is so necessary.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, or your developer isn’t experienced in Sitecore, you’re in for a bumpy ride.

So if you’re looking to implement Sitecore for your business, or it’s already implemented and want to get the most out of your Sitecore installation, this article is for you.

Why Seek Implementation Support?

Software implementation can be a long and potentially cost-intensive process depending on your particular situation and needs.

Discovery

• Determine implementation type
• Create an implementation document
• Establish a timeline
• Outline expectations
• Understand costs

Design and Implementation (4-6 Weeks)

• Brand Exploration
• UX Design
• User Analysis
• User Journeys
• Technical Architecture
• Feature and functional analysis

Implementation

• Environment setup
• Feature development
• Continuous integration/ implementation CI/CD
• Testing
• Deployment

Post-Implementation Support

• Monitoring
• Feature enhancements
• Continuous scanning and testing

Read more about our Sitecore implementation services: Sitecore Development and Integration.

Oshyn: Full Support During and After Sitecore Implementation

Maintaining your website after implementation can be tricky, and wrangling every loose end might be cumbersome for teams that lack experience using Sitecore. Oshyn is a Sitecore Partner, which means that we’re certified as Sitecore experts and can help you build and maintain your site.

Oshyn Maintain is a service specially designed for companies already leveraging Sitecore but needing an extra hand to keep your site fresh, effective, and trouble-free. We give you ongoing site support, code maintenance, and feature development, all delivered by well-seasoned Sitecore experts who know what to look for and what to fix if errors arise.

Oshyn’s managed maintenance service provides the monitoring, bug fixes, and enhancements necessary for any well-run site. Get the peace-of-mind that comes with a stable and constantly-improving site.

If you want to learn more about our Sitecore maintenance service, read more here: Sitecore Improvements and Maintenance.