App Sec & Dev Ops
Sonatype
WEBSITE CASE STUDY
THE OPPORTUNITY
On top of software supply chain
Sonatype is a full-spectrum software supply chain management platform to help security teams and developers build more securely at scale. They are a leader in the fast growing DevSecOps industry, serving more than 2,000 enterprise organizations and 15 million software developers worldwide.
When Sonatype came to us, they held market share but knew that a new website would help keep it that way amidst many up and coming competitors like Github and Snyk. They asked us for help to increase the number of leads, modernize their visual design, and improve organic search results for non-branded keywords. So we went to work.
THE CHALLENGE
Align opposing audiences
Increasing conversions is easy when you have a simple, streamlined product that speaks to one clear audience. But when you have an enterprise product that supports both application security professionals and software developers at the same time, you’ve got to get creative —particularly when these two audiences have opposing objectives.
We set out to bridge these two groups and make it clear that Sonatype’s Nexus platform could move them from a state of opposition to a state of collaboration.
THE RESEARCH
Bring collaboration into balance
In interviewing customers, we learned application security teams hated waiting for developers to find and fix vulnerabilities in the code, while developers resented application security for slowing sprint velocity due to lengthy security audits and reviews. We’d have to create a sales narrative that brought both sides developers into equilibrium.
Application security teams would need confidence in security controls and oversight across the software development process, while developers required reassurance that Sonatype’s products integrated with their existing dev tools and workflows.
Our Strategy
TESTING LIMITS
Secure software at lightspeed
It became clear in our narrative that application security teams and developers shouldn’t have to choose between speed and security. We wanted to show that they can innovate at lightspeed with Sonatype.
To support this, we created a visual storyworld of large spaceships being built securely, representing the enterprise-sized software products that their audiences build.
Naturally, this storyworld allowed us to bring in astronauts representing the different teams and show them building securely at speed in collaboration.
We also expanded the storyworld to represent each product in outer space. Nexus Firewall became a force field protecting teams from malicious open source attacks. Repository became a centralized building materials site, and Lifecycle monitored continuously against attacks.
Each of these storyworld pieces were balanced with clear UI to show how a customer would actually engage with the platform. We also highlighted integrations clearly in multiple places.
Our Solution
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
All hands on deck
As is often the case with large enterprise teams, Sonatype was using multiple agencies to accomplish their goals. And while we have our own development team, we happily collaborated with theirs to take the website to the finish line.
After we wrote copy, and designed each page, we exported the assets and left detailed dev notes with imagined interactions and CSS recommendations for them. We were always available to answer questions or adjust the timeline to accommodate requests.
WINNING CUSTOMERS
Enterprise results
253%
increase in MQLs
86%
reduction in CPL
82%
increase in CVR
651%
increase in form submits
“Thanks again for everything y’all have done so far—our CTO said this morning that the new site is ‘hands down the best website we’ve ever had.’”
Alli VanKanegan, Director of Design
