DOOR3

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former VP of a marketing and communications firm. I managed client relations for my division.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We’d been in business for 12 years at the time of this project. At that point, we’d acquired a sizable number of custom-developed tools and products that we used to manage our business. We needed to standardize our processes, so we decided to integrate all of the individual software into a single solution with an upgraded and more accessible user interface for both clients and internal employees. We have an in-house IT department, but we needed a vendor that had experience in creating high-quality UX/UI work using new technologies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We shared our existing customer communication applications for producing statements, managing enrollment books, customizing marketing pieces, and other self-service configuration tools with DOOR3. They assessed them and looked over our list of business requirements for this project, then came back with a full proposal for a new platform that met all of our needs. Their plan contained numerous modules, so we divided them up between our internal IT team and DOOR3’s team. Over an extended period of time, we completed each individual piece.

We started by putting together a prototype for the user interface. After several iterations and proofs of concept, we finalized the design. DOOR3 collaborated with internal staff to determine the most efficient structure for the platform and how each separate component would come together cohesively. We integrated everything; then the DOOR3 team worked with our marketing team to create a sales strategy. We wanted to secure new clients by promoting the new solution’s core tools and their uses in the marketplace. Finally, their team built a demo site that we could use to train internal staff and share with potential clients.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with three people—one for the UI, one for our technical needs, and one for sales and marketing support. They each helped with different aspects of the project and had their own support teams in the background.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

They were highly recommended by one of our core team members. We reached out and scheduled an interview that doubled as a discovery discussion. They seemed to understand our vision, and they asked all the right questions. Their active interest in our project was very reassuring, and we felt they’d be easy to work with. They weren’t overbearing or authoritative, but still showed a high level of confidence. They were professional in that they documented everything we discussed and clearly articulated their ideas. After that interaction, it was an easy decision.

How much have you invested with them?

Each component of the project was priced individually. In total, we spent between $50,000–$200,000 on their services while I was there.

What is the status of this engagement?

In the middle of the project, our company was acquired by a larger organization who made their own changes to the platform and rebranded it. I wasn’t with the company when the engagement with DOOR3 officially ended, but I personally worked with them from June 2010–October 2011.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We did several roadshows and held demos with major clients at different points in the development process to introduce the solution incrementally. We wanted to make sure we were staying in line with their wants and needs, and we didn’t want to surprise them with a brand-new solution. Overall, the product was very well received. We also held an internal event to promote the solution and increase excitement. That also went well. Both internal and external users praised the product’s design and performance.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very strong. They used several software tools to track the status of the project and share updates. We had access to all of the information through Basecamp. They scheduled calls to discuss their work, and where they were in relation to completing the overall project. There was an open dialogue between team members on both sides. It was a very positive engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, I’m happy with the entire experience. This was several years ago, and I still remember it fondly, which speaks to the quality of their services.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t think of anything negative.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for TSC Reporting. We're a litigation support service company and hire court reporters, videographers, and other types of services that attorneys might require in their discovery phase. We cover many different depositions and arbitrations on any given day.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We needed a new system that could manage our calendar and production output, and on the other end, our whole billing and payment system. We were growing fast and living in the past as far as our systems go. Our calendar and job management system suited us fine when we were a smaller organization, but we had outgrown that. The challenge was to address the current growth and optimize a few critical workflows, and also build for the future, expecting to continue to grow. We needed a system that could handle not just the present, but the future challenges that we had as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They came and listened to what we needed. It was clear that we had many challenges, and we had many ideas to address those challenges, but we needed to prioritize. They helped us organize our challenges and ideas. We picked out 1 or 2 targeted areas, and the first thing was to recreate our contact management system (CRM). The intention was that it would tie into the job management system which they would also create, and it does.

The backbone of the CRM is Microsoft Dynamics. It ties into JMS, which is the larger application and is a .NET framework. The CRM has been integrated into our exchange environment; we're a heavy e-mail organization and we use Outlook, and we handle email 24 hours a day across all teams. The CRM was tied into our Outlook traffic so that emails are tracked to the contacts in CRM database, which then we can view and work off of in our larger JMS application.

They built the JMS application from scratch. As mentioned, Dynamics is the backbone of the CRM but everything else was built by DOOR3 which includes workflows, job grids, and whole administration panel of options. I can manage the system internally, while they support it externally and it carries a lot of big features like jobs, standing orders, the client list, the client location list, and service list vendors. Then there's a bunch of logic that ties into how all those parts play together.

They also updated our website, which was an earlier project. Previously, the website had no tie into the system, and the new website it much fresher. The important piece, however, is that clients can log on and look at the data in our JMS system which refers to other jobs that they've scheduled or booked in the past. It gives them the ability to schedule online, taking into account their firm's standing orders for any given case. It all then goes right into our system and gives us an immediate alert that the client has scheduled, as well ties into our fast-paced email flow. People are aware of the bookings, any questions are being brought to the forefront, and we can address our client needs right off the bat.

What is the team dynamic?

It's been an evolution of team members, but it’s been a small group all along the way which has been good because it keeps us nimble. It allows me to really work with the developers in phases that normally a client wouldn't be involved in. I think that's been a good a good fit overall, it matches our pace. The team size is usually around 5 or 6. Izzy is the project manager. We had 1 main architect, and then we've got a group of developers and QA testers who rotate in and out of the project.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

We had hired a small development firm in the past, and had done a very small project, but were extremely disappointed with the results. We needed to improve upon that, and time was of the essence. I looked online for others reviews, experiences, and asked around for recommendations.

We contacted a few different companies after a reasonable amount of research online. I spoke with Alex [Founder & President, DOOR3] first, and he seemed to be really in tune with our needs and how they would be addressed. It seemed like a good fit, from the way he received what I had to say. We brought in a number of others, but I felt most comfortable working with the DOOR3 team.

After several more meetings and conversations, we decided to go for a small commitment prototype launch, which gave us something functional right away. That was a good experience working with the development team, and there was never any reason not to continue forward.

How much have you invested with them?

Over $1,000,0000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2012, and that engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It’s given us a huge amount of returns in terms of what we're able to accomplish with the small team of people that we are. It's definitely provided so much more insight than we had before and we were spending weeks having people divert their time from their core responsibilities to try to create a meaningful report of some kind. Fortunately, we've been able to install the systems making the whole process automatic now which has been great.

Once the client hits submit, the system is emailing us that the job already exists in our system. The information is completely there, and everyone associated with the job has been notified. The rates and agreements we have with a firm are also already linked to the job, so it’s saving us a huge amount of time. It saves about 15 minutes per job and with 100 jobs a day that adds up fast.

The new method is so much faster for us because when clients are logging in, it's integrating their firm's preferences. This means, if they are on a case for which they have a preference for a certain group of services, those services are pre-selected at the point when the client selects the case of their scheduling for.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been very good about communication. They were a pretty demanding client when it comes to communication and information. We prefer to know a lot more than other clients often care to, and are definitely very much involved in what's going on. That took some time for them to adjust to naturally, but they've done a great job with that. Now we've got a really good pace going with communication, and a good understanding of where we stand.

We primarily use email, and also have a weekly call with our project manager, but are still in contact throughout the week anyway. We also use Jira, so there are a lot of options. I get a good view of all the items that they're working on in a given sprint, what status they're in, and when they’re to a point where they’re testable I also have access to that. They involve us at a little bit of an earlier stage than other clients might, and it’s really helped us keep our efforts and projects at a reasonable run rate.

They definitely delivered an acceptable amount of work on time and on budget. There's always going to be challenges and unforeseen circumstances, but we have a more flexible relationship and trust each other. We’re always in constant contact and there are really no surprises when something is going to be delivered to us, which is the main point that really matters.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Often I’ve come up with these crazy ideas, but it always seems to be true anything is possible when it comes to development with them. We've thought of all different kinds of ways to address certain needs. They created a pretty massive and complex program that does a whole lot of work for us, and I’m amazed that it’s been able to come together and really work for us. It doesn’t just keep us afloat, but it's definitely transcended the way we do business which is excellent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really have any complaints where they need to improve upon. It’s pretty much all been done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re co-owners of KENSHIN Holding Company, and we’re working on the development of mobile messaging technology. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

Respondent 1: We’re developing Glass, a messaging app for iOS and Android devices. 

Respondent 2: We did the business and financial planning for this project, but we needed a development agency to build the app because we have minimal development experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Respondent 1: We finished the POC (proof of concept) after the proposal effort. As we developed the app in collaboration with investors, DOOR3 focused on UX design and co-marketing. They created 3 user stories for the investor presentation slide deck detailing functionality and graphics.

There’s a process in place for defining certain UX interfaces. We just finished Phase 1 of development, and are about to commence Phase 2.

Respondent 2: DOOR3 proved the feasibility of the idea and determined a list of items and critical elements necessary for a minimum viable product (MVP). They also developed the UX and demonstrated potential options for the UI, which were useful for us as we pitched to investors. Moving forward, they will build an MVP and improve it as we grow.

What is the team dynamic?

Respondent 1: We worked with program and engineering teams, and met at least once a week. Alex [CEO, DOOR3] was available for additional consultation 24/7.

Respondent 2: We also worked with Ahmed [Senior Developer, DOOR3], a junior developer, their head of UX development, and 2 project managers.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

Respondent 1: My former business partner and professor recommend them to me during our search for a New York-based software engineering company. I spoke with others who knew the agency, and they put me in touch with Alex.

Respondent 2: We were referred to, and considered, several other companies, who seemed to understand the project, but didn’t show great confidence in their abilities to execute it. One of those companies suggested we consider DOOR3, and when we did, they seemed like a perfect fit. 

How much have you invested with them?

Respondent 1: The POC cost $56,000.

Respondent 2: For the POC phase, which is all that's been completed, we invested approximately $70,000. For the forthcoming MVP development stage, we expect to spend between $300,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We contacted them in February 2017, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Respondent 1: So far, we’ve improved the technology from an engineering standpoint, and have maximized marketing efforts and objectives. The presentation deck was key in securing capital to finish development. The presentation’s aesthetics were not only incredible, but also finished promptly. This is only one example of them delivering more than we requested.

Respondent 2: The feedback from showing the investor deck and the functional “alpha” code has been overwhelmingly positive. We couldn't have hoped for anything better.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

Respondent 1: The engineering team accommodated all of our needs and concerns. They built great interface visuals by utilizing well-defined, intuitive, and attentive processes. They used JIRA and other tools that enabled me to track their progress in real time. In addition to Alex’s unlimited availability, their teams were very responsive.

Respondent 2: They’re always very timely and consistent with project updates, and make sure to incorporate our feedback. They've been accommodating, and we haven't felt disconnected from the project at all. Ahmed and Patty [Head of User Experience, DOOR3] were both particularly helpful and easy to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Respondent 1: They have a phenomenal empathetic approach to design, and know how to incorporate all perspectives while implementing the customer’s vision.

Respondent 2: Their passion for the project and willingness to go beyond the scope was extremely valuable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We didn’t see anything that they should do differently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Respondent 1: In-person meetings are very important because they improve team coordination. Make time to meet Alex and his colleagues in their space.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization and your role there. 

I am the co-founder and CEO of eHire Talent, an online platform which recruits and places tier-one freelancers for experiential events.  We are a start-up still in the development and creation of our online platform. Our goal is to have the platform up and running by Spring 2017.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

So we are a startup business, and we are building an online platform to place top level freelancers in the event world. So whether you’re an agency or corporation who’s looking to put on a live event, you would come to our online platform, become a client of ours, and then be able to utilize our database to find appropriate staffing. So right now, our idea is just that—it’s an idea. So we have been working with DOOR3 to bring the idea to life, defining all the functionalities, and what the platform should be. That was phase 1. And now we’re going into phase 2 which is actually the designing and building of that platform.

We hired DOOR3 to assist us in the development and prioritization of the functional requirements for our platform. DOOR3 also developed the platform roadmap and developed the roll-out strategy for platform's services and function.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I would say not much conceptually because we already had the idea. But what they helped us with was framing out how that idea would work and really give the best online product to our audience. They were extremely helpful in that. At this point in time, we’re using something called an Agile format in how we’re building the entire platform. We haven’t gotten into actually building yet and coding it and language. But in the discovery stage, it was all this Agile thinking and format that we were following.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted approximately 2.5 months. At this point in time, DOOR3 will definitely be a part of phase 2, which is the coding, and we’re kind of determining exactly how that’s going to work.

How did you come to work with DOOR3? 

We are members of a professional organization, Vistage, and Alex Asianov, CEO of DOOR3 is also a member.  As a result, we have spent time with Alex and had the opportunity to learn about his organization and its capabilities.  We were very impressed not only with Alex's business savvy and insights but also with his team at DOOR3. 

DOOR3 was the driver and curator of our development processes.  We had several in-depth sessions to define the purpose of eHire Talent, the market is serving as well as the products and services it will provide.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Unfortunately, it is very early on so there is no ROI or any kind of specific benchmarks that promote either a qualitative or even quantitative standpoint that I can share. It’s too early on in the project. But everything so far has been done on time and within the budget that we discussed.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They appointed a project manager to our business who was our main liaison who orchestrated the timeline and the planning with both our team and their team.

They are an extremely professional and knowledgeable company.  Not only did they guide us in structuring the development process of our platform they also provided savvy advice on the strategic direction of our company, which included helping us define our niche in the marketplace.

DOOR3 delivered the agreed to scope of work on time and on budget.

What did you most impressive about DOOR3?

I think the thing I most appreciated about them was that we were dealing with experienced senior-level talent on their side, so it was people who had done this on other occasions and were familiar with startup businesses. So they really helped advise us, not only from building a digital platform but also understanding the pitfalls and the challenges that a startup can face.

Are there any areas DOOR3 could improve?

I don’t think so at this point of time. We are very pleased with their service.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated on February 27, 2019 by the client. New content is below.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We changed our company name since my last review. I am the co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We originally hired them in 2016 to help us ideate and plan out the design of our platform. We used an offshore resource for development but ran into a series of problems. They’ve come to our rescue multiple times to help us work through bugs and strategic gaps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially used them on a project basis, but they are becoming a more dependable long-term resource. They’re currently doing an analysis of the platform to help us move to the next building phase. The platform is .NET and runs on Azor. They are helping us expand our road map and feature set for future updates. They give us ideas to make sure the platform stays flexible and cost-effective, while keeping up with all the changes within the technology world.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent in the low six figures for their work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We officially started this new engagement in early 2019, but have called on them every quarter since 2016. Going forward, we plan to engage in a more permanent long-term relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What did you find most impressive about DOOR3?

They’re a very smart group of individuals. They’re collaborative, strategic, and intelligent. As a startup, those qualities are very important.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There is always room for improvement in any relationship, but I don’t have any specific areas of deficiency to point out.

BACKGROUND

I am a partner at Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP, a law firm located in midtown New York.  We are a general service firm in our 96th year of service. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

My firm was looking for an upgrade in case management software, document management software, and time and billing software which ideally should be interlinked on our law firm’s backend. Our overall system network was not enabling the firm to maximize its potential. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 did an analysis of what we would need to do with our existing systems in our existing network. They gave suggestions with respect to third-party legal vendors that provide these management platforms and ways we could implement them. Their analysis also included some troubleshooting issues we were having in our system. They looked into our website as well. We have certain wants and desires for our website after we deal with the backend system. They discussed with us the architecture that we need on the backend for what we want to do with our website as far as publishing articles and things of that nature. We retained DOOR3 given their experience in the legal field, including their build of an award-winning intranet for a prior law firm client.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

I knew them through past relationships.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

They product they gave us was a proper research report analysis on a holistic level with respect to our system. It put everything in perspective. We’re looking to upgrade certain systems now, others later and some don’t need to be upgraded. They gave us a map and understanding of what it takes to get where we need to go.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. They were responsive and they provided a high-level team. If they needed people to come in to do more ground work, those people are there. If they need people to do more high-level discussions, those folks would come in.

What did you find most impressive about DOOR3?

They were very accessible and willing to spend extra time with me. They gave me personal attention that everyone wants in a service relationship.

DOOR3 leveled a holistic analysis of our systems and met with our professionals and staff to gain a deeper understanding of the issues, desired changes and goals.  I was particularly impressed with the amount of time DOOR3 spent one-on-one with firm personnel.  I believe this is what lead to a keen understanding of what was best suited for the firm.  Overall, DOOR3 was very responsive and worked quickly to provide the analysis, which clearly laid out the strategy, options and steps required in order to obtain the end-goal.  Their knowledge of the legal industry was very helpful.       

Are there any areas DOOR3 could improve?

No.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with DOOR3?

I would recommend them. We were pleased with the engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

When I worked with DOOR3, I was at a medical devices company. I was the Manager for E-Marketing Strategy and Analytics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We were actually doing a complete overhaul of our US-facing customer websites. At the time, we had three different sites. One was for one part of our surgical business, one was for another part of our surgical business, and one for our gastroenterology and respiratory business. The intent was to work with them from the customer experience perspective to have a single facing site for the medical group in the US.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Predominantly, we had DOOR3 get up to speed on our business and our customers. We developed about a 50-page discovery document with an executive overview single page. From that, we then got internal approvals that this is what executive management was looking for, and then worked with them to determine the site navigation as well as the wireframes for the site itself. Ultimately, the site was built using Drupal, but DOOR3 was not a part of that. It was all a discovery and defining phase.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

It was probably in November of 2010. When we had gotten approval for the website, we looked at a variety of different companies. Some were proprietary, some were open-source. DOOR3 had done a project that somebody within our team had been aware of, so we reached out to them and invited them in for the initial round of vendor review. They had a very strong user experience side, so we decided to split the project into user experience and then development under a separate contract. We wound up using the Drupal web content management system and wanted to go with a company that specialized in Drupal, so that was the only reason why we used them for one part, but not the whole because they worked in a variety of platforms.

How much have you invested with DOOR3?

It was around $30,000 to $40,000 for the discovery work.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work is completed. It lasted about 4 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any results of the engagement?

We had a junk web presence with multiple sites. These don’t sound huge for consumer side numbers, but from a B2B [business-to-business] perspective, we went from about 1,000 marketing leads a month to a little bit over 4,000. quIt was a little bit over a 250% increase in leads as a result of the way the site was structured by DOOR3.

One of the important aspects of it for us was that our customers were very aware of our imaging platform, but they didn’t always realize we had a lot of accessory products. The site was built in a way that we focused on our nine major medical specialty areas, and then within each of those areas, we highlighted the procedures, and for each procedure, the product suite that we offered in addition to what everybody knew we offered.

We really wanted to upsell through the site and remind people that we offered all these different medical devices and different products as opposed to just the imaging platform. That was a really big part of it. For the people that were aware of our products, we wanted to make sure that it was easily accessible to get directly to the product they were looking for. We wanted to balance growing awareness and specifically being able to get to the product that you were looking for.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

DOOR3 was very good. We actually did a lot of onsite work at their office. So instead of having their team travel out, I went to them and did a lot of onboarding to get them up to speed before they came onsite to meet with the rest of our marketing team. There was definitely a learning curve there. They picked that up pretty quickly, so that was good.

We actually had a situation where our surgical business was in Boston, our ENT [ear, nose, & throat] business was in Tennessee, and our respiratory and gastroenterology business was in Pennsylvania. The kickoff meeting that we had for the website that DOOR3 conducted was actually the first time those parties all sat in the same room at the same time, which is hard to believe, but they did a really good job of helping facilitate the process of getting everybody on the same page. The concern was that our GI [gastrointestinal] business was so big that it would have different needs than some of our other businesses that maybe didn’t have a massive market share. What we decided to do, which DOOR3 facilitated, was to split the groups up, have them go through what their priorities were for the site, and then brought everybody back together, talked through, and reconciled the priorities. They found that they were actually pretty well aligned, even though they all thought they were going to be very different.

That had a huge impact on the project simply because the groups realized that their goals were actually very equal, and it wasn’t one part of the business getting something that the other part wasn’t. That was a big early hurdle to get over. The company actually implemented an annual joint marketing meeting, so every year now they all get together and talk about what they’re doing. The very first time they did was for the web project that DOOR3 helped us lead for the discovery and defining phase.

What did you find most impressive about DOOR3?

We selected them because we felt, during the presentation, that they had a really strong user experience approach, and I think the output that we had on the site definitely validated that. From that perspective, I can definitely speak. Again, we didn’t use them on the technical side, so I can’t talk to that aspect of it.

Are there any areas DOOR3 could improve?

From the actual work perspective, I thought they did an excellent job. They did bring one of the team members on a few weeks into the project, and they missed a lot of the onboarding. As a result, I had to talk through a lot of what we had already talked through, so there was a bit of repetition due to that. The business development person at the time had their take on why they did that, but from my perspective in managing the vendor, I don’t want to have to do that twice and spend the hours to have to repeat what we had already gone over at the start. That was definitely something that I think could’ve been handled better. Maybe they just didn’t have the person in place. I know they did hire him for that project; I don’t know if he stayed on after that or not.

The other area was in the defining of what was going to be delivered. There was a lot of back and forth in the sense that there were some things written within the contract that should be delivered, that they felt were not deliverables. Ultimately we got everything we needed, but if there are areas of constructive criticism, that would be it. I don’t know if it was a case where they ran out of hours, which I’m theorizing that they may have invested more hours than they thought they were going to, so as a result, they tried to talk themselves out of some of the things. It was not a big deal. We got what we needed, so from that perspective, it’s not a problem. The budget was the budget. We didn’t get into having to pay more for things or anything like that.

I’d say those were the two biggest areas where I thought there was a little frustration. Otherwise, the output and the product was fantastic, and it was split groups, so it wasn’t like we were negotiating with the user experience designer or anything. It was two different conversations; I just happened to be in both of them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The company was a not-for-profit affordable housing company.

What is your position?

I was the CIO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

This was before the housing market crashed, and we were experiencing a real spike in mortgages and applications and things like that. We just couldn’t keep up with the paper-based system, so we were looking to automate that whole thing and get better reporting out of it, better statistics, data, that kind of thing.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They did the whole thing soup to nuts. DOOR3 came in; they did the requirements gathering, the design, they built it and they did the testing. They really did the entire scope of the project. It was a long project. Like most things, you built it and then you realize you want something more. We worked them for probably about three years and really what stopped it was the market turning around. We built a system for a business that was going up, and then all of a sudden, the business went down, and we had this really big system for something that we could actually handle on paper again. That’s what stopped the engagement.

I believe it was written in .NET, so in C#. It used pretty much the whole Microsoft stack: SSRS, SSIS, all that kind of stuff for reporting. It integrated with our existing mortgage management system. It really did a lot of things. It was really like a full ERP system almost by the time we ended because we built it for one specific area of the business and then other areas wanted it too.

The most useful feature, though, was definitely the closing board. It tracked mortgage applications and seeing which applications were coming in from which mortgage officer and for how much so we could see if they were meeting their goals and things like that. We could see what was in the pipeline coming along so we could tell what we were going to have in three months, six months, or nine months. The system that we had handled permanent loans very well, but it didn’t handle construction loans very well. That was one of the key things that we used it for, being able to see exactly how much an advance should be and to whom and when and being able to report on that. All of this was done on paper and Excel previously. To figure out how much money you actually dispersed and to whom and for what and for which loans and things like that were really difficult prior to this. It’s pretty hard to run a mortgage company when you don’t know who you’re giving your money to.

It was really revolutionary. Especially in our company, we were a small not-for-profit community-based lender, and we got pretty big pretty fast.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

They were referred to us. It was our first big development project, so we definitely made some mistakes along the way, but they were there the whole time. They really helped us in every aspect of the development.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was several million. Basically, we outsourced our development to them. It was multiple smaller projects, but over the course of three to even four, five years, it was many millions.

What is the status of this engagement?

It’s completed. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Nothing specific just because it was a while ago and I don’t remember. This was five to eight years ago.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

Good. I was very happy with DOOR3. That was a project in and of itself, getting the right project management reports. We ended up building a project management tool just so we could see things in the way that my boss wanted to see them exactly.

What distinguishes DOOR3 from other providers?

One thing that many of my end-users and my subject matter experts commented on was just how quickly they picked up the business side of things, which is really important. DOOR3 were really good at the business requirements. I would say that’s probably their strongest suit. Multiple senior vice presidents came to me and said they were really impressed.

The first project that we did before we wrote any code is we did a bunch of dataflow diagrams and things like that just to really map out how the business works, and we used those things even outside of the software development project. That was a really useful tool. One of the things we discovered was one department would print out a form and walk it over to another department and hand it to them, and then they would scan it and save it in another directory. It was just ridiculous, unnecessary work that was going on that was uncovered by these guys. They didn’t have to do anything to fix it; we just told them look, just save a copy in this other folder. DOOR3's understanding of the business and the speed at which they understood the business was really impressive. I would say that was their number one quality for me.

Is there anything DOOR3 could have improved or done differently?

We took a while to get up to speed I would say, and I don’t think it was really their fault; it was really we had never done a development project before. Looking back on that whole project, if I were to do anything differently, it would be just to know what I was getting into before I got into it.

Again, that wasn’t really a knock on them. They would give their advice and then just the customer is always right kind of thing. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President / Systems Analyst of COBRA Contractors Software

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Software developer for the sub-contracting industry

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire DOOR3 to accomplish?

• Write a conversion from Access databases to SQL Database

SOLUTION

How did you find DOOR3?

Online Search

Why did you select DOOR3 over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from DOOR3 were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

SSSI script for VS to convert Access DBs to SQL.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

I am able to convert customers' data one at a time and verify that the SQL Database is complete.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The overall project was delivered on time and I was given personal training on the conversion process.  They have been very responsive every time I needed a change to the project or help with any problems related to the project as they arose.  

What was your primary form of communication with DOOR3?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

DOOR3's responsiveness and willingness to go above and beyond to help out customers stood out.

Even if, like in my case, the project was completed years ago and suddenly I needed their expertise with a problem that arose with the project.  

Are there any areas for improvement or something DOOR3 could have done differently?

No, I appreciate their professionalism, expertise and their willingness to help me out in a potentially bad situation for our company.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I'm an executive at Steinbeck Capital LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Financing dev work

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire DOOR3 to accomplish?

• Code base review for auth issues
• Security review
• General code review of codebase for scaling issues

SOLUTION

How did you find DOOR3?

AI search

Why did you select DOOR3 over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from DOOR3 were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

DOOR3 proposes an engagement to perform a comprehensive technical assessment on the marektplace platform, a digital marketplace for buying and selling businesses. Over a two- to three-week period, DOOR3 will conduct a detailed review of the codebase, architecture, security, perÿormance, and maintainability to identiÿy risks and opportunities for improvement.

The outcome will be a prioritized set of findings and recommendations to guide next-phase development and ensure the platform is stable, secure, and scalable ahead of its planned launch.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Comprehensive report with full code review delivered on time.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Dedicated project manager, regular updates, tailored to my needs. Results on time. 

What was your primary form of communication with DOOR3?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

DOOR3 maintained close interaction and very transparent communication, flexibility in working with existing codebase including a relatively deep tech stack (frontend, backend, database...).

Are there any areas for improvement or something DOOR3 could have done differently?

Fully happy here.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of The CRO Collective

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We help Chief Revenue Officers succeed and help companies build CRO-Ready organizations.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire DOOR3 to accomplish?

• Redesign my website
• Re-imagine my offering and message

SOLUTION

How did you find DOOR3?

Other

Why did you select DOOR3 over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned
• Excellence and skill

How many teammates from DOOR3 were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

DOOR3 evaluated my current website and then through a series of consultations developed and presented an entirely new / refreshed reimagining of my brand and my company iconography.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Quality of design and UX of site experience 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes the project was managed expertly. The lead designer is an outstanding person who showed great attention to timelines, product excellence, and care about me and my business. Very responsive and professional and consultative. 

What was your primary form of communication with DOOR3?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Overall care and high caliber skill in their craft and their customer process. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something DOOR3 could have done differently?

No