Orases

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Crossroads Animal Referral and Emergency (CARE) Veterinary Center is a specialty and emergency animal hospital that’s open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I’m an owner and the practice manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We were looking to do a complete rebrand, including building a website that we could update and maintain on the backend. We were doing this as an overall project for the hospital. We wanted to alleviate any market confusion or brand confusion. We wanted to make our website user-friendly, drive an email database, be able to have an ongoing blog, etc. We wanted a more interactive online presence. We also wanted to have our website optimized. A lot of times when people are in a crisis situation with their pet, they’re looking on their phones for a provider. We wanted a website that was very mobile-friendly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did so much and are phenomenal. We’re different from primary care veterinarians, so they did a lot of research to understand what a specialty and emergency animal hospital is and what our clients look like. We get a lot of our business from referring veterinarians. They also got to know us and our organization. They had a very good sense of the culture and spirit of our hospital. When they put the website together, it captured not only our specific business, but also represented us as doctors and technicians. They were able to take our language and put it into a website. We had group meetings with Orases and the external designer who was working on our new logo.

We use Orases’ proprietary software to log into the backend. This site was such a tremendous upgrade from our previous website. We were able to link to our Facebook, YouTube and Google+. We have the Google search functionality. We have a blog and the ability to upload in a very aesthetically pleasing way our YouTube videos. We were able to collect email addresses from the newsletter function we had running at one time. Orases was able to collect those email addresses and put them into Constant Contact for us. The optimization for the mobile and tablet was huge for us. There were also simple things like being able to click on the phone number and have it dialed immediately. These are things that are beneficial for our business because people are panicked and stressed and want to get us on the phone as soon as possible. We do a check-in call with them every once in a while. We subscribe to their ongoing maintenance program where we have money set aside for upgrades. We can also talk to them about SEO or organic search as part of that program.

How did you come to work with Orases?

We put out an RFP and had a handful of companies that we were looking at. The thing that stood out most to us was the way the Orases team worked with the design group. A lot of the other groups did everything in-house. What really sold us was Orases recognize they’re experts in the technology field, and what they do, they do extremely well. They partner with designers and we felt like we were getting the best of both worlds. We were getting top-notch firms from both a design and technology perspective.

How much have you invested with Orases?

We spent $40,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2013, and the project took four months. We continue to use them on an ongoing basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When I started with the company, this was my first project. I don’t know what the metrics were prior to us starting to work with Orases. Clients and referring veterinarians find us to be very user-friendly and helpful. Other specialty and emergency hospitals nationwide have actually called us to find out who did our website because they were so impressed by it.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re a smooth, well-oiled machine. The process was really streamlined. They set our expectations and they met and exceeded them. They were responsive and communicative.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

They were a partner to us instead of a vendor. I worked in New York City in the corporate world for five years and worked with huge brand names and small technology companies. Orases exceeds our expectations and are very innovative. It’s impressive how well they got to know our business. I’m sure we’re one of many clients, but I felt like we were the only project they were working on because they were so responsive and immersed in delivering this incredible project.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

No. They were great.

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

I don’t think so. They’re super easy to work with. The owner, Nick, has provided me guidance on things that weren’t even related to my website. He’s become a person I can ask about anything. Anyone working with them will get a full-service experience. Be ready for awesome.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

As an economic development agency, we promote and market the county to businesses who are looking to relocate or expand here. I’m a business development analyst, and I also manage our communications and marketing. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

Our website was outdated, and we knew that we needed a new product to meet our customers’ technology demands. The site hadn’t been updated in possibly 7 years. We also wanted to make the site more mobile-friendly and include content that would be relevant to users on their phones or tablets.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed a 1-stop shop that included our blog and the calendar in a streamlined way. Orases was able to do all of that in a really sleek product. During the redesign, we also wanted to create a standalone website, which is a new product for us. We were partnering with our tourism council and wanted to create something to market our agritourism, craft beverages, and agriculture. We did these 2 projects concurrently for the most part, and Orases helped us save money by applying the template that they used on the main website to the new website. The design of it was familiar, the backend was the same, and the basic concept of all the pieces and components were the same, even though they looked different.

Orases held a series of initial meetings with the team, and then we met with the designer who made the layout. They were very open and wanted our feedback and design ideas. We provided a couple of examples of websites and features that we liked. They’re able to give us recommendations based on our goals and explain how those pieces would fit together. They know enough about our work in economic development. For example, having events as a prominent feature on every page of our website wasn’t as important to us because we’re not the Chamber of Commerce. We were able to tweak the content and design concept to suit all of our needs and our stakeholders. They were really great to work with.

We wanted to integrate a blog and were using BlogSpot at the time. Orases has a customized backend product called 24Watch, which we use to edit the site ourselves. It’s a pretty comprehensive website with a lot of information, pages, and forms that people can fill out.

Our business directory was integrated from a huge database file that we purchased, which had a lot of different layers and functionalities. When we designed the blog, we wanted an author feature that was separate from the standard blog product. We wanted success stories on the site to be really prominent because we felt that having testimonials from local companies would be beneficial to users. We wanted that to appear on every page, and Orases was able to do that for us. They were also able to customize content so that if you’re on a page about bioscience, you’ll see a bioscience success story instead of a story about manufacturing. Those features really helped the website make sense overall.

They held a training session for us and explained how to edit the backend of the website. They also explained a lot of search engine optimization and meta tags. That was very helpful. They’ve offered that class as a refresher if our staff ever needs it.

How many resources have been assigned to your project?

At least 6 people that I know of that worked on the site. I’m sure there were more. We had Nick [President, Orases], the designer, and a website architect guy who mapped everything out. We didn’t get to meet the developers, but all of them were really responsive. We had a project manager, Missy, who I deal with in case we have any website issues. Once, Missy went on vacation and her boss, Larissa [Senior Account Representative, Orases], was able to help us quickly with an issue we had.

How did you come to work with Orases?

We chose Orases because of their reputation among and knowledge of businesses in our community. We really appreciate their customer service and willingness to work with what we need. We don’t always have a huge budget because we’re a county department, but we have some customized needs that don’t fit a standard template. Nick is very involved in the community, so we felt comfortable entrusting our business to Orases.

How much have you invested with Orases?

We spent $25,000 on both websites.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February of 2016, and the site was launched in June of 2016. The project took longer because we were trying to make decisions about launching a site at a minor baseball game we were sponsoring in June.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This year, we really focused on communication tools, newsletters, and social media. We wanted to direct people back to our website. We couldn’t do that before with a BlogSpot platform because it wasn’t connected to our website. Honestly, I was embarrassed to direct people to our old website.

Having a website that we’re proud of to direct people to when we write blog articles or link pages on social media has really improved our overall communication. Our followers on Twitter and Facebook continue to increase. Visitors spend more time on our website. We did a survey after launching a site, and the feedback was really positive. We sent that out to our farmers who are really invested as stakeholders in the agriculture part of our business, and the feedback was great.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a great hands-on attitude. If a person couldn’t do something, someone else was able to fill in. It felt like everyone knew what everyone else was doing on the project, so we didn’t have any confusion.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

Orases stays engaged in the community, which is a great asset. Being a leader and moving technology forward in the area really showcases their company and their business. I’m always amazed by Nick’s commitment to improving our county.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

I know they lost a staff person during our project and were able to fill that position quickly with a new project manager. When that person left, I had a conference call with him and the boss. He told us he’d accepted a new position with a different company and wanted us to know we would be in great hands. That made me feel confident. The new manager was very responsive and engaged right away. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the director of training and compliance for a large security provider that services the government and high-end clients. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We had several systems that we needed to converge into a single solution. We needed to create a process to manage all of our training, and we wanted something that we could automate all of our sign-up and credentialing processes. We needed a product that would add efficiency and add visibility for different state managing agencies and clients. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Orases helped with reporting, client management, transparency measures, and online learning. Each state has different licensing requirements for security officers, and every client has a different requirement. That’s why we needed the tracking side of the product. If someone didn’t show up for a class, the product would call or email the boss to report that. It would track officers to let them know ahead of time when their classes were coming up and which classes were available.

Orases also designed a portfolio that officers could go into, even after they left our company, to download their training. This is a huge help for us because, by law, we have to give people their training results. All of this information is auditable by the government, and we could face really big fines if we didn’t have this information accessible. Also, after officers finish their training and get their state licensing, the tool automatically reports their training to the state. As you can imagine, different states have various programs that they wanted their training uploaded to.

So, Orases had to come up with a solution for us that looked cohesive on our side but, on the downstream side, worked with each state. The product also had to stay up-to-date. When the states made changes, Orases ensured those appeared in the program seamlessly.

Then, we had our clients. Government agencies want to know that we’re actually doing what we’re supposed to be doing. Anybody can come up with a spreadsheet that says someone took training on a specific day. Orases made an easy-to-use tool for our officers. In their portfolio, the state gives each officer a license after he or she passes training. Previously, we’d have to get these licenses back from the officer in order to report it to the government. Orases came up with a way where the officer just uses a cell phone and uploads copies of the license to our platform, where it’s shared to the right authority automatically. A client could walk up to an officer in the middle of the night, type in their name or scan a QR code that Orases created, and pull up the officer’s entire training record and license on the spot.

Nobody else had a system like this that incorporated QR codes. The new product has so many safety checks in place for us, and it really helped us streamline our process. Our training efficiency boomed, and labor costs went down because someone didn’t have to enter all the info manually anymore. We were certifying way more people.

The product also helps our online learning element. I needed to create online learning, but all my officers were marine corps infantry, army infantry, and police SWAT. None of us knew about e-learning elements or HTML before this project. We could work a website, but we certainly didn’t know any code or anything. We asked Orases to develop a learning management system that lets us create online classes easily. They went to the range with us, sat in our classrooms, and watched how we taught. They created a product that fit the way that we work and saved us immense amounts of time.

Sometimes, the state systems would go down while we’d be trying to upload training. On these occasions, Orases actually had to create a new solution for us. Once, a state system went down, but nobody realized it. Schools across the state had been trying to upload training and didn’t realize that anything was wrong. Orases actually figured out that the state system was down and let us know, called the state, and figured out a fix where we just hit a button. We could resend all the documentation from a certain date, which the state loved because they didn’t have to input everything again. It made us look really good to them.

I was impressed with Orases’ original concept, their implementation, and the support they provided to make sure that the product still worked. Everybody’s needs evolve, and so do ours. It’s probably the best vendor story that I had in my career.

The product was completely custom-built. They made it compatible with what we needed and integrated what we asked for, but it was based on their proprietary solution called 24Watch.

They did discovery, but the project took longer than expected because we didn’t know what we were doing. Orases wasn’t creating course content; we were doing that. They had their stuff up and running, and I probably cost them money because then we had to do our part, which slowed down the process.  

We had meetings with their president, the project implementation manager, and possibly 6 developers. Different people assisted when we asked for upgrades and things like that.

How did you come to work with Orases?

I wasn’t in the computer community, so we went to the big players—Oracle, Adobe, and Microsoft. They told us that we had to adapt our needs to their product. A friend of mine is an IT guy who worked with Orases for several clients. He said they were great.

We solicited pitches from large companies and some smaller ones. Orases had the most comprehensive product at the beginning. Honestly, we decided to take a chance on them. They actually came through with what they said they could do.

How much have you invested with Orases?

The initial project cost $200,000. We added tasks later on, which cost probably double that amount.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial project took 5–6 months. We’ve worked together for 6 or 7 years on updates and maintenance. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product became a centerpiece of our company, and we counted on it in every proposal and with every client. Nobody else had this kind of solution. Several years later, other companies started to try to emulate it because it was so different. Clients were really surprised: “I have access to all of that?” It became a selling point for us alongside our executive summaries. We’ve had no violations in 4 years of auditing from the state, which is a big metric for us.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was great in every way. We probably slowed them down, but they managed to get us to where we needed in terms of technology. Some officers didn’t know how to use computers, and Orases had to come up with some way for them to get what they needed. No matter what, they still hit their timelines.

I was new to managing a project of that size, and I tried to make downstream changes, which doesn’t work in an Agile module. But, Orases just kept working with us to get the product delivered on time. I really honestly felt bad for their project managers having to deal with us because we didn’t understand what we were doing at the time.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

We didn’t hire them for marketing, but they gave suggestions anyway. We wound up selling the product. It was initially designed for our internal use, but we chose to market it as a service. In terms of efficiency, it gave us huge cost savings, but it wasn’t a profit center. However, Orases suggested that we could sell it and made a separate interface for external customers, which worked. That was a huge add-on for us.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

In all honesty, any problems that we incurred were because of us. I didn’t build in enough QC [quality control]. I thought we could QC it ourselves. This isn’t even criticism, but they could have suggested including that in the budget more forcefully. Overall, I think they were good.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a manufacturing company that specializes in medical product development, manufacture, and global sale of items for both acute care and home care segment of the market. I am responsible for this division of the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We needed to transfer our website to an e-commerce platform that was also somewhat customized.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed to transition our website platform from Cold Fusion to Magento, marry two independent sites/ functionalities/ content, integrate a blog, and build a highly customized e-commerce solution. The team at Orases led us through this process by collaborating with our Marketing team. We were very pleased with the creativity of the customized solution, as well as the service and structure provided by Orases team leaders.

How did you come to work with Orases?

Our marketing manager was the primary liaison for that. We had been looking for a local solution since we’re a smaller organization. We wanted a firm that we could communicate with face-to-face. Orases had experience with the kind of work we wanted to accomplish. They’re a personable team but also incredibly professional. It was clear they knew exactly what they needed to do, and they had a competent team that understood all of the moving parts. They could collaborate by knitting those units together. The quality of their service was excellent.

How much have you invested with Orases?

I think we spent around $75,000 or $80,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2012, and I think the project took about 5 months. The work was completed in 2013. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have significantly improved our SEO, efficiency, and content accessibility. The functionality of the customized “Cart2Quote” feature really provides value to our customers.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything was finished on time and within budget, so I was pleased. They did a great job of communicating with us throughout the project. They made sure we were always on the same page.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

They do a lot of customization. They really strive to tailor the solution to what each client requires. I think they have the expertise in-house to coordinate all their resources.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

I can’t think of anything. We were pleased and continue to work with them. We’ve built a very solid relationship. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

EZTracker provides assistance to subscribers on how best to manage their 401(k) plans. We provide a monthly customized newsletter for users’ particular 401(k) plans, which analyzes and looks at their alternatives. I am one of the founders. My title is managing director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We were still in our fledgling years when we started working with Orases. We worked on the development of the website and all backroom operations. This included everything from how we process orders to how we market ourselves online on the website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Orases built the custom CMS which allows us to efficiently process orders online, and provide the entire backend operation we need for customer management. The backroom platform consists of our database and website update and modification panel. It’s the place through which we can post information for subscribers.

There is a 24Watch ® Business Suite for our database, as well as a system for integrating it with our website and payment system.

We have a niche business with a narrow target audience. Orases presented alternative designs for our goal, based on the information they had about our company, graphics and previous online activity. This was integrated into all the visible materials on our website. Being nontechnical people with a small staff meant that Orases wound up doing everything for us. They were patient enough to get us well-educated, and bring us down the path.

How did you come to work with Orases?

They were recommended to me by a former business associate from my previous career in the advertising business. He ran an advertising agency, and told me that Orases had done terrific work for some of their clients. I contacted them, and we’ve been exceedingly pleased with the selection.

How much have you invested with Orases?

The cost of Orases’ work has been around $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Orases in 2007. The largest project took place in 2011. We are still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Other than the fact that we’ve had a foolproof system, I don’t know what metrics I could provide. We can’t afford to have any downtime or security problems, as an online marketer. Having a 0% error rate has made us quite happy. It has certainly cut down on the number of problems and issues we were having, especially in the subscription process. Prior to Orases’ system, we would get a number of phone calls asking us to resolve credit card or other issues. Those have been pushed to an absolute minimum, which has resulted in substantial time saving for us. As a small company, the principles of running the business are where we spend most of our dimes. Orases has made our lives a great deal easier.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite the fact that we’re a small client, relative to Orases’ other projects, they’ve been very responsive to us. We never felt that we were being shoved to the bottom of the pile, which is something that can happen often in the service business.

Before we started working on a project with Orases, they provided an in-depth outline of the scope and what they saw the deliverables as being. All of this was presented in a detailed fashion. Orases then gave us the opportunity to go back over the scope of the project and its alternatives, making the changes which we saw as potentially impacting the cost or timing. Those were taken into consideration and integrated into a final proposal. Orases started work, and delivered on budget and on time.

During the design phase, we reviewed certain websites which had the type of structuring we were looking for. Orases felt those would not meet our needs, but, as any marketer of consumer services that is worth their weight should, they provided not only what we wanted, but what we needed. I think that this certainly highlights their ability to understand the client’s business and expectations. We don’t ever want to feel that someone is shoving something down our throats when we’re not convinced of the solution. Orases gave us the range of options we wanted to look at.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

I do think that their responsiveness has been absolutely fantastic. We have had issues with the system needing updates; not being technical people, we’re not always aware of those things, but Orases has kept us abreast of what needs to be done to ensure that everything is up-to-date and there is no downtime.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

Everyone wants the work to be done for half the price, but we’ve never had the feeling of Orases being overpriced. I’ve always felt that the project and its cost were very much in-line. When we found a missing element, or thought of an idea which was worth considering, Orases was more than willing to listen, take it into consideration and show us what those suggestions might look like.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My name is Tina Green; our company is Marketing Partners. We’re in Bethel, Pennsylvania, and since 1997, we’ve specialized in targeting both growth and business development opportunities for credit unions. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

Very early on, we were developing websites in-house on older platforms like .ASP. We acquired an extensive staff, obviously keeping up with security and a lot of elements. Over time, prior to my arrival in 2009, we’d partnered with an outside vendor to give us a backend system; the goal was to get away from the development end and partner with someone to give us the backend and still manage everything for the client. For many years, we were unable to lift that relationship off the ground. It was difficult to sell at the price point that was asked, and the other company provided us with so many challenges both from the standpoint of how they helped us with programming issues, general support, and bill time and such. Overall, we were sinking in being able to build websites. So, going from having a team internally to using another partner stalled our operation, if you will. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Time flies, but I want to say that Nick [President & CEO, Orases] and I met back in 2014 to start a preliminary conversation. I was really looking for a resource just to fix what was broken on our end and give me some sort of stability. What happened from that conversation was that we, with Orases, have developed an organized platform in the backend where we are no developing sites for our clients.

Orases came to us with a solution that allows us to use their backend content management system and their proprietary software, but it’s customized to fit the needs of our clients, who are credit unions.

We’re hosting it in an open-source environment, so it’s a mobile-responsive site. I believe it’s an Adobe product. It’s the 24-watch business suite that they have. We customized it to include modules that support the type of elements that you’d typically find in a financial institution like a credit union. Because we work with financial institutions, we have to adhere to guidelines from the Credit Union National Association that our clients have to follow. Additionally, we work with many different third-party vendors for the home-banking element that exists on the site. Orases had provided many solutions and has troubleshot all these third-party vendors in implementing the security and uploading the functionality of leading to the sites. Those are the biggest factors. A lot of the companies that do online banking are not as robust with programming, and there are often a lot of challenges in that transition. We’re able to manage our clients seamlessly with the assistance of Orases.

How did you come to work with Orases?

We had a previous sales rep who was working remotely from the Maryland area, and she had brought attention to some of the successes she had heard from Orases. Then, like I said, Nick and I met back in 2014, and from that meeting we had here at our office, he literally was able to change the landscape of our website development. He’s brought so much value to what we can offer to our clients.

How much have you invested with Orases?

I would say probably $200,000–$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was started in late 2014. We are absolutely still working together. They developed a website platform for me that I am reselling, so I’m using them as a valuable business partner to continue to grow and sell multiple websites on my end with their backend support. They’re a critical business partner of ours. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With Orases’ customization and organization on the backend of their platform, we were able to sell 10 websites in the past two years. Prior to that platform, we only sold one in three years. It’s scalable; it’s clean; it’s easy for us to use; and, more importantly, their resource, from a development standpoint, listened to what we needed. Working with Orases on our new platform, on the new servers they set up for us, and with the 24-watch business system has really changed the whole landscape of what we’re doing.

From a management point, the Orases solution is much more organized and clean. We are functioning at a higher level internally, utilizing the Orases platform to support our clients. In other words, we’re much more efficient. We’re using a modern system that they provided for us, which allows us to be more proactive with marketing campaigns, rather than dealing with structural challenges with websites.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We were up and running very quickly. There were no challenges in terms of trying to get it done; we had an organized plan right away that we were able to knock out and sell. I have to tell you, there have been almost no bumps in the road when it comes to programming these sites. We’ve got 10 clients sold onto the platform, and it’s taken a part of our business that was looking like it was going die on the vine to a very robust marketing item that we offer for our clients. Before, we didn’t think we were going to be able to provide website development for our clients.

No matter the challenge or the question, I find that Orases handles it well on their end. They meet strategically as a team, come up with some solution, and bring it back to us for review with our team. Depending on the situation, there have been multiple people involved in figuring out how to solve a problem. It’s always a very quick turnaround time. I’ve been on the phone at nine o’clock at night with our project manager when we’re launching a site, just making sure everything is in line. Even on Saturdays and Sundays, I can access her with questions and such that might arise from a launch. Often, it’s on the third-party’s end that we’re having issues—nothing that’s our fault or Orases’ fault. Those challenges are always addressed immediately.

We have immediate access to a project manager. Also, a developer will get involved so that we can bring clarity to the project. We’re working with our clients at a high level as well, so it’s been an intricate part of our relationship that adds additional value. I would rate it a 15 out of 10 for how well they perform for us in that perspective. It’s that valuable to us on a daily basis.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

They helped us create a solution that we were able to turn into a valuable commodity for our clients and for our business. We’re not just stopping there. I continually have meetings with Orases, and right now we’re working on another idea to grow our relationship and our revenues. It’s kind of an awesome give-and-take. When I say they’re a valued business partner, it’s because they’re an integral part of our future growth. They continue to bring that to the table. They’re no longer just providing a solution; they’re figuring out what’s next.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

In the beginning—and this is a challenge we've faced before—when you’re taking something you’ve built and modeling it for the next client, there are some bumps in the road. But, I can’t really speak to anything that’s specifically a challenge because all issues were addressed. They’re very quick to find solutions if something does come up. So, I wouldn’t say that there’s anything that needs to be improved. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company sells recycled and refinished golf balls to consumers. I am the Chairman of the Board.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We needed to develop an e-commerce website for our new business. We wanted to do some significant competitive analysis on what already existed in the market to get a clear understanding of our major competitors. We knew there was one dominant player who had a slick, fully functional website. We needed to build a strategy around what we wanted our website to do within our budget.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’m a huge fan of Orases and Nick, the CEO. We started talking to them about building a website, and we ended up adopting Nick as our CTO. We had several meetings with him and his team each week talking about everything e-commerce. Orases helped us develop our overall digital marketing plan and competitive strategy. I truly view them as a strategic partner, and that’s been extremely valuable to us. We’ve gotten a tremendous amount of education from them. They’ve saved us from making expensive mistakes.

We originally engaged them to design a website, but then we quickly shifted that to a consulting basis. We really wanted him to be involved in all the different aspects of our emerging business. Nick helped us think creatively and strategically about how we wanted to compete.

Orases is currently involved in the discovery stage for developing our website. Once that is complete, we’ll actually construct the site. Orases truly has their customer’s best interests in mind, and they want to add value. Although they are contracted to build the blueprint for our site, they are perfectly fine with putting the development up for bid after that to ensure we get the best product. When you do that, you create a connection with the customer, which makes the work you do together even better.

We’ve mostly worked with Nick, but we’ve recently engaged a designer and a developer, who are now spearheading the discovery process.

How did you come to work with Orases?

One of my partners knew of Nick through mutual acquaintances.

How much have you invested with Orases?

The whole project will probably be $100,000—so approximately $75,000 to build the site and $25,000 for consulting.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in December of 2016, and it will probably last for about 6 months. I imagine we’ll continue to work with them on some level going forward. I feel that we get a tremendous value having them as partners. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have a lot of output at this point because most of the work has been competitive analysis. Nick has reached out to marketing firms on our behalf, and he’s attended every proposal presentation by those firms. He’s gone above and beyond what we expected.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

Nick and I have gotten pretty close and compared notes on leadership styles. He’s shared with me the strategic planning documents that he uses, which I can adapt to my company. He is truly a partner and wants to do everything he can to help us succeed. He’s been running point for us in terms of project management, and it’s been fantastic. I feel fortunate to have the CEO as our project manager.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

I’m extremely impressed with Nick and the culture of the firm. They’re very focused on having a great culture. They have an innovative office space layout. The way Nick engages his employees is great. I found it very easy to get comfortable working with Nick and his team. I feel that working closely with Orases is a good influence. You get to see what a successful, well-run company looks like and what makes it tick.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

No. I’m pleased with everything we’ve done so far. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The American Society of Interior Designers is a professional association for interior designers throughout the country. We have over 25,000 members that range from being actual interior designers; 13,500 members that are emerging interior designers; 5,500 students; and the rest are industry partners. As an organization, we provide events for professional development, appellations, and certifications for design. I’m the VP of communications, overseeing marketing, communications, public relations, and media relations within the organization. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

The original challenge is that we offer a lot of great services that are making a huge impact in the design space, but we have not been able to communicate that message properly. On such a design-centric field, our website lacked design and functionality. It did not properly represent our brand. People could not navigate the site. While the rest of the products we were putting out—a print piece, speaking, PowerPoint—were elevated, the website was a hindrance to our brand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The scope was huge. Our previous website operated on an old version of Drupal, so we didn’ have good functionality. The main objective was to completely redesign and redevelop our primary national website: asid.org. We also had to put all of our 47 chapter websites, which are chapter networks throughout the US, on a similar platform, redesign all of their sites, and bring them onto one platform, which we hadn’t had before. They haven’t had a functioning CMS [content management system] on the chapter level, although we did at the national level. Orases had to provide a CMS for all chapters and headquarters, completely redesign, and provide all the functionality. They did everything from the brainstorming, providing functional requirements for the site, and developing the entire site to providing a CMS. They used their custom CMS, 24Watch ®. We did our marketing and social media in-house and didn’t have that in our specs.

How did you come to work with Orases?

I came on board at ASID right as we were putting out the proposal late May 2016. Since I had worked with Orases previously on a website redesign at another organization, I brought them to the table by entering their name into the list of proposals but didn’t tell anybody in the review process that it was a company I previously worked with. Even without that, I did not give my opinion until after everybody else did; it was a unanimous decision to go with Orases. I knew of their work, but the others that did not know of their work still voted to go with Orases. Their CMS was also one of the things that drew us to Orases.

How much have you invested with Orases?

We invested over $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We officially started in July 2016. We took a nine-month project and squeezed it into six months of actual work. I put a lot of pressure on Orases on this tough deadline because we had a lot of internal pressures and goals that we had to meet just because of previous projects being delayed multiple times before I came onboard. In July, we set the date of launch to February 14. We launched the 48 websites on February 15 at noon. Technically, we were 12 hours off in a six-month timeline.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had a significant spike in the website. We drew everybody to the website by sending out messages of the website launch. Our customer service department gets anywhere between 3,000 to 5,000 calls monthly from our members and potential members. They said that their calls about the website have decreased dramatically. They used to get calls about navigation or how to find something. Since we launched the site, they have gotten none; all the calls they have gotten regarding the website are positive feedback. I wish I could put statistics to it, but that would be in about a week or so from now.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

It was seamless. I cannot go into enough detail of how successful this was from beginning to end. Orases was so easy to work with. Since we had such an aggressive timeline, everything had to be done on time from their end and our end. Orases kept us responsible for the things that were on our end that would then impact their schedule, and that’s what a good project manager does. We hit the goal, which I was a little skeptical of even though I was the one that set it, and that is thanks to the project management. We had some few things that came up three months into the project that were not in the original scope. Neither they or we knew they existed like you would with any website project. Orases took it with flying colors and weren’t a problem at all. It’s been a fantastic and great partnership.

What did you most impressive about Orases?

Orases' professionalism and ease of working with them stood out. They’re so approachable and willing to go above and beyond. Beyond that, their technical knowledge and ability to take a nugget of an idea and turn it into something that could actually work and be user-friendly are impressive. We built this thing called Resource Center where we have all of our research in one hub that is searchable. When I briefly described that, Orases immediately grasped the idea, wrapped their arms around it, and built out something that I didn’t even envision in the beginning. The way that Orases can customize things and the way it felt that we were their only client helped the project run smoothly.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

At this point, no, there’s not much I can say. It was so fast-paced if there were any mistakes the majority of them were on our end. Orases rolled with the punches and changes, and they were fantastic about it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Service Coordination is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which provides case management services for people who need them. These include persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities, veterans, children, and older adults. We are the largest case management organization in the state of Maryland, working with approximately 12,000 people across the state.

I am the executive director and CEO of the organization. I've been in this role for about 11 years. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We were looking to build an integrated information management system which would support the 3 levels of our organization. From a team member perspective, we have a community-based mobile workforce. Our coordinators and case managers use laptops, cell phones, printers, and scanners for their out-of-office community work. We wanted a solution which could be used while out in the field. From a leadership perspective, we wanted a solution that would give our members access to the information needed for making solid business decisions. Our strategic management tool is a balanced scorecard approach that measures 24 metrics and reports them to a board of directors. This also needed to be integrated into the system. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a concept of what we were looking for based on the state changes for the delivery of Targeted Case Management, which is a Medicaid service. Orases stepped in at the same time as the complete statewide revamping of this service, so we've had to build a solution from the ground up. Orases has developed an information management system for our organization, helping us track all relevant demographic information from a client's perspective. We help people coordinate and locate all the services which they need in 9 life areas. The client data we’ve collected help us look at intermediate and long-term outcomes.

Orases has taken an Agile approach to the development of our data system. We have created an internal director-level position for the collaboration with Orases. When we rolled the project out, we met with Orases' team. We were assigned 2 developers and a project manager. The resources we use are related to what we're developing in a given quarter. Eventually, we created an operational position around Orases. We assigned someone who could understand them at a senior level and work together with the team.

How did you come to work with Orases?

Orases was recommended through one of our relationships, based on the work they'd done in the past. We interviewed a handful of organizations but were most impressed with Orases. After looking at Orases' references and talking with their team, it became clear to us that they took a personal approach in terms of business solutions instead of having a cookie-cutter approach.

How much have you invested with Orases?

The cost of Orases' work has been around $750,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our project in April 2012. We plan to continue our work with Orases for a number of years. We have an annual contract with Orases that is reviewed every quarter. The collaboration is solid. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don't believe that we would have been successful without our collaboration with Orases. When we transitioned into Targeted Case Management in 2013, we projected a workload analysis for what we thought the impact would be from the model change. We estimated an 8-million-dollar deficit, which was significant for us as a non-profit. During our first year in operation, we cut that down by 50% and got into the black by the third year of operation. We firmly believe that by working with Orases and developing our information management solution, we have been able to go from a structural deficit of about 1.6 million dollars to operating in the black. We've been told that we should market our case management platform. It's definitely a success story.   

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We've received accolades across the board for Orases' work. They operate using an Agile method, staying in conversation with our team once a week and making adjustments to the development process. We're adding new projects on an ongoing basis. Our teams met 3 months ago in order to discuss the relationship between our senior leadership.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

Orases' team understands quality customer service and they are mission-driven. These qualities make Orases a success. I believe that we would not be in business today without Orases' ability to come up with an adequate solution.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. I think that we were fortunate to find Orases.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide fencing decks, pavers, and ornamental products for commercial and residential customers. I’m the director of corporate sales. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We had a working Drupal website but it had a number of internal failures. We weren't comfortable continuing on this path with our current company, so we reached out to Orases. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Orases built a more robust site for our company. They looked at how our customers were searching for fences and interacting with the old site, then Orases made adjustments around this information. Orases put together a game plan aimed at increasing speed, both internally and for our customers. Orases was involved in the build from start to finish. It was more of a ground up approach because we had to abandon what we previously had. Orases worked with us on design, color palettes, and the overall arrangement of individual pages, focusing heavily on how customers were using the site. Orases brought in SEO best practices through which we could reach a placement on the first page. They implemented a program called 24 Watch, which allows us to update products, enter issues, and receive appropriate responses.  This made it much easier for us to interface with the site.

How did you come to work with Orases?

We had worked with another company for a number of years, but they changed their activity. Then, we came to rely on someone else for an interim. After that relationship failed, we started looking for recommendations. We found Orases through the friend of a friend. Our marketing efforts are an extension of who we are, so we wanted to make sure that we had the same goals in mind as our development partner.

How much have you invested with Orases?

The project was not inexpensive but I can't discuss actual numbers. It was a worthwhile investment, with a fair market value and an even greater return.

What is the status of this engagement?

The development time was 9 months overall. Much of this was due to us wanting to make sure that correct vendor products were being displayed. We also had to provide the content needed for the site. Once Orases got that information, the work progressed quickly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Orases increased the speed of our site by about 75%. From a standpoint of developing landing pages and customer responses, we can offer free estimates over the web to people using their mobile devices. We've seen a spiked increase year over year with the new website. We attribute this to its interactivity and ease of use. Those numbers continue to climb and we continue to hire employees to handle those inquiries.

Orases was very proactive in working with our other vendors and put in a lot of time to ensure that the site would work. Any glitches were caught in time, but they were very few and far between. Orases stood by us and offered many valuable suggestions based on their experience with other sites. It was an opportunity for us to expand our horizons and build a more interactive site for our consumers. I found that Orases provided a blend of not only good personalities but also professionalism. This led to a good relationship, through which we were able to produce a dynamic site.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

The staff was very friendly, to say the least. Orases was very timely in getting back to us, without any avoidance. This was a welcome change from our previous company.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

Orases' principal made himself available to us whenever we needed it. He has a number of professional people working in the backend with programmers and the project manager. It's nice to know that we're one step away from reaching out to someone who is as responsive as the rest of the team. Orases was timely and responsive, and I appreciated this.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

I'm a critical person when it comes to this type of interaction. If there had been something to improve, I would have certainly voiced my opinion on it. But I can't recall Orases being out of line on any occasion.