Orases

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and president of Green Plaque. We provide plaques, paraphernalia, and certificates for the green building industry. It started with the LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certification of buildings, a nonprofit program in Washington offered by the USGBC [U.S. Green Building Council].

We receive the list of buildings that are certified under LEED, as well as many other types of certifications that have been developed. Once they are certified, building owners can then visit our website and purchase a plaque or certificate for their building. We don’t have a brick and mortar store—all our presence is online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

Prior to hiring Orases, our site worked more as a business card with our contact information on it—we needed to build a website that would showcase our products. The site is a bit more complicated than a regular e-commerce site because it needs to be able to recognize who is eligible to purchase the plaques.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After a building is certified, the information is uploaded by the USGBC through us. We generate certificates as well as cover letters for those certificates for many different programs. This is a complicated process, as half the information displayed on the certificate comes from the certifying organization and the other half is entered by the end user. Once this information is entered, it is then locked into the database and cannot be changed. All of this programming has been developed by Orases over the years.

There is a whole process for ordering in which we need to identify the person purchasing the product and see if they are entitled to that particular item. We then send the purchase order to the manufacturing facility. We have around 8 or 9 different programs currently on the site as different organizations have come to us after seeing our capability and use us for the same thing. Orases has developed all the different versions of our website to accommodate different organizations.

When we initially started, we were using Magento and were selling 10 – 20 SKU’s. Since then, our site has become much more customized and currently has a vague resemblance to basic Magento. While we’re still using the same platform, we now have hundreds of different SKU organizations and certifications.

All of the database runs on Orases’ computers, which makes it extremely safe. They run all our data, maintain it, and update it on a regular basis. There’s always something new that our customers ask for and Kat, the project manager, usually takes care of it.

What is the team dynamic?

We used to sit around the table with approximately half a dozen programmers, code writers, and project managers, and I would usually come up with a general structure or architecture for the site. Everything now goes through one person, and occasionally two people at Orases. I don’t have to be in contact with the person writing the code but I am occasionally in contact with Nick, the president, and with Kat 1 or 2 times per week.

How did you come to work with Orases?

We both belong to a business organization, and Orases came highly recommended from there. I had interviewed them as well as a couple of others but found Orases to be a good match and we’ve been working together since. I had engaged with other groups before, but most engagements didn’t last.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $150,000 – $200,000 over the past couple of years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Orases around 8 years ago and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We sell approximately 15,000 items per year and every single one of those go through the website. By market standards, we are not a very big corporation, but the fact that I can do this with minimal employees is huge for me.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re always in contact with them through a weekly meeting on Thursday mornings. Kat is always by the phone in case there are immediate needs. There are periods where I have to use that time slot every week, but there have been a couple of months where everything we want to do has been done and we only have occasional day-to-day questions that can get easily answered by email.

Kat organizes everything so I don’t have to spend more time on this than I have to. She’s my internet person and whenever I have any questions, requirements, or new projects, all I have to do is call her and she picks up the phone immediately, which is a big deal for me. I can also send her an email and receive a response within half an hour. I would love to have someone like her on our team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a very reasonable fee, do whatever they say they will, and are always ready to answer my calls. We’ve worked really well with each other and they’ve been very supportive through the ups and downs of our business over these past few years. We can always depend on them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t think of anything. Anytime I have comments, whether it’s a compliment or a complaint, I bring it to their attention and it’s addressed immediately.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

José Andrés ThinkFoodGroup is a restaurant company. I was the director of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

I needed a single firm to handle the strategy, design, and development for anything digital. I was trying to find a local partner whom I could meet regularly, who had real expertise in development, and who would be willing and happy to work with external design firms. Not many agencies want the design to come from somewhere else, but Orases was happy with that arrangement.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked on a number of projects for me, the most intricate being the ThinkFoodGroup.com website. They partnered with me and a design firm I’d hired, first to make sure that what we were considering was technically feasible, and that we were answering any related questions early in the process. They then worked directly with the design firm, ensuring that all design files delivered were adequate for the production work, both in terms of assets available, and any other information which needed to be provided.

They built out the site using a content management system [CMS] and handled various changes from both the client and the design firm. They also trained me and my team on how to manage the content on that platform. The CMS was Expression Engine, but we also used WordPress. The site is mobile-friendly, although it’s not responsive or optimized per se. The site is multilingual, which was done through a localization module. It was built from scratch with the Spanish language capability.

Our first challenge from a design standpoint was the site’s complexity — there were multiple visual layers which had to scroll at different rates from bottom to top. They had to figure out how we could get it to load quickly and efficiently, getting vertical and horizontal scrolling within the same page, and integrating that within the CMS, so that when we swapped out photos it continued to function.

What is the team dynamic? 

I worked with three people, as well as Nick Damoulakis [President, Orases]. There was an account person, a technical project manager, and a developer. Nick was involved in any major discovery or milestone meeting.

How did you come to work with Orases?

A former colleague worked for them for a while. She introduced me to their work. I didn’t have any projects to build at the time, but I was doing a lot of design work and realized I didn't have a development resource for it. I happily accepted the introduction, but it took a while for us to actually do any work together.

How much have you invested with them?

The website cost around $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them five years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site is still live, and one of the things I’m most impressed with, from a technical standpoint, is how well it aged. Today, there aren’t many decent websites that are more than two or three years old, yet this one seems to be moving along well. 

Visitor numbers increased dramatically, but it’s a corporate page, and it was never a massive traffic-generating site. Our metrics were more internal — our senior leadership could now direct people to a platform they could be proud of. The fact that it’s still there is the most significant evidence of success. If they didn’t like it, it would’ve been gone long ago.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

The fact that technical people were made a part of the project management and client service team was a huge benefit. Having those people on the phone, even as part of the design conversations, and being able to talk about how we envisioned elements like parallax scrolling, or what we wanted to see happen when we clicked on something, streamlined the conversation, once we got to the hand-off from design to development.

Nick, the president of the agency, was always available to me at any time, but, for the most part, the project manager handled it well.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were open to doing things in a different way, and they responded to pressures and requests in a way that’s not typical of the design and build agency.

When it comes to working on something custom and building features into a platform, they’re excited about the challenge, because they have the talent to respond to it. They’re building a piece of software which happens to be a website, as opposed to other agencies, which try to build the trendiest website they can.

I appreciated the fact that they focused on the performance, in terms of what we wanted the site to do, but they also brought me into the conversation about our options and challenges to allow us to find the best way to move forward.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have done a good job of being upfront with what it is they do, so we didn’t end up being surprised. Had we hired them for an end-to-end website project, we’d have found their design to be a bit corporate. I wouldn’t hire them for a design project or to create the initial concept, but they never tried to sell me on that, so it’s hard to call it a weakness.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Mental Health Association of Frederick County is over 50 years old. We provide a foundation of emotional wellness for the whole community. We do that by preparing resilient children, securing vulnerable families, and standing with people who are facing crises. We have 12 active programs that go from home visiting for the zero to five population all the way to a 24/7, 365 crises intervention suicide prevention hotline. I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We had not updated our website in 10 years other than minor text changes. One of the reasons was because every time we wanted to make a change, it was set on a proprietary programming in the background so we would have to pay to do that and we don’t have the resources to do that. We wanted a platform that we could update ourselves and a donation page that interacted directly with our general management software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had gone through a rebranding and internal reorganization of our programs and none of that was reflected on our old website. We wanted opportunities to have news articles and blogs on the website and also donation system. Orases helped us walk through all of that in a way that made sense for people that don’t work with this every day.

They used a 24Watch business suite background. They were flexible in handling this project in a different way than they normally do. We already had a graphics person that we work with, and she had designed all of our materials when we rebranded. We really wanted that continuity so Orases worked with her to develop the look and feel of the site. Once we approved that, they moved forward with the other pieces.

What is the team dynamic?

We had one meeting in the beginning with one of the developers and Kat, our point of contact. Other than that, Kat was the only person we were in contact with us.

How did you come to work with Orases?

I was familiar with Nick [President]. Our in-house developer also knew him because they were in Rotary together.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The total time frame was a little less than six months which is much longer than their typical turnaround. That was because of us. We were working with a grant that paid for the project. We wanted it to span a certain period of time to work with the deliverables in the grant. We had some internal delays as well due to staffing changes

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before we worked with Orases, we thought we had Google Analytics set up for our website, but we didn’t. It was hard to compare the results because we didn’t have data on our old website. Orases helped us get that set up and walked us through the process.

The other metric we were using was whether we were able to streamline our processes and have our internal staff be able to update the site on a regular basis. That has definitely happened. I very rarely do anything with the website but the interface is easy enough that I can go in after not looking at the backend for three to six months and do a tweak without having to wrack my brain on how to do it.

There’s only been one thing that we haven’t been able to do internally, so we reached out to Orases to do it for us. They had asked us if we needed that specific functionality and we had told them no, so that was on us as well.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great job. They’re very organized. There were many times they were waiting on us because we were missing deadlines. They never missed a deadline at all.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication is really good. There was one time we did have a problem, but I was able to call Nick and get the problem resolved. We set up a quick meeting and got the problem resolved very quickly and moved forward with the project. I appreciate people who are willing to address challenges just as quickly as opportunities.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Because I don’t build websites, some of the language I was using wasn’t linear. Defining what everything means, in the beginning, would be good. I think that should be done on both sides.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a creative director of a global public relations firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We were tasked with building a multi-cultural website, for multiple languages and for different companies in various countries. It was a content and sharing portal, but wasn’t open to the general public; someone would have to apply to be a member. It was basically a way for thought leaders to share information.

We reached out to Orases as we knew it was going to be a big project. At the time, our team was relatively maxed out. With this particular project, being that it was an international facing project, there was a lot of potential risk for mistakes, and we reached out to Orases partly because they had experience in that area, and we needed the extra help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Orases took care of all of the development and backend, the project management, in addition to QA testing. Our team had provided the design, and we had other people that were pooling some of the original content that populated the site.

The website is almost like a peer review type of portal, where content is secure, and intended for leaders and researchers in the tech industry. The site allows them to share papers that they have written on certain topics, whether it is communication, technology, or computer science.

What is the team dynamic?

In total, there were around four to five people. We had a project manager, two developers that were assigned to the project, as well as Nick, the President of Orases, was managing the project quite closely.

How did you come to work with Orases?

I have known Nick for a long time, and have known him to be a very smart and responsible person. So, for this particular project, I felt like I could trust him and his team to complete the work. I knew what I was getting in terms of his dedication to the project, and he would make sure 100% that it worked, even if it came down to him doing it personally. Since I was at a company that was very large, with many eyes on this project, I really felt comfortable going to Nick and Orases.

How much have you invested in them?

$75,000—$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Orases in 2008. It took about four months to complete the build.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although I don’t have specific numbers, years later the site is still live today, and they maintained all needs have come up over the years.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

They were perfect from a project management perspective. There were a lot of unknowns close to a decade ago when it came to building a large website, but Orases were wonderful at coming out and meeting with us in person. Nick walked through their process, essentially showing us how they work, allowing us to keep the end client accountable for deadlines, and he educated us to a certain extent, so that we could manage expectations on our end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Orases have done some amazing work over the years. They don’t just take on a project and do necessarily what is asked. They are really good at looking beyond the project and coming up with more of a business solution. They are less like a vendor, and more like a partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were happy all the way through. Managing timelines can be problematic, but Orases were always on time, and there was never a letdown.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-owner and general manager of Monocacy Crossing Restaurant, and we are a full-service restaurant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We have been in business for 17 years, and our reach was just not enough no matter what we did. We were not hitting even close to as many people as we needed to. We wanted to create a website to help us get our name out there. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We sat down with Nick from Orases, and he got us on track. Orases built our site from scratch. We are not self-promoters, or marketers, and aren’t good at that, but Orases took care of it all. They took our menu, and beautiful photographs of our food and put those on the site. It is very clean and modern, very user-friendly, and very mobile-friendly. It made an immediate impact on our business.

They really took the entire social media and Google search aspect of owning a business and pointed us in the proper direction. It wasn’t something we were familiar with nor attempted to do in the past. They really streamlined everything that we needed to do where we had been sorely lacking before.

How did you come to work with Orases?

I have known Nick Damoulakis, President of Orases, for several years now. Even though we had been friends for so long, it never occurred to me to hire a firm to help us out with what we needed. After speaking one evening, he mentioned what he did and that they could take care of this for us. He sat down with us, and he guided us through what they do at Orases and what they could do for us. He then introduced me to a few other people in the company and we went from there.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $10,000 to $12,000 with Orases.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was a while ago, and I can’t recall exactly when it was, but it was a very quick process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have noticed an increase in local clientele. We are right up the street from a huge community, and we could not break into it. People would drive past us and head downtown. The website has done a lot for our local traffic and breaking us into our neighborhood market. We were always just a destination, and not so much a go-to. The website has really made a big difference to us.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

They were incredible and I couldn’t have asked for better. They were very responsive and communicative. We had a couple of video conferencing sessions and tutorials where Kat [Zoulias, Account Representative at Orases] would walk me through certain things, so that I was comfortable using the system.

Orases are very responsive. Anytime we have a question, or a request to add something to the site, they took care of it. They are a hands-on business, and they make it possible for someone who doesn't have any tech knowledge to manage a website. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very friendly. They really get that they are a customer service driven company, and execute it perfectly. Even when walking into the office, everyone takes a second to say hi even though they don’t know who I am. They seem to enjoy working together and communicate really well with each other, which I think translates to getting things done quickly. They relay the information to their customers, which is the key. Other firms have made me feel like I don’t know anything, but Orases really took the time to figure out what I was looking to do and wanted my feedback along the way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They were really great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in media relations for a national youth cheerleading and football organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

The purpose of the project was to develop a custom online training system. Our goal was to make sure that all of our administrators, coaches, referees, and volunteers were properly trained to run their programs and to teach kids the proper techniques for each sport.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Orases was responsible for everything, from start to finish. They built the system from scratch since we didn’t have anything in place. We provided them a general outline of what we were looking for, and they came back with ideas to develop the site. Throughout the process, they took the lead and worked with the content we gave them. We went through reviews based on our feedback and what we needed for the courses.

Part 1 involved the content itself, which was comprised of courses with different chapters. The number of chapters varied with each course. The system also had media options so that we could incorporate photos and videos into the courses.

Each chapter had a custom exam that participants had to complete before they could move on. Members had to have a cumulative score of 80% or better in order to complete the overall course. This function was built into the system. 

The system had to produce certificates that our learners could use for their certification books. Orases added this feature. Initially, each certification would last for 3 years. Then, they changed the overall course to allow 1-year certifications as well.

Part 2 involved the admin side. For example, we included a number of reporting options in the system’s backend. These features allowed us to download reports of who had completed the test, who had registered, and who had actually paid and taken the course.

On the payment side, each course had a required fee. You needed to purchase a course before you could take the test. Everything was built on Orases’ 24Watch® Platform. They were able to integrate our Authorize.net payment solution into the course for our member organizations. We had to manage that on the backend as well.

What is the team dynamic?

We dealt primarily with the project manager. I remember having a call at one point with at least 2 developers and a project manager. There were also some discussions with Nick [Owner, Orases] as well.

How did you come to work with Orases?

I found them through online research. Orases had some sort of affiliation with USA Football, which is a national partner of Pop Warner. The combination of the research and the relationship with USA Football was the primary reason we chose to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent approximately $20,000 for the initial setup.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2009, and the project was finished March 2010. We haven’t upgraded the platform since then, so we’re now in discussions about that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The system was very up-to-date, even a little ahead of its time compared with similar products we’ve seen. It was very cutting-edge and user-friendly. From the start, we received a lot of positive feedback from our staff about how easy it was to set up content, even for those with limited technical background.

Our experience has been positive, considering how much revenue we’ve been able to generate out of the system. Since we first launched it in 2010, the organization has made about $220,000, minus the costs of hosting and other changes we’ve done. The ease of use has definitely been a good factor as well.

The overall use of the system certainly went above and beyond our expectations. Today, it has around 15,000 users. We’re definitely looking forward to upgrading our platform.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. Over the years, we’ve been fortunate because we didn’t have to do a lot of troubleshooting. Every time there was an issue, Orases responded quickly. In a few instances, they’ve helped us think outside the box and come up with alternative solutions. Overall, it was a great experience working with Orases.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service was definitely what kept us involved with them. We’ve had good relationships with the people that we’ve dealt with at Orases.

Are there any areas they could improve?

From a business standpoint, they could have been a little more aggressive in trying to get us to upgrade. They’ve never pushed us to make updates to the system, although we haven’t really needed to until recently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Epicor Software is a supplier of enterprise resource planning platforms. We serve different verticals and segments, including manufacturing, distribution, and retail. I work in the retail division as a senior product manager. My role is to procure and define the products that we sell on our platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

There was a clear need to have e-commerce solutions and options for our customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our goal was to integrate the Epicor Eagle product line with the Magento e-commerce site of Teskey's Saddle Shop. This retailer had multiple locations and a fairly high-traffic e-commerce site.

Initially, we specified our technical integration details and defined the client’s needs. Orases scoped the project based on that information. We provided the tools that allowed Orases to make the direct connection to the Eagle solution and Magento. Orases’s work led to the seamless integration of these 2 systems, especially product information, inventory details, and orders.

Orases assigned 3–4 people to the project. I worked directly with the account manager, a key developer, and an architect.

How did you come to work with Orases?

As the project lead, I looked for a company which had experience with Magento integrations. Previously, we evaluated and interviewed several custom developers and integrators across the country. However, things just didn't seem to work out well from a timing perspective. Hiring a local company was also critical. We wanted to make sure that we could get in touch and resolve problems rapidly. I surveyed people in my geographic area. Given Orases’ proximity, they showed up in a valid search. What I saw on their site made me confident about their services, as their background really matched what we were looking for. We decided to work with Orases, given their location, background, and extensive knowledge.

How much have you invested with Orases?

We spent about $75,000 over 3 months.

What is the status of this engagement?

This was our first engagement with Orases. I was stepping into the role at the time, and this was an early project for our platform integrations. It probably started in July 2014, and it ended about 3 months later.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From the start, it was evident that Orases clearly understood our objectives and specifications. Ultimately, Orases delivered an integration to Eagle that met both our needs and the customer’s needs. While I don't have specific metrics, the customer seemed very satisfied with the process and outcome. The customer has not advised us of any concerns, nor did they object to using Orases. To me, this alone is a sign of success.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

The Project Management was flawless despite challenging customer parameters and timing because there are always bumps along the way. They were very responsive and diligent. We had a very aggressive timeline driven by a demanding customer, and Orases’s team said, “No problem, we can handle this.” They were disciplined and made sure that we were meeting our milestones and goals.

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

Orases’s team is easy to work with. I've found them to be extremely flexible and accommodating. They were able to communicate in terms that our customer understood. All of these factors led to the smoothest project possible. The client’s aggressive timeline created some pressure, but Orases’ team was able to perform well despite it. For us, that's a very important factor in determining a successful outcome.

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

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.