Orases

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and executive director at The Hatch Project, a business consulting company. We help entrepreneurs and business leaders with new products and businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We needed their help in developing our web application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’m currently working on my doctoral dissertation, and there’s an intersection between my studies and what I need for my company. My methodology requires a data collection tool, which aims to help entrepreneurs who are eager to start a new business.

Orases fully developed a mobile-friendly web app to address my data gathering needs. I relayed my project requirements to their team, and they implemented development and design solutions based on those. We haven’t launched our app yet, but Orases completed all their tasks according to our project scope.

What is the team composition?

I worked with one project manager and a business analyst from Orases.

How did you come to work with Orases?

I found them online while looking for potential local agencies to work with.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The development project ran from June–July 2021. We have another project underway, but we haven’t officially started that yet.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any quantitative metrics to share yet since we haven’t reached the go-live period. However, I could confirm that Orases was a knowledgeable team that delivered a well-curated and sophisticated platform. Their understanding of my requirements was highly evident in the quality of the work they produced.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Basecamp as our main communication and project management channel. Orases had commendable project management skills — they asked the right questions and brought productive insights to the table.

Additionally, we were kept in the loop throughout the process. They were a professional team committed to delivering on-time and on-budget solutions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their experience and expertise were highly evident during our partnership. Orases consistently followed a streamlined approach, and they allocated their resources well to maximize their team’s productivity.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I personally prefer in-person meetings, but I know that times are different now because of the pandemic. After all, Orases did their best to meet me halfway on this matter.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Orases is a responsive and professional team, so you only have to prepare a clear outline and be straightforward in identifying your needs. They’ll surely take it from there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and one of the co-founders of a software startup. We combine advances in machine learning with materials science.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We needed to build a backend platform that would allow clients to interface with our hosted neural network.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In general, most of the project involved building a standard SaaS platform. We needed to be able to create different organizations and users within those organizations and allow the users and organizations to have different levels of access to our products. On our end, we needed our team to be able to perform administrative functions on the platform and to be able to access all the machine learning data from our clients to help us continue to optimize our solution. One of the more nuanced parts of the project was enabling users to interact with our neural network through the platform. This network was built in Python, while the platform was built in PHP.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with one project manager, two software developers, two scrum masters, and one quality assurance professional. They also helped us build a WordPress website. For this end of the project, I worked with another member of their team.

How did you come to work with Orases?

I did extensive research on potential companies for this project, combing through reviews and reaching out to several firms. When I spoke directly with Nick (President), he clearly understood exactly what we needed. His team was happy to work within our tight timeline and budget, acknowledging the future value of the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000 with them to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since December 2020. We just finished this project and now have a monthly contract with them to make any software improvements we need.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We needed them to deliver a product that works properly and interacts easily with our neural network. They did this with relative ease. We also wanted to see some of the other functionality of the platform built out to our liking. They kept us in the loop for the entirety of the project so that the end product would meet our exact specifications. Thanks to them, our clients can upload files to pass information to our neural network and then get a response displayed in a user-friendly format. I really enjoyed working with their team, which is why we chose to continue to work with them.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very clear and put together timelines well in advance. Their team is proactive in flagging any potential delays, even if they end up overcoming them. Communication was really important to us as well, and they’ve been extremely responsive. They provide instant feedback at all important junctures. During the initial project, we had meetings twice a week with their entire team, which kept the engagement on track. We used Redmine and Basecamp as project management tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They prioritize development skills and communication skills equally to ensure their solution meets your needs. Right when I submitted an inquiry on their website, Nick reached out to me. Their project managers maintained constant communication with us as well to make sure we stayed on track.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Within the confines of our project, they had difficulty providing a clearly defined scope early on in the engagement. We went through the master service agreement and statement of work at the beginning, but more clarity in this stage would have helped us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about exactly what you want to be delivered from early on in the engagement. You’ll probably be working with Nick at that point, but make sure the message is translated to the project manager you end up working with. With their communication skills, this clarity should help you avoid any budget-related headaches later on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the accounting manager for NextDayDumpsters. We rent open-top, roll-off dumpsters and trash containers that you see on construction sites, but we mostly focus on residential and small- to mid-size contracting environments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

Our biggest struggle was that the software systems available to onboard customers and developing our routing information didn’t fit our needs. When I started seven years ago, we had six drivers on the road, which was manageable, but now we have 18 drivers, and we need a more complex system. The solution had to distribute orders amongst the drivers and contain routing capabilities, which will allow us to take on more customers, routes, and deliveries.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Phase one started with removing us from our current system while still collecting the necessary information from customers. Essentially, we wanted to get rid of the fluff in our process. A big issue was moving us away from physical paper. Initially, we had one person dedicated to entering paper orders into the electronic system — they moved screen by screen through a customer’s first name, last name, billing address, and site address. It wasn’t as simple as it should have been. This phase also included devising a way to send the information we input down into our routing platform.

We launched the Phase One product in July 2020.

The question for phase two was: how do we use this information to generate more business? The beginning of phase two involved clean-up and bug fixes, as well as implementing changes our service representatives asked for. Additionally, we devised a system to reach back out to our customers. Until this point, we hadn’t done any sort of remarketing. Now, we’re reaching out to customers with questions about their experience, what aspects of the interaction we could have improved, and any next steps that they want to take.

We’re at the beginning of phase three right now, establishing what its focus will be moving forward.

What is the team composition?

We started out with three people, and then we brought on a new project manager because our initial resource had to transition off. The switch was easy; our previous manager ensured their replacement was on the same page as we were. The remaining team filled in any other blanks. There’s also been another addition, so that brings the total to five people.

How did you come to work with Orases?

Our owner would have a better idea than I do, but I believe we found them through a business entrepreneur group. They connected at a time when we’d already gone through a couple of CRM systems and none of them had worked. We realized we’d have to do so much custom work, even with the existing platforms, that starting from scratch with a company like Orases would be easier.

How much have you invested with them?

If I had to give a number I’d say it was around $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2019–July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because everything used to be on paper, our customer service representatives now joke with me that I can take the printer away. The transaction between the customer and our service representatives is much easier than it used to be. By the time we’re off the phone, we’ve charged their card and input all their information into the system. We’ve removed the need to call people back and correct information.

Now, if we ever have to pull customer information from our old system, no one understands how we put up with it for so long. Our former data entry resource has an entirely new set of responsibilities because our representatives can handle all that work while they were on the phone with customers.

We expected some transitional pains, as everyone was used to the old way of doing things, but what we expected to be large issues didn’t materialize. In fact, those aspects turned out to bring the most relief.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We set up our meetings at the beginning of every week, as well as what we would be discussing: early in the week we talked about possible issues with their imminent deployment, and later in the week we discussed the content of the next sprint.

Communication took place over a number of systems, including Basecamp, where we sent general messages to everything, and Redmine, which we used post-launch to log any bugs or feature requests. At most, they took 24 hours to respond to messages.

They also set up a priority system, and they respond quickly to urgent requests.

In terms of being on the same page, we never felt like they didn’t understand us. Even when we changed project managers, the experience was seamless. There was no starting from the beginning there.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Nick (President) and everyone on his team care deeply. We have a standing monthly call with him to touch base on how things are doing. He asks for feedback to funnel down to his team as well. Nick isn’t just worried about the transaction, he and everyone at Orases is invested in what they're working through with their clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We communicated any bumps in the road to Nick and his team, and they addressed everything, even some lacking communication at the outset. There isn’t anything we haven’t addressed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t get caught up in how you believe the software needs to function.

When we went through our billing system, Orases presented a solution that was three steps where the old process was ten steps. When we objected, saying that they couldn’t cut certain parts out, they explained how their improvements would simplify our work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO and CTO of a feed analysis company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We had a legacy application that was built decades ago. We needed help building a new solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did a complete application rebuild. The team started off with interviews with end-users, managers, and our executive team. They asked what we wanted and what our clients needed.

It’s a cloud-based agile web application. The application will be foundational for automated processes. The way we gather data will be refreshed for the 21st century. We’ll be entering phase two for this project next quarter.

What is the team composition?

I work with five people from their team.

How did you come to work with Orases?

Orases is a well known entity in our neck of the woods. We had an offshore developer working with our legacy application and decided we wanted a vendor that was closer to our shop. As we were interviewing, we felt Orases would be our best partner in the long run.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $1 million–$10 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re satisfied with the relationship and the quality of the work so far. We’ll have more tangible metrics in the next month or so.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly huddles to make sure the project is staying on track. There are more upper-level management meetings on a regular basis. Orases does a great job of taking phone calls and verbal communication and documenting them in an email.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to come up with unique solutions for the niche industry that we serve stands out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re not the cheapest option, but we knew that going into the project. It’s been a challenging year from a COVID-19 perspective. I believe the process would’ve been a bit different if they were able to come on-site.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to provide as much information at the beginning of your work together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a project management company that essentially works with the biopharma industry. I’m the project manager. What we typically do is different from the software side, our focus is on the owner’s representation, project management, project controls, and more. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

As we became a bigger company, we started to realize that we needed software to keep track of all our projects and other stuff. As such, we hired Orases to provide a project brief of the tool we were set to create. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had our end product in mind, and we described what our main components would be to Orases. We also shared the idea we had with our MVP and our options when it comes to the commercialization of the product. Essentially, we divided everything into phases.

They identified the estimated cost of our ideal platform. They also assisted in determining the man-hours and other deliverables of the project. Additionally, they submitted a report of the user requirements and how many people they could provide once the project kickstarts.

We’re in the process of developing the software right now since we have the final cost. We’re also doing some research and internal discussion on how we want to proceed. The market research involves identifying who our potential customers would be, the existing products that are already in the market and if it’s really worth it to continue to develop the software.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five people, but we collaborated with three main people including a project manager and two developers. Every once in a while, we also talked to their head of development and business development. 

How did you come to work with Orases?

My boss who started this handed the project over to me, so I’m not exactly sure how we found them. They do have an office where our main clients are, so maybe we found them through our mutual sources.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$50,000 for the project brief. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project happened between August–November 2020, but I got involved around September. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were very pleased with their work. The project was exactly as they mentioned in their statement of work and they also presented pricing that was in the range of our expectations. 

We had a couple of revisions, but any comments that we provided to them were quickly addressed. Overall, the final revision ended up fine. 

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

They updated all their progress and maintained good communication. Furthermore, after every meeting, they would give us a note of the items that we needed to conduct on our own. The team had an excellent project management process.

We communicated through email and Basecamp. At that project management platform, we uploaded documents including templates we wanted to reference. After that, they would upload a project brief with additional information. We also had a message board there. 

Since this was a project we do during the week, we often would get sidetracked and lose focus. However, Orases would always send out reminders before meetings and encouraged us to gather information. As a result, we came to the meetings prepared and that helped us to hit the ground running instead of circling back to what we talked about the week before.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very easy to work with. Their communication was huge. The team's timeliness, quick work, and efficiency were impressive. When we asked them for something, they get things done. 

With others, you never know what the final products would look like, even if you already put all your effort into things. However, with Orases, everything turned out exactly as we were expecting. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think they could improve. We had a very great experience with them and the only thing that’s holding us back from engaging with them again is if we really need to proceed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Share your plans about the project and how you want to proceed with it. For us, we wanted the project brief and right now we’re still waiting if we will continue to develop our software. Perhaps, you can have all the information beforehand before partnering with them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m partner and president of a creative and strategy agency based in the Washington D.C. area. My role typically revolves around governing the work products and relationships we have at the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We’ve done several projects with them over the years. In this case, we needed to create a learning environment as well as a brand for the internet security space. They needed to use intellectual and legal research to create an entity that could help govern occurrences in internet security and privacy. The product would help inform and educate around the ever-changing rules in privacy. In a world where companies are sharing personal data digitally,  they helped us create a space that defines where that dominance in the rule is.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

This project spans one very large site and more than one additional microsite. This was a collaborative effort in crafting messaging for the market and organizing around that messaging through user testing. They also collaborated with my team to facilitate an attractive design that reflected the research they did to inform their decisions. 

A big part of the effort was leaning into their technical acumen and creative strategy background to determine how the solution would materialize. The initial ask was that this resource would serve as a content hub, but the product grew into so much more due to our collaboration.

The site’s features included voting functionality, translations in over a dozen languages, portal features, and a membership component. We had the ability to change content and communications to accommodate the ever-changing space.   

What is the team composition?

There were two key people and about three others that would be present for calls. There were definitely others contributing to the work that we didn’t get to speak with on a daily basis. 

How did you come to work with Orases?

We wanted someone that was local for interconnectivity and collaboration. Additionally, it was important for our partner to be innovative, on the cutting edge of technology, and able to dig deeper into client needs. Because this is a very technical field, we wanted our partner to match the client’s tech expertise.

Unlike most website development projects, we didn’t want a company that solely does websites. The technical space calls for people to imagine the full spectrum of developmental potential for the product. We knew that our client would likely be adding features and functionalities to the product well after the build, so we wanted a team that could create that opportunity for them. 

To find them, a colleague first recommended them to us. Then, we did some homework online about their brand and team. They seemed like a very good fit. While they weren’t the cheapest company, we realize that you get what you pay for. Our budget accommodated their prices as well. The priority was that they were able to roll with the ever-changing environment of working with a Fortune 100 company in a highly technical space. They definitely seemed like they could provide that.

Aside from them, there were about 2–3 other options that seemed like a good fit. We didn’t want a giant company or a company that was too small. They fell somewhere in between, which was good and encouraged us to work with them.    

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $750,000–$800,000 on their work. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January 2012–2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had people for the tech community, clients, and even people overseas talking about how solid the functionality was. Early in the process, we even had people commending our relationship because we didn’t have any technical problems. We were able to establish confidence in their tech skills very easily, so we could move on to do great things with the build.  

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We developed a deeper relationship because of our frequent face-to-face communication. When things were changing, they were able to move quickly and pivot in a new direction. Because they understood tech context, they were brought deeper into the fold of the client. Their comprehensive recommendations and ability to be a team player in that space allowed all of our teams to work very collaboratively together.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to respond quickly and intelligently without being reactionary was impressive. They remained cool-headed and confident, so there was never any hesitation about what was going to happen next.

Typically, in these types of relationships, a challenge will shake the foundations of the development somewhere along the line. That never happened. When working with sensitive, global material with leaders in the industry, sometimes we had to move on certain tasks within hours. They were a decisive partner. I could call them at any time and have complex situations dealt with pretty quickly. That was one of the strongholds of our relationship.  

They brought ideas to the table that was well beyond what we were planning. That’s been recognized now by several groups. The components they added and suggested have allowed for a much grander audience for the site. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It took some time to ramp up. However, this was a complex project, so that may just be the nature of the beast. They contributed to conversations well and never oversold themselves. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come to the table with enough of a plan for them to react to. They have the capacity to build things up from scratch, but all good creative and strategy need borders. Without some direction, their creative thinkers might take a project in a different direction than you wanted. Come to the table with a clear vision and information about your audience. They’re going to be able to build on that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO of a regional music company. With nine locations across the Midwest, we provide rental band and orchestra instruments for grade school students. We work with a lot of directors, and usually, go to schools so students can pick out their instruments.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We had a couple of different issues. Our information was siloed in different ERP and CMS tools. In order to coordinate between our internal staff and sales reps, our sales reps had to duplicate their actions in each tool.

There were a lot of disparate parts that needed to come together, and one of the biggest challenges was that the ERP running our company business was based on FoxPro, which is an outdated flat file system.

We needed a partner that could integrate all those tools, build new workflows, and create calendaring software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Orases developed an information processing software that connects with our ERP. Then they created the whole workflow piece of the software. It ensures that our pricing is always accurate, taking into account different tax rates in different locations.

What is the team composition?

We worked with about six people from their team. The project manager was our primary contact at the start of the project, but we also worked with senior developers and a UX designer. As the project went on, they introduced us to other workers.

How did you come to work with Orases?

Our IT partner helped guide us through the RFP process. They brought about a dozen companies to us, including Orases. Then I read through each candidate’s Clutch reviews and narrowed it down to three choices. Our committee assessed each candidate and gave a strong go-ahead for Orases.

How much have you invested with them?

The quote was $200,000–$240,000, and they stayed in budget. They weren’t the lowest quote, but they definitely weren’t the highest.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Orases in April, and they finished the product in July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product has resolved a number of the recurring issues we’ve had. The pricing functionalities of the software have really increased our efficiency. They under-promised and over delivered. We don’t have to correct much.

We’ve brought in a couple of staff members since implementing the software, and they’ve said that the software is wonderful. This kind of feedback reinforces our belief that this was a good investment.

They didn’t just build what we were asking for, but actually took the time to understand the workflows and culture within our business. They consistently listened and asked questions. In the end, they built what we needed, not necessarily what we thought we wanted.

When the stay-at-home orders began in March 2020, we were able to continue without dropping a beat because we had all of this infrastructure and it was all in the cloud. All our reps could use the software from home.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

Orases was very responsive. In addition to my project manager, there were two other people I could contact when I had questions. I always had someone I could go to.

Their communication was very strong, and they used Redmine and Basecamp to provide transparency. We met every week, so I always had a handle on what was going on within the project. As a result, I was able to provide updates to our principals.

At the beginning of the project, they provided a sprint schedule, and they hit all the deliverables within time and budget. Whenever we hit a bump in the road, we discussed it, figured out the best course of action, and solved the problem.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Orases was wonderful to work with. They were a good fit for us culturally and were very supportive. We had around 170 employees who’d never gone through custom software development before, so there was a learning curve. Orases helped us throughout the project to ensure the process went smoothly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Given the parameters of the project, they really pulled off a great project. We’ve been really happy.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions and have discussions. Orases fit with our company culture and got to know our internal processes, so they understood why we asked for certain things. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of philanthropy for the NFL, as well as the Executive Director of the NFL Foundation which is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm of the NFL that focuses on charitable giving. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We offer grant programs to current and former NFL players and our NFL club foundations. We also work with other national nonprofit organizations and we get thousands of applications each year. 

We were initially running a paper process for those applications, so we purchased some software that had an existing grant management system. It didn’t meet our needs, so we hired Orases to build something that could meet our needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Orases created an online grant application management system. There is a communications thread within it that allows us to go back and forth with applicants regarding any missing information or if they need to answer questions. It’s in the cloud.

They created different grant applications for us based on our needs and based on each of the different grant programs. They also built a grant report application that allows us to track exactly how each of these nonprofit organizations was utilizing the grant. 

There is a backend that allows the application to talk with our finance department’s PeopleSoft modules. We're able to process checks instead of manually submitting each and every one through an electronic gateway. On top of that, they built a reporting system that holds various grant reports that we can present to our board, clubs, and players.

What is the team composition?

We talk to three teammates regularly, including project managers.

How did you come to work with Orases?

We were working with a very large nonprofit organization that was working with Orases and another firm. We talked to that firm about how we could improve or efficiency with grantmaking, and they recommend Orases. We have an in-house IT department, but at the time, they couldn’t handle this aspect of our business.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $1 million. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Before the NFL Foundation, we had two separate nonprofits that we wound up merging, and they did work for that. Orases began doing work for the NFL Foundation beginning in 2011. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality is great, and it’s made our staff’s job easier. The system has reduced the number of personnel needed to process grants. It allowed us to create more of a synergy between our applicants and our staff. 

It's also helped to streamline the overall business process. The integration with the enterprise accounting system has been incredibly helpful. We’ve been pleased with their work. We also survey our grantees, and we’ve always received positive feedback.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent. They’re always on top of everything and having dedicated project managers is helpful. If we need something done, the team moves quickly to make it happen. We talk to them at least every other day. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Orases is really in tune with what the NFL Foundation does. They understand what we’re trying to do and what our pain points are. Not every company takes the time to understand that, so it’s been tremendously helpful. 

When we’re launching something new within the application management system, we communicate regularly. The team has been great at keeping us up to date on new technologies and advancements. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to sit down with Orases and explain your business and what you do on a daily basis so that the team can take that into consideration when coming up with a solution.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a $13M trade association with a staff size of 30. My position is Vice President of Finance and Administration.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

The software and hardware that we used for one of our business units were very outdated. I don’t believe they were supported anymore, so we were running a risk for quite some time. Also, the system was not PCI-compliant, and it was one of our goals across the organization.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Orases evaluated the old software on a project basis. They conducted interviews with all of our team members who worked on the old system. They looked into the old system's functionality to determine whether they could build a new one, and they ultimately decided that they could.

Then, Orases started writing the functional requirements document, with assistance from our team members. That document grew and became a basis for their development. At that time, they estimated the expenses and started developing the software for us. They led everything, from the beginning to launch. Following the launch, many tweaks needed to be done, as the software is quite complex. We are hoping to be finishing these bug fixes soon and move on to the support-only engagement.

What is the team composition?

Laura (Digital Project Manager) is the lead person on our project, and she’s amazing. I believe she works with a few programmers. At the beginning, there were probably more people, but recently, I’ve just been working with Laura and one of the programmers.

How did you come to work with Orases?

We did our due diligence. We worked with the IT company (that served as our CTO) to create the business case for the transition and identify the right vendor. Orases was one of the recommendations. After multiple interviews and meetings, we hired them to do this job.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $300,000 with Orases directly. There have been some additional expenses, such as integrating our accounting software or bringing on other consultants.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in April 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re not fully PCI-compliant yet, but we’re on that path. Also, the system that Orases developed is a cloud- rather than server-based, so it’s easier to access. It’s also supposed to be much more efficient.

The original functional document didn’t cover everything needed, so we continued adding to it. The functionality is quite complex, so it was difficult to capture everything at the start for both our internal team and Orases. There were delays and additional expenses related to these additions. We wanted to complete the project in the shortest amount of time and for the lowest investment. We spent much more time and money that was originally assumed. However, I’ve never had any doubt regarding Orases' integrity, as they have always been very upfront with me about the hours. Laura frequently updated me on the hours, and when we’re getting close to using up all the hours of a given task or month. 

I have nothing but good things to say. Throughout the entire process, I felt like we were in this together.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

The main thing that wasn’t great was the timing. We planned for this project to take about 18 months. We’re almost at 30 months at this point. I realize that these types of projects tend to go over. We are close to doubling the time, mainly due to the functionality added after the start of the project. 

Other than issues with timing (that were partially caused by our team), Orases has done a wonderful job with project management. I had to manage the change process, as many of our team members were used to the old ways and a bit resistant to change. Laura stepped in and kept helping me with that, throughout the entire process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very organized, and they don’t waste time. I know they have other clients besides us, but whenever we work together, I feel like we are their focus.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The process of documenting the functionality of the software could be improved. Due to the functionality assessment that was not comprehensive enough, we doubled the cost of the project. Both teams were involved in capturing the functionality, and somehow - too many items were missed.

Any advice for potential customers?

If I were to recommend anything to other companies, I’d suggest a very due diligent approach at the onset of the project. Have as much as possible written into the document, so there are no surprises later.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior associate director of technology at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We had a custom-built database, and we’d been using the same coding company for about 16 years. The database was very complex and the lifeblood of our association, but the company we partnered with went private and could no longer work with us. 

We had to quickly find another company to take over that coding and get into the met of all of our 16 years of updates.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the beginning, Orases was basically just taking over the SQL database running on .NET. We have a few public-facing websites, as well as our HMS with a lot of complicated business rules. They took that over and triaged it before moving on to the next steps, such as moving us over to AWS. 

One of the key things we did was work on the database to make it more secure, setting up Amazon cognito for our member accounts. That process involved around 70 horus of meetings with all the different staff at the office finding out what worked and didn’t work about our current systems. Orases took down all those requirements to build a new association management database with a new frontend for our members.

We also worked with them to scope out a multi-year project in which they would take all of these old technologies and rewrite them. They would build us a brand new database and new websites, all of which would take about three years.

What is the team composition?

We currently work with about five people from their team, including Nick (President). 

How did you come to work with Orases?

We looked around at a lot of different places. We met with Orases and had them vetted by our previous vendor, and afterwards, we were confident they were the best partner for us. Nick in particular won over our executive committee with his excellent, innovative ideas. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have a $3,000,000 budget for the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2018, and the migration was completed by April 2019, but we’re still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were very concerned about the hosting transition, but it went extremely smoothly. We were only down for about two hours, thanks to the planning and preparedness from the Orases team. Similarly, when we had our 16,000 members move to the new Amazon accounts, we only got about a dozen support emails because the process was so seamless. 

The team is smart, and they ask the right questions. Within one year, Orases has the same level of knowledge of our database as our previous vendor did after 16. It’s amazing how quickly they picked it up.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a dedicated project manager who meets with us twice a week and is only a phone call or email away at all times. Orases also provided us with a secondary project manager, who handles anything that falls through the cracks. We use Basecamp and Redmine to track tickets.

We have dedicated coders and a dedicated UX specialist from their team as well, so it really feels to us like we’re as important to them as a really large company would be. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their coding team and UX developers are better than anyone else we interviewed. Their breadth of knowledge is amazing. With their leadership, they’re always looking at the horizon and they know what the best practices are. They have a kind of experience we’d never seen in other organizations before.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they could give a little more feedback when things are heading towards the top end of the budget. They’ve gotten better about it, but maybe if they could let us know when we’re approaching 70% of the budget. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know up front what you want your results to be — your requirements need to be in place from the start. Also, make sure you have buy in from your staff and executive committee or board. 

The best thing you can do with Orases is have Nick come in and talk with your senior-level staff. Once they hear from him and about the organization he created, their work, their culture, and all of that, they’ll definitely go with the team.