EMERGE

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing principal and CEO of Stuart-Lynn Company, Inc. We’re a construction consulting firm that primarily does construction cost consulting, supporting the design teams in their endeavors. Basically, we make sure that their designs are tethered to reality.

What challenge were you trying to address with EMERGE?

There’s a lot of moving parts and pieces around the services that we provide. We have to deal with incoming documents and information as well as coordinating across multiple remote teams. Emerge was tasked with finding a solution to streamline our production, both on our actual work and on the administrative side.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

We hired EMERGE to implement an IT strategy that would help us identify and address the gaps in communication. I wasn’t very specific about my asks since I’m not in the IT world, but they still willingly jumped in, rolled up their sleeves, and got things done.

The team was very proactive in making sure they had a full understanding of the situation — not just my perspective but also other key individuals within the company. They wanted to create a solution that would work for everyone, including some of our external consultants.

From there, EMERGE came up with a number of potential solutions for how we could improve our IT and communication structure. I was holding my breath about whether or not we’d have to develop a custom solution, and, thankfully, we did not. They provided the research and guidance to manage the whole process, so we were able to implement a turnkey solution.

They’re now working with us on a second project.

What is the team composition? 

It’s a core group of three. 

How did you come to work with EMERGE?

I’d met the principals some time ago and was really impressed with their knowledge. They seemed to be thoughtful in how they found solutions. My impression was that they were open-minded and explored different options to find the best solutions for any given situation.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s been about $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We contracted with them in May 2020, and they’re still working with us on a couple of projects.

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

I’m extremely satisfied with the service. From the initial engagement, everyone on EMERGE’s team has been professional and accommodating. They clearly explained their work, and their presentations were spot on in terms of what I’d expected. The team was more than willing to answer any questions we had.

How did EMERGE perform from a project management standpoint?

I was thrilled by their project management. When they lay out a schedule, they’re right on top of it. It’s probably our team that has more difficulty finding time to go over their work. In terms of communication, we use email exchanges and Zoom meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed by their ingenuity.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There should always be something to improve, but I can’t really think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as open and candid as possible. For us and the exercise that we went through, it was really important to air some of our dirty laundry, which people don’t always want to do. But, you can’t fix anything if you’re unwilling to acknowledge what the problems are.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Viridian Wood. Our company makes flooring, paneling, and tables from sustainable wood for commercial interiors.

What challenge were you trying to address with EMERGE?

We used QuickBooks Enterprise, Salesforce, a homegrown ERP, and a Microsoft Access database for inventory. We had all these disparate products that didn’t talk to each other and approached EMERGE to create a better system that would allow us to have e-commerce capabilities.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We reviewed our current software and business workflows together to understand all the steps in our processes. Their team created a visual map for us after many sessions with our team during which we discussed the usage of our systems, the locations of data, and any database integrations.  

We reviewed our sales process and envisioned what it could be. Their team created blueprints for touchpoints that would provide customers with good service. Those blueprints included what would need to happen in the backend.

Their team provided options for a couple of different solutions. We decided to pursue a full ERP system transition with the company that supports our ERP. EMERGE still works on the e-commerce integrations, which involves custom development and Shopify.

What is the team composition?

I directly work with John (Founder & CEO). My team worked with other people on the EMERGE team too.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000–$30,000 on their services so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in April 2019, and it’s ongoing.

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

They gave us a detailed flow chart that included all of our systems and processes that we weren’t able to create ourselves. It illuminated the necessary changes and solutions that would meet all of our different requirements. The tangible deliverable was a great service flow map and then a strategy for implementation.

How did EMERGE perform from a project management standpoint?

During the initial phase of the project, we were the ones that held up the show. Their team is timely. They’re great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I loved the way EMERGE facilitated our workflow meetings because they enabled my employees to answer honestly. The meetings were about delivering the best customer experience and not about the past. Their team clearly explained our objectives and facilitated the meetings in a way that lead us to a solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did exactly what they set out to do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When they pitched the service map and blueprinting process, I thought it was ancillary to the core of the project. However, it was critical work. Trust the process to achieve the best results.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the digital product manager for a not-for-profit health system in the Northwest.

What challenge were you trying to address with EMERGE?

Our company desperately needed a new website. We had actually started a redesign process a year earlier and for various reasons that project was halted on our end. When the process started up again, we wanted to look at the work we already had to see if it could be salvageable for the new project, and then turn whatever we had into an entirely new site for the company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Early on in the project, we realized that we didn’t really understand what our true needs and challenges were with the website, so we decided to split it up into a phase project with EMERGE. The first phase was to identify what our website needs were, talk to the correct stakeholders to figure out the exact challenges we were trying to address, and then make sure everybody was on the same page with our proposed solution.

They started by sending around a survey to our different company stakeholders, as well as identifying the needs of our website audience. From there, they tied everything they had found together into a presentation of the vision statement for what our transition from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 would look like.

We just finished phase one and are in the process of kicking off phase two, so they haven’t done any actual work on the site yet, but we’ve gone through a lot of strategy interviews and planning sessions so far. Once we get started, they are going to be handling frontend design and we will do backend development in-house.

What is the team composition?

Jonathan (President & Strategist, EMERGE) and Mandi (Project Manager, EMERGE) have worked pretty closely with us since the beginning, and have pulled in a designer and a UX lead as well. I believe they have 5–6 other people working with them, so in total, I think there are about 10 people on the project.

How did you come to work with EMERGE?

The search and signing process actually took place before my time here, but I believe we were looking at a few different companies originally. EMERGE was actually more on the expensive side, but it came down to the value they could offer and the personality of their company that convinced us that they were the best fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of the phased project will be close to $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in September 2019, and it is ongoing. The plan is to finish the redesign by the end of 2020.

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

The whole collaboration has been great so far. Everything that they do ties back to the user experience and how our work will influence that, which is a really useful anchor point for us. I also think one of their strong suits is strategizing and looking at the overall value the project is adding, so they have been really fun to work with so far.

How did EMERGE perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been doing a great job of managing all the work so far. Our project manager sends us weekly status reports, and everyone on their team is always very clear on next steps and timelines for the rest of the project, which is the main reason we feel so confident about going forward with them.

One of the main things I appreciate as well is the general feeling and trust that they’ve inspired in our company about the work that they are doing. It can often be very difficult to get that many different stakeholders on board with a creative project like this one, but they’ve made sure that everybody had a voice in the project and was able to contribute, which has been super helpful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would say that the personality of their company is what sets them apart from other agencies the most. They are clearly very down to earth people who really care about what they do. They are interested in solving challenges and are really good at following through on that, which has only reinforced our decision to work with them in the first place.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only hesitation we’ve had throughout the product has been in meetings where we weren’t totally sure what we were getting into, but the usefulness of those has always come out in the end. In our kickoff meeting, for example, we were expecting more housekeeping and specifics, but they ended up doing some creative exercises. That was great for the project in the long run, but perhaps setting a better expectation around those could help the teams align a little better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would highly recommend them. The price tag is worth every penny.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a technology program manager at CDK Global. We’re a leader in automating business process for auto dealerships, providing a variety of solutions. We have a big presence in the US and globally. My particular program involves development of a new product that represents a modernization of the dealer management system.

What challenge were you trying to address with EMERGE?

We have a new application that we're quickly getting into the market and wanted to fast-track usability improvements for our customers. We identified a number of critical usability issues and contracted with EMERGE to help us remedy those issues.

What was the scope of their involvement?

EMERGE is refactoring and improving a number of application components. EMERGE is leveling the user experience across our application, enabling a consistent experience. They utilize specifications from our UX team and product managers to implement better versions of our components for reuse. They demo new functionality to our stakeholders for feedback and approval.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact's Julian (Co-Founder, COO, and CTO, EMERGE). We also work with Mandi (Producer, EMERGE) who’s our project manager as well as Django (Director of Technology and Principal Solutions Architect, EMERGE).

How did you come to work with EMERGE?

We found a list of local Portland vendors that had expertise in frontend work but some of the vendors also had backend expertise. EMERGE was one of the vendors that had end-to-end expertise. I screened a number of service providers with the same criteria utilizing our frontend developers in the interviews. We screened them on criteria such as an ability to work with us, the maturity of their process and skillsets, and technical expertise with toolsets that we use. EMERGE scored at the top. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $600,000 with EMERGE.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in mid-October 2019 and will be concluding in early 2020.

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

We’re satisfied with their work, which is really high-quality. They have really good code quality. As our development managers and developers review their code, I hear a lot of compliments about its quality. Their team manages the workload professionally. 

How did EMERGE perform from a project management standpoint?

They work hand-in-hand with our team members and come on-site to get good traction occasionally. Their team works in our environments and with our tools. We use JIRA and they maintain their own JIRA project. We also use Confluence. Their team created a confluence page that’s integrated with JIRA to outline all of their work and track progress. It’s a nice way to share the progress and work on requirements with them. We also use Slack for quick communication. They’re responsive and professional. Their team manages their work carefully so it’s well organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Aside from the quality of their work, I’m impressed that they're able to change course. As we brought them on, we foisted several challenges on them.  We didn’t have our environment ready for them, so that was delayed. Some of the early requirements that we gave them weren’t ready and there were some requirements that were inaccurate. Their team rolled with it. They’re positive and always looking to satisfy the customer. Their team continues to deliver reliably and with a strong sense of customer orientation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m struggling to come up with something for them to improve. They’ve done a good job in this regard, but I encourage them to continue to reach out to our developers and product managers to make sure that their work isn’t slowed down by a lack of requirements.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

This goes for anybody: Make sure that your requirements are well-ordered and well-vetted before entering a statement of work. Also, make sure that all stakeholders including development teams, product managers, and architects are onboard with requirements.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the digital marketing director for Fisher Investments. We’re involved in investment solutions for high net worth individuals and companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with EMERGE?

We had a website, but for the end-user, our information wasn’t displayed in an organized way. We wanted to make the site easier to navigate and intuitive for our visitors, while simplifying how we manage the platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a web-based platform that we call the resource library using HTML, CSS, and Java on Drupal. They reorganized our content and made it easy for us to manage publishing. Since the end of the project, we’ve utilized their maintenance survey.

What is the team composition?

Julian (Co-founder & COO/CTO, Emerge) was our primary point of contact, and we had about five different people working on our project.

How did you come to work with EMERGE?

I heard positive reviews about EMERGE, so we brought them in for an interview and went through our normal sales process. Their expertise was impressive, and they were flexible with our project requirements. We also appreciated that they were very local because we wouldn’t struggle with time differences, and we could meet in person, ensuring that we always communicate properly.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

November 2017–March 2018. We still utilize their services for maintenance purposes.

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

We’ve seen a 15% increase in traffic to our site, time spent on our platform has increased, and our bounce rate has significantly decreased. Testing has shown that our site is more search engine friendly because people are directed to the content they’re looking for. They’ve delivered a high-quality and reliable solution—we’ve never had an emergency situation where the site has gone down.

How did EMERGE perform from a project management standpoint?

At the beginning of the project, we struggled to collaborate with our project manager, but they quickly made adjustments and we got a new manager. So, everything worked out. Because they were so close by, communication was perfect and we were able to meet in person in addition to email and phone. We also used a project management tool that created a static IP where we could release data and make revisions while complying with legal regulations.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed the most by their customer service and their attention to our needs. They regularly checked in with us outside of scheduled calls to ensure that we had a good experience. They offered a higher level of support compared to anyone else we’ve partnered with. We’ve also calculated that their prices are lower than market rates for the level of support we’ve received.

Are there any areas they could improve?

 It would be nice if they had content writers.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Prepare your questions prior to each meeting.  You’ll find that you’ll cover a lot of information in your conversations with them that might throw you off your initial plan. Of course, you want to listen to what they have to say, but you need to remain focused on your primary goal.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the former principal product manager of Splunk, a data analytics software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Emerge Interactive?

We wanted to evaluate our existing e-commerce platform and build a plan for what the next generation of our e-commerce would look like.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Emerge Interactive did the architecture and strategic planning for a customer e-commerce platform using Docker containers. They also built out our business value consulting tools and performed salespeople interviews to help establish web versions of those tools. The team did UX design, architecture, and development for our initial tools using Python, React, and Heroku languages. They also did Salesforce development work for us.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 15 people in total, including a project manager. We were also in contact with two team leads: Aleta (Sr. Producer, Emerge Interactive) and Krista (Senior VP of Marketing, Emerge Interactive).

How did you come to work with Emerge Interactive?

My Senior VP had a relationship with their team and we reached out as soon as we realized we didn’t have enough internal developers for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested more than $1.5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Although this project is still ongoing, my involvement ran from November 2016 to April 2019.

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

We had success metrics around adopting the solution into our sales team and driving actual revenue. We were able to measure the ROI of these tools being used in a failed deal and now we have data specifically about closing failed deals.

How did Emerge Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Emerge Interactive was fantastic in terms of project management. We used Slack primarily for communication. They were really flexible with how they billed their hours and displayed agility in managing timelines, deliverables, and meetings. The project managers drove our productivity like internal employees as soon as they understood what the meeting cycle needed to be.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think openness to change is something they do really well. It’s often challenging working with big companies because there are so many moving parts. Emerge Interactive did a great job of adapting to fit our needs. They were also really good at working remotely and making progress without being in the office all of the time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have a higher price for things than you might expect, but they do really great work for the amount you pay.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re going to work with Emerge Interactive, you need to have dedicated people internally that are going to remove the roadblock and drive the project forward.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the senior VP of products and technology for a platform as a service (PaaS) provider. We provide solutions for enterprises to help them manage their systems, security tools, and crises in one place. 

What challenge were you trying to address with EMERGE?

We lost our internal iOS developer, so we were looking for immediate staffing support to fill that gap.

What was the scope of their involvement?

EMERGE provides iOS development support for an app designed to allow for communication in real time. Users can check-in as either “safe” or “unsafe,” provide notices on any incidents that may be occurring in a specific location, and contact the security operation team directly from anywhere in the world.

The app is also available in mobile SDK, allowing it to be embedded into any of our customer's existing apps. 

What is the team composition? 

We work with a project manager and two iOS developers.

How did you come to work with EMERGE?

They were introduced to us by another company that we have a strong relationship with. Their ability to stabilize and deploy the mobile SDK feature and functionality was a major driver in our desire to partner with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested over $100,000 over a six-month period.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since January 2019 and they continue to work on development tickets as we submit them. To date, we've had one formal release to the iTunes store and have another currently in the testing pipeline.

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

Their work has helped us tremendously in terms of bridging the gap within our development team.

In terms of the deployments, the biggest success has been our combined work on our initial SDK deployment. They acted as both the app developer for our client as well as our support team, seamlessly wearing both hats in the process. 

How did EMERGE perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager we work with is quite good. They have access to our Git Repository and stay in communication with our team through Slack and email. We hold daily meetings, as well as weekly status updates with their developers. 

There have been a few growing pains in terms of oversight of the actual development work itself, however. One of the developers we work with has been better than the other in terms of being able to understand requirements.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The project manager assigned to our account has been top-notch to work with. The team's professionalism in general has also been phenomenal.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could do a better job of testing their work prior to handing it off to our team to fix some quality issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As with any vendor, it's important to go into the relationship with a solid understanding of expectations upfront. I'd also recommend having more of a discussion about specific resources that would be allocated to the project, ensuring their skillsets are a good match for the scope of work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the contract VP of product at RevUp Software. 

What challenge were you trying to address with EMERGE?

We wanted to augment our team with outside resources to deliver an envisioned product on schedule. They would shift our frontend development from legacy JavaScript to React. The solution would be positioned for a new market vertical. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their work on the product included frontend engineering using React and QA assessments. Technologies used included Github and Jira.

We supplied them with a visual design that became our visual spec, API documentation, and unfinished product specifications. Using this information, they developed a proposal and defined a budget. We met with their team in-person to do sprint zero planning, outlining the six sprints of the project and deciding how to collaborate throughout the process. 

Using the visual spec, they reverse engineered a product spec. They documented product requirements on a UI screen, which became both a guide for developers and the acceptance criteria for QA.
 
What is the team composition?

We worked with one QA specialist, one project manager, and two developers. 

How did you come to work with EMERGE?

We were looking for a team with experience in frontend development using React. To mitigate risk, we also wanted to find a vendor located near one of our offices. We received recommendations for vendors, asked two teams for proposals, and decided to hire EMERGE. 
 
How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $200,000 and $1 million with the team.
 
What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in January 2019, and the project ended in May 2019.

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

They successfully built a new frontend for our application in a new market vertical. It was a major milestone that laid the foundation for the next phase of work toward a commercial release. Given that we’re happy with their services, we’re interested in continuing to work with them in the future.
 
How did EMERGE perform from a project management standpoint?

EMERGE led the project management efforts for the project. They put in a lot of effort at the beginning of the process, writing detailed user stories and creating Jira tasks. We communicated daily using Slack and Jira. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a reliable team that produces high quality code. We felt we could count on them to deliver what they promised. Collaboration with stakeholders was aided by their professionalism. They were also excellent at solving problems quickly. 
 
Are there any areas they could improve?

We are happy with the team’s work.
 
Do you have any advice for potential customers?

While the team is talented at filling in the gaps for incomplete ideas, stakeholders should put effort into the collaborative process for an optimal partnership. The more clients engage with the team, the better the result will be.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of strategic communications at OHSU, an educational institution.

What challenge were you trying to address with EMERGE?

We needed to quickly build a new website for a fundraising campaign that we were launching.

What was the scope of their involvement?

EMERGE developed our fundraising website from scratch within a very short timeline. It focuses on a few key areas in depth and includes stories and ways to engage and encourage donors to donate. The team created a module format that allows us to create new pages and modify existing pages as needed. It is a flexible structure that can adapt over time. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with the CEO at the beginning, and their business development manager helped craft their proposal. For the main project, we worked with several key people as well as a project manager. The team has shifted over the years as personnel has transitioned, but we’ve always had a digital lead who serves as our primary point of contact.

How did you come to work with EMERGE?

We considered a few firms; EMERGE, which was recommended by our IT partners, stood out from the competition.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$199,999 on the initial build. EMERGE now works on a monthly retainer.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2015. The website launched in October 2015, but the partnership is ongoing.

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

The website launched in October 2015. EMERGE delivered it on time and met all of our requirements. Online fundraising has grown since the site’s launch, and users have praised its visually appealing look. Competitors have even tried to copy the site and emulate our success. EMERGE still provides maintenance and develops new features and forms as needed

How did EMERGE perform from a project management standpoint?

EMERGE developed a robust system to organize work orders and elevate projects to given priorities based on allocated hours. It offered clear timelines, milestones, and project outlines. We also had regular check-ins over the phone.

Their project manager was excellent. We asked her to stay on after the project was finished, which is unusual for their policies. However, they accommodated us and we appreciated the continuity. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their personalized attention to our project stood out. EMERGE worked to understand fundraising—an area in which they lacked expertise. The team really listened to our needs and desired features so that the final product would match our vision. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

EMERGE has seen a fair amount of turnover, which in turn means turnover on our assigned team. However, we’ve worked with outstanding project leads. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We were very clear about what we needed, which helped us a great deal. Prioritize your goals based on time, quality, or money, and provide upfront feedback if a project plan or design direction is falling short of the mark. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the school director at Floral Design Institute, a private vocational school servicing the floral industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with EMERGE?

We wanted to modernize our website and build a new educational platform for online learning.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a vision and EMERGE took our concepts and brought back three versions so we could pick our favorites. Our previous website needed updating. The new site was built using MODX. Their team streamlined our shopping cart, so it integrates with PayPal. The CMS now includes a lead generator and email database. The platform was built on Drupal, and their team focused on connectivity between the students and teachers. Students can have portfolios online, and teachers can grade work using the platform.

They continue to provide maintenance and tweak features we suggest.

What is the team composition?

I frequently worked with Jonathon (CEO & Chief Creative Officer, EMERGE), Julian (Principal & COO, EMERGE), Keenan (Full Stack Web Developer, EMERGE), Brenna (Technical Lead, EMERGE), Tyler (Digital Project Manager, EMERGE), and Troy (Project Manager, EMERGE).

How did you come to work with EMERGE?

We worked with individual designers and developers in the past. EMERGE is the first company we’ve dealt with. Jonathon used to be my neighbor, and we talked about his team taking on our website in 2007. We interviewed others to compare, but EMERGE was the right choice. In 2007, the economy crashed, and we dropped the project. When we were ready to start again, we went back to EMERGE because we were impressed with what they had presented all those years ago.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $225,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with EMERGE between November 2017–April 2018.

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

We’re delighted with EMERGE’s work. The website is current and clean. It works efficiently. It’s a fabulous site. The platform makes a world of difference in our business: increased efficiencies for the staff, reduced expenses, and expanded income capabilities. It’s a significant win across the board.

How did EMERGE perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, we had a rocky start with a project manager, but she is no longer with them. I’ve been thrilled with Troy and Jonathon’s responsiveness. Keenan provided excellent coding. My husband did our previous website, and Brenna communicated with him to make the transition easier. When we had a glitch in one of the rollouts, Julian stayed up all night fixing it and making sure everything was perfect. We mainly communicate with phone calls and emails. Troy is excellent at getting back to me. EMERGE’s team is phenomenal in all aspects.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re a creative group. EMERGE communicates the analytics and technological aspects understandably. Their team can adapt to different mindsets. I haven’t found that with other firms.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their team is fantastic. I wish that I didn’t share EMERGE with other customers.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take advantage of initial meetings where there can be an open dialogue about expectations. Listen to them because they are willing to put in the effort and understand your needs. If you don’t take advantage of that, you’re doing a disservice to your business.