OpenArc, LLC.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and COO of Webbula, an IT company. We provide email hygiene service to marketers and we also provide data pens and data audiences to advertisers and brands to make their campaigns more successful.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OpenArc LLC ?

We were creating a brand new user interface platform so that our customers can interact with our email hygiene services in a more user-friendly way. We did not have enough staff in house to complete the project, so we outsourced the project to OpenArc LLC.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was broken up into two phases. The first phase was more of an assessment type of phase, where OpenArc LLC went out and obtained users that would be in the market for our interface. They took our existing user base and did interviews with them, and had them go through our existing interface to determine where there were faults, problems, issues. They, in essence, did some pilot customer journey surveys for us.

They came back with a series of recommendations. The second phase was then to make the new user interface incorporate all of those fixes and suggestions that they discovered in the first phase. They built the desktop software using React as the principal software for the web application.

What is the team composition?

We worked with several people, including Mark (Lead Client Partner) and Nick (UX Designer), and Owen (Project Manager).

How did you come to work with OpenArc LLC ?

An organization that we both knew recommended them. They’re also in Pittsburgh, literally down the street from us, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested roughly $140,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began in January 2020 and wrapped in September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still preparing for launch, so I don’t have evidence yet. They were great to work with — they’re an excellent company.

How did OpenArc LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always very prompt. They excelled at communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their scheduling ability impressed. They were really great at keeping the schedule and deliverables for meetings.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They underestimated the project a little bit in the beginning. We also wound up having to pay them to fix mistakes they made which were frustrating. Those were minor points — we are very happy with the work they provided.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Engage with them. Also, have a QA person on their side to keep track of the quality control of code. It’ll make the project go faster and keep costs down.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an innovation lead with Helix Innovation Center, an innovation center within Emerson US, the electrical company. We have four different ecosystems in our incubator where we develop new ideas and opportunities for market expansion. After packing and structuring our ideas, we pitch them to the various business units in our company.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OpenArc, LLC.?

We needed to develop a UI that presents complex information coming from the technology and stakeholders in our environments. There deliverable would be architecture and organization for an app or website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Because we don’t do the development in our incubator, OpenArc, LLC. helped us structure the data the solution will have to handle to be viable. They built a couple of different wireframes that represented possible approaches to an app or website structure.  

What is the team composition?

Mark (Director of Human-Centered Design) has been my contact for years, but there were a couple of project leaders too, as well as an overall business-client relationship leader.

How did you come to work with OpenArc, LLC.?

I’ve worked with Mark for years; we’re a natural fit. We prepared a brief, analyzed their proposal, and set up the work.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $150,000 with them.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2017 until June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We used their initial body of work to frame the opportunity we handed to our business opportunity units. They provided a skill set we don’t have internally, so it worked very well. They also helped with a second and third round of the UI and were very helpful in moving forward.

How did OpenArc, LLC. perform from a project management standpoint?

They were perfect, so I had no concerns. There were no distractions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m not sure I’ll be able to articulate them in comparison to other providers, but my experience with Mark has always been very positive. We worked together well because we understood how each other thinks. I have no hesitation to go back to OpenArc as our first choice.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were no specific flaws or gaps. Any issues were in the flow of work, but you learn as you go and adjust things. There weren’t any areas where we weren’t getting the support we needed. We didn’t have to go to anyone else for more work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend starting with a design brief so you can articulate what you know about what you need and expect. This also helps the vendor deliver a clear proposal. It’s unfair to go in wanting them to figure out what you want. Throwing something over the wall and hoping they throw it back is a waste of time and money.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a nonprofit agency that supports other agencies that assist people with intellectual disabilities. Our primary goal is to train people to support people safely around medical and behavioral topics. Our team consists of behavioral specialists and nurses in the human service field.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OpenArc, LLC?

Many people with intellectual disabilities develop a swallowing disorder and pass away sooner than expected. In order to care for people with this disorder, their food needs to be prepared so that it’s easier to swallow. This includes pureeing and chopping so it goes down the esophagus rather than the trachea. We wanted to provide direct support to families, professionals, and caretakers so they can follow best meal-preparation practices.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a virtual reality training for us. Our agency provided the content, but OpenArc, LLC created the experience and the details related to it. We believe this is the first VR program for our field, so we didn’t have anything to base it off of. They asked us a lot of questions and consulted us on the direction we wanted to go in. It lasts between 15–30 minutes and contains an hour’s worth of information.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 people.

How did you come to work with OpenArc, LLC?

We began by searching local companies, but also considered a few agencies from the UK and Australia. But when we sat down with OpenArc, LLC, we were really excited about their interest and how engaged they were with our project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They began working on development in July and concluded in October 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are really pleased with their work and really think that the people we support are benefiting from the VR training. We are putting together a list of training topics we want to cover and projects we want to embark on with OpenArc, LLC in the future because it was such a positive experience.

We are currently in the process of doing some piloting related to the VR training—we plan to compare the effectiveness of the VR training in relation to traditional training. We’re going to provide benchmark testing prior to training, and then each agency will attend either the traditional or the  

How did OpenArc, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly phone calls and meetings where they could ask us questions and we could get progress updates. In fact, I took ideas from their organizational skills to incorporate into our organization.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was thrilled about their communication and organizational skills. I was beyond impressed by the amount of excitement they had for the project. They conducted external research, asked questions, and took time to learn exactly what we needed for this project. The amount they learned about our world was amazing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really don't think that they could have improved upon anything. I don't know that I would ask for them to have done anything differently. I'm excited to work with them on our next project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Communications for an international NGO in the sustainability space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OpenArc, LLC., and what were your goals?

We asked OA to revamp a public vessel list as well as our overall website. The need for user-friendly website and vessel lists, for both admins and public end user. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected this vendor due to their breadth and depth of knowledge -- we needed a partner that could handle our diverse projects and create a custom solution in a niche space.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Design and programming. 

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

4-6 -- we've worked with a variety of technologists due to the variety of our projects

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Top-notch project management was essential due to lack of in house technical expertise. The regular updates both over meetings and documentation were beyond valuable. OpenArc, LLC. excels at project management, which is critical for our organization that does  not have an internal IT department. 

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

Their willingness to learn our work, which is very specialized and which has many exceptions to any rules!

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm responsible for improving the service we provide our Clients. We help small and midsize businesses with OSHA compliance and safety training.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OpenArc, LLC., and what were your goals?

For our recent engagement, we were looking for a partner that could develop a custom client portal that integrates technology to allow a more dynamic user experience.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We have worked with OpenArc for 10? years and have always been greatly satisfied with their high quality work.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a kick-off meeting to review the goals and process for accomplishing the goals. Ultimately, we were seeking a blueprint for a new client portal.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

5 or so. The 2 designers were our primary contacts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Not yet! This was a blueprint only. However, we are very excited with the concept and plan to begin the build phase shortly.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

I had weekly standups with their team then an additional weekly (or as needed) meeting with other members on our team. We used Slack, email, Jira as our primary tech tools.

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

Every single person is an expert at their respective craft.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

SVP of a SaaS company providing decision science support to government agencies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OpenArc, LLC., and what were your goals?

We had a customer who required a custom dev environment to meet their analytical requirements. Because our core team was focused on developing our core product, we engaged OpenArc for the custom development. Our goal was to deliver a custom application that allowed the customer to perform complex scenario analysis on financial projections. We had an internal team that performed the statistical analysis but we needed an external team to turn raw analysis into an attractive and intuitive web-based UI for easy scenario analysis.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Primary considerations in selecting OpenArc were speed and quality. We had an aggressive timeline that they were able to meet.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Our internal team of analysts developed extensive Python code to perform statistical analysis on historical data. Our analysts worked extensively with OpenArc to translate the statistical analysis into econometric models for forecasting future financial outcomes under various assumptions. The OpenArc team translated these econometric models into interactive websites using .NET.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We interacted on a weekly basis with 5-6 resources from the OpenArc team, including project manager, UI/UX designer, and .NET developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We had a very aggressive timeline, but the OpenArc team consistently exceeded our requirements on timelines, ensuring g we were always prepared with customer deliverables.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Very effective. Consistent two-way communication to ensure continuous alignment.

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

They were very responsive and interactive.

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

None