Orases

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a media and entertainment company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Orases?

We were trying to integrate one of our custom apps for supplier management into our main financial record system. We were previously taking care of our financial tasks manually by our account receivable team and ourselves, and that was taking a significant amount of time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Orases did custom software development for us. They focused on helping us integrate an existing custom app into our Oracle financial system of record from scratch. The main functionalities we asked for were the ability to incorporate and manage our existing and new suppliers within our organization, including their address information, tax statuses, invoice attachments, and any other tax forms.

In terms of technologies, they used API integrations, payload to pass and distribute data, and security encryptions.

What was the team composition? 

We worked with two members of Orases’ team, including a project manager and a developer.

How did you come to work with Orases?

Orases was within our vendor ecosystem because they worked with another department ar our organization. It was natural to reach out to them because they were already a trusted supplier for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $75,000–$100,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2022–January 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product that Orases created will help us get huge cost savings and enable us to relocate resources to other tasks since the platform will now automate some of our data integration processes. The system will also help us improve the accuracy of data management and alert us whenever an issue arises. Moreover, Orases understood our design perspective, which they translated into the development efforts, and were good at testing the product. Overall they were a top-notch partner.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

Orases’ project management was outstanding. They led a communicative process, asked us questions whenever they didn’t understand something about the development process, and were always willing to help us whenever needed. In terms of tools and communication, we used emails, Zoom standing meetings, and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Orases’ communication skills and turnaround times were great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn’t think there was anything they could improve on.

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 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.

At the time of the engagement, I was the vice president of project management at Major League Baseball Advanced Media, which operated MLB.com, all 30 MLB team sites, and all MLB applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We engaged Orases to build out the digital experience for our Pitch Hit & Run program. We wanted to create a community-based application that allowed users to organize and run the competitions in their local area.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We involved Orases in meetings at the commissioner’s office and included them in some high-level discussions of what the application needed to be. Orases demonstrated a solid understanding of our desires and presented a thoughtful development plan for the product.

They provided us with initial designs, and we collaborated with their team to iterate more and optimize the experience. Those discussions drove the development process, where Orases ensured that the application captured all of the relevant information we needed while also storing user data appropriately.

Orases utilized JavaScript and HTML for the website’s frontend, which features an interactive map that shows users where competitions are held relative to their location. The user experience is such that people can create their own competition or join an existing one with a series of easy-to-follow steps.

What is the team composition?

We probably interacted with as many as 10 people. Our team included Nick (President, Orases), a project manager, a financial and legal adviser, and members of their technology and design teams.

How did you come to work with Orases?

I learned of Orases through a colleague who had worked with their team when they developed a very similar community-based product for the NFL.

How much have you invested with them?

Throughout the engagement, we spent approximately $750,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement spanned December 2014–April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Orases worked under tight deadlines because we wanted to launch before the start of the next registration season. We wanted to rid our sign-up process of paper, so it was crucial that Orases deliver the application before that period started. It was a tall task to go from our idea to launch in about two months, but Orases made it happen, and we continued to enhance the product from there.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We received timely information from their project management team. We had a good idea of what was going on even though we weren’t very hands-on with the project. Orases did a great job of communicating and remaining transparent throughout the engagement. Together, we developed an efficient process from a project management and delivery standpoint.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They plug-in seamlessly to a team and can handle the full project end-to-end. We developed a lot of trust in them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they accomplished everything we set out to do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust Orases, and let them use their wide range of expertise to help you innovate and execute. If you trust them, they won’t let you down.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for the National Football League but specifically for the NFL Foundation. I am the philanthropy coordinator for the foundation, so I manage our charitable grant programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

We were in the process of overhauling our grant management system. We needed something easy and that could manage our whole workflow from the application to review to integrating with our payment system. It needed to be seamless from the frontend user applying for the grant through the review process and the payment.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided them with some brand and culture guidelines and gave them enough creative freedom to do what they think was best for the user. They built the website to have an email and password login and then allow users to have access to all available grants for their user group. The backend is our main hub to coordinate all of the grants, players, clubs, and applicants.

With as much volume as we have, there is always an application being reviewed or processed. We have so much data that wasn’t easy to sift through, but they were key in delivering us what we needed right now and also helping create a new system so that information could easily be prepared in reports and disseminated.

We also had them build an external website for a separate grant program that was linked to our foundation website through the backend.

What is the team composition?

Overall, we worked with a half dozen people. Two of those were regular contacts, and one was daily.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested more than $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in 2012 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All grant recipients are asked to complete a feedback survey, which includes an ease-of-use question, and we usually get positive feedback. Our team has also been so impressed with Orases that we recommended their services for another internal website.

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

We have meetings three times a week, and we’ve been using Basecamp for other communication needs. They have been good at executing what we give them, which can oftentimes be limited in terms of creative direction or what we want. We don’t make it easy on them, but they’ve always been helpful and responsive. We couldn’t do our business without them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their overall responsiveness has been refreshing. Their willingness to be nimble and work quickly around issues has been extremely helpful. We’re slim on our team here, so they have been valuable additions to our staff.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our communication was disorganized at times, but then we made the transition to Basecamp and solved all those problems.

Any advice for potential customers?

We have been slow to adopt certain technologies, so we found it best to trust their expertise and their understanding of the services they provide.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

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

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Orases?

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

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

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

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

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

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

How did you come to work with Orases?

One of my partners knew of Nick through mutual acquaintances.

How much have you invested with Orases?

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

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

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

How did Orases perform from a project management standpoint?

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

What did you find most impressive about Orases?

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

Are there any areas Orases could improve?

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