DOOR3

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the vice president of app development at Fresh Direct from 2015–2018. Fresh Direct is an online supermarket offering orders delivered to your door. It’s based in New York and available throughout the Northeast. I was in charge of everything related to the customer-facing website and mobile apps, including project management, QA, and customer service.

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We were starting another business, a sister company, called Foodkick, which we envisioned as a service for fill-in shopping needs. It’s only available in Brooklyn and Manhattan. We realized we were going to have five different mobile apps across various platforms. We knew that we would be difficult to maintain with a small team.

DOOR3 suggested using Xamarin to create one mobile app code base for the backend to ease maintenance across the platforms. The key code and the APIs and backend integration would all come from one codebase. We needed them to augment our development team and craft a strategy to integrate Xamarin into our business, as well as work on the apps themselves.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The in-house team designed all of the screens, and DOOR3 had to develop them and build them out. It’s a C Sharp code base and it deploys to Android and iOS in a native fashion. Our team hired our own mobile developers as well. They helped us with the rollout of the apps.

What is the team composition?

At most times, we had about five developers that were working with us. Later in the engagement, there were three developers from DOOR3 working with three in-house developers. Their project manager, John (Former Senior Project Manager, DOOR3), worked directly with our mobile development lead.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

I believe they had a relationship with Fresh Direct that predated my time at the company. When the concept of this new business came up, the CIO at the time decided to work with DOOR3.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $1.3 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2015–August 2016.

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

We were really impressed with the speed with which we could roll out new features using the shared backend through Xamarin. It was fantastic. When we needed to make a small change, we only had to make it in one place. Our vision really came to life. In addition, the uniformity of our apps made it easier for customers to use the system.

The shared platform also helped us track checkouts and delivery more efficient. DOOR3’s strategy optimized our efforts because we no longer had to make changes to five different apps, which would have been a strain on our resources. There was a case study written by Microsoft, which now owns Xamarin, and it talks about DOOR3’s involvement and influence.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They were on top of the project and understood what we needed. They listened very well, and John was great at pushing us and driving the business forward. We initially used DOOR3’s Jira for project management before transitioning onto our own Jira system.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their transition into a staff augmentation model was beneficial and made knowledge transfer easy because they were working hand-in-hand with us. They weren’t always on-site, but they still partnered with us completely.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It was hard to really understand exactly what people were doing each day when you're paying on a time and materials basis, but with the project manager’s help, they were able to rectify it and clarify it so it wasn't straightforward as giving us an invoice. We had to do a little due diligence and really understand what the different time tracking metrics meant. But they were very transparent with us and they worked with us completely. I don't know if we took full advantage of their testing capabilities, but we ended up handling all of the QA and testing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Integrate them right into your team. They want to learn and they want to help you. They don't want to take over and own it. They really want to partner with you and the more you allow them to partner and understand your business, the easier it will be for them to come up with solutions to whatever your biggest challenges are.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Anwar Kazmi: I’m the president of DAA Enterprises Inc., a software development company that specializes in pharmaceutical software.

Ismail Fenni: I’m the Director of Operations.

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

AK: We’re a small company that was short on resources. Our company was faced with a need to move our platform to a different version.

What was the scope of their involvement?

AK: DOOR3 upgraded our commercial product for clients. They also provided technical expertise. It was a collaborative effort every step of the way. We shared the legacy system with them and had countless hours of meetings where we explained the business logic.

Their team used Visual Studio with a mix of different languages both in terms of the database of servers, a Microsoft SQL server, and other technologies that enable the cloud operation of the product. They not only provided the actual coding but were there to design and architect the platform and the areas required for it to run as a cloud application.

IF: DOOR3 has completed a bulk of the work, but it’s still an outsourcing agreement. While they did the actual technical implementation for the cloud-based product, we provided the business logic, documentation, and overall scope of work. They relayed their expertise for the functionality of the product. We were able to integrate the needed framework for the product to operate in a specific mode, along with providing the advice to maintain that same product within that environment.

What is the team composition?

AK: It ramped up to about ten people, which included project managers, developers, and business analysts.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

AK: We searched online, identifying five–six companies. After talking to a few and receiving proposals from several, DOOR3 was among the four companies we shortlisted.

IF: DOOR3 came across as easy to work with and understanding of our needs. Their team seemed capable of the implementation that we wanted to have.

How much have you invested with them?

AK: We invested between $1 million–$5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

AK: We started working together in April 2018, and the work is ongoing.

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

AK: There’s always going to be bugs during development, but the overall effort was exactly what we had wanted to be implemented. DOOR3 fulfilled exactly the vision we wanted for our product, and then some. Technical roadblocks were to be expected, but the result exceeded what we envisioned.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

AK: Their project management style was excellent. Along with the countless meetings, we were in contact with everyone directly. The two-week deliverables were timely. We use Jira for agile development. Overall, we’re happy with DOOR3.

What did you find most impressive about them?

AK: Their team has skilled expertise. They’re also timely and have good project management skills.

IF: DOOR3 was instrumental in bringing our idea to market, making it a reality. They helped identify what was critical so that we could focus on that and finish it in the shortest possible time at the lowest possible cost.

Are there any areas they could improve?

AK: We’ve been very pleased with everything they’ve given us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

AK: Clients should have clear and concise business logic from the get-go. Once that’s well-stated, everything else fits in perfectly. Everything flows very easily. They’re professional.

IF: Be clear in your own mind what it is you’re trying to accomplish.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Operations at Stillwell-Hansen Inc., a manufacturer’s representative.

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We had an old ERP system with a Microsoft Access frontend. It needed to be refreshed.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We decided to completely revamp the whole system, using a SQL backend database and JavaScript. There were additional functionalities that needed to be implemented as well after we entered an agreement with them that involved a business & workflow review. Their team added reporting analytics and a field service module to the internal tool. It was an agile project where we worked in three to four-week sprints.

What is the team composition?

At the beginning of the process, we worked with multiple developers. Our main interactions are with Bart (Senior Business Analyst, DOOR3), Debbie (Engagement Manager, DOOR3), and two developers. Our point of contact sometimes changed because of turnover, but overall, the teams were fairly consistent.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

An IT vendor recommended them to us. After interviewing several companies, we chose DOOR3.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost over 1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement started in March 2017.

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

Our team is satisfied with DOOR3’s work. We should wrap up within a month or two, and then move onto a maintenance plan. Internal feedback has been positive. In August 2018, we turned the system on to do our data migration. The migration was smooth, and everyone transitioned well. There was some data cleanup from the old system, which we expected. Everything was mostly on schedule.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They worked well from a project management standpoint. We receive weekly updates and status reports that detail the allotted time for each particular sprint. Their team was responsive in that regard. We used a collaborative tool, and sometimes email and Skype for communication. There were a lot of phone conversations and face-to-face meetings with Bart.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our assigned business analyst was in tune with our business. The best part of the experience was how responsive and collaborative DOOR3 was during the process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Resources did lack on the project management side. I relied heavily on the business analyst we had versus the project manager we had during the process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communication is key to understanding different team member’s personalities. Since they’re located overseas and we have to work with different time frames, make sure you communicate about ongoing sprints to guarantee development work finishing in time. Testing was also crucial for us in understanding functionality and making sure team members were onboard.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m COO and partner at Financial Information Incorporated, the leading global provider of domestic and international corporate actions and historical reference services. In 2013, we launched Financial Technologies Solutions, a technology provider in the financial services industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We hired DOOR3 to develop software for our processing system. The product we’re building is for banks and brokerage firms.

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 is providing full-service software development. My team provided some storyboards and our perception of how our users would deploy the product. DOOR3 made procedure recommendations, determined what technologies to use, and developed wireframes. They have done programming and development.

Right now, we’re changing the model a bit and will request a proposal from DOOR3 for additional work.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Alex (Founder & President, Enterprise Services, DOOR3). My team works with 10–15 team members.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

One of my team members had worked with DOOR3 in the past and recommended them. My team completed evaluated 9–10 vendors over six months. We chose DOOR3 based on their proposal, local proximity, and flexible schedule. They also seemed astute and easy to work with.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent over $1 million. Our spend has fluctuated as we’ve added modules and changed the scope of the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in March 2018, and the partnership is ongoing.

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

They’ve been on target 100% of the time. If there are any delays, it’s generally on our side because we aren’t sure what direction we want to go in. DOOR3 is very accommodating of any changes we make.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They are excellent; on a scale of 1–10, their project management is a 10. The readily available team delivers on time and budget. During the more intense phases of the project, we had daily scrums and in-person meetings at least twice a week. We spoke to Alex 3–4 times a day. Alex has been like a partner, traveling with us and talking to our end users.

The team handled changes proactively and worked 2–3 sprints ahead of schedule, which allowed them to foresee potential issues. They never missed a deadline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There are no downsides to working with DOOR3. Their constant communication is notable. They quickly adapted to various areas of the financial industry, such as banking and mutual funds. The team went out of their way to garner expertise in these different areas. Many of our software development projects have been client-specific, and DOOR3 has delivered on each client’s particular needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they have met all of our expectations.

Any advice for potential customers?

I would strongly suggest going to their beautiful facility in Manhattan and spending time with them on-site. They work very well face-to-face. If you are pursuing a project for outside prospects, don’t hesitate to bring them to DOOR3’s office; they will be impressed.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We sell fast business management software to construction companies. I’m one of two co-founders.

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We were just starting our business and didn’t have a team in place to develop our platform. We decided to find a UX and design resource to help us develop modern-looking software before hiring an internal team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted a team that could offer strong business analysis and build the whole thing from the start. We brought them the high-level scope of what we hoped to accomplish and signed a deal that gave us access to all the resources they offered. They translated our concepts into an object model that met our code and general requirements. That included back- and frontend development, UX, and design.

We worked together for about four to five months, and they built everything out as we sent them the specs. The backend was built in ASP.NET, and the frontend was mostly Angular.js, though we used other technologies as needed.

What is the team composition?

We had two half-time business analysts, a project manager for a few of our projects, a full-time backend resource, two full-time frontend resources, and a full-time user experience specialist.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

We wanted a local resource in New York. We found some qualified firms and interviewed a few of them. We saw how beautiful DOOR3’s work was and decided to work with them. Their products were clean, attractive, and intuitive, and that really tipped the scales in their favor.

How much have you invested with them?

All of our work with them cost about $800,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The major chunk of our engagement was from the end of 2012 through the middle of 2013, but we still go back to them occasionally for projects.

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

We got some really good products out of the collaboration, and we wouldn’t have a business without them. Over a thousand companies use our platform, and that number is growing. We get a lot of good feedback from our users. The platform looks good and is easy to use. Everything they did for us contributes to our daily operations.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

We were very involved in this process, and our primary communication was all in person. We were in their offices four to six hours a day during the development. Ultimately, we managed the project, but they brought a lot of expertise to the process. Their project management is fine, but this was an unusual type of engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everything they make is very modern and attractive. All their work looks current, and they understand marketing and UX very well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we're satisfied with everything they delivered.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don’t have any recommendations specific to collaborations with DOOR3. With any project, it’s important to know what you want so your partners have a clear direction.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company delivers a customer experience (CX) platform. We offer 12 products, including suites of CRM and digital experience solutions. 

As the head of product, I'm responsible for our overall product strategy as well as the related frontend design and development.

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

Our digital experience product line is a suite of consumer portals that serve the health insurance market, including ones for health plan members, brokers, employers, and providers.

We were a bit crunched for time with the schedule for a particular project. DOOR3 came in as a resource to work alongside our small, lean design team and provide the expertise and horsepower we needed. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 helped us create visual interaction design for the latest version for one of our portals. They collaborated with our in-house teams to understand the existing challenges with our current solution and the problem we were trying to solve. Using InVision, they created initial wireframes that laid out all the features and navigation for the next portal iteration. 

Following our internal designers' guidelines, they added an additional layer of visual design. They handed off these deliverables to our engineering team to actually build. 

What is the team composition? 

We embedded a strong designer from DOOR3 into our internal team. They got along well with everyone and worked on site quite frequently. The other resource we interfaced with was a project manager.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

I happened to meet one of the partners and founders of DOOR3 at a networking event for product leaders in the New York area. After getting to know him, I found out about the company and reviewed some examples of work he shared with me. 

When I was considered who to hire, I needed a team who understood both the design space and the relevant subsets of specialties within it. Our complex enterprise application requires more specific expertise. Based on our conversations and their portfolio, DOOR3’s value add was a sensitivity to the challenges of working in our highly regulated environment.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project began in early April 2019, and we finished it around July 2018. 

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

We measured the project's success by our ability to deliver the broker portal solution before open enrollment, which is a hard, government-driven deadline for health insurance. Solutions like these are opened up to attract new membership. Meeting that deadline was critical to avoid disruption to potential incremental revenue for our health plan. 

The core wireframes they created enabled us to stick to our timeline. This achievement was a testament to DOOR3's overall success and the help they provided us.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

DOOR3 actively engaged with us to ensure everything stayed on track. We didn't use the project-based method I know they traditionally do, so there was less overhead than usual. 

Since we embedded their designer into our in-house team, we didn't need the heavy oversight bringing on a full outsourced team a predefined project would have required. They were highly responsive and accommodating with any issues we encountered. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

DOOR3 has a thorough understanding of how to design for enterprise applications. They found the best solution and delivered it in a sensible timeframe. They helped our engineering team move faster. Together, we made the right design decisions and could subsequently defend them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing stands out to me. DOOR3 was very flexible about taking a staff augmentation approach, which is different than how they typically work, which is more project-based. I appreciated how much they accommodated us and helped us deliver. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When you have the opportunity to bring in their high-powered expertise for a specific solution, particularly on the design side, it's important to engage DOOR3 as early in the process as possible. I suggest integrating someone from DOOR3 into your team right at the start to help identify potential challenges that could cause issues down the line. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of web services at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We had a very stagnant website, so we were looking for a vendor to help us update it. We also wanted to figure out the weaknesses in our branding and our strategy.

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 created the wireframes and redesigned our Drupal website. They mostly worked on the frontend, while our in-house team handled the backend. They also developed a content strategy, helping us identify weaknesses in our current website and providing valuable recommendations.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 5–6 members of their team, including our project manager.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

We sent out a request for proposal and received over a dozen of responses. We liked the presentation that DOOR3 delivered, so we chose them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $230,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2017, and the project was completed in March 2018.

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

Everyone who saw the website was thrilled with it. We've received fantastic feedback from our users.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They kept the project on track and informed us about the progress. We had a phone call every other day and they came on campus a couple of times. We also used a project management software for various tasks and comments.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They rely heavily on research and provide data to back up their decisions. That is the primary reason we chose them over other design firms.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. They demonstrated great customer service. If we had any concerns, they were quick to address them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They're very receptive to feedback, so keep an open line of communication throughout the entire process and let them know if you want them to change anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an epidemiologist at Merck.

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We wanted to build an online database repository. Our vendor subcontracted DOOR3 to help develop the web application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The solution needed to summarize attributes about existing databases. Our vendor limited DOOR3’s involvement to web app development. The team created wireframes and we reviewed their work before moving forward. DOOR3 then built a set of functionalities that enabled us to identify potential databases for a specific oncology study.

What is the team composition?

We interacted with two people including the owner and a main point of contact. They had a team working behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

Our vendor hired DOOR3 because they had worked together before.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $15,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–November 2018.

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

We had nothing but positive feedback. Every user and stakeholder was satisfied with the app.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

Due to the third-party relationship, we were not involved with DOOR3 from a project management standpoint. The team was flexible and willing to make any adaptations that would help us meet our needs. We didn’t have any complaints about the partnership. The teams communicated via phone, email, and teleconference meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

DOOR3 provided professional, responsive, and courteous service. We were satisfied with the high-quality solution and would work with them again.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate with them early and review wireframes carefully.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former VP of a marketing and communications firm. I managed client relations for my division.

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We’d been in business for 12 years at the time of this project. At that point, we’d acquired a sizable number of custom-developed tools and products that we used to manage our business. We needed to standardize our processes, so we decided to integrate all of the individual software into a single solution with an upgraded and more accessible user interface for both clients and internal employees. We have an in-house IT department, but we needed a vendor that had experience in creating high-quality UX/UI work using new technologies.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We shared our existing customer communication applications for producing statements, managing enrollment books, customizing marketing pieces, and other self-service configuration tools with DOOR3. They assessed them and looked over our list of business requirements for this project, then came back with a full proposal for a new platform that met all of our needs. Their plan contained numerous modules, so we divided them up between our internal IT team and DOOR3’s team. Over an extended period of time, we completed each individual piece.

We started by putting together a prototype for the user interface. After several iterations and proofs of concept, we finalized the design. DOOR3 collaborated with internal staff to determine the most efficient structure for the platform and how each separate component would come together cohesively. We integrated everything; then the DOOR3 team worked with our marketing team to create a sales strategy. We wanted to secure new clients by promoting the new solution’s core tools and their uses in the marketplace. Finally, their team built a demo site that we could use to train internal staff and share with potential clients.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with three people—one for the UI, one for our technical needs, and one for sales and marketing support. They each helped with different aspects of the project and had their own support teams in the background.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

They were highly recommended by one of our core team members. We reached out and scheduled an interview that doubled as a discovery discussion. They seemed to understand our vision, and they asked all the right questions. Their active interest in our project was very reassuring, and we felt they’d be easy to work with. They weren’t overbearing or authoritative, but still showed a high level of confidence. They were professional in that they documented everything we discussed and clearly articulated their ideas. After that interaction, it was an easy decision.

How much have you invested with them?

Each component of the project was priced individually. In total, we spent between $50,000–$200,000 on their services while I was there.

What is the status of this engagement?

In the middle of the project, our company was acquired by a larger organization who made their own changes to the platform and rebranded it. I wasn’t with the company when the engagement with DOOR3 officially ended, but I personally worked with them from June 2010–October 2011.

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

We did several roadshows and held demos with major clients at different points in the development process to introduce the solution incrementally. We wanted to make sure we were staying in line with their wants and needs, and we didn’t want to surprise them with a brand-new solution. Overall, the product was very well received. We also held an internal event to promote the solution and increase excitement. That also went well. Both internal and external users praised the product’s design and performance.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very strong. They used several software tools to track the status of the project and share updates. We had access to all of the information through Basecamp. They scheduled calls to discuss their work, and where they were in relation to completing the overall project. There was an open dialogue between team members on both sides. It was a very positive engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, I’m happy with the entire experience. This was several years ago, and I still remember it fondly, which speaks to the quality of their services.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t think of anything negative.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for TSC Reporting. We're a litigation support service company and hire court reporters, videographers, and other types of services that attorneys might require in their discovery phase. We cover many different depositions and arbitrations on any given day.

What challenges were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We needed a new system that could manage our calendar and production output, and on the other end, our whole billing and payment system. We were growing fast and living in the past as far as our systems go. Our calendar and job management system suited us fine when we were a smaller organization, but we had outgrown that. The challenge was to address the current growth and optimize a few critical workflows, and also build for the future, expecting to continue to grow. We needed a system that could handle not just the present, but the future challenges that we had as well.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They came and listened to what we needed. It was clear that we had many challenges, and we had many ideas to address those challenges, but we needed to prioritize. They helped us organize our challenges and ideas. We picked out 1 or 2 targeted areas, and the first thing was to recreate our contact management system (CRM). The intention was that it would tie into the job management system which they would also create, and it does.

The backbone of the CRM is Microsoft Dynamics. It ties into JMS, which is the larger application and is a .NET framework. The CRM has been integrated into our exchange environment; we're a heavy e-mail organization and we use Outlook, and we handle email 24 hours a day across all teams. The CRM was tied into our Outlook traffic so that emails are tracked to the contacts in CRM database, which then we can view and work off of in our larger JMS application.

They built the JMS application from scratch. As mentioned, Dynamics is the backbone of the CRM but everything else was built by DOOR3 which includes workflows, job grids, and whole administration panel of options. I can manage the system internally, while they support it externally and it carries a lot of big features like jobs, standing orders, the client list, the client location list, and service list vendors. Then there's a bunch of logic that ties into how all those parts play together.

They also updated our website, which was an earlier project. Previously, the website had no tie into the system, and the new website it much fresher. The important piece, however, is that clients can log on and look at the data in our JMS system which refers to other jobs that they've scheduled or booked in the past. It gives them the ability to schedule online, taking into account their firm's standing orders for any given case. It all then goes right into our system and gives us an immediate alert that the client has scheduled, as well ties into our fast-paced email flow. People are aware of the bookings, any questions are being brought to the forefront, and we can address our client needs right off the bat.

What is the team dynamic?

It's been an evolution of team members, but it’s been a small group all along the way which has been good because it keeps us nimble. It allows me to really work with the developers in phases that normally a client wouldn't be involved in. I think that's been a good a good fit overall, it matches our pace. The team size is usually around 5 or 6. Izzy is the project manager. We had 1 main architect, and then we've got a group of developers and QA testers who rotate in and out of the project.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

We had hired a small development firm in the past, and had done a very small project, but were extremely disappointed with the results. We needed to improve upon that, and time was of the essence. I looked online for others reviews, experiences, and asked around for recommendations.

We contacted a few different companies after a reasonable amount of research online. I spoke with Alex [Founder & President, DOOR3] first, and he seemed to be really in tune with our needs and how they would be addressed. It seemed like a good fit, from the way he received what I had to say. We brought in a number of others, but I felt most comfortable working with the DOOR3 team.

After several more meetings and conversations, we decided to go for a small commitment prototype launch, which gave us something functional right away. That was a good experience working with the development team, and there was never any reason not to continue forward.

How much have you invested with them?

Over $1,000,0000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2012, and that engagement is ongoing.

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

It’s given us a huge amount of returns in terms of what we're able to accomplish with the small team of people that we are. It's definitely provided so much more insight than we had before and we were spending weeks having people divert their time from their core responsibilities to try to create a meaningful report of some kind. Fortunately, we've been able to install the systems making the whole process automatic now which has been great.

Once the client hits submit, the system is emailing us that the job already exists in our system. The information is completely there, and everyone associated with the job has been notified. The rates and agreements we have with a firm are also already linked to the job, so it’s saving us a huge amount of time. It saves about 15 minutes per job and with 100 jobs a day that adds up fast.

The new method is so much faster for us because when clients are logging in, it's integrating their firm's preferences. This means, if they are on a case for which they have a preference for a certain group of services, those services are pre-selected at the point when the client selects the case of their scheduling for.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been very good about communication. They were a pretty demanding client when it comes to communication and information. We prefer to know a lot more than other clients often care to, and are definitely very much involved in what's going on. That took some time for them to adjust to naturally, but they've done a great job with that. Now we've got a really good pace going with communication, and a good understanding of where we stand.

We primarily use email, and also have a weekly call with our project manager, but are still in contact throughout the week anyway. We also use Jira, so there are a lot of options. I get a good view of all the items that they're working on in a given sprint, what status they're in, and when they’re to a point where they’re testable I also have access to that. They involve us at a little bit of an earlier stage than other clients might, and it’s really helped us keep our efforts and projects at a reasonable run rate.

They definitely delivered an acceptable amount of work on time and on budget. There's always going to be challenges and unforeseen circumstances, but we have a more flexible relationship and trust each other. We’re always in constant contact and there are really no surprises when something is going to be delivered to us, which is the main point that really matters.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Often I’ve come up with these crazy ideas, but it always seems to be true anything is possible when it comes to development with them. We've thought of all different kinds of ways to address certain needs. They created a pretty massive and complex program that does a whole lot of work for us, and I’m amazed that it’s been able to come together and really work for us. It doesn’t just keep us afloat, but it's definitely transcended the way we do business which is excellent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really have any complaints where they need to improve upon. It’s pretty much all been done.