OpenWater

Avantages

It works all the time.

Avantages

OpenWater had everything I needed to manage our department's annual sweepstakes. While there aren't a lot of bells and whistles, this no-frills solution is straightforward and wasn't that difficult to use. The best part of OpenWater are the prompt and helpful account reps. If I had a question, they would respond right away.

Inconvénients

The interface and customization tools can be a little confusing at first. There aren't a lot of opportunities to customize web forms or pages beyond very basic HTML and fields. If you aren't looking to create flashy pages, this software could be a great choice.

Avantages

We worked with the Openwater team on an integration with a mutual client. Kunal and the team brought a tremendous understanding and care for the clients needs and worked with us to find creative ways to simplify the process for the individual administrators.

The solution provided by Openwater is used by the client to manage the annual awards process, and has been in use for several years. It allows them to collect submissions at the local level, and manage the process through multiple rounds, culminating with the annual national award ceremony.

Inconvénients

It is early in the relationship, however as challenges have arose we've been about to work through them with the team and have not encountered an issues we couldn't solve for. All around a good experience so far.

Avantages

Once I get a tutorial on what i'm looking to accomplish, the software is easy enough to manipulate to do on my own without having to bother my customer rep.

Inconvénients

Some items aren't intuitive. Making reports etc. And it looks like the new interface of the portal isn't as easy on the eyes as the past look. But that might just take some getting used to.

Avantages

I like that we CAN integrate this software into our database and have our users log in using their credentials used in our site and have some fields pre-populated.

Inconvénients

The multiple ways to access the emails and the judging settings. It would be easier to have a main area on the dashboard of the admin panel and be able to tie the information to a program. Would like to eliminate the number of places to remember to go set up. It also does not tie into our database to update a status as paid.

Avantages

The Open Water platform is one of the most robust and full-featured systems we've come across. It's extremely detailed and customizable, with the ability to adapt various templates to suit needs as simple or complex as you desire. Some of our favorite features include the external and internal linking within forms, program duplication, easy to create conditional child forms, and the autoscoring feature.

However the best "feature" of Open Water is their customer service team. They are, hands down, the best CS team I have worked with out of hundreds of vendors in various industries. They are fast, polite, and know their product down to the smallest details.

Inconvénients

After managing the Open Water platform as the primary admin over the course of nearly two years, I have no serious complaints. The platform has a steep learning curve and we have found it somewhat hard to retain configuration knowledge since the system makes it so easy to duplicate past programs, so we rarely start a new one from scratch. When we do we sometimes need to reach out to the OW team for a refresh, which they are always happy to help with.

Avantages

I love OpenWater. Not only is the system easy to use and to customize to your specific program, but the customer service is phenomenal. Any time I have a question or concern they respond immediately, and also do our external client-facing customer service as well.

Inconvénients

We are currently working with our support reps to add in a few more layers of customization that aren't currently options (adding a level of won proposal, not won proposal, but also a third option).

Avantages

- It integrates well with our CRM but still flexible for users to find/create/consolidate when needed
- Clear workflow for admins to manage programs, including dates, forms, reports, rules, communications
- Awesome customer service. Seriously.
- All "programs" can function together (other abstract management software programs have issues flowing data between functions or are managed by service reps who never cross over)
- Staff works hard to understand our needs and keep us on track

Inconvénients

- App still in development, but scheduled for beta release in 2019

Avantages

Ease of programming, ability to change and update at any time. Functions such as cloning, email notifications, and form management.

Inconvénients

There are many capabilities that we do not utilize. I would love to have more time to explore those.

Avantages

In our organization the greatest asset for this software is the ability to host multiple sites. We're able to put application opportunities on separate secure platforms, each for different audiences.

Inconvénients

The round options and judging settings are not automatically user-friendly. Another staff member had to spend some time explaining the features in detail before anyone from my team could use the product. For instance it isn't clear that the open round automatically has judging set up based on which program type is selected. And there is no testing feature- in order to test the application portal you must open the submission round. We also had to switch which staff would have super-user status since only two are allowed.

Avantages

My organization has been using OpenWater for a little over a year and it has been a life-saver for our company. We love it! It is easy to teach yourself things, and admin can reach out to customer service for calls and for help. There are many help articles. You are able to have applications, judging, and surveys. Open Water is very versatile.

Inconvénients

While Open Water is easy to navigate and teach yourself, it is also very intricate. There are so many things that can be done in Open Water and so many different ways to do them that sometimes it is difficult to teach others how to use the program.

Avantages

We manage two educational awards using OpenWater. It does everything we need it to do (and more that we don't use). Customer support is second to none. Navigation is pretty solid and the software provides lots of opportunity to craft the application to exactly what we need to adjudicate submissions. Also easy to archieve past years programs and clone for current year.

Inconvénients

Not so much the software as it might be my memory. Using it two years now, on two award programs that run almost concurrently, I had to reach out for assistance as I couldn't find answers to questions. Online support material is very good, but like many, I find the chat feature, or a phone call is faster to resolve my needs. Not an OpenWater issue, but the foreign exchange stings a bit when paying in Canadian dollars.

Avantages

I like how simple report setup is. In my role, I'm largely concentrated on the analytics behind who is entering, the time it takes them to enter, etc. and the dynamic reporting has helped my effort. We've also recently migrated our public-facing awards pages over to the OpenWater platform and the process has been a dream.

Inconvénients

The chat between different platforms could be improved. We use specific email software that, if enabled, would be able to talk to OpenWater to allow us to streamline correspondence with entrants

Avantages

he software does want we want to do. The implementation was very fast and customer service is amazing! I have never before worked with a vendor that is this responsive.

Inconvénients

The software has a lot of functionality that we will likely not use making it at first overwhelming. Once you get use to the application, you know exactly where you need to go and overlook the features you do not use.

Avantages

The customer service that OpenWater offer its customers is next level. We have never received this type of support when dealing with any of our other software providers and it makes a huge difference.

Inconvénients

We have nothing to add here, our experience with the OpenWater software & team have been nothing but positive.

Avantages

OpenWater will do their best to add custom solutions to their platform.

Inconvénients

The back end doesn't allow for easy manipulation of large amounts of data. Would be great to have a table view to edit data.

Avantages

It's easy to use, is developed for grant professionals and their needs, our applicants have detailed yet simple applications they can finish in a single sitting. The print out for the reviewers is also really nice and our reviewers can easily add their scores and comments. So simplistically manageable.

Inconvénients

It would be wonderful to have a budget format imbedded into the system so eliminate how many uploads our applicants have. The budget form would have to function quite like excel so it would tabulate grant budgets, even over several years.

Avantages

I love how it is customized to our needs and wants. Its fairly user friendly.

Inconvénients

There isn't much I don't like. Its is very robust system and perhaps that could be the only downfall. There is so much to it.

Avantages

OpenWater had pretty much all we needed to run our competitions, but through the years they have continued to update. It is an even better product than before. Customer service is very good.

Inconvénients

There is a learning curve. You can do so much and as a result it takes some time to understand. So don't expect that you'll be up and running in an afternoon. Sometimes the UI/UX is a little weird (Settings vs Manage? I still don't understand the difference). Eventually, with enough use, you can intuit how the system works.

Avantages

The system is extremely straight forward and easy to administer and develop programs. The customer support is also some of the best I have ever encountered.

Inconvénients

The system has workflow limitations based on some standardized design features. Their sales promises more than they may actually be able to deliver when you have a unique or complex review workflow.

Avantages

Easy to use for admins and users. It has increased nomination and application submissions by 100%. The support is responsive and friendly.

Inconvénients

It can be limited in how awards with different nomination or application processes are built into the same awards program. The OpenWater staff has been very helpful in providing solutions for those nuances.

Avantages

The OpenWater software is extremely user friendly and easy to use. I built our program from the ground up and my account manager was there to help me every step of the way. Because I was able to build the program myself I got exactly what I wanted and was able to help my users troubleshoot any issues that came up.

Inconvénients

We have a very complex grant application that we are running through OpenWater. There are a few limitations on functionality given the complexity of what we need, but the team was still able to make every area work with little stress on our end.

Avantages

Amazing service - lightning quick responses...wow!
Super helpful to have the judges watch videos right through the platform.
Loving the new premium theme feature :)

Avantages

The software is very robust and when when we're trying to do something that isn't within the platform, the team is always willing to find a work-around for us.

Inconvénients

We would like to see the integration of more visual reporting(i.e ability to create more visual charts and graphs in the dashboard and the exported PDF's).

Avantages

So easy to use, and it had every functionality I needed. I'm not very tech-savvy, but this was easy to learn, easy to use, easy to master, and it does everything I need - even when my needs changed over the course of the project.

Inconvénients

I didn't like changing my point person mid-stream, but it worked out in the end because the new person was just as responsive and knowledgeable as the first one.

Avantages

Openwater is very customizable compared to other Call for Papers tools currently on the market. It allows customizable questions and fields for submitters and same for reviewers. I love that it has the blind and double blind option for reviewers and some automatic email capabilities.

Inconvénients

This software is extremely expensive compared to others on the market that can do the same exact thing and have the same features.

Avantages

Easy for users and admin. We use it only once a year. The knowledge base is good

Inconvénients

The reporting needs work. Most reports come in Excel. Need better tools

Avantages

OpenWater is so intuitive and user-friendly. I also love the customer support that is provided.

Inconvénients

Although the software is intuitive, it takes a little bit of training to get used to the functions.

Avantages

The customer support was absolutely the best part of using OpenWater. Whenever I had a question, the rep was immediately on top of it. She was incredibly helpful.

Inconvénients

The navigation is not particularly user friendly. There are a lot of features, but they can be difficult to find, because they are hidden down different rabbit holes. It's not always intuitive to use.

Avantages

We love the look of the platform and details. It is also easy to use.

Inconvénients

A few items are not changeable but still overall very good.

Avantages

All-in-one concept where applicants can submit their applications, reviewers review/judge and can export data. Also, I like being able to go in on the admin side to edit or change anything.

Inconvénients

It was tricky to learn the terminology and the platform itself. Also, the website seems to take a long time to load.

Avantages

Great functionality for our Awards Program. Ease of use.

Inconvénients

It was very foreign to me at first. Took awhile to get used to using a software instead of the "old fashion" way we did our scoring.