OpenWater Awards

Amazing customer service

What do you like best? The customer service. Our account manager, Helen, takes such good care of us. It can be hard to learn a new platform from scratch, but with all the helpful reps, it's been really easy. They're quick to respond, they explain it so well and if I can't figure it out, they're happy to hop on a call and walk me through it. What do you dislike? It can be a bit confusing with the jargon, but I'm learning! The help centre is an amazing resource. I don't love the ...

Very Pleased

What do you like best? The support team is excellent! We administer two award programs a year, so between programs I'll forget some things, support is always quick to bail me out. Lots of features that make this software very flexible, allowing us to really get a good idea of the attributes of the applicant that we are looking for. The "automated" reference check feature eliminates any "suspect" submissions. What do you dislike? Not too much to dislike. Lots of functionality and ...

A game-changer for awards management

What do you like best? OpenWater allowed us to shift from a very messy awards management process requiring multiple platforms and lots of clerical work to a simple, streamlined system. Since implementing OW as our awards management solution, we've been able to build robust new awards programs, shift our Board application process onto the platform, and redesign our annual Chapter Activity Reporting process (which directly feeds into our recognition/awards program for chapters). I also ...

Great product

What do you like best? The best aspect of OpenWater is definitely the customer service. There are people who are always on hand to answer any question or issue you might have. In addition, OpenWater is very intuitive and easy to use. What do you dislike? If you have very specific criteria you are trying to fulfill, it could be tricky trying to set up OpenWater. What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized? We are using OpenWater to receive applications ...

Whole heartedly endorse OpenWater

What do you like best? Extremely functional and easy to use, set up is quick and can be done in less than a day (even for a detailed program like our own. What do you dislike? Excel budget options are not available, it would make the budget abilities within the grant application so much easier. Maybe they will add it later?? Recommendations to others considering the product: Consider your needs, write them down, when talking to the OpenWater sales staff skip the sales pitch and ask them ...

Use OpenWater for Awards Management

What do you like best? User interface is very intuitive and easy for entrants and judges to use. Has allowed us to streamline our awards program by transitioning them to the OpenWater platform. It is also nice to be able to customize and build our own programs. What do you dislike? There are some limitations on reporting and making judging assignments. There is no quick way to assign multiple judges half of a category without splitting into subcategories. What problems are you solving ...

Flexible & intuitive

What do you like best? It's straightforward to use. I had very few users come to me with tech questions. When I need to learn or solve something, Cody (our designated tech at OW gets us answers fast. What do you dislike? The canned reports are very limited and I haven't really had time to learn how to create custom reports yet. What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized? We consolidated a lot of different vendors by switching to OpenWater, so that ...

Making Life Easier

What do you like best? I loved how we were able to take a very complicated award process and make it so much easier. The staff was with us every step of the way and turned our dreams into reality! What do you dislike? I would say the only dislike is not having more time included for customization. Recommendations to others considering the product: If you are looking to save time, this is the time to consider OpenWater. What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have ...

Simple yet elegant

What do you like best? Simplified Content management, being a web developer I have to do content management occasionally the WYSWIG editor is highly helpful along with organized content management. Since everything is at 1 place starting from billing to website management it makes my work easy. What do you dislike? There are few complaints where it is a bit annoying for a developer like me for not able to complete some of the basic development or UI UX changes since the system is bit ...

Open Water Review

What do you like best? I like that once I setup an award/program in Open Water I can duplicate that same program every year and just update my reviewers and specific details such as deadlines and instructions. The system also allows me to keep all my communications to reviewers and applicants in one place. What do you dislike? Not much a dislike but (perhaps I don't know, I would like more information on how to customize the look and feel of the application/evaluation forms for my users' ...