SecureCore

The Challenge

SecureCore offers managers of multi-family properties (90% of their plans) customized – emergency response plans. They are a division of RestoreCore,  a leading provider of business restoration and remediation services. SecureCore’s cloud-based software helps to foresee and avoid emergencies. Even if a disaster strikes, residents and property assets are safe due to the or by virtue of the thoughtful plan.

In 2017, SecureCore approached us to “rescue the project”  – the app that was crucial to interaction with their paid software. However, all previous contractors throughout 10 years had failed to make it simple and convenient for the target audience, such as building maintenance staff and technicians. As Kaitlyn Bowman, a Managing Director at SecureCore, explained, “It’d been very messy before you guys got to work.” 

Few of SecureCore’s customers understood the app’s true value. It was inconsistent – and SecureCore constantly had to translate the developers’ work. At this point,  Speed & Function entered the picture.

The Solution

We focused on the business needs and conducted in-depth interviews that revealed SecureCore’s customers fit within a wide range of education and comfort regarding tech. While the solution itself was sold to CEOs and managers, the end users were going to be regular employees.

Another insight Speed & Function uncovered was to convince people to have SecureCore as a preventive measure. While only a handful of customers experienced an emergency, they confirmed its necessity: “Thank God we had this app!” Those who refused to have it in the first place often returned after having a “situation.” According to Mrs Bowman, they realized the urgency of retraining their personnel and reviving disaster response plans. S&F assisted with their biggest challenge.

Our solution was a fully custom software and app development. Although there are similar companies on the market, there were no references to what S&F has accomplished. Moreover, SecureCore was the only one to focus on the multi-family properties. We helped them create a smooth and easy UX to let anybody at the property have access to the software. This way, each member of the organization embraces responsibility and has a solid understanding of the disaster plan: what to do in case of emergency and who to call. 

The S&F team made the app robust and responsive. Back in 2016, our tech stack included MeteorJS (full-stack framework); Blaze + React (front-end); Apache Cordova (mobile app); and Amazon Web Services for storing images.

The Outcome

• We offered SecureCore’s users a relief when the app became much simpler.
• It cost the client 6 times less than alternative solutions.
• We highlighted SecureCore’s advantage and value as an ecosystem.
• There are between 300 and 400 active customers, and SecureCore is now training them frequently.
• Currently, S&F and SecureCore are in the process of estimation for a newer version of the app built on the up-to-date stack of technologies

The Secret Sauce

Speed & Function is more than just a software development company. It’s our “team’s ability to see and understand how the end-user is going to use [the product]”. We saw the added value of the partnership between SecureCore and RestoreCore (the latter being a successful business with over 40 years of history). We then realized the enormous potential of the ecosystem approach and continuous education of the client’s customers. 

After all, it’s not only about being able to have emergencies or disaster recovery solutions in the palm of one’s hand. We are talking here about saving human lives and preventing the loss of billions of dollars before a disaster takes place.