Operation Wallacea

Operation Wallacea (also known as 'Opwall') is a multi-national organisation, running biodiversity and conservation expeditions for students, in remote locations around the world. Students get invaluable hands-on field experience, as well as course credits towards their university qualifications.

Opwall has a network of tens of thousands of students, academics, schools, and suppliers. Opwall had outgrown its previous MS Access database systems, especially struggling with data getting out of step as offices between offices on various continents and in different timezones.

To help the business grow, Opwall approached us to develop a new, web-based CRM system which would allow sales to be tracked, and expeditions to be planned, using one centralised system.

We have worked closely with Opwall over a number of years to build and evolve their software ecosystem, which now comprises:

1. A heavily customised CRM designed for expedition sales and planning
2. Custom Laravel user portal for self-service by expedition attendees and parents, including document submission, and online payments
3. Integrated accounting and invoicing system to monitor sales
4. Automations to reduce admin overhead

We migrated the large amount of existing data from the numerous existing databases into one instance of SugarCRM. Custom SugarCRM modules were created to cater for Opwall's unique business processes. Users can securely log in from anywhere in the world, the only requirement being an internet connection and web browser. All emails are archived against the recipients' contact records in the CRM, and management can now monitor sales and operations in one place, with no more synching issues.