A Cooperative CIS Selection Methodology

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A Cooperative CIS Selection Methodology

• Ian Fleming

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Speaker Background

• Ian Fleming
• Telecommunications systems operator (SOC)
• Five years as a systems analyst (JSOC)
• Consulting and project manager (C3I)
• Anheuser Busch
• Mens Warehouse
• Oak Express
• Local government
• WSMR (Delphi)
• IT Manager (TVEC)
• Currently IT at (URECC) Gilmer Tx.

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Agenda

• Defining CIS
• Software selection process from an IT perspective
• The methodology
• Questions Lessons learned

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Defining CIS

• Core database for customer relationships
• Gets the bills out
• Enabler of cooperative corporate-wide initiatives
• Center of the information hub

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CIS Affected Departments

• All departments are affected from executive
  board to the member.
• Example Mapping/Staking system
• Example Tax processing

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Example Staking

• Staking is comprised of a physical location
  drawing with a list of materials required to
  accomplish a construction job
• The staking system accommodates all of the job
  detail

- VA-5 - VA-1
Job
House
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Example GIS

• GIS is a grouping of staking/construction jobs
  all joined together.
• GIS brings the world together with layers of
  information

GIS
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Example Accounting

• Accounting (BIS) accounts for the assets with the
  use of Work Orders that are tied to jobs
• Reports and invoice reconciliation are the end
  result

WO 1001
- VA-5 - VA-1
WO 1002
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Example Tax Processing
- Location - County - Board - School District
Mapping
Staking
- Job Materials - Drawing
CIS
Accounting
- Work Order - Tax report output
- Tax Calculation - Member Number
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Example Tax Processing

• Staking gives the Location to Mapping
• Mapping provides the City, County, Board, and
  School District of the Location
• CIS bills the tax of the member based on the
  Mapping boundaries
• Accounting reports tax

Mapping
Staking
CIS
Accounting
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Software Selection Process IT Perspective
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Typical Flaws in Software Selection

• Over-emphasis on subjectivity
• Too much emphasis on single departmental
  solutions
• Lack of a fair and consistent comparison
• Business requirements not clearly defined
• Lack of formal selection process (repeatable)

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Todays Methodology

• Business requirement driven
• All stakeholders are represented
• Enterprise-wide system (unlike a departmental
  solution)
• Maximum objectivity
• Fair vendor comparison

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IT Perspective

• Ensure a technically viable solution
• Cross-check vendors stated capabilities
• This process is driven mainly by the definition
  of each cross-functional departments business
  needs
• The technical aspects of the proposed systems
  play a minor role in the system selection process.

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Good Reasons To Move?

• Business based reason
• Under whelmed with the abilities of existing
  vendor to meet objectives
• Unnecessary pain at substantial and
  quantifiable cost
• Technology mandate
• Business change

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Not So Good Reasons To Move

• Not Business Based
• Personal issues with vendor
• Unquantifiable costs
• Cooperative merger
• Management changes
• My neighbor did
• It has a cool feature that ours doesnt
• Liked the way it looked when the tires were kicked

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Business Case for System Selection

• Outline
• Project purpose
• Concerns
• Measurement success
• Methodology proposal
• Project start date
• Project Summary
• Approval to start selection project?

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Goals

• Select a high-performance, stable, flexible,
  easy-to-use, function rich Customer Information
  System (CIS) and Financial Information System
  (BIS) that easily integrate with other best in
  breed electric utility industry applications
• Business Process Diagramming disaster
  recovery
• Use an interdepartmental team

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Project Description

• Analyze available CIS and financial systems to
  improve customer service, reliability,
  cost-effectiveness, and achieve the Cooperatives
  corporate strategic objectives
• Seven phase methodology

FOR MORE INFO...
Additional information regarding pre-project
inception is noted in the SSC Project Proposal
document.
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Description of Methodology
Negotiate Contract with Vendor Begin
Implementation Project
Finalist
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Darrell Powell

• IT For Electric Cooperatives(678) 596-0731

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Business Case

• Project Charter (already complete)

Business Case
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Project Planning Initiation

• Work Plan
• Interview schedules
• Planned Participation by Function Template
• Scope, Objectives, Constraints and Assumptions
  Document

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Project Planning and Initiation

• Staff/project team selected
• Facilitated sessions scheduled
• Reports will outline the progress of the
  facilitated sessions in date/time order of
  succession.
• Sessions obtained business technical
  requirement information from team members

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To the participants of the facilitated sessions

• Greetings,
• You have been selected by the Software
  Solutions Committee to participate in an
  enterprise software selection project. Because
  of your experience and knowledge of current
  procedures and processes in your business unit,
  management and your peers have distinguished you
  as a stakeholder with an important task to
  facilitate in the decision making process of
  selecting a new CIS.
• Your duty to assist in this selection project
  is not to be taken lightly. In order for this
  project to be successful, you must evaluate and
  select an appropriate CIS and Accounting system
  in an orderly and methodical manner that focuses
  on the satisfaction of business-driven needs in
  an objective fashion. In order to ensure that
  the project is conducted in an orderly,
  methodical manner, we have contracted Darrell
  Powell to assist us in this endeavor.
• Attached is the document that will stimulate
  some thought on what you have now (or would like
  to have) in a new CIS. This is the template that
  you will be filling out and adding to for
  software selection meeting during the above
  scheduled date and time. Please note that there
  are several functional areas that this
  spreadsheet outlines you will be filling out the
  section of the sheet that best describes your
  business unit and/or processes.
• All meetings will last approximately 500
  hours (including lunch provided by your General
  Manager and the Board of Directors). Normally,
  the meetings will begin at 900AM unless
  specified otherwise in this appointment request.
• I thank you in advance for your participation
  and effort in helping us make the best choice in
  enterprise software selection.
• Kind regards,
• CEO

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Business Requirements Definition

• Business/System Requirements Report CIS
  Business Requirements Template
• Documented Business Process Work Flows
• All required business processes AND/ORBusiness
  processes needing to be re-engineered (Current
  desired process diagrams)

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Technical Requirements Definition

• Technical/System Requirements Report Systems
  Interface Diagram Template

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Vendor Pre-Qualification

• List of Vendors to Receive RFP High Level
  Overview of Major CIS/BIS Vendors for Co-op
  Utility Industry

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Major CIS/BIS Vendors

• Presents 12 of the top cooperative CIS vendors
  representing 80 of the industry.
• At a minimum do this phase with IT-4-EC

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Vendor Selection Short List

• Request for Proposal (RFP) Document
• Based heavily on results from Business
  Requirements Report Technical Requirements
  Report)Using IT-4-ECs Request for Proposal
  (RFP) Template containing self-scoring logic
• Defined Scoring System/Evaluation System For
  standardizing vendor responses comparisons.
• Vendor Short List
• Based on results of scoring system/evaluation
  system and any other pertinent factors.

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RFP Responses
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RFP Responses (Scoring)
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RFP Responses (Totaling)
Vendors
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Phase 7 Vendor Selection Finalist

• Scripted Demo Template Standard Demo Evaluation
  Template
• Vendor Reference Check Report(s)
• Site Visit Report(s)
• Recommended Finalist
• Updated Business Case

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The Scripted Demo

• A list of tasks for the vendor to show
• Eliminates vanity mirror propaganda
• Gives a real feel for the interface compared to
  your existing CIS
• True technical and GUI problems really show up
  here

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Site Visit

• No more than 3 on the short list
• See it in action at another Coop
• Different than kicking tires because you know
  that it will work for your business.
• Create score report for site visit

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Recommended Finalist

• This is the vendor of choice
• This recommendation goes to your GM/CEO or board
• They make the final approval to go forward with
  contract procurement

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Updated Business Case

• The business case must be updated if the new
  vendor does not meet all requirements.
• If the incumbent vendor is chosen, the business
  requirements may have to be amended to reflect
  that this vendor is still the right choice.

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The Score
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Phase 8 Consummate the Deal

• Signed, approved contract
• Project implementation start date
• The fun begins

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Summary

• Defining CIS
• IT Perspective
• How departments are affected by the selection of
  software
• Software selection process from an IT perspective
• The methodology

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Lessons Learned
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Questions?

• Contact
• Ian Fleming
• ifleming_at_urecc.com
• [phone]