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California Association of Realtors
Company Information
Need
Prescient was hired in the fall of 2003 to assist the California
Association of Realtors choose the best Content Management System (CMS)
for their organization. Prescient used their proprietary CMS Blueprint
service to analyze and document the organization’s business
requirements, to design an evaluation criteria, build & manage an
RFP, analyze and evaluate various product offerings, and award a
service contract to the successful proponent.
Solution
Prescient engaged in a six-phase project:
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Project planning and kick-off, to develop a detailed project plan and gain consensus on the guiding principles for the project
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Comprehensive business requirements analysis, to ensure the end form and function met the particular requirements of all stakeholders
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Evaluation, which used the business requirements to build a CMS Evaluation Matrix
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RFP Development, to analyze and select the best possible technology solution for fulfilling the business requirements
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Analysis and scoring of vendor solutions, applying the business requirements matrix to proposals and technology demonstrations
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Negotiation and contract award, assisting in the definition and fine-tuning of the terms of the agreement and purchase of the contract/software.
Intimately related to Business Process Assessment and Integration
Services, this project encompassed a full assessment of CAR’s business
environment as it relates to website content and operational processes,
organizational structure, potential organizational impact of CMS
technology, and governance. Also, the scope of the project encompassed
a total service evaluation, including process re-design and integration
of a new CMS environment.
Activities included:
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A thorough “readiness” assessment to determine:
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“Legislative readiness” to conform to CAR’s legislative requirements as they pertain to information publishing and management;
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“Program readiness” to make available the necessary information and transactional elements that already exist on the existing agent extranet;
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“Operational readiness” to make available the necessary administrative systems (proprietary feeds, financial, real estate feed, etc) and to ensure minimal negative impact.
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“Organizational readiness” ensuring the people and skills required to easily and efficiently understand and manage the new technology were in place.
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“Technological readiness” to ensure the solution met requisite technological standards and integrated with the existing technology infrastructure; and
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“Security readiness” to ensure the solution met with the stringent security requirements including privacy.
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The operations and publishing process, as well as the end business interface, needed to be defined and documented
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All transactional applications also needed to be documented and reproduced in the new solution
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Direct real-time applications need to be seamlessly integrated into the new solution.
Results
The project was delivered on budget with the desired result. The
client was extremely satisfied and felt that by having spent the time
upfront in the analysis of the requirements they have met their
standards. Critical success factors included:
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Gathering as many requirements as possible from key stakeholders, users or people that will be impacted.
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Allocating the proper resources at the project kick-off using the project timeline.
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Consulting with peripheral departments such as legal or purchasing to understand any additional requirements.
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Identification and implementation of a timely and effective solution within the desired budget.
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