System Integration

Perfect! Let’s take the best systems available on the market that support the functions of each of our departments and then let’s integrate them together. It’s that simple!

Well,... not really. Even with only two applications, the task of exchanging data can be extremely complex and challenging. There are many hurdles in the path of integration. As I like to say, “the devil is in the details.” Let’s look at a few.

Staff: The first step is to find someone that understands both applications very well and also understands the business processes addressed by both applications. Let’s not forget that two different applications means two different sets of training sessions from two different vendors. Inevitably, some staff will need to learn both applications. That means learning two different ways of working and two different user interfaces.

Languages: There are hundreds of computer languages in the field. Different languages don’t always have bridges between them so a communication pipeline infrastructure such as web services need to be developed in each application to enable the exchange of information. This is just laying the groundwork for the integration to happen.

Data Models: Data is usually stored differently in different applications. Mapping the data from one application to another can be very complex. Take the simple case of addresses. Some systems have two lines of address, others have three. Going from two lines to three is easy, but not so when going from three lines to two. What do you do with the extra address line? What about if one application has address lines of 40 characters while the other application has 60 characters? What do you do with the extra 20 characters? Some applications store the company’s contact address with the contact while others store it with the company. Some applications store a two character state code while others store the full state name. Some applications don’t validate the state name so typos are common and this complicates the translation from one system to the other. If one system validates the street names based on city and zip+4, what do you do with errors?

All of these are very critical details that can very quickly corrupt massive amounts of data. And this is only looking at simple addresses. Remember that your applications probably have very complex data structures that will make this address issue seem trivial by comparison. There is no easy solution here.

Development Infrastructure: Any significant software development needs an infrastructure. Developers will need their tools. These include development environments, code version control software, editors, compilers, debuggers, automated testing tools, etc. You’ll also need numerous test workstations to test your applications under various configurations. You’ll need a software test team and someone to write your documentation. Yes, all of this costs money.

Upgrades: Each application typically has a new release every year or so. Each new release means upgrading the application in a test environment first. It may mean some changes to the interface applications and procedures, updating documentation, and retesting the entire integration process. In an environment involving many applications, staying ahead of all these various upgrades can be a full-time job for more than one person.

Error Handling: Most application interfaces can’t handle every case. For example, most of you with handheld devices such as Windows Mobile will know that very long notes attached to calendar or task items get truncated. If you edit these truncated notes, data will be lost. Similarly, when enterprise applications are integrated, similar data issues (as described above) usually get written to an integration error log file. Someone has to manually handle each of these conditions in a timely manner to prevent further data corruption. The reality is, this function often falls by the wayside and data corruptions multiply unnoticed, sometimes for years.

Staff Turnover: With staff turnover, finding someone else with the expertise to maintain the integration may be very challenging. Without a large enough staff, it is very common to see application interface maintenance deteriorate or die altogether.

Consultants: Third party consultants are often used to integrate applications. They usually have the development infrastructure in place and the expertise on staff to take on such projects. Realize that integration is not a one time task, it’s ongoing. Consultants are always more expensive than full time staff and the ongoing costs of consultants can be very high.

The bottom line: Integrating applications appear to be the right choice on the surface, but after digging into just a little more details... not so simple.

CRM: Building Relationships

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the hottest buzzword around these days. Although it's been around for decades, many nonprofit organizations are just now jumping on the bandwagon. The only challenge is that most CRM software available is intended for the for-profit sector. Those systems may not be appropriate for nonprofits. Think of it... if you were highly engaged with a community agency, would you like them to treat you the way your bank or insurance company does? Probably not. The relationships built with a nonprofit are much more personal. Constituents give of their time and money, that's highly personal. Most CRM systems are more focused on a "business" relationship whereas nonprofits should really focus on the community spirit and, yes, a more personal relationship.

Just A Thought

Most of you will probably remember the last software conversion you did. It probably was when you converted over to Andar. Although we have a fairly successful conversion process, it is still a very traumatic experience for all organizations. That, no one can deny. The process of moving data from one system to another and ensuring that everything is correct can be a lot of work. When we sit back and think about it, interfacing two different products can be just as much work and just as traumatic. In fact, interfacing two products means that data need to move between the two products either immediately as it changes or on a fixed schedule. You could say it's a never ending conversion. What a nightmare!

Data Quality

Take a moment and think about what your data means to your organization. Imagine what you would do if it was gone. Don’t rush through this... take a few minutes now...

No more names and addresses, no more notes about your communications, no more mailing lists, no more giving history, no more information about who owes you how much, all financial information... gone. Quite possibly, a final consequence, your organization and therefore your career... also, gone!

Very scary thought, isn’t it! After all, data is probably your organization’s most valuable asset. Just think of the resources your organization invests in managing it... technology staff, consultants, all those servers, desktop workstations, network infrastructure, cabling installation, software, training, annual upgrades, maintenance, etc. It likely accounts for 20% or more of your organization’s total direct and indirect annual expenses.

Most organizations will invest considerable time and money in protecting their data by implementing a comprehensive backup strategy. Yet, most will not invest in protecting data quality. You’ll probably agree that unreliable data is just as bad as no data at all. When the staff does not trust your information, they will start storing their own critical information in their own spreadsheets or Microsoft Access databases.

The proliferation of databases can also appear in organizations with large integrated databases. Staff sometimes dread large databases perhaps because of the vast amount of information they contain, the complex structure of the information, or the lack of adequate training. This is often compounded by new hires who arrive on board with preconceived strategies for moving your organization forward. Instead of learning the organization’s database, they often try to implement their own applications to deliver some short-term benefits.

All these databases create isolated silos within the organization. Information sharing is reduced and internal communication often brakes down. Worse yet, each staff member ends up with a number of databases or spreadsheets for each function they perform. Obviously, keeping basic contact information consistent across the organization becomes nearly impossible. As your customers interact with various departments, they often become frustrated with the lack of consistent information. Relationships suffer.

The Solution: It all starts with three simple steps. First, put all your data in one place. Second, stop the quality degradation. And finally, clean up your data.

Having each piece of data exist in only one place is the best way to take control of data quality. To accomplish this, a commitment from the entire organization is critical. Stopping degradation means building standard data procedures and training everyone on the standards. Only after these first two steps are in place can recovery begin.

Cleanup is a mammoth task. Start with the most critical information for your most critical and most used accounts. For example, names and addresses for your top 100 donors, top 100 companies, or your partner agencies. You could even export your names and addresses and send them off-site to an address correction service. Once your critical data is clean, systematically move on to other data and other accounts. Your entire staff can take part in the cleanup by consulting with your cleanup team as they encounter new data issues. But it needs to be a coordinated approach so you will need someone in charge.

It probably took years to get into this mess, you can’t expect to clean it up in a month.

Integration

Introduction

The term integration has become extremely popular and it has been used to mean many things. Webster's dictionary defines Integrating as "to form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole", "to unite with something else", "to incorporate into a larger unit", and finally "to end the segregation of and bring into equal membership in society or an organization". In computer applications, the term has been widely used to indicate that information can be shared, in some way, between applications.

Integration between applications can take many forms. Some are seamless while others require significant data manipulation by the user.

Level 1 Integration

Information Transfer Between Applications

This is the lowest and most common form of Integration used. It is often used when two or more application vendors allow their applications to exchange data. This integration often involves exporting data from one application and importing it into the other. The information may need to be manipulated by the user in order to "transform" it from the format exported by the first application into the format required by the second application. Some applications allow for scheduled transfers where all steps in the transfer process are automated. Other vendors have automated the transfer process in both directions between the applications.

Since most applications offer some type of import/export facility, this level of integration is least expensive in the short-term. Enormous time savings are realized by eliminating manual re-keying of data, but it still does exhibit considerable time lags in information transfer between applications. If a customer enters an order over the web and then immediately calls the accounts payable department s/he may be disappointed to hear that they don't have updated information yet and that s/he should call back the next day (or week).

Level 2 Integration

Automatic Information Exchange Using APIs

This level of integration requires considerable foresight by the vendors of the applications. When information is entered, changed, or deleted in one application, the program automatically calls application program interfaces (APIs) in the other application to update its database. This integration level offers great advantages. The information exchange is immediate and no manual process is required. This level of integration is typically offered by the larger, more established and popular vendors and applications. In many cases, the vendors supply the APIs but the customer must write their own custom programs to complete the link between the applications. This may be a costly endeavor but often yields good results.

Some vendors use APIs to eliminate the export/import method used in level 1 integration but still require user intervention to initiate the process. A common example is the integration between Palm Pilots and Microsoft Outlook where a single push of a button causes data to be exchanged between the two applications.

It is also important to understand that different applications may have very different data models. This may make automated integration much more difficult. For example, one application may store an employee's work address with the employer account whereas the other application may store the address with each individual employee. Integrating such applications may be costly and may be subject to data errors. Similarly, the two databases may not have the same validation rules. For example, the address in one system may not validate the postal code whereas the other database does. This means that the latter system may reject data and lead to serious discrepancies between systems.

Level 3 Integration

Shared Database

Level 3 Integration is very unique in that the same database is used by both applications. This level of integration is often only available when both applications are supplied by the same vendor. A common example is where a vendor supplies both "Accounts Payable" and "Accounts Receivable" applications. In these applications, a "payable/vendor", ABC Company, could also be a "receivable/customer". In this example, ABC Company would have one single account in the database shared by both applications. A change of address entered through one application would not necessitate any data exchange with the other application since the single data item is shared by both applications. The change would immediately be live in both applications.

Another advantage of level 3 integration when the same vendor supplies both applications is that the user interface is often the same. That is, the application screens often have the same "look-and-feel" and follow the same usability standards. In fact, many such integrated applications share many of the same screens making the user think that there is in fact only one application. Training costs are often significantly lower.

Another variation of level 3 integration is where a web application shares the same database as the desktop application. The staff uses a more powerful and flexible Windows based application to perform business functions while the customers use a web browser to access a limited set of functions that interacts with the same database. Again, changes made by customers through the web browser are immediately available by the Windows based application because of the shared database.

Andar/360

Andar implements Level 3 Integration for all of its modules, including optional modules. All modules share a common database and user interface.

A Marketing Dream Come True

The new web site content management functions released in the 2009.01 service pack are stirring up some excitement in the Andar user community... We will be offering demonstrations of these new functions at this year's Users Group conference and we will soon be publishing demonstration videos on our web site.

We are already working on the next phase of enhancements to customize the web page structure framework. This structure is currently hard-coded and fixed, but you will soon have the ability to customize the various side bars. With the new enhancements, each area will be customizable to contain an unlimited number of "gadgets" such as banner ads, stories, articles, etc. The cool thing is that we'll be able to put these in e-mails too! Remember that web banner ads can be specific to donor interests. So, imagine sending a newsletter containing ads, stories, featured article links, etc., directed to the recipient's interests! Later, we will further enhance the banner ad and article selectors to pick items based on age, demographics, loyal contributor date, leadership levels, etc. For example, ADT leaders over 50 could receive ads about your planned giving program or an upcoming gala event.

Excited so far? Wait, there's more!

Let's take it a step further. As some of you may know, the new profile report first generates a web page and then prints it to PDF format. We will reuse the editor we've just implemented in the profile notes to build the main body of thank you letters and then use the same printing engine as the profile report to generate complete thank you letters ready to print–in full color–without exporting and merging with MSWord! Oh, and while we're at it, we could add a side bar right on the thank you letter with donor-specific ads, stories, etc. Since we can do this on the web and in e-mails, we can do it for thank you letters as well. The same strategy can also be used to generate receipts and statements. Full color thank you letters, receipts, and statements will be prepared as PDFs that can be e-mailed to donors, sent to be mass printed off-site or printed on your own color printers.

Marketing folks call this approach "TransPromo" (Google it!) meaning transaction promotion (i.e., adding promotional material to transaction-related documents such as statements). They also use the terms TransInfo (information) and TransEd (education). The basic idea is to up-sell, cross-sell, and inform customers using standard communication media such as statements. The CRM part of this strategy is to be "recipient specific." Statements produced with Andar would be customized specifically for each donor based on their age, demographics, interests, etc. Many large financial institutions accomplish this using very expensive specialized printer technologies. Soon, you will be able to do this too, without investing millions.

The Andar patch scheduled for the end of next week will contain the side bar customization engine with interest-based banner ads and a few other gadgets, and we can expect the thank you letter "TransPromo" enhancements before the end of 2009.

Helix announces release 2009.01 of Andar/360.

The Helix development team has been very busy this fall working on one of the most significant and comprehensive set of enhancements to Andar in recent times. On January 28th, 2009, release 2009.01 will be available for download.

Included in the January release is a new Content Management System (CMS) that allows our customers to build their entire web site directly in Andar. Tracking of constituent's web pages viewed and interests is automatic and updated live on their Andar account. Sharing of content through popular social networks such as Facebook is also tracked within Andar. The easy-to-use interface can also be used to build e-newsletter articles, and enhancements to the newsletter subscription module make e-mail blasting an easy one-click function. The new United Way of America "Live United" branding has been included in Andar as an easy look-and-feel web-option.

The campaign monitoring report has been revamped to use the customizable column feature currently used in the transaction register report. This will allow our customers to pick and choose which columns will appear in the report.

The Andar Community Building module has been enhanced to include year-over-year community indicator tracking and reporting. Also, the program allocation information can now be rolled-up to the agency level for a quick-summary view. Forms and surveys have also been enhanced to allow customization of font sizes and other viewing attributes.

Perhaps the most extensive list of enhancements are those pertaining to the Major Individual Gift (MIG) module. These include the import of analytics data from QBase Inc., into a new sub-tab of account attributes. This data can be displayed on the account dashboard and can be data mined. Helix is also releasing the ability to define Step-Up programs within Andar. These programs will automate the tracking of donors from year to year as they progress towards a leadership giving level.

The MIG enhancements also include the tracking of expectancy gifts. These, often called "fuzzy" gifts, are entered by resource development staff without the strict requirements of the finance department. Both the expectancy gifts and the regular financial transaction will support multiple gift relationships. These relationships are intended to provide additional thank you letters, foundation gift tracking, solicitor recognition, improved memorial gift tracking, etc. Giving totals will appear on all accounts related to these gifts. The thank you letter process has also been enhanced so users can predefine their thank you letter codes and build fast and easy selection lists for heads-down transaction entry staff. Additionally, billing schedules have been enhanced so that donors can specify not only the date of future billings but also the specific payment amounts for each billing date.

A key factor in the successful implementation of a CRM strategy involves the definition and execution of workflows throughout the organization. To support this endeavor, Helix is releasing, as part of MIG, workflow definition enhancements to the Plans feature of Andar/360. These enhancements include the ability to define dependencies and actions between tasks so that, for example, a task can only begin either once all tasks in a group are completed, or after any one task in a group completes. Custom decision points can also be defined to direct the workflow towards specific tasks. Other related enhancements include the ability to automatically link tasks, surveys, communications, and prospect touch points. This linking eliminates the need for users to navigate from one area of the software to another. Instead, upon completing a task of a plan, the user can automatically be taken to the appropriate window to complete a survey, a communication entry and/or enter touch points for an account. This sets the stage for additional workflow enhancements to further automate common business processes.

Helix continues to incorporate web technologies into Andar/360. As such, we have included in MIG the ability to display live RSS news feeds on constituent account dashboards. This means that upon viewing an account in Andar/360, users can be presented with a list of news articles live from Google or Yahoo that pertain specifically to the account. This will play an important role in the implementation of CRM.

Helix has also started the implementation of a new, more powerful, filtering feature that can be applied to lists (spreadsheet screens) within Andar. Filtering and sorting preferences will be automatically saved for each list and each user of Andar.

This press release highlights only the most significant of enhancements, the detailed notes accompanying the release offers the complete list. For additional information, please contact Helix at 1-877-479-3780 x303.

Prospecting Strategies

With Andar, you can assign different prospect codes to your constituents. For each code, you can customize your Move Management strategy (how you "move" your constituents through your formal development process). For example, you could have a "Major Gift" code as well as a "Volunteer" code, each with different strategies. Each code should have custom ratings for linkage, ability, and interest because, for example, their ability to give may be rated very differently than their ability to volunteer.

Each prospect code can also have custom "Move States" or stages of development. While your "Major Gift" code could have states such as Identification, Research, Cultivation, Solicitation, Stewardship, etc., your "Volunteer" code should probably have states such as Identification, Recruiting, Screening, Training, Volunteering, etc. With Andar, you could even have a more focused "Planned Gift" code for very specific constituents to track stages such as Education, Consultation, Proposal, Decision, Committed, etc.

Andar's prospecting features can also assist you in "Moving" a constituent from one state to another by assigning points to each action or "touches" and suggesting a required number of points for each state. For example, a telephone call from a volunteer may be worth 2 points while a telephone call from an executive may be worth 5 points. You may then, for example, setup your "Solicitation" state to require 15 points so that Andar will recommend "moves" at the appropriate time. Andar's dashboards, data mining, and reports will keep you on top of your progress.

As you can see, developing your strategy is a very critical first step. This type of formal strategy will give you the ability to manage your critical relationships more effectively.

Web 2.0 Integration Being Developed

Helix is pleased to announce that it intends to release a Web 2.0 Content Management System that is fully integrated into Andar/360. Helix intends to release this new module in early 2009. This module will be provided to all e-Community Suite users of Andar at no additional charge. Andar's e-Community Suite is the base product utilized by e-Pledge, i-Attend, Community Building, e-Volunteer, and others. "Helix sees the need for nonprofits to build fully integrated Web-2.0-enabled web sites in order to collaborate and build social-networks online. Because it is such a critical function, we have decided to include it in our e-Community Suite at no additional cost to our customers." said Real Bedard, Vice President at Helix. "This is a vision that Helix has had for many years and all of the online development that we've delivered over the past years has been focussed on this path of higher level integration. Your organization's entire web site can be migrated to Andar to finally provide one consistent branding strategy for all your online functions."

The new content management system will initially provide two mission critical functions. First, it will allow our Andar customers to build articles (aka web pages) using a simple, MSWord-like interface. You will no longer need a web developer to build your web pages. Each article will have interest ratings so that, as your constituents read these articles online, their Andar account will be updated with these interest ratings. Andar will track how often each article is read and by whom.

Second, articles can be grouped into newsletters that are not only viewable on your Andar e-Community web site but can also be e-mailed to all constituents in a mailing list. e-Newsletter readership will automatically be tracked in Andar. Also, from your constituent's account in Andar, you'll be able to see what e-newsletter they read, what articles they clicked on, etc. Andar will track and report on the status of e-newsletter distributions including readership counts and click-through counts. This new function will eliminate the need for third party e-mail products.

With this module, Andar's e-Community Suite will be positioned to implement many other Web 2.0 features. Your constituents will soon be able to add their personal comments to articles, e-mail articles to friends, follow your organization through RSS or Twitter, and add Andar e-Community applications to their blog or facebook page.

The Name Andar

Where does the name Andar come from? It is not an acronym or a combination of the names of the owners Andre Marcil and Real Bedard. When Helix first started, we built a CASE tool and called it Andar. We later reused the name for our nonprofit software that you now know. Originally, when looking for a name for our CASE tool, way back when the Internet was an unknown desert, we used a trademark search firm to ensure the name was not used. Because our CASE tool was intended for programmers we ordered a search for the name "Andor" as in the logical operators "and" and "or". This name was taken but by changing one letter the name "Andar" was born. Much later, we found out that, in Spanish, Andar means to walk or stroll.