IT Action Plan
Draft: 02/10/2006
SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
1.0 IT Action Plan Overview
1.1 Executive Summary
The purpose the IT Action Plan is to align internal IT efforts with the mission, vision and
objectives as set forth in the SCORE strategic plan and to define a roadmap over the next
three years for IT initiatives.
The IT Action Plan focuses is constructed around each of the pillars as identified in the
SCORE strategic plan (organizational effectiveness, volunteer / leadership development,
identity, funding, service and client satisfaction, and diversity) and focuses on how
technology will help accomplish SCORE’s mission.
The IT Action Plan focuses on five primary goals over the next three years. These goals
include:
Goal 1.
Goal 2.
Goal 3.
Goal 4.
Goal 5.
Provide tools to counselors to help improve the quality of counseling
Utilize technology to reach out to underserved populations and specialized
market segments
Use IT to ease administrative burdens and extend technology to enhance
chapter operations
Integrate technology systems within SCORE in order to share and
maximize information effectively
Leverage technology to make it easier for SCORE clients to access
products and services
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
1.2 Defining IT Objectives by Pillar
SCORE’s IT Action Plan is organized around the six primary pillars of activity, including
organizational effectiveness, volunteer and leadership development, identity, funding,
quality and client satisfaction and diversity. Embedded within each pillar are IT goals
and initiatives that will be implemented over the next several years in order to assist in
the achievement of the organization’s strategic plan.
Mission
Element Element Element
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Diversity
Identity
Element Element Element
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Service &
Client
Satisfaction
Volunteer &
Leadership
Development
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Funding
Organizational
Effectiveness
Vision
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CorporateValues&
Identity
The IT Action Plan was developed based on input received from a group of volunteers
that make up the technology advisory group. The plan assumes that the role of IT is that
of an enabler and accelerator of the organization’s overarching strategic plans.
Self-Service
Consumer
Demand
Chapter
Management
E-Business
Globalizatio
n&
Localization
Client Needs
Technology
Growth
LEARN
Knowledge
Capture
Service
Economy
How does technology meet the needs of our
environment & enable adaptation?
How does technology further the
mission and goals of SCORE?
ALIGN
How does technology further
the SCORE Strategic Plan?
Technology
Technology
Implementation
Enablement
ACTION
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
2.0 Information Technology Goals
2.1 Goals and Initiatives
SCORE will adopt five primary goals as part of its IT action plan. An overview of the
goals is provided below. Related to each goal is a series of initiatives that will be
undertaken in order to meet the stated goals.
Goal 1.
Goal 2.
Goal 3.
Goal 4.
Goal 5.
Provide tools to counselors to help increase the quality of counseling
Utilize technology to reach out to underserved populations and specialized
market segments
Use IT to ease administrative burdens and extend technology to enhance
chapter operations
Integrate technology systems within SCORE in order to share and
maximize information effectively
Leverage technology to make it easier for clients to access SCORE
products and services
Goal 1: Provide tools to counselors to help increase the quality of
counseling
Initiative 1: Implement a standards management system in order to assist chapters
in meeting minimum standards and criteria of excellence
As SCORE begins setting standards and criteria to foster quality within the organization,
a technology platform will be developed to support these efforts. The enterprise wide
resource management system will enable chapters to submit data to demonstrate
compliance with standards and to view the status of the review process.
Initiative 2: Create online communities by industry segment and/or function
SCORE hopes to capitalize on the expertise of its counselor community and to offer a
place where counselors can congregate by interest. As an example, a community could
be designed for clients interested in starting a restaurant. Alternatively, a community
could also be more horizontal and cut across different categories (e.g. internet marketing,
public relations, etc…). Each online community will be assigned a moderator who will
coordinate the activities of the community. Additionally, listserv data and online
meetings will be indexed and made available to volunteers through the online volunteer
center. The goal of the online communities is to serve as a learning tool for SCORE
counselors by giving them opportunities to participate in a specific practice.
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
Initiative 3: Create an integrated online performance management and volunteer
recognition system
Ensuring the quality of counseling is critical to the continued success of SCORE.
Recently, SCORE launched its minimum standards and is currently working on criteria
for excellence. In support of these efforts, a quality tracking program will be developed
in order to assist in collecting performance information related to the standards and to
also provide chapters tools to assist in tracking local quality improvement programs. As
part of this initiative, standard survey instruments will be developed as baseline tools for
chapters (e.g. survey to track client satisfaction, counselor termination, counselor signup). All data collected will be made available to decision makers at all levels within the
organization (e.g. district directors and chapter chairs) via a web portal.
Additionally, SCORE will automatically utilize this performance data for real-time “top
gun” recognition. Chapters and volunteers will be automatically recognized on the
volunteer center for their efforts (e.g. highest amount of cases by population, most
existing business clients, etc…).
Initiative 4: Create systems to capture knowledge and allow for access
Capturing data and re-using it is a center point of the IT action plan. Part of this system
will be used for sharing ideas on how to increase diversity at the chapter level but will
also be used to catalog best practices, workshop materials, online workshops, as well as
online cyber counseling sessions. This initiative seeks to move knowledge that is
currently not readily searched into an explicit format so that it can be used by other
volunteers to assist in their counseling efforts. As an example, a counselor may log into
the volunteer center and review old cases related to restaurant startups in order to find
additional information that may be of value to their client. By making this data available
online, SCORE can foster peer-learning and provide additional tools to volunteers to aid
in the counseling process.
Initiative 5: Create an online volunteer development center
An important aspect of ensuring that SCORE can continue to offer quality counseling is
to develop a system for continuous learning among its volunteer corp. SCORE proposes
the development of an online learning program that will deliver knowledge to all
volunteers about the counseling process and other educational topics.
In addition to training on SCORE operations, as SCORE develops its technology
infrastructure, training will be a critical component to its success. While ensuring a
certain level of technological skill in the recruitment process is useful, we will also offer
training materials and online workshops to chapters to assist them in the development of
volunteers in specific areas such as business planning, SBA lending, government
contracting and other basic competencies (e.g. computer applications such as WebIt and
Microsoft Office. The goal is to ensure that SCORE counselors stay updated in their
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
skills and to empower them to provide the level of service and expertise necessary to
assist clients thrive in a complex marketplace.
Goal 2: Utilize technology to reach out to underserved populations
Initiative 1: Ensure that all client facing IT systems are accessible in several
different languages
Ensuring access to SCORE systems is critical to ensuring that SCORE’s services are
available to those who do not speak English as a primary language. Today, the systems
employed by SCORE make no accommodation for other languages. As part of the IT
action plan, all client facing systems websites and forms will support various selected
languages.
Initiative 2: Utilize online communities to reach out to underserved populations
SCORE is continuing to expand its use of technology to reach out to various segments of
the population that are not easily served through traditional face to face counseling.
SCORE will undertake an effort to launch virtual communities aimed at serving
underserved populations.
In SCORE’s efforts to continue to reach out to underserved populations, SCORE will be
developing virtual communities to bring together business owners with common interests
that may not come to SCORE through traditional means. For instance, SCORE may
create a virtual community for Asian business owners or for those business owners with
visual or hearing impairments. These communities would not only gather expert advice
from their SCORE counselor but would also cultivate cross-client relationships.
As part of this initiative, volunteers will be sought to fill leadership positions within each
of the sections. Besides moderating listservs, the moderator will also setup a series of
online seminars throughout the year that will focus on helping minority business owners
(e.g. government contracting).
Initiative 3: Develop a “lessons learned” library on diversity
Tying closely with item #2, a database will be established where section leaders can share
lessons learned with other organizational leaders and volunteers. This will include a
library of online sessions that can be reviewed by the chapters for fostering innovation in
how to increase diversity at the chapter level.
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
Goal 3: Use IT to ease administrative burdens and extend technology
to enhance chapter operations
Initiative 1: Redesign cyber counseling and integrate into national reporting systems
The cyber counseling system today accounts for over 30% of SCORE’s counseling
sessions. The initiative to redesign and integrate the system will occur in a two step
process. The first step is an intermediate step necessary to build a bridge between the
cyber counseling systems and national reporting systems. Making these systems
interoperable will be an imperative first step in ensuring that the data is normalized
between the two systems. The goal of this integration is to reduce administrative burdens
on cyber counselors and to increase the number of reported sessions.
As part of the resource management system implementation in 2006, the cyber
counseling system will also be redeveloped. The new system will feature an enhanced
client and counselor matching system, IM real-time counseling, and a session knowledge
capture system. The goal of the session knowledge capture system is to gather all data
from the counseling session and store it in a database. In a later phase of the project, this
knowledge database will be integrated into our volunteer portal and will be made
searchable so counselors can conduct research on how other counselors handled similar
cases. The goal is to use technology to capture knowledge and leverage its reuse in order
to increase the quality of counseling that SCORE provides.
Initiative 2: Create an enterprise wide resource management system and chapter
management infrastructure
At the center of SCORE’s technology plan is the implementation of a resource
management system that will serve as a central repository for all data within the
organization. This system will become the primary tool by which SCORE manages its
business and will eventually replace all internal databases (WebIt, EDMIS, web content
management system, and the volunteer management database system). Initially, the
system will be utilized by SCORE staff for managing all back-office functions and will
later be extended out to all chapters.
The tools provided by the resource management system will be made available at the
national level to track all organizational activities and at the local level to provide a
common toolset for chapter management. As an example, at the national level, the
resource management system will allow staff to manage all information related to
tracking contact information, fundraising, meetings and workshop registration, list
marketing, committee management, and web content. However, a modified view of the
software will empower local chapters with similar tools that will allow them to manage
their own chapter committees, counseling reports, local lists, new member applications,
local fundraising efforts, volunteer roster data, and local website content.
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
Goal 4: Integrate technology systems within SCORE in order to share
and maximize information effectively
Initiative 1: SCORE dashboard and single-sign on
SCORE will redesign it’s website around the new content management system so that it
is integrated into the central resource management system. This will allow volunteers to
access all of SCORE’s resources through one sign-on. This project will evolve over time
but will eventually contain local and national information as well as resources that the
volunteer can use to assist in counseling clients. Additionally, this dashboard will
contain a searchable index of best practices that the SCORE community can update and
share.
Initiative 2: Integrate national and chapter websites and tools
As part of the effort to integrate systems and normalize information flow within the
organization, the new resource management system will utilize a content management
system that will be made available for the national and chapter websites. The national
website will be redesigned around the new content management system and will be made
available to local chapters to use the same system to mange content of their own sites.
The result will be that local information can be displayed on the SCORE volunteer
dashboard depending on where the volunteer is from and national information can be
displayed on local websites in real-time.
A second part of this initiative will be the development of a national volunteer registry.
This system will create consistency among all chapter volunteer directories and the cyber
counseling system. Currently, each chapter maintains their own listing of qualifications,
skills and industry experience of each volunteer. This initiative would create one system
that each volunteer would manage themselves and would contain their bio, skills,
experiences and contact information. This registry will be available to the local chapter
for allowing clients to view counselor qualifications and for counselors to look-up for
transfers. Additionally, this same list would be utilized for cyber counseling request so
that clients could choose either in-person counseling close to them (by geography) or
counselors that match closely by skill set (if the counselor chooses to cyber counsel).
A third aspect of this project will focus on the creation of an online centralized recruiting
system. Currently, chapters conduct their own recruiting at the local level. SCORE will
implement a national reporting tool on the website, where people who are interested in
volunteers can either come to the local chapter website or the national website and be
referred to the appropriate chapter for follow-up.
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
Initiative 3: Update existing financial management systems and integrate for
seamless financial reporting
Currently, SCORE’s financial systems and data systems do not interoperate. However,
opportunities exist for being able to capture financial data directly from the chapters and
have that data automatically transferred into the financial management system. As
SCORE implements its resource management system, integrated accounts receivable
(AR) and fundraising management tool will be made available that will allow SCORE to
integrate its national and chapter financial reporting systems. For example, local gifts
received by the chapter would be entered into their chapter management system and
automatically transmitted to the national office. By centralizing this data, the national
staff will also ensure that national level and local level fundraising efforts are aligned.
Goal 5: Leverage technology to make it easier for clients to access
SCORE products and services
Initiative 1: Create a single client sign-on that grants access to all local and national
resources
SCORE will offer a client portal that will allow them access to all SCORE resources
through one central point. This will enable clients to request face-to-face or cyber
counseling, view their past counseling history, participate in online team counseling, sign
up for local workshops, participate in virtual communities, and to access other national
and local resources based on the client’s stated interest. While the client may be served
by any of SCORE’s nearly 400 chapters, the online experience remains the same and
enables the client to easily access all of SCORE’s products and services. Additionally,
this portal will allow SCORE to automatically cross-market services and products to
clients. As an example, the client who is returning to follow-up on a counseling request
can see which local workshops are available and register online. Follow-up emails (based
on zip codes) will allow for emails to be generated to specific client with local chapter
product offerings (e.g. local workshops and events).
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
2.2 Expected Key Benefits Summary
The following table provides a summary of all IT goals and the expected key benefits
related to each proposed initiative:
IT Goal
Related Initiative
Implement a standards
management system in order
to assist chapters in meeting
minimum standards and
criteria of excellence
Code
Expected Key Benefits
-
1.1
-
Create online communities by
industry segment and/or
function
1.2
-
Provide tools to
counselors to help
increase the quality of
counseling
Create an integrated online
performance management
and volunteer recognition
system
1.3
-
Create systems to capture
knowledge and allow for
access
1.4
-
Create an online volunteer
development center
1.5
-
Chapters will be able to submit
documentation online by standards
Chapters can view the status of their
accreditation online
Allow counselors to ask questions to
other counselors with relevant
experience
Clients can communicate with
counselors and other clients in a public
forum (bulletin board)
Online workshops targeted towards
specific segments
Ability for counselors to search through
historical messages (index)
Scheduled online community counseling
Chapters can enter goals, track real-time
performance to their goals, and trend
against past performance.
Real-time access to performance goals
and current status (chapter chairs and
district directors).
Automatic weekly / monthly recognition
of chapters for successes
Ability to research past cases by
keyword to learn about how other similar
cases have been handled
Chapters will have real-time access to
share data with national (and vice versa)
Foster innovation by sharing best
practices between counselors / chapters
Volunteers will be able to log in online
and access orientation programs and
other special topics
Volunteers will be able to access a
training program that counts towards a
certification
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
Ensure that all client facing IT
systems are accessible in
several different languages
2.1
Utilize technology to
reach out to
underserved
populations and
specialized segments
Utilize online communities to
reach out to underserved
populations
2.2
-
Develop a "lessons learned"
library on diversity
Redesign cyber counseling
and integrate into national
reporting systems
Integrate technology
systems within SORE
in order to share and
maximize information
effectively
2.3
3.1
-
Create an enterprise wide
resource management
system and chapter
management infrastructure
3.2
-
Implement a SCORE singlesign on dashboard
Use IT to ease
administrative
burdens and extend
technology to
enhance chapter
operations
Leverage technology
to make it easier for
clients to access
SCORE products and
services
4.1
-
Integrate national and chapter
websites and tools
4.2
Update existing financial
management systems and
integrate for seamless
financial reporting
-
4.3
-
Create a single client sign-on
that grants access to all local
and national resources
5.1
-
Clients will be able to submit their
request for counseling in multiple
languages or login into the national
website and select the language they
wish to use
Clients can communicate with
counselors and other clients in a public
forum (bulletin board)
Online workshops targeted towards
specific communities
Ability for counselors to search through
historical messages (index)
Scheduled online community counseling
Volunteers can view ideas submitted by
other chapters about diversity outreach
efforts they have employed and found to
be successful in order to support
innovation in diversity
Cyber counselors will have their new
cases reported automatically
Allow chapter administrators to see and
report on cyber counseling activity
One common data system for volunteers,
clients and staff
All chapters will receive the same set of
system features (same as national)
One central point for upgrades and
enhancements
Features: contact management,
workshop registration, scheduling,
committee management, marketing,
fundraising, and more
Volunteers will login to one place to
access all organizational resources
Customized information based on
organizational role
Ability to update your own information
One common content management
system for all websites
Single point for all upgrades
Ability to share national and local content
Ability to share fundraising information
between local and national
Ability to automatically report income
(detailed) to the national office
One place for clients to access all
SCORE resources (local and national)
Ability to cross-market client services
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
2.3 Goals and Initiatives Summary
The following table provides a summary of all IT goals, their relationships to SCORE’s
strategic plan and a listing of the relative importance of each proposed initiative:
Pillar
Volunteer & Leadership
Development
IT Goal
Related Initiative
Code
Implement a standards
management system in order to
assist chapters in meeting
1.1
minimum standards and criteria
of excellence
Create online communities by
industry segment and/or
1.2
function
Provide tools to counselors to help increase
the quality of counseling
Create an integrated online
performance management and
volunteer recognition system
Create systems to capture
knowledge and allow for access
Diversity
Organizational
Effectiveness
Organizational
Effectiveness, Funding,
Identity
Service & Client
Satisfaction
Utilize technology to reach out to
underserved populations and specialized
segments
Integrate technology systems within SORE
in order to share and maximize information
effectively
Use IT to ease administrative burdens and
extend technology to enhance chapter
operations
Leverage technology to make it easier for
clients to access SCORE products and
services
Create an online volunteer
development center
Ensure that all client facing IT
systems are accessible in
several different languages
Utilize online communities to
reach out to underserved
populations
Develop a "lessons learned"
library on diversity
Redesign cyber counseling and
integrate into national reporting
systems
Create an enterprise wide
resource management system
and chapter management
infrastructure
Implement a SCORE singlesign on dashboard
Integrate national and chapter
websites and tools
Update existing financial
management systems and
integrate for seamless financial
reporting
Create a single client sign-on
that grants access to all local
and national resources
Priority
Low
Low
1.3
High
1.4
Medium
1.5
High
2.1
Medium
2.2
High
2.3
Low
3.1
High
3.2
High
4.1
Medium
4.2
Low
4.3
Medium
5.1
High
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
3.0 Prioritization & Execution
3.1 Prioritization
Based on the table located on page12, a prioritization chart was constructed that
evaluated the difficulty to complete the proposed IT initiatives relative to the benefit that
they would provide to SCORE. Please reference the index numbers in the column
labeled “Code” to match to the following graph.
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
3.2 Execution Phases
The following graph illustrates the projected path for project implementation based on
priority of the initiatives. For ease of illustration, the items have been listed in terms of a
three year plan.
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
4.0 Glossary
Content management system: system that allows you to enter content for your website.
Dashboard: refers to an online portal that provides data in one place
Enterprise Wide Resource Management System: an online system that is used by all
chapters and the national office to manage client and volunteer data. This system is the
core of all SCORE systems and serves as the common system for all chapter management
functions. Key components include:
-
Client / volunteer entry
Case management integration (WebIt to be integrated)
Committee management
Fundraising management
Meeting management
Client Portal: refers to a password protected site where clients can log in and have
access to all resources that SCORE offers, including:
- Ability to find a counselor (cyber or physical chapter): by interest or zip
- View past case history with counselor
- Locate chapter workshops and upcoming events
- National resources (e.g. sample business plans, etc…)
Cyber Counseling: refers to the online counseling system that is available at
www.score.org.
EDMIS: see national reporting
National Reporting: refers to the system used to collect 641, 888, and form 5 data from
the chapter regarding volunteer hours. EDMIS refer to the data items collected on behalf
of the SBA. WebIt refers to the preferred front-end system that SCORE uses for chapter
reporting.
Online communities: a website that allows an individual to enter into an online forum
where they can have access message boards, training materials, and group counseling
sessions.
Performance management system: a password protected website that allows chapter
and district leadership the ability to enter goals and then subsequently log back into the
website to see how the chapter or district is performing against those stated goals.
Volunteer Management Database: the current access based system that the National
office uses to manage all volunteer data.
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SCORE
Information Technology Action Plan
Volunteer Portal: refers to a password protected site where volunteers can log in and
have access to all of their local and national information. Functionality includes:
- Ability to change contact information
- Access to scheduling
- Search best practices database
- Search past counseling history data
- Manage client cases (cyber and face to face)
- Local chapter news
- National news
WebIt: see national reporting
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