Projects

Iknow’s approach for completing the scope of work consisted of the following five tasks:

1. Onsite interviews with key DEW staff.
2. Analysis of the existing forecasting Excel spreadsheet.
3. Review of the DEW’s forecasting-related reports.
4. Review of documents received from Iknow’s data requests.
5. Analysis of a representative set of historical expense profiles for grant contracts.

Iknow conducted ten in-person interviews with the DEW’s finance and executive staff and reviewed the DEW’s forecasting business process, data sources, assumptions, and tools.

Iknow discovered that the variability in the current financial forecasts was caused by two primary factors:

1. Lack of appropriate models. The forecasting tools did not adequately characterize the DEW’s expected future revenue and expense streams.
2. Incorrect simplifying assumptions. Several simplifying assumptions used in the current forecasting spreadsheet contributed to the large variances in the forecasts.

Iknow also found that the current financial forecasting processes and tools could be improved by making explicit the financial modeling assumptions, incorporating more sophisticated modeling approaches, documenting the forecasting business process, and using better software tools.

Lastly, Iknow researched commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) forecasting/financial modeling/business intelligence (BI) software products and provided four product recommendations to the Chief Financial Officer.

Iknow summarized its analyses and findings in a written final report. The final report contained a series of recommended next steps.

The goals of this initial project were to conduct a knowledge management current-state assessment and to develop a set of recommendations for applying knowledge management principles and practices to SPS’s core business processes.

Iknow started the assignment by conducting interviews with most of the executive and senior administrative staff during the first month. Iknow prepared and used customized interview guides to structure the interviews and prepared detailed interview summaries to capture the information that was shared.

Following the interviews, Iknow performed a set of diagnostic analyses, leveraged its partnership with the APQC to access relevant knowledge management benchmarking and best practices resources, and drew upon its extensive knowledge of the KM and ECM software market to prepare the project deliverables.

Iknow prepared four primary deliverables:

1. Various activities and events to raise KM awareness,
2. KM current-state assessment,
3. Technology recommendations for a KM system, and
4. KM implementation roadmap.

Iknow conducted several activities and events to raise KM awareness. For example, Iknow researched and selected the top articles about KM initiatives in K-12 education from the APQC KM repository and distributed them to the SPS executive team. Iknow conducted a half-day seminar titled Learning Organizations and Education. Some of the specific topics covered in the workshop included Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, covering team learning, shared vision, mental models, personal mastery, and systems thinking; organizational learning versus Learning Organizations; double-loop learning with leadership and cultural implications; and the APQC’s Master Planning for Innovation (MPI).

The second major project deliverable was the KM current-state assessment. The primary purpose of this assessment was to gather enough information so that the KM implementation roadmap could be developed from a solid base of facts. The KM current-state assessment also provided a baseline for measuring future improvements.

The third major project deliverable was recommendations on suitable technologies for the SPS KM system. The scope of work for the project did not include a detailed evaluation of knowledge management-related software products. Therefore, Iknow prepared this deliverable based on the findings from the current-state assessment and on the evaluations of software products that Iknow had completed during previous assignments.

Iknow recommended that SPS invest in four foundational software products, based on the business needs that surfaced during the current-state assessment. The four products were an enterprise content management (ECM) product, a business intelligence (BI) product, an image capture (scanning) and optical character recognition (OCR) product, and a commercial taxonomy product covering the K-12 education domain. The BI tool included data mining and discovery, data analytics, data visualization, and statistical analysis functionality.

The last major project deliverable was the KM implementation roadmap. Iknow recommended a roadmap that consisted of three parts:

1. Define and adopt a vision statement for KM at SPS,
2. Develop a KM strategy by leveraging the APQC KM Capability Maturity Model, and
3. Implement a portfolio of projects (work streams) that will design and develop the foundation for SPS’s KM System. The foundation includes KM policy, governance, business process, and technology infrastructure.

The objectives of the taxonomy workshop were to provide:

• A critique of the division’s current taxonomy development roadmap,
• Guidance on creating a forward-looking taxonomy, and
• Best practices for classifying content in the pharmaceutical industry.

Preparation for the workshop started several weeks prior to the workshop date. Iknow’s initial step was to prepare and submit a data request for information about the company’s existing taxonomies, its taxonomy development plans, and use of text mining and autoclassification tools. The pharmaceutical company provided the information. In all, Iknow reviewed over a dozen documents, including:

• Current-state assessment of the division’s taxonomy development,
• Description of the major taxonomy-related initiatives for the past five years,
• The company's future-state vision for a new knowledge management KM platform, and
• Requirements documentation on the future-state KM platform.

Iknow then identified several of the division's KM team members for interviews, development a detailed interview guide, and scheduled and conducted telephone interviews to ask questions about the information in the initial data request and to gather additional information. Specifically, the interviews provided further insights about the KM landscape, user satisfaction with the current KM platform, and potential opportunities for improvement.

Based on the initial data request and the findings from the interviews, Iknow drafted an agenda for the taxonomy workshop. The agenda included the following topics:

• Assessment of the existing taxonomies
• Methodology for taxonomy creation and application, including a number of “deep dives” into the following practical aspects:
  • How to apply text analysis to identify terms and concepts to include in the taxonomy
  • How to harmonize taxonomies created by disparate business units, functions, and departments
  • How to merge repositories that contain similar document types and subject matter
  • How to apply new taxonomy terms to existing content
  • How to integrate existing enterprise data into the knowledge management platform
  • How to perform autoclassification incorporating taxonomy and ontology models.
• Next steps

After a few refinements to the agenda and subsequent signoff, Iknow developed the workshop presentation materials and several case study examples.

Iknow delivered the half-day workshop to the manufacturing division's KM team and other key staff. The workshop was engaging and highly interactive. The staff benefitted from seeing actual taxonomies and taxonomy-embedded applications developed by Iknow for other Iknow clients.

In addition to the workshop, Iknow prepared a sixty-page written summary report. The summary document contained highlights from the workshop, a taxonomy development roadmap, and next steps.

Iknow conducted requirements sessions to identify and document the system’s desired functionality. Key system capabilities included:

• Real-time monitoring of content deliveries and article counts.
• Dynamic alarm methodology based on the historical publication and delivery patterns for each source.
• Multiple views of the data for reporting at the individual staff level, center level, and Group level.
• Predictive analysis.

Iknow prepared a business requirements document that included detailed written descriptions of the functionality of every proposed dashboard. The requirements document also included detailed wire frames that illustrated how the data would be displayed on each dashboard.

Iknow designed and implemented the following alerting logic:

1. Pattern discovery for historical content. Iknow analyzed the historical data for content arrivals and developed algorithms for determining the “best fit” patterns. More than 775 patterns were identified and assigned to the content sources. Patterns were grouped into “day of the week” patterns (e.g., Monday/Wednesday/Friday); “calendar date” patterns (e.g., arrivals occurred on the 5th and 20th days of every month); and “longer period” patterns (e.g., quarterly or semiannually). The average arrival times, article quantities for each delivery date, statistical metrics (e.g., standard deviations), and altering thresholds were also calculated from the historical data.
2. Delivery expectations for a specific date. Iknow developed an expected delivery calculation engine that generates a list of the expected content deliveries for a given date. The engine uses the identified arrival pattern for each source and creates a list of the expected arrivals.
3. Alerting. Iknow developed a real-time alerting engine that notifies a Content Operations Specialist when an individual content delivery assigned to him or her falls outside of one or more of its expected thresholds. Specifically, the system monitors each content delivery expected on that date and creates alerts for lateness (which includes missing deliveries), quantity deviations that fall outside of the high- and low-volume thresholds, and other types of delivery problems.

The historical delivery patterns for each source are updated daily. The expected deliveries for the next day are calculated late in the day on the previous day. The alerting engine compares expected deliveries with actual deliveries every 1 to 2 minutes.

Iknow performed the following tasks:

• Conducted multiple requirements gathering sessions with Content Operations personnel.
• Developed Content Operations-specific use cases.
• Identified and cataloged the source data elements.
• Defined the calculated variables.
• Developed and refined the statistical methodology for calculating late content deliveries.
• Developed the monitoring and alerting logic.
• Developed sketches, wire frames, and mockups of dashboard designs.
• Architected, designed, and built the BI universe.
• Architected, designed, and built the new database and database applications.
• Architected, designed, and built the 12 dashboards.
• Conducted user acceptance testing and refined the dashboards based on user feedback.
• Prepared a user guide.
• Conducted end-user training.

The monitoring and alerting system was implemented using SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) Platform and Microsoft SQL Server. The primary products used from the SAP BI Platform were Dashboards, Web Intelligence, and Universe. The core features deployed were reporting, interactive analysis, dashboards and visualization, data exploration, and advanced analytics.

The new system was deployed on a virtual private cloud (VPC) environment, hosted at Amazon Web Services, and custom data and application integration was implemented between AWS and the company’s secure data centers. SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) was used to perform data extraction, transformation, and load (ETL) steps.

Iknow’s primary deliverable was the design and development of customized dashboards for Content Operations end users, including the underlying solution logic, algorithms, and databases. Other deliverables included installing, configuring, and testing the SAP Business Intelligence Platform, integrating the new system with the company’s existing databases and applications, preparing the user guide, and delivering end-user training.

Two screen shots from the system are presented below. The first screen shot shows the late and missing content deliveries based on their expected arrival times.

Today's Activitiy Dashboard

The second screen shot shows the actual delivery performance for a specific source.

Source Detail Dashboard

Iknow followed an agile software development approach, consisting of the following main phases:

• Requirements gathering, including detailed interviews with more than 50 internal staff and the staff of its implementing partners, and compilation of initial user stories
• High-level solution design including data architecture, key interfaces, security, integration with existing IT infrastructure, and cloud-hosting strategy
• Development of new functionality based on the user stories including weekly build and testing cycles
• Data migration procedure development and testing
• User training development and rollout
• Three phases of field testing, including software fixes, as required.

The key deliverables were the two new web applications:

• An upgraded case management system for child protection, including case management and monitoring for gender-based violence.
• A new system for monitoring and reporting violations against children in conflict or other emergency situations.

Some of the additional deliverables included data migration from the old systems to the new, field testing, a training plan, and rollout to users.

Iknow cataloged and documented all of the major components of the Content Acquisition & Enrichment Platform. The team prepared detailed text descriptions and IDEF0 functional models for 46 major system components.

Iknow approached the project by assigning its project team members to major functional areas of the platform. Each Iknow consultant conducted dozens of one-on-one and group interviews. Using a variety of elucidative techniques, the information was obtained from the individual technical experts, captured on paper, and then converted into electronic formats.

An example of an information flow map is shown in the exhibit below.

Example of an Information Flow Map

Iknow began by conducting a thorough baseline assessment of current business process performance in the identified areas, using a combination of interviews and results of previous internal studies. This assessment yielded many potential improvements across all areas. For example, we found redundant process steps, lengthy review and approval processes, and opportunities for “lightening” controls on certain types of work, especially those dealing with low-value/high-transaction volume activities.

We then developed a methodology and selected specific tools for performing a more detailed analysis of the business processes. The tools included:

• Process flow mapping, using the IDEF0 framework.
• Risk identification and mitigation, including ways to reduce burdensome control requirements.
• Improvement idea capture and evaluation templates, used to identify and evaluate ideas for addressing process complexity, long cycle times, and high costs.
• Analysis of the potential impacts of making the identified process changes on cycle time, cost, and risk level.

These tools were employed by each internal working group. Iknow supported the working groups with guidance, advice, and coaching.

Iknow designed and led a three-day workshop where the working groups presented and further refined their process improvement recommendations, discussed risk mitigation strategies, and identified cross-functional implementation issues. Iknow introduced relevant improvement ideas from other organizations to help guide the working groups in developing their recommendations and performance improvement targets. More than 40 representatives from the organization’s key functions and region/country operations participated.

In the final phase of the project, Iknow developed a standard template to summarize the working groups’ recommendations, impact, and key implementation steps. Iknow also summarized the high-level themes for reporting to senior management and documented the supporting activities and technology platforms necessary to enable the process improvements. Some examples of the supporting activities included training, performance management, accountability, and decision making. The final recommendations were presented to the organization’s executive leadership and approved.

Iknow used three primary methodologies on this assignment.

• Business Process Mapping. The objective of process mapping is to graphically illustrate the sequence of activities and tasks in a business process. We used the IDEF0 process mapping standard so that we could have a consistent way to display and interpret the processes. Iknow created more than 50 maps that covered the six core processes and one common subprocess. More than 220 individual process steps were characterized; maps with up to four levels of process decomposition were created.
   
• Value Stream Mapping (VSM). The objective of value stream mapping is to graphically illustrate “where” and “how much” important process metrics change in the process. For example, if an important metric is processing time, then the value stream map would show where processing time accrues throughout the process. If the important process metric is defects, then the value stream map would show where defects are occurring throughout the process. Iknow constructed 24 VSM maps for the DSS.
   
• Improvement Project Portfolio Evaluation and Optimization. The objective of creating a portfolio of improvement projects is to provide a structured approach for evaluating the improvement ideas that surface throughout the project. Each project is evaluated uniformly against a common set of criteria, such as return on investment, implementation speed, likelihood of success, and level of impact on certain groups of stakeholders.

More than 60 individual and group meetings were held. Business process mapping provided the following insights:

1. The core business processes varied significantly in terms of number of discrete, meaningful steps, from as few as 5 steps to as many as 58 steps. The Intake Process and the Annual Renewal Process were the most complicated processes based on the number of process steps.
2. The processes were primarily performed in serial; not many process activities were performed in parallel. Additionally, the number of handoffs between DSS staff was small, indicating a minimal number of process loops.

An example of a process flow map is illustrated in the exhibit below.

Process Flow Map - Intake Process (Top Level)

Value stream mapping provided the following insights:

1. Process lead times were highly variable and ranged from 4 days to 63 days across the 22 representative cases analyzed that covered the Intake, Periodic Report, and Annual Renewal processes. Process lead times ranged between 7 and 29 days.
2. Process lead times were longer when the case’s supporting documentation was missing and worker follow-up was needed to complete the case. Requesting supporting documentation from a client and the additional processing tasks added roughly 14 calendar days to the overall process lead time.
3. Based on an analysis of the processes, long process lead times were NOT correlated to case complexity.
4. The value-added times ranged between 8 minutes and 2 hours per case processed.

An example of a Value Stream Map is illustrated in the exhibit below.

Value Stream Map - Annual Renewal Process

Iknow produced the following primary deliverables:

• Current-state business process maps and VSM analysis
• Future-state design
• Portfolio of performance improvement ideas
• Recommendations
• Process improvement plan and roadmap

The Iknow/LexisNexis solution consisted of the following four major components:

1. Drupal™ Web Content Management System. The Drupal web content management system was used for all user interfaces and for all user-initiated functionality, such as allowing participating states to create reports, track usage, and perform single, batch, or XML searches for dual participation across the consortium states.
    
2. High Performance Computing Cluster (HPCC) Technology. This proven, open-source technology has been used to build numerous contributory databases. The HPCC systems architecture incorporates data refining and data delivery clusters, as well as common middleware components, an external communications layer, client interfaces for end-user services and system management tools, and auxiliary components to support monitoring and to facilitate loading and storing of data from external sources.
    
3. LexisNexis® Secure Data Cloud. This proven, secure, fully redundant environment hosts the NAC Portal. The LexisNexis Secure Data Cloud currently supports over 50 terabytes of data, billions of records, millions of daily transactions, and tens of thousands of active users.
    
4. Support, Training and Maintenance. The project included comprehensive support, training, and maintenance of the NAC Portal.

One of the key aspects that contributed to the project’s success was a three-day requirements session in Atlanta. Representatives from all five State governments, USDA/FNS, and LexisNexis attended. Iknow led the identification, discussion, and documentation of detailed business and technical requirements. The final output served as the "source of truth" for the entire solution development effort.

In addition to requirements collection and overall solution design, Iknow was responsible for the complete portal design, development, and deployment. Drupal, an open source web content management (WCM) platform, was selected as the portal's primary technology.

Iknow's project-related activities included:

• Application design and development,
• User interface design and development,
• Technical development project management,
• Design and development of all reporting functionality,
• Help documentation, online help, and help desk,
• Training, and
• Portal maintenance.

Iknow conducted this assignment by performing a portfolio of 11 discrete work streams:

• Content Audit
• SharePoint 2013 Configuration
• Taxonomy and Metadata Development
• Content Cleansing, Migration, and Enrichment
• Publication Strategy
• KM Current-State Assessment
• Business and Technical Requirements Collection
• KM Strategy
• KM Governance Policies and Practices Design
• Knowledge Capture and Retention Design
• KM Roadmap (includes KM Team Organizational Structure).

The project began with a detailed content audit of K.A.CARE’s current knowledge repositories and a broad assessment of the organization’s other knowledge resources, knowledge sharing behaviors, and barriers to effective knowledge management. Iknow then collected business and technical requirements, driven by a combination of face-to-face interviews with the organization’s management group and surveys across all departments and functional areas.

As part of the Taxonomy and Metadata Development work stream, Iknow developed an enterprise-wide taxonomy and metadata schema for classifying all aspects of the organization’s activities and documents. In parallel, we collected a range of deliverables from previous K.A.CARE projects and constructed a historical events timeline. This timeline served as the framework for capturing the organization’s institutional memory.

The first phase of the work concluded with a comprehensive strategy, detailed recommendations for the future-state KM policies, practices, metrics, and governance mechanisms, and a complete implementation roadmap.

Iknow produced more than 100 separate deliverables for K.A.CARE. Some of more important deliverables include:

• Content audit
• Current-state assessment that documented the current status of K.A.CARE’s knowledge management activities and established the baseline to measure future improvements
• Customized metadata schema, controlled vocabularies, and a hierarchical taxonomy with related terms
• Business and technical requirements
• Recommendations for KM governance policies and practices
• Single content repository implemented in Microsoft SharePoint 2013
• Several technical pilots including project team collaboration, enterprise content management, search, and an interactive timeline for institutional memory
• Initial set of finished K.A.CARE publications
• A comprehensive roadmap, with implementation priorities and ranked projects