Managing Information for Impact

NTEN

Nonprofit Tech Academy

Presented by

Donny C. Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA

Managing Information for Impact

Speaker Biography

Donny C. Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, is the founder and managing director of

IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC, a CPA consultancy focused on organizational development and advisory services for the middle market and nonprofits. Donny is a recognized national expert in IT management and international author/speaker on business intelligence initiatives. Donny helps many nonprofits by bridging accounting and IT to strengthen organizational governance and risk management, improve business processes through technology, and increase the effectiveness of decision-making through business intelligence and evidence-based management.

In addition to being a frequent speaker for the Nonprofit Technology Network (nten.org), Donny is the chairman of the AICPA’s Information Management & Technology Assurance Executive Committee and past Governing Council member. Donny was recognized as one of the 2013 Top 100 Influential People by Accounting Today, Top Thought Leaders by CPA Practice Advisor in 2012, 2013 & 2014, received the 2009-2010 President’s Award from the Hawaii Society of CPAs, was named to CPA Technology Advisor’s 40 Under 40 list in 2007 & 2009, and was also a Hawaii Top High Tech Leader in 2004.

Donny works with a variety of nonprofits including foundations, social service agencies, educational institutions, and membership associations.

Audience Polls – Demographics

Organization Type/Size

– Small Org

– Medium Org

– Large Org

– CPA Firm

Part of Organization

– Accounting/Finance

– IT

– Programs

– Audit

– Consulting

Role in Organization

– Lead Executive

– Executive Leadership

– Dept Director/Manager

– Dept Staff

Choose one from each set of options that best matches how

you view your organization and your role at work.

© 2013 IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC. All Rights Reserved.


Nonprofit Technology in Perspective

– Developing the IT Strategy

Information’s Role in the Organization

Understanding the Value of Information

– Collecting the “Right” Information

– Evidence-based Decision Making

Developing Your Enterprise Architecture

– Information Lifecycle & Information Architecture

Selecting Your Information Systems

– Selection Criteria, Strategy, and Integration

– To Customize or Not to Customize4 © 2013 IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC. All Rights Reserved.

• Alignment between the mission, business strategy and the IT strategy is critical.

• Analyze the ecosystem, drivers, and business strategy—the combination of all of these drive the IT strategy.

• Use the IT strategy to drive the IT plan and associated initiatives

Nonprofit Technology in Perspective

© 2013 IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC. All Rights Reserved.5

Developing the IT Strategy

Cloud Computing

Mobile Big Data

• Evolution of Service Offerings

• Workflow & Process Efficiencies

• Staff Enablement & Work-Life Fitness

• Local to Global Opportunities

TechnologyDrivers

Mission

Enhancement Strategies

Economic Uncertainty

Donor / Funding Pressures

Increased Oversight

BusinessDrivers

IT Strategy



Back Office Programs Fundraising

Impact of the IT Strategy

to your Mission

Key Outcomes:

• Automated & efficient processes Improved execution/”profitability”

• Improved work processes Increased employee satisfaction

• Better workflow and program management Reduced risk

• Higher quality of service Increased constituent satisfaction / impact

• Efficiencies

• Effectiveness

• Innovation

• Efficiencies

• Collaborative

• Transformative

• Efficiencies

• Revenue Growth

• Innovation


Once you know your IT Strategy then you can determine your IT Plan (tactical)

Identify technology initiatives that will provide the expected outcomes

– Identify the initiative and expected impact first

– Then determine the technology

Sometimes selection of the technology will be determined by the current infrastructure

Sometimes you purposely want to consider a new infrastructure, especially the cloud

– Once you have all your initiatives, budget and prioritize them



• Information is essential to building a sustainable organization.

• Better info enables organization efficiency, effectiveness, and transformation.

• To add-value, information must be delivered to achieve impact.

Information’s Role in the Organization


Shifting the Sustainable Value Chain

A shift is required in the Sustainable Value Chain of nonprofit competencies

Historically nonprofits could be very operationally driven. As the need for transparency and impact increases, nonprofits must be more strategic to be sustainable and achieve their mission10

Adapted from: CIMA’s Sustainable Value Chain of Organizational Competencies

Mission,

business

strategy, and

constituent

needs

Brand, values

and

organization

positioning

Develop

service

offerings and

value/benefit

proposition

Obtain

funding and

source

resources

Deliver

services and

measure

impact

Constituent

satisfaction

and retention

Operations driven

Mission/strategy driven impact

Benefits of Better Information

The potential benefits from business intelligence (better information) depends on your ambition.

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Information’s Role in Achieving Impact

We often stop at the Reporting or Analysis stage (which is where technology will also take you).

We need to go all the way through to IMPACT!

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• Information is the most important asset of an organization, after its people.

• Collecting the “right” information is essential to making better decisions.

• Evidenced-based decisions are usually better than “gut feel” decisions.

Understanding the Value of Information

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Information is an Important Asset

Nonprofits use better information to

– Increase reach and highly engage its donors

– Understand the needs of its service recipients

– Quantify the outcomes and impact it is having on its constituents

As we transition from the Information Age to the Knowledge Age

– Better information = Competitive advantage

– Competitive advantage in the nonprofit world can mean more funding and better outcomes

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Collecting the “Right” Information

It is important to ensure that you’re gathering the “right” information and tracking the “right” metrics

– Tracking the wrong metrics can result in undesired outcomes

– Tying performance to the wrong metrics can incent the wrong behaviors

– Both of the above can lead to incorrect decisions

Consider different types of information

– quantitative and qualitative data

– positive and negative indicators15

Collecting the “Right” Information

Management Information

– Financial Statements – Managerial/Budget

– Key Performance Indicators

– Key Predictive Indicators

Tactical Information

– Service delivery (e.g. # of constituents served)

– Service quality (e.g. constituent satisfaction)

– Messaging/outreach (e.g. # opens/open rate)

– Fundraising (e.g. total $, $ per donation)

– Outcomes indicators

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Evidence-based Decision Making (EbDM)

EbDM is generally better than “gut feel” decisions and evidence can be gathered to validate “gut feel” decisions

17 Source: Evidence Based Decision Making: using Business Intelligence to drive value, Bernard Marr, Management Accounting Guideline CMA, AICPA, CIMA 2009

• How you collect, store, maintain, archive, and dispose of your data is important.

• Use an Information Architecture model to manage the flow of information.

• Use an Enterprise Architecture model to visualize the processing of information.

Developing Your Enterprise Architecture

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Understanding the Information Life Cycle

All information follows a lifecycle and must be managed throughout its lifecycle

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Source: Information Integrity, AICPA, January 2013

Source: Information Integrity, AICPA, January 2013

Understanding the Flow of Information

Use an Information Architecture model to understand the flow of data in your org

Staging

Area

Extr

act, T

ran

sfo

rm, L

oa

d

Data

Warehouse

Tra

nsa

ctio

na

l D

ata

Sto

res Operational

Data Store(s)

Extr

act, T

ran

sfo

rm, L

oa

d

Data Mart

Data Mart

Data Mart

Data

Access

Tool

Data

Access

Tool

Meta Data

(including Business Rules, Data Dictionary, Data Model, and Data Security Model)


Understanding the Flow of Information

Deliver info to users via the best reporting vehicle:


Understanding the Processing of Info

Use an Enterprise Architecture model to understand the processing of information

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General

Ledger

Sage

Budgeting &

Forecasting

CPM

Accounts

Payable

e-AP

Cash

Disbursements

e-AP Sage

Corporate

Expense

Reporting

P-Card

Contract

Administration

DWFM

Case

Operations

SMS

Board

Oversight

ExtNet

Case

Collaboration

CPortal

Operational

Reporting

ODS

Budget

· Budget & Forecasts

Plan

· Estimates & Intentions

· Soft Commitments

· Hard Commitments

· Cash Flow Projections

Actual

· Expenditures

Performance Management

Financial

Budget

· Corporate Strategic Plan Goals &

Targets

· Program Strategic Plan Goals &

Targets

Plan

· Program Goals & Targets

· Contract Goals & Targets

· Other Quantitative Targets

Actual

· Actual performance measures

· Actual outcomes measures

Non-Financial

Management

Oversight

Intranet

Case Document

Management

SMS

CPM

Commitments

Management

CPM

Employee

Expense

Reporting

e-Exp

Timekeeping

SMS

SMS

Quality

Assurance

SMSSage

Constituent

Management

CRM

Fiscal

Program

Management

Intranet

Payroll

ADP

HRDMS

ADP


Capture major operational processes (rectangles), supporting systems (cylinders) and flow of data (arrows)

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Look at management needs, including the non-financial information needed to improve program management and achieving of outcomes/impact

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Obtain an understanding of the flow of information needed to optimize the organization’s performance

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Using the Enterprise Architecture

An Enterprise Architecture model allows you to see the entire org on one page

– Use it to analyze the current state of the org

– Use it to visualize the future state of the org

Identify the functional needs of the org and the systems supporting those needs

– Identify which areas may not be optimized or have additional complexity

– Assess the impact of any information system changes to business processes and info flow

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• Your Mission, IT Strategy, Information Needs, and Information Architecture drive your Information Systems selection.

• Each element of the Information Architecture has different types of systems supporting it; some systems support multiple elements.

Selecting Your Information Systems

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Information Systems Selection Criteria

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There is no “correct” system for every organization or every function.

Selection criteria is driven by a variety of factors.:

Information

System

Selection

Criteria

IT Strategy

MissionInformation

Needs

Information

Architecture


Information Systems Selection Criteria

System selection should be driven by

– Type(s) of data you need to manage

– Who needs access to the data

– How you want them to access the data

– The business processes the data supports

Consider transaction processing needs versus decision support needs

– Availability of information at the point of action

– Timeliness of information for decision support

29


Information Systems Strategy

Single Vendor / Product Suite

– Pros: tightly integrated (data flow and security), single support contact

– Cons: usually generic functionality usable by many, harder to leave vendor

Best of Breed

– Pros: best functionality for each need, deeper functional understanding by vendor

– Cons: data and security not integrated (must be done by you or pay consultant), multiple vendor contracts to manage, multiple support contacts

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Information Systems Strategy

31

Source: Idealware via NTEN Technology Leadership Academy

Deep functionality vs. broad functionality

Integrating Information Systems

Integration Options

– Manual – usually via batch export and import using Excel or CSV file

– Automated Point-to-Point – direct system to system usually using APIs, web services, or back end database triggers

– Automated Synchronization Tool – intermediary tool connects to various systems usually for pre-defined data exchanges

– Automated Hub & Spoke – data warehouse or master data serves as “hub” and “spoke” systems report change to and query changes from “hub”

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Integrating Information Systems

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Sample Manual Integration using Excel

To Customize or Not to Customize…

Customization is often a bad word

– In general it results in higher total cost of ownership over the long run

Differentiate between:

– Custom Configurations – works within the built-in functionality of the vendors system (e.g. custom fields and macros)

– Platform Customizations – works within the vendor’s application platform to add tables or functionality to the purchased system

– Custom Development – adding functionality developed “from scratch” and integrated into or along side the purchased system

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Use of broad CRM system with customizations to meet specific needs


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Use of best of breed in two areas and custom app and API for integration

Tie Back to Enterprise Architecture

Map your info sys strategy and customization decisions back to your Enterprise Architecture to validate the “big picture”

37

General

Ledger

Sage

Budgeting &

Forecasting

CPM

Accounts

Payable

e-AP

Cash

Disbursements

e-AP Sage

Corporate

Expense

Reporting

P-Card

Contract

Administration

DWFM

Case

Operations

SMS

Board

Oversight

ExtNet

Case

Collaboration

CPortal

Operational

Reporting

ODS

Budget

· Budget & Forecasts

Plan

· Estimates & Intentions

· Soft Commitments

· Hard Commitments

· Cash Flow Projections

Actual

· Expenditures

Performance Management

Financial

Budget

· Corporate Strategic Plan Goals &

Targets

· Program Strategic Plan Goals &

Targets

Plan

· Program Goals & Targets

· Contract Goals & Targets

· Other Quantitative Targets

Actual

· Actual performance measures

· Actual outcomes measures

Non-Financial

Management

Oversight

Intranet

Case Document

Management

SMS

CPM

Commitments

Management

CPM

Employee

Expense

Reporting

e-Exp

Timekeeping

SMS

SMS

Quality

Assurance

SMSSage

Constituent

Management

CRM

Fiscal

Program

Management

Intranet

Payroll

ADP

HRDMS

ADP

• Follow the methodology for a structured approach to system selection.

• Go past reporting and analysis for impact.

• Better information increases the sustainability of the organization and its ability to achieve its mission.


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Recap of methodology

– Identify your information needs (IN)

– Understand your information architecture (IA)

– Understand your enterprise architecture (EA)

– Visualize your future state IA & EA

– Strategically select your information systems (IS)

– Implement the (new) information systems

Remember that things change over time

– Reassess your IN, IA, and EA periodically

– Reassess IS capabilities periodically

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Provide Information with Impact

Go past the Reporting and Analysis stages and ensure you are providing information

that has IMPACT!

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Impact Must Be Mission/Strategy-Driven

Don’t let only Operations drive information needs

Drive information needs from the org’s mission and strategy to increase org sustainability and overall IMPACT.

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Adapted from: CIMA’s Sustainable Value Chain of Organizational Competencies

Mission,

business

strategy, and

constituent

needs

Brand, values

and

organization

positioning

Develop

service

offerings and

value/benefit

proposition

Obtain

funding and

source

resources

Deliver

services and

measure

impact

Constituent

satisfaction

and retention

Operations driven

Mission/strategy driven impact

Thank you for your attention and participation!

Any Questions?

Donny C. Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGMA

Email = [email protected]

Voice = (808) 735-8324

Twitter = @donnyitk

Managing Information for Impact

Technology

Transcript of Managing Information for Impact