Basics

Challenge

The first part of McGhinnis' challenge was that the Village of Lombard (running on an IBM iSeries) uses a packaged software product for the majority of data entry and retrieval. With all packaged software, it's impossible to make all the people happy all of the time...so the general approach for these packages is to design them for the least common denominator and customize individual needs from there. As is often the case, the majority of the software package worked just fine, but Lombard's processes of city sticker renewal and dog licenses were not working with the rest of the system. McGhinnis wanted to modernize them, and integrate them.

The second issue at hand was that data-entry for these processes was not a full-time job, or done by one person, and the text-based traditional green screen interface that was being used was just not intuitive to those without training. Retrieving data was even more challenging, as police officers who would most often access the information could not be expected to be fully trained on the green screen...so considerable time was being spent retrieving data as well. McGhinnis' goal was an easy-to-use Web-based graphical solution that anyone could comfortably pick up and use to both enter and retrieve necessary information.

The third, and biggest, challenge was that the Village budget was limited. Both the cost of training in a Web language like Java (in order to build the application himself) and the cost of hiring a consultant to customize the two applications far exceeded the monies he could allot to the project.

He didn't have to go far to find what he needed. The right solution was just down the street from him... mrc.

Solution

Value

Improved capabilities
What appears to be just a simple data lookup has exponentially improved the chances of a stray pet finding its way back to its owner with very little information to go on. For example, if a Pomeranian wanders down Main St. and is picked up, a police officer can look the dog up by license number, which they could also do in the original process. However, with this new Web application, if a dog doesn't have a license, the search doesn't end there. He or she can also search by breed, to find out how many Pomeranians are licensed in Lombard, IL, and where they live. Or, they can look up a dog by color and sex, if they aren't sure the breed, and narrow down the search. Or if the Pomeranian's dog tag only reads "Josie", a user can now look up how many 'Josie's are in the village, and narrow it down that way. These are all capabilities that were just not there before.

Restored Data Integrity
Also, in the past when dog license information was entered, data integrity was a common problem. Breeds would be entered manually, so human error meant options wouldn't all match. Or, color would be described in different ways, black/brown, brown/black could describe the same dog; the data entry was subjective. Additionally, addresses of owners could be incorrect as there was just no way to know if the address entered was a valid one.

In the new Web application there are validation checks that not only ensure that the information that is entered is standardized, but also that the information is accurate. And with the pop-ups and drop-down features, validation is created, and the process for entering the information is streamlined. If the drop down menu only has a choice of black/brown, all of the dogs that are brown/black or black/brown are in one category. And, when a user enters the information for an address, they can link up to a state-land file that supplies every valid address in the village of Lombard. When a user enters an address, he or she will know immediately whether the address is an actual address, and then with the click of a button, the address will be entered automatically into the form, so work does not have to be duplicated.

Perceived Value meets Restored Revenue
The process of combining the two processes is also win-win for both parties involved. Lombard saved money along the way by printing one form instead of two, improving capabilities, and creating an efficient internal process. The dog-owners of Lombard receive the perceived value of combining what might have been two inconvenient steps of separate license applications and separate payments, into just one step...shortening the red tape considerably.

By combining these two processes, McGhinnis and the Village of Lombard have more than tripled the number of licensed dogs this year due to this integration. That revenue that would otherwise be lost adds up and goes straight to the bottom line. The old way also meant more dogs in shelters, more dogs put down, more employee time spent researching, and more government money spent on all of the above.

Conclusion

The extended capabilities of this data retrieval application are to some extent, immeasurable. Being able to hop onto the Internet and quickly filter through a massive list of data to narrow down a search, even based on the most basic features such as color and sex, create a capability that wasn't there before...the ability to find the pet's owners quickly and easily. Anyone who has ever lost a pet would agree that that's welcome progress.

But, that functionality is not singular to one small dog license application. It can be translated to hundreds of applications, not only in local governments where there are many needs for address lookups, permit retrievals, and the like. But, it can be translated to all sorts of businesses including law firms, police departments, hospitals, pharmacies, as well as larger industries such as manufacturing, distributors, and retail stores.

With budgets still slow to recover, though clearly on the mend, many IT managers continue to search for ways to improve their business' efficiencies through technology, despite their budget constraints. mrc continues to work with businesses across the board to create a la carte applications as they search to create new efficiencies, and new revenue streams in overlooked processes.