One source of truth: From Spreadsheets to a Data Eco-System

501c3 TechnologistsBuilding Powerful Salesforce Solutions for Chicago’s nonprofits

www.501c3technologists.com

One Source of TruthFrom Spreadsheets to a Data Eco-System

July 11, 2011Charlie Havens, Presenter

Building powerful Salesforce solutions for Chicago’s nonprofits.


About 501c3 Technologists• IT support to small nonprofits in the Chicago

area since 1999.• Specialize in organizations with fewer than 20

staff (but have supported as many as 90 workstations).

• Focus is Salesforce solutions for nonprofits without IT staff and who strategically decide to outsource such skills.




Pulse Check!Are you with us?• We’re going to do a quick poll to start us off.• Two survey questions now and one at the end.• Answer all three and receive a small thank you.• $10 Amazon gift card.



As the poll questions appear select your answer and hit the submit button.

1. Does your organization currently use Salesforce? Yes /No?

2. Is your primary data stored in spreadsheets? Yes /No?



Benefits of Moving:• consistent shared data among users/departments• ever-growing connections, between the tools you use• data eco-system grows to include larger areas of work

Traditional Spreadsheets Thriving Data Eco-System



Traditional Spreadsheets Thriving Data Eco-System

Problems with Change:• difficult transition• clean, consistent data• de-duplicating records

• cost• time• new tools



The mechanics of change can be challenging, but they can be handled:

Train staff Outsource complex aspects

Changing the mechanics of your processes may require time (sometimes long-suffering patience), open mindedness, budget…

…but the more substantial change requirements are…



The bigger changes are Culture Business Processes

Moving to an organization to a culture of continuous improvement based on a data eco-system requires a shift in the importance given to data.



Budget time and/or money for data, as though it were utilities, rent, and insurance; things you must pay to stay open!

UTILITIES RENT

INSURANCE



Data needs an advocate. A CHAMPION!

But in the end, it must be more than one person internalizing the importance of data.



The entire organization or department must “own” its data.

Not everyone need be an expert!• Some need to know how to generate or read

reports

• Some may only need to type in certain kinds of data

• Others need to be intimately involved in determining what needs to be tracked and measured



Data eco-systems require several roles.• Data Eco-System Patron

• Work Process Analyst

• Data Eco-System Admin

• Lead & End Users

• Consumers of the info



Data Eco-System Patron/Sponsor(yes, these people are usually Saints!)

Like getting a puppy for a gift, someone must insure that it gets the care, feeding, and shots, that it requires.

Though that patron and the actual care-takers within the household may both change over the life-time of the pet, for the pet to be a healthy part of the household, someone must be its patron and see that there are care-takers.



Work Process Analyst

• What is worth tracking?

• How will data impact our processes?

• Where does this system need to expand, grow, contract?

• How fast should it grow and what resources will it require?



Data Eco-System Administrator• How are the organization’s decisions about its

data eco-system implemented, enforced, controlled, shared?

• Which users get access to what data and what can they do with that access?

• How is one area of data related to another and how might we track or report on that relationship?

• How can we build systems that make this tracking and entering of data easier and more fool proof?



Lead User• Staff who become the internal

experts on the use of the system or parts of the system

• The ones who help train new staff (and everyone else!)

End User• People who need to enter data, use,

and see data, and make reports based on that data.



Information Consumers

• Consumers of the resultant information. Those who use it to evaluate outcomes of processes. Are our processes producing outcomes aligned with our mission?



Why are you growing a Data Eco-System?

What opportunity are you creating?

What problem are you solving?



Budgeting

Organizations don’t often budget time or money for spreadsheets.

However, you are:

• Building something more robust.

• Making data central to how your organization achieves its mission.

Time Money



Trajectory

• Define purpose

• Establish patron

• Data migration

• Ongoing maintenance

Is that data clean?Are there duplicate records?Are the email addresses formatted correctly without extra spaces before, after, or mixed into the address?Are names separated by first, last, middle, suffix, prefix,Is the punctuation consistent? Mr, Ms, Mrs. with periods following or without?Are formats consistent for phone numbers and dates?



Data must be CLEAN!Cleaning Tools, Shortcuts, Resources

• Spreadsheet functions: Concatenate, VLookup, Trim, etc.

• Third-party Salesforce tools: Apsona for Salesforce & Demand Tools.

• Import into Access database for clean-up.

• Outsource.

Outsourcing?Questions for consultant:

How will your data need to be separated?

Will you need separate spreadsheets for donations pledged, donations made, for contacts, households, and organizations?

How do related records on those separate spreadsheets get “related” to each other?



So much to consider… How to proceed? A bad option and two good ones:• Just Do It! Tell a consultant to implement things the way

they know best. (Watch the good ones gulp, and then, run.)

• Begin the internal processes yourself and create a plan for learning and transitioning. Take your time, talk to others, study the resources available through Salesforce and Salesforce Foundation.

• Start with a consultant, or after doing some of the internal work yourselves, transition to a consultant to guide you in the mechanics and/or business process considerations.



Thoughtful planning will result in a robust thoughtful foundation on which to build. The end results will be a healthy, powerful and useful growing data eco-system.

OR



Thank You!Charlie Havenswww.501c3Technologists.comCell: 773-848-0154Email: [email protected] Isle Inc.1507 E 53rd St., #135Chicago, IL 60615



Last questions for gift card3. Was attending today’s webinar worth your time? (This will NOT affect you gift card eligibility! And no one is going to “get in your grill” if you answer “no!” We appreciate your honest feedback.)

Yes /No/Maybe ?

For those who answered all three questions, 501c3 Technologists will send you an email asking for where to mail the $10 Amazon gift card.



Your Responses?

Charlie Havenswww.501c3Technologists.comCell: 773-848-0154Email: [email protected] Isle Inc.1507 E 53rd St., #135Chicago, IL 60615

One source of truth: From Spreadsheets to a Data Eco-System

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Transcript of One source of truth: From Spreadsheets to a Data Eco-System