Web Tools for 24 by 7 Information Management

VRP Consulting Simplifies Cisco Systems Information Management 

VRP created a unified suite of web tools for Cisco Systems to simplify the Information Management of the vast amount of information being generated and communicated. VRP’s web tools include the following bundled capabilities: Browser Compatibility Checker, Link Checker, and Spell Checker. The Browser Compatibility module was created to ensure that there is viewing compatibility in Internet Explorer to Firefox and beyond to ensure a seamless external user experience. The Link Checker module alerts the VRP administrator to problems as they occur and result in broken links enabling them to investigate and make changes quickly. The Spell checker module ensures that content is spelled correctly. Given the international nature of Cisco's internal and external facing content there is the capability to work in multiple languages.

Web Tools for Oncologists

VRP Designs User-Friendly Interface 

VRP helped Cogent Medicine implement complex relationships among a large set of new data objects, systems integration with the existing databases, and create a user-friendly interface that presents this complex web of information in a meaningful and useful way. The project contained many layers within and of the project itself. These layers included: information architecture, database design, data connection or linkage, and presentation. Our staff worked alongside Cogent's team to solve problems and architect, program and implement solutions.

 

Global Resources Enabling Web Development at Light Speed

VRP Works Quickly and Efficiently 

VRP developed and made the Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) website live in less than a week just in time for CNN's special on the non-profit aired. After discovering the code written by the original web developers was unusable, the decision was made in conjunction with the New York design firm that the only way possible to meet the non profit's timeline was to start again from scratch. VRP worked night and day to complete the site, handing off work between offshore web developers and US web developers to get the work done quickly and effectively in the limited time remaining before the broadcast. The web site successfully absorbed over 1 million hits that evening during the course of the broadcast. While not the ideal conditions for web development work, it is a tribute to the design, the architecture and graphics, and the web development team that this site was brought up fully functional in 4 calendar days. www.ml4t.org

Cost-Effective Product Development through VRP Managed Services Methodology

 VRP Customizes Applications for Product Management Organizations 

VRP worked with product management organizations such as Rogue IT, Resdida, Telesocial, and Bottlenecks to bring custom applications software to market in several product development environments at a cost that is within their budgets.

Rogue IT came to VRP with a request for software product development using Salesforce.com platform technologies. VRP provided Rogue IT with the GreatVines platform, an application created entirely in Apex, the Salesforce proprietary platform language, and which operates entirely in the cloud. The GreatVines application also manages consumer-marketing programs, including wine club, online commerce, and tasting-room retail sales. In addition the credit card payment-processing environment was developed as a native Salesforce.com applications extension to further enable eCommerce on the Force.com Sites web platform.

VRP helped Resdida bring the Mobilize platform to market, a PHP environment featuring campaign and channel management, quick send features, list management, and data metrics. To meet Resdida's needs, VRP deployed a flex team of two VRP resources that was driven architecturally by a VRP onshore applications architect. www.resdida.com 

Telesocial's CTO worked with VRP to create the Bitmouth platform. Using the Managed Services Methodology, VRP assembled a 3-person Java development team to work with Telesocial's CTO to create the Bitmouth product, which gives network providers a bridge to the social web using carrier-class IP based services and traditional telephony services. www.telesocial.com 

VRP built a social network site for Bottlenecks. The final product, executed entirely by VRP's offshore resources, incorporates event management, blogging, email marketing and unique Facebook and Twitter capabilities to pump up the buzz around the wine experience. These capabilities range from the traditional eCommerce capabilities such as wine club memberships and bridal registries to the ability to toast a friend informing them of the latest good bottle of wine including how to purchase the wine through a full shopping cart checkout capability at Bottlenotes. www.bottlenotes.com 

VRP Updates Nonprofit's Website

Serving Donors and Grantee’s - “How Change Happens”

VRP helped update The Marin Community Foundation web architecture and application integration as well as create a custom Content Management System CMS. Over several weeks a long-term architectural plan was worked out with the finance and program stakeholders that looked to extend the investment in the MicroEdge Foundation Power accounting platform for 5 to 7 years while paving the way for new systems development to support the expanded donor advised funds campaign. 

The plan included a new donor portal serving the donor advised funds, a new grantee portal serving the community constituents, a grants evaluation center, and a grants management portal to provide end-to-end visibility grant making life cycle. These initiatives extended and enhanced the Marin Community Foundation’s core legacy applications platform and enable the organization to keep pace with the change that would be happening in support of the community.

VRP and Jobscience

Web 3.0 Development using Force.com Sites Technology

VRP reinvented the Jobscience website to integrate the latest Salesforce CRM technologies. Being so well versed in the implementation of Salesforce CRM applications, instead of using PHP, an older programming language, VRP was able to build the entire site with Apex, Force.com's proprietary programming language. 

The end result is that Jobscience's site was built entirely in native code, allowing Jobscience to deliver the best customer experience possible across its SaaS platform and leaving the site ready to add in new functionality quickly and easily as the need arises. As a software developer, Jobscience is continually working with Salesforce to create new products that will meet the needs of its customer base. The website VRP created for them integrates Force dynamic technology into the fabric of Jobscience's site and allows for better support of existing products and easier implementation of new products. VRP continues to work with Jobscience in deployment of the newly released CMS Force tool, a content management system program within the Force sites environment. 

.NET Engineering and Integration Success Story

Grant Management - A Life Cycle Solution

The San Francisco Foundation (Foundation) faced a challenge regarding its non profit accounting, online fundraising and grant management systems. The legacy applications were outdated and needed to be replaced with a more dynamic and responsive system. The Foundation had a vision of giving the stakeholders in the Foundation more transparent access to information and control over their accounts with the Foundation.

The Foundation hired systems consultant to conduct a needs analysis. After extensive review of available products Blackbaud's Enterprise Financial Edge (FE) and Raisers Edge (RE) products were selected to address the Foundation's financial and online fundraising needs. However, there was still a critical application gap as the Blackbaud software did not address grant management. The consultant presented two options to the Foundation: systems integration with an existing software package with the chosen Blackbaud products or consider a custom software solution. The Foundation evaluated a number of preexisting software packages, but in the end a decision was made to build a custom grant management application with the VRP team.

When any non profit organization undertakes a custom application development process there is a natural tendency to customize the application to the unique processes that differentiates the non profit organization from the industry. However, VRP believes that the design phase is an opportunity to streamline idiosyncratic processes and save money and time through implementation of a more common set of business processes that are generic to the industry.

The Grant Management System design team included a number of people with backgrounds in consulting, public accounting and investment management as well as a diverse group of future users of the new application. The team brought a broad based knowledge of the non profit industry to VRP's expert approach to custom application design. With the discipline of these backgrounds at the table and a commitment to open discussion, the Foundation took the opportunity to review and redesign workflows and processes that had taken on the individual personas of the departments and employees. In many cases, it was recognized that different grant making processes may be utilized depending on the nature of the grant and this was designed into the system as a set of business rules.

From a technical standpoint, VRP architected the system to be easily configurable to reduce ongoing maintenance related to the changes in these grant-making policies. All application parameters are stored in configuration files in the database and Foundation staff is able to make necessary changes when applicable. The systems integration with FE and RE was accomplished using Blackbaud's Application Programming Interface (API). To ensure license conformance and a clean upgrade path Blackbaud's technical resources were used to review the design. The design utilizes the strengths of the RE and FE applications, such as donor management and financial management and therefore duplication of data and data entry were avoided between the systems.

In addition to the systems integration of Blackbaud's products the Foundation was able to also address its major grant compliance need, which is to review the current tax status of applicants and potential grantee's. VRP worked with Guidestar to integrate tax data available through a nightly update. Research that previously required tax documentation and manual research has been nearly eliminated with this innovative idea.

The architecture of the Grant Management System was bookended with a set of web portals. The web portals address the Foundation's need to provide customer service and transparency to important stakeholders, mainly donors and grantees.

The Donor Portal, which targets the Foundation's Donor Advisor's, allows a donor to view information regarding his/her fund and also recommend grants from the fund that directly populate the Grant Management System database. Features available on the portal include:

• Investments and cash account balance
• Grant making funds available
• History of fund contributions
• A graphical representation of the donor's grant making trends
• Overall Foundation's investment management results.
• A five-year history of all grants made from the fund with the ability to give a repeat grant without data-entry
• Ability to recommend a grant to an organization in which the fund has never granted
• Search on the Foundations grant making to provide the opportunity for aligned giving.

The portal has received outstanding feedback from the donor community praising the 24/7 access to real-time account information. The portal has also provided internal efficiencies by decreasing manual processing and reducing staff data entry errors and creating an audit trail. The time gained by the system has also freed staff time to provide a more thorough review of grant making compliance issues and allows donors more one on one attention when questions arise.

The Grantee Portal is the donor portal's sister site and addresses applicant and grantee community that the Foundation serves. The Grantee portal is an online submission and monitoring environment that allows non profit organizations to submit grant applications, monitor application status, and review historical grant and application history at the Foundation. Features available on the grantee portal include:

• Access to all current grant opportunities
• Grant making funds available
• Targeted applications to fit grant opportunities and collect relevant data from the grantee
• Easy to complete applications featuring text boxes, drop down menus and check boxes and error checking to ensure that the grant submission follows guidelines
• Ability to upload required documents electronically
• View of applications in progress and view the status of each
• View of historical applications that were not funded
• Current open grants
• Past grants (closed)
• Online reporting and submission
• View correspondence

The new portals have created staff efficiencies resulting in nearly six weeks of time saving processes that previously included manual data entry of each application. The improved process has also resulted in a decrease of paper files as all documents and data are now captured electronically and an audit trail is maintained.

VRP welcomes the opportunity to show how custom integrated applications can make your foundation or non profit organization more efficient! Contact us for more information on automating your Grant Management life cycle.

Building with Flash, A VRP Client Story

VRP Delivers Client Visions

Client: Film-maker Sebastian Marroquin
Goal: Create a Complex Flash Website Without Compromising Design

Stories can be shared through many different mediums, one of the most powerful being film. The Sundance Film Festival is world renowned for showcasing new film works and talent. In 2010, the film Sins of My Father, garnered critical acclaim and public attention at Sundance. Produced by Sebastian Marroquin, this film recounted the life of his own father, Pablo Escobar, a notorious Columbian drug lord.

Prior to the film's debut, producers wanted a website that would promote, entice and engage the public. The goal was to create a website that would match the vision of the project; created with collages of photographs, pop-ups, animated storyboards, and video. The incorporation of innovative graphics and flash animation was the perfect design choice and to accomplish this, producers needed a web developer with extensive technical expertise in Flash web design.

That's why VRP was hired for the job. With years of experience working with Advertising Agencies, Branding and Design firms, VRP has the experience of building websites which range from basic to complicated. The ability to use not only Flash, but also other web languages, is what differentiates our work from competitors. VRP knows that assembling a website is not difficult, but making it look beautiful is an art.

In the case of the Sins of My Father website, VRP executed the design exactly the way it was intended and delivered a final site according to the filmmaker's timeline. We invite you to visit the website Sins of My Father at www.sinsofmyfather.tv. Here you can experience final execution of this rich, multimedia website.

A client's website is their face to the world. VRP understands the importance of making that face look good and more importantly, we know how to make it look really good. Let us know how we can help make your vision a reality today!