Strategic Technology Assessment and Plan
For more than 75 years, the Guide Dog Foundation has trained and placed guide dogs and service dogs to provide increased independence and enhanced mobility to individuals who are blind, have low vision, or other disabilities.
Highlights:
- Facing a mandatory upgrade to their software, Guide Dog Foundation needed to know if it would be better to continue investments in their current software or adopt new technology.
- The Heller Consulting team worked closely with GDF to assess the organization’s existing technology and processes and develop a clear technology plan for the future.
- GDF now has a strategic technology plan that supports their organizational goals, addresses areas with potential for greatest improvements, and provides a practical timeline for executing the plan.
Challenge: Determining the right technology path
Guide Dog Foundation (GDF) had highly customized customer relationship management (CRM) software that had worked well for the organization. However, as the organization faced a mandatory move to the cloud version of the software, GDF learned that the new version would not support their complex customizations. The GDF team needed to understand if it would be better to continue investment in their current system or adopt new technology.
Solution: A strategic technology assessment and roadmap
Guide Dog Foundation turned to Heller Consulting for a strategic assessment of their current technology systems and a clear roadmap for their technology future. The Heller team put GDF’s organizational goals – including targeted and deeper engagement with constituents and donors as well as providing high quality services – at the center of a holistic plan that includes people, business processes, and technology.
The assessment and roadmap included these key areas:
- Discovery – The Heller team reviewed GDF’s systems to understand their technology and data structure and how the organization performs work. The Heller team also collaborated with GDF to understand the organization’s functions, activities, pain points, and satisfaction levels with existing processes.
- Current State and Gap Analysis – Based on information uncovered in the Discovery process, the Heller team collaborated with stakeholders at GDF to review and refine a current state analysis to ensure a deep understanding of how the organization works now and how it should work in the future. The Heller team also developed a gap analysis that outlined areas in which current operations at GDF did not meet current and future needs. These analyses helped to identify areas for greatest improvement and impact to the organization.
- Action Plan – Using information from the analyses, the Heller team outlined clear recommendations to close gaps in GDF’s technology systems and processes in an action plan that includes logical phases, identifies who should be responsible for key actions, and provides a recommended timeline for completion.
Result: A clear plan for technology and business transformation
GDF now has a clear action plan for their technology future. The strategic plan supports the organization’s key goals, addresses areas that will provide the greatest improvements and impacts to the organization, and provides a practical timeline for implementing the plan.