“Innotas truly aids cross-team collaboration, by centralizing our collaboration communication, I'm able to see that developer X communicated with developer Y on a particular project about a particular question or issue. The communication is no longer hidden away in an individual's email or voicemail.”
Jeff Falk
Director of Product Development
The Members Group

The Members Group: Innotas′ PPM On-Demand Solution: Faster, Easier, Cheaper

Opportunity

The Members Group (TMG) is known for the high level of commitment it provides its customers. Credit unions know TMG will work with them to find the best credit, debit, ATM, and pre-paid card processing, check processing/lockbox, ACH, and wholesale financial management solutions. TMG's ultimate goal is to help our nation's credit unions succeed.

With this objective in mind, TMG places a high priority on product development and the successful execution of all of the projects that encompass it. Jeffrey Falk, director of product development at TMG, knows the best products are created through collaboration.

With more than 200 projects and 150 employees in four locations, TMG needed a project portfolio management (PPM) solution that would centralize collaboration processes and communication. TMG needed the ability to see all project-related activity across the organization; specifically Falk needed to get more visibility into the team's time and expenses. He needed a solution that enabled TMG to perform capacity planning at organizational and departmental levels.

TMG had what Falk characterizes as "islands of data" - spreadsheets, backs of napkins, emails - and that's how the organization managed projects. TMG reached a tipping point and needed a centralized repository, a single version of the truth.

In 2002, TMG went out to the marketplace and looked at the traditional on-premise PPM products and what, at the time, was the beginnings of the on-demand market. At that point in time, the company selected an on-premise product. Fast-forward four years, when TMG was at a point at which it could make a transition to an on-demand solution. With four years under its belt with an on-premise solution, TMG decided to shift to Innotas' on-demand solution.

"During the past four years, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) market has certainly matured. The on-demand solutions are now, in my opinion, exceeding the in-house solution capabilities," said Falk. "Innotas, for example, has superior graphical user interfaces, ease of use, and easy reporting capabilities that the on-premise solutions simply aren't delivering."

According to Falk, on-premise solutions are typically "heavyweight" solutions. They have long learning curves, and long deployments. "They have everything from soup to nuts. I like to characterize it as bloat-ware," said Falk. "During the past four years, we experienced the challenges that came with an on-premise solution, and this time around we were really looking for a right-sized on-demand solution."

Solution

Falk selected Innotas’ on-demand PPM solution because it was easy to navigate and incorporated robust reporting capabilities. Most importantly, Innotas’ PPM solution had a right-sized feature set; it didn’t incorporate a bunch of features his team would never use.

In the comparison of traditional on-premise PPM solutions to on-demand solutions, Innotas was clearly the best solution for TMG. “What it boils down to is three things,” said Falk. “Cheaper, easier, faster - that’s what our organization was looking for. That’s exactly what we’re getting with Innotas’ on-demand solution.”

Falk also noted that in contrast to the steep learning curve, cumbersome reporting and feature overload that typically comes with traditional PPM solutions, Innotas’ on-demand solution offers ease of use, ease of reporting, a right-sized feature set - tailored to the customer. Falk characterized this as the ability to “right-size” the Innotas solution to match an organization’s level of project management process maturity.

“We also really believed in Innotas’ strong partnering philosophy that encourages input into its product direction,” said Falk. “We embrace the same philosophy with our customers. We believe very strongly that partnering with the right people and the right organizations results in the greatest success for everyone involved.”

Additionally, Falk pointed out that for Innotas’ on-demand PPM solution, the initial outlay, investment and the risk are comparatively very small. Companies can try out Innotas’ PPM solution and demonstrate its value to senior management; if things don’t go right, it’s easy to decouple.

Results

The Members Group has realized a number of benefits since implementing Innotas’ PPM solution. According to Falk, application enhancements to TMG’s previous on-premise PPM solution were not timely, and he experienced constant support and infrastructure issues. “Enhancements that used to take 9-12 months with our old PPM solution roll out in a 90-day fashion with Innotas,” Falk said.

TMG project teams regularly use Innotas’ solution to report their time and to collaborate on various projects. “Innotas truly aids cross-team collaboration,” said Falk. “By centralizing our collaboration communication, I’m able to see that developer X communicated with developer Y on a particular project about a particular question or issue. The communication is no longer hidden away in an individual’s email or voicemail.”

SNAPSHOT

Opportunity

Create an intuitive, cost-effective system to centralize collaboration processes and communications for more than 200 projects and 150 employees, in four locations.

Solution

Innotas’ on-demand PPM solution, which is affordable, easy to implement and simple to use.

Results

When comparing traditional on-premise PPM solutions to on-demand solutions, Innotas was clearly the best solution for TMG. “What it boils down to is three things,” said Falk. “Cheaper, easier, faster - that’s what our organization was looking for. That’s exactly what we’re getting with Innotas’ on-demand solution.”

Observations

In contrast to the steep learning curve, cumbersome reporting and feature overload that typically comes with traditional PPM solutions, Innotas’ on-demand solution offers ease of use, ease of reporting, a right-sized feature set - tailored to the customer.

According to Falk, application enhancements to TMG’s previous on-premise PPM solution were not timely, and he experienced constant support and infrastructure issues. “Enhancements that used to take 9-12 months roll out in a 90-day fashion with Innotas.”

Customer Profile

The Members Group is a full service financial services organization. The company partners with credit unions across the country to provide a variety of products and services that focus on combining innovative technology with superior service. Products and services include card processing services and reporting solutions as well as ACH, ALM, item processing and mortgage services. In addition, TMG has developed an Internet-based reporting solution that enables clients to customize the data they receive for critical decision making. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, TMG employs more than 150 individuals with additional sales offices in California, Nebraska and Pennsylvania.