CustomCMSProposal

December 2017

2707 S Virginia St.

Reno, NV 89502

(866) 821-9996

thestone@sau.edu

Grant Soderberg

Melissa Brookman

Erica Sundvall

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………….…...2

Cover Letter……………………………………………………………………………………3

Detailed Solution…………………………………………………………………………….…4

Statement of Responsibilities………………………………………………………………….4

Internal…………………………………………………………………………………..4

External…………………………………………………………………………….........4

Cost Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………...4

Perforce Software……………………………………………………………………….5

The Nerdery……………………………………………………………………………..5

KeyedIn Solutions……………………………………………………………………....5

Anticipated Project Timeline………………………...………………………………………..7

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...7

Appendix………………………………………………………………………………….....9-11

Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………...9

Audience………………………………………………………………………………………..9

Purpose………………………………………………………………………………………....9

Context……………………………………………………………………...………………….9

List of Figures………………………………………………………...……………..................9

Appendix B…………………………………………………………………………… 10

Appendix C…………………………………………………………………………….11

List of Figures

Figure 1 (Cost Comparison)………………………………………………………….……...........6

Figure 2 (Project Schedule)……………………………………………………………………….7

Figure 3 (GANTT Chart)………………………………………………………………………….7

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Executive Summary:

The staff at Southwestern Atheist University (SAU) wishes to update their current internal website, theSTONE.sau.edu, which is outdated. To alleviate issues with the current website and increase student success, the staff have researched different software development companies to build a customized content management system (CMS) for the new website launch.

The goal of this project is to create a content management system solely for the inward facing website: theSTONE.sau.edu. We will hire a software company to design and build it. We have chosen three software companies to compare: Perforce, The Nerdery, and KeyedIn Solutions. We compared costs relative to our budget of $300,000 and our projected timeline of 18 months. Two requirements we have are that the company offer quality assurance and continued maintenance for a moderate price after project completion.

The Nerdery meets all of our requirements and has a good reputation among other higher education organizations. The Nerdery costs $276,000 for the entire project and $32,000 for continued maintenance per year. SAU should hire the Nerdery to build the CMS.

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Cover Letter:

Dear Board of Directors,

The following document is a proposal, as requested by the Southwestern Atheist University Enrollment Director, to hire a software development agency to create a custom content management system (CMS) for SAU’s internal website theSTONE.sau.edu.

This proposal was developed over many months. We, the SAU Information Technology Team and the Marketing Team, have received many complaints about the usability and accessibility of theSTONE.sau.edu. To help drive enrollment and increase the retainment of current students at SAU, we believe we must create a whole new website for our students. After careful consideration and research, we believe hiring The Nerdery is the best course of action to achieve those goals.

SAU Marketing Team

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Detailed Solution: The Nerdery is the best candidate for hire to build SAU’s new customized CMS. The Nerdery offers the best solutions among the other software agency candidates and has a great reputation among other higher education organizations. The Nerdery is recognized as a leader in website and software development in the business world. The cost of The Nerdery’s services fit within SAU’s budget ($300,000 for the entire project). The Nerdery offers continued maintenance after the CMS is finished for a moderate price of $32,000 per year.

Statement of Responsibilities: Internal:

The digital marketing director will lead the project and ensure that all team members are on task. The IT department and any additional hirees for this project will be responsible for importing content and graphics into the final content management system. We will hire an intern to write content. The professional writer on staff will edit the imported content and revise any factual errors. Our graphic design specialist will create and revise all graphics and media for the site. The rest of the marketers on staff will work with the digital marketing director to coordinate faculty meetings and create content for the site.

External:

The software development agency will be responsible for all technical development. The agency will be responsible for contacting members of SAU’s team for any information they require during development. The agency will need to stay on the schedule created at the beginning of the project. If they fall behind, it will be their responsibility to inform the IT team of any required alterations to the schedule. Schedules may be adjusted with the approval of both SAU and the hired agency. After the CMS is finished, the agency will continue to maintain the CMS for as long as the hiring contract states.

Cost Analysis: The budget of this project is $300,000. This budget was decided by the IT team with consideration for extra staffing requirements, quality software development, and an approximate timeline of 18 months. SAU needs the hired company to have quality assurance and continued maintenance options. The IT department has chosen three software agencies as candidates for hire. These are Perforce Software, The Nerdery, and KeyedIn Solutions.

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Perforce Software:

This software company is based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. They design software for many companies including Ubisoft, Honda, and Nvidia. They have a service called HelixCore that manages digital content and coding. Perforce does not offer quality assurance, but they do offer continued maintenance for $16,000 per year. If SAU hires this company, we would use this program. HelixCore costs $250,000 to develop a site. (Perforce.com, 2017)

The Nerdery:

This software company is based out of Bloomington, Minnesota. They specialize in custom software design and development. They build content management systems using a user-centered design. The Nerdery also builds software to meet the needs of users who operate on various platforms including desktop publishing, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and apps. This company has an entire quality assurance department dedicated to fixing issues and maintaining accessibility. Some of The Nerdery’s clients include Medtronics, Boston Scientific, Purina, and Anoka-Ramsey Technical College. The Nerdery costs $276,000 to develop a content management system. Continued maintenance fees are $32,000 per year. (Go.nerdery.com, 2017)

KeyedIn Solutions:

This software company is based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. They develop and manage websites for many companies, including Schroders, LexisNexis, and Walgreens Boots Alliance. KeyedIn Solutions offers quality assurance. They also offer continued maintenance for $50,000 per year. If SAU hired KeyedIn Solutions, we would use the project planning and project management solutions. KeyedIn Solutions costs $175,000 per year for development and maintenance. (KeyedIn Solutions, 2017)

See cost comparison breakdown in Figure 1 for each agency on page 6.

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$50,000

$100,000

$150,000

$200,000

$250,000

$300,000

Timeline in months

Bud

get s

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ove

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The Nerdery

$50,000

$100,000

$150,000

$200,000

$250,000

$300,000

Timeline in monthsB

udge

t spe

nt o

ver

5 10 15 20 25

Perforce

$50,000

$100,000

$150,000

$200,000

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$300,000

Timeline in months

Bud

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KeyedIn Solutions Cost Comparison

• The Nerdery: $276,000 /18 months = $15,333 per month

• The Perforce: $250,000 /18 months = $13,888 per month

• KeyedIn Solutions: $175,000 /18 months = $9,722 per month

Anticipated Project ScheduleThe project is expected to take 18 months to create. We have factored in additional days for delays and holidays as well. The Nerdery will conduct user experience (UX) research on campus to gain an overall understanding of what students are looking for in terms of the new website. SAU will spend the next 2 months in collaboration sessions with The Nerdery decide what we want. The Nerdery has allotted 20 days for designing wireframes to match SAU’s requests. SAU will have 40 days to make changes and revise the wireframe updates. The Nerdery will spend approximately 20 days coordinating visuals and style tiles to ensure SAU’s color schemes and typefaces are adhered to prior to development. After the visuals are approved, the developers will build the content management system within 60 days. Once the website is built, SAU will have 80 days to import and create writing content. After the content is uploaded, The Nerdery will check all pages through their quality assurance department. Both SAU and The Nerdery will conduct their own internal tests and if there are no issues, the website will be launched for student use. If there are any problems, The Nerdery will edit and update all issues. Any changes

Figure1

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in the timeline must be coordinated with both SAU and The Nerdery. See Figures 2 & 3 for expected deadlines.

Project Timeline:

Figure2

Figure3

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Conclusion: Southwestern Atheist University needs a new content management system. We have been gifted $300,000 to hire a software company to build it. We evaluated three different software companies—Perforce, The Nerdery, and KeyedIn Solution—and chose The Nerdery. The Nerdery fits best within our budget and provides continued maintenance and quality assurance.

Thank you for considering our proposal. We hope you all approve and are willing to move forward with the project.

-SAU Marketing Team

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Appendix A

Planning Grid

Audience

The intended audience for this proposal includes shareholders, board of trustees, and other university cabinet members.

Purpose

The staff at the university are ready to update their current internal website which is outdated. To alleviate issues with the current website and increase student success, the staff have researched different software development companies to build a customized content management system (CMS) for the new website launch.

Context

The university has been using an outdated online platform to communicate with current students. The IT department is overburdened by constant issues and outdated software as well as daily complaints from students. Some students have even threatened to leave the school over the online issues. The marketing department was gifted $300,000 from a wealthy donor to apply towards a new website and content management system.

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Appendix B

Technical Terminology:

Content Management System (CMS): A content management system is a computer application that supports the creation and modification of digital content. It typically supports multiple users in a collaborative environment. CMS features vary widely. Most CMSs include Web-based publishing, format management, history editing and version control, indexing, search, and retrieval. By their nature, content management systems support the separation of content and presentation. (Rockley, Kostur and Manning, 2003)

Quality Assurance: Software quality assurance (SQA) consists of a means of monitoring the software engineering processes and methods used to ensure quality. The methods by which this is accomplished are many and varied, and may include ensuring conformance to one or more standards. (Kelemen, Kusters and Trienekens, 2017)

Continued Maintenance: Software maintenance in software engineering is the modification of a software product after delivery to correct faults, to improve performance or other attributes. A common perception of maintenance is that it merely involves fixing defects. However, one study indicated that over 80% of maintenance effort is used for non-corrective actions. This perception is perpetuated by users submitting problem reports that in reality are functionality enhancements to the system. More recent studies put the bug-fixing proportion closer to 21%. (14764:2006, 2017)

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Appendix C References:

14764:2006, I. (2017). ISO/IEC 14764:2006 - Software Engineering -- Software Life Cycle Processes -- Maintenance. [online] Iso.org. Available at: https://www.iso.org/standard/39064.html [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].

Go.nerdery.com. (2017). Custom Software Design And Development - Nerdery. [online] Available at: http://go.nerdery.com/brand-2?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=the%20nerdery&utm_matchtype=e&utm_content=2017-12-01&utm_campaign=search-google-brand-dtm-us&pi_ad_id=236668092617&ibp-adgroup=adwords&ibp-keyword=the%20nerdery&ibp-matchtype=e&utm_network=g&utm_device=c&utm_keyword=the%20nerdery&gclid=CjwKCAiAx57RBRBkEiwA8yZdUOo1ONe98NqESDosNwjqh25MyufLHEqngY9S1qlqOgAWUxmqo_r66BoCYsQQAvD_BwE [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Kelemen, Z., Kusters, R. and Trienekens, J. (2017). Identifying criteria for multi model software process improvement solutions - based on a review of current problems and initiatives.

KeyedIn Solutions. (2017). Home - KeyedIn Solutions. [online] Available at: https://www.keyedin.com/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Perforce.com. (2017). Helix Core Version Control Software | Perforce. [online] Available at: https://www.perforce.com/products/helix-core [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].

Rockley, A., Kostur, P. and Manning, S. (2003). Managing enterprise content. Indianapolis, Ind.: New Riders.