Transcript Sylvia - Carl Rebman Associate Professor of Information Systems

WEB-BASED DEAL LOG DATABASE
PROJECT REVIEW
Presented to
SHEPHERD VENTURES
By
Sylvia Szubrycht
Company overview
 Shepherd Ventures – a San Diego VC firm
 Investing in growth companies:
- located in Southern California
- that need first or later stage of funding
- Life Sciences or Information Technology
- must have working product or prototype
- must be referred
Current Situation
 Receives an average of 200 proposals monthly
 Proposals must be prescreened for recommendation
and logged into the database by an Investment Analyst
 Currently using Microsoft Access Database
 Database controlled by Analyst only (no LAN)
 Nobody else has remote access to the database
 Manual Logging process takes 20 hours monthly
Problem Statement
 Current deal log database is not effective because:
- Analyst prioritizes analysis and due diligence
- Backlogs do not allow accurate, timely reporting
- Partners are too busy to forward BP to Analyst
- Partners have no access to database to make sure
that the company has not been reviewed yet by
another partner
Project Objectives
Create a web-based Deal Log application with SQL
backend that will:
 Provide real time deal flow tracking, searching,
monitoring and reporting
 Be accessible to authenticated Shepherd users
 Improve effectiveness and accuracy
 Integrate historical Microsoft Access data
 Improve efficiency by automating manual procedures
Cost/Benefit
 Efficient/Effective identification of qualified companies
 Eliminate opportunity cost of Analyst’s work
 Remove backlogs – accurate reporting for LPs
 Real time data – everybody SV can access at anytime
 Eliminate costs associated with duplication of
analysis
Feasibility
 Technical: MySQL free database, Microsoft data
converted into SQL  no problem
 Operational: SV will use it if made to requirements
 Economic: Analyst’s time cost 240h x $45 = $10,800
Cost
Software Developer
Number of
hours
120
Cost per
hour
$80
$9,200
Investment Analyst
2
$45
$90
Shepherd Ventures
Partner
3
$96
$288
Total
$9,578
Requirements Analysis
 Online questionnaire to be filled out by a company
- form available on a company’s website
 Info analyzed by program, flag opportunities by
qualify/disqualify for automatic rejection or review
 System sends updates to Analyst
 Database will categorize by stage, location, sector
 Searching, reporting, charting features, & statistical info
 Easy to operate, fast, updatable for future enhancements
Measures of Success
Success criteria:
 To be completed on time (120 hrs or 3 weeks)
 To be functional without errors
Project will be considered failure if criteria are not met
Design/Development/Testing
Implementation & Training









Functionality Blue Print
PHP language codes
User interface screens
Presentation of beta version for SV review/adjustments
Final Testing/Debugging
Installation on a server
Launching online
Delivery of documentation of operational aspects
Training SV staff
Conclusion




One time cost $9,578
Payback less than 11 months (current cost $10,800 annually)
Completion: max 3 weeks
Project objectives achieved – backlogs, reporting, remote
searching, prescreening process shortened
 Improved efficiency and effectiveness of deal log process
 Maintenance & hosting costs - additional $15/month
KEY DELIVERABLES:
 Beta version of deal log functionality by 2nd week (or 85hrs)
 Delivery and installation of software by 3rd week (or 120th hrs)
 Documentation to be delivered at the time of training