Technology Project Plan Long Beach

Technology Project Plan Long Beach Mortgage Technology Project Plan The intent of this document is to define the Technology Project Plan for the development of the Long Beach Mortgage Broker Front Office Tool (LBM-BFOT). Included in this plan are definitions of hardware, software, and integration requirements for completing the BFOT development as defined in the Business Requirements Analysis.

Specifically focusing on the critical functionality of support in FlashQuotes for loan modeling and pricing data in real-time from the Loan Origination Systems (LOS), with a secondary requirement of uploading loan quotes from FlashQuotes to the LOS so they can be tracked electronically as to their status being transformed into loans are held for future reference in subsequent sales cycles. The Business Requirements Analysis defines the integrations necessary for the FlashQuote system to deliver best practices-level of performance as a selling strategy within Long Beach Mortgage.

Technology Project Plans: FlashQuote Application Development and Real-Time Integration for Loan Modeling and Pricing Data Programming The primary design goal of both of these projects is to create thin client-based applications that can easily be delivered through a browser to any Long Beach Mortgage sales representative at any time. The reliance on J2EE programming standards for integrating application logic to the graphical interface is undergoing a significant change today with the widespread use of AJAX programming as well.

While this emerging programming standard is admittedly complex, the essence of it is that only the changed parts of a web page or web application are propagated to the user interface via the browser. For both systems to be truly thin-client and deliver the level of performance necessary even in dial-up and slow DSL connections, the use of AJAX is a requirement for this project.

Additional programming standards include the use of XML for the integration of loan status and specifics regarding the loan applicant, loan modeling parameter, loan pricing and terms, and loan status applications that Long Beach Mortgage loan representatives can use in the context of the FlashQuote portal. In the context of the relationship between quoting and pricing, loan modeling, loan terms and rates analysis, and the loan close rates of business development, FlashQuote acts as a platform for unifying applications into a single strategy.

This is a critical point regarding the programming aspects of FlashQuote; the integration of all systems that are called upon to set and keep accurate commitments with Long Beach Mortgage prospects and customers hinge on a scalable and sustained quoting business strategy underscored with real-time integration between systems. Integration makes the setting and keeping of complex commitments to prospects and customers possible.

The approach of using XML for linking these quoting, loan modeling, interest rate calculations and projections, and pricing applications to back-end ERP, internal pricing, loan and policy systems is based on the XSLT style sheets that XML uses to define its approach to creating sustained links to internal systems. Figure 1 shows how Asera Corporation (2005) has consistently used this approach of integrating with their databases through XML and XSLT style sheets. Asera specializes in Oracle integration solutions.

Figure 1: Integrating systems using XML Databases The database design specifically for integrating quoting, pricing and interest rate analysis at a minimum needs to share a common architecture that can quickly allow for streamlined price and availability queries from Long Beach Mortgage's pricing, loan modelling, and customer management systems. The specifics of the database for the combined approach of quoting need to include the following key attributes and applications.

First, there's the need for selecting a database that supports the ability to create multiple loan, interest rate, and pricing, and quoting scenarios. In short all these requirements are typically called a databases' support of multiple taxonomies. This is a critical first requirement as multiple taxonomies are clearly resident in many of the transactions Long Beach Mortgage accomplishes today in the course of a normal day of business.

Second, the database selected for these combined strategies of quoting management and pricing need to support record locking and write-one verification, which is part of any database being ACID-compliant. Simply put, these are databases that have assurance of atomicity, consistency, isolation of data, and durability, hence the acronym ACID-compliant. This is a critical issue for Long Beach Mortgage from the compliance perspective as well, as they are publicly held and must report their earnings through the Sarbanes-Oxley (2002) registration process.

Born out of the massive amounts of fraud and earnings misstatements of Tyco, Enron, and others, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed into law in 2002, and has since revolutionized the approach to reporting, compliance and the use of databases for selling, reporting on, and servicing products. The need for the database selection and design to support compliance and high levels of data reliability (ACID levels of support) is critical.

Finally, the database must support high levels of integration and support for dynamic pricing, greater control over product taxonomies and hierarchies, and proven security and compliance design features than many of the open source alternatives available on the market today. The networks required for the systems and applications center on the security requirements of Long Beach Mortgage users who will be using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection to gain access to FlashQuote.

While many of these loan professionals will be using Internet connections within the company, just as many will be outside the company, accessing the application through a web browser. As a result, the VPN connection is essential for ensuring security across the Internet. The focus on authentication over the network is a high priority concern, as the pricing and product availability data is highly confidential, and of great competitive value.

A secondary concern is the ability to keep each sales reps' area secure from all other sales representatives' areas, as each sales rep's responses to prospects and customers could have variations in pricing, service, maintenance, and product selling levels or quotas. The need for creating highly secure authentication on FlashQuote is critical, and the use of Kerberos technologies included in Microsoft Windows Server products in addition to 128-bit encryption and password aging is critical.

Systems Analysis and Design driven from user cases Specific to the use cases as defined in the Business Requirements Analysis, the FlashQuote system includes options for customizing a loan depending on its use by a client, including refinancing, valuing of properties, defining of term and rate levels, and any contingencies as well. Also included is the ability to quickly define a probable loan closing date based on the specifics of the loan.

The second use case is the intent of this integration is to provide a competitive advantage to sales representatives as they complete quotes online or on the telephone with potential prospects. Real-time integration is a requirement as the rates and fees in the markets that LOM competes in change quickly over time, and can mean the difference between winning or losing a loan and winning a customer or not. What's critical about these use cases is that they define the strategies that Long Beach Mortgage is trying to accomplish.

The focus on unmet needs of the Long Beach Mortgage sales representatives is critical in the context of interpreting use cases. These sales reps, while employees of Long Beach Mortgage, are the primary "customers" of these systems. They are very much to audience that the systems have specifically been created for; they are the primary group who will benefit most from the systems' performance and functioning.

Defining the systems and analysis objectives for the all system analysis and design efforts begins by creating a Customer Advisory Council, and this council can be comprised of both the customers from outside the company, and those internal customers who in this case are sales. In many companies, those members inside the company vs. those outside the company differentiate these councils. Councils act as the Voice of the Customer in the development of the FlashQuote application, and regularly contribute to reviews of the applications' progress over time.

The Customer Advisory Council also has Sales, Product Management, Operations, and Service representatives on it to ensure their specific departments' needs are also reflected in FlashQuote. The first step in any strong systems analysis and design program is to create ownership not only with the eventual customers, or users of the system, but also with the internal departments that will also have to support the applications and the system over its life.

The next step in the systems analysis and design phase is working with the advisory council and internal team members to define how processes are completed today. The scoping of existing processes is a critical step in defining how both systems compliment how people work. The processes in place already, many no doubt highly inefficient and time-wasting in structure, need to be replaced with the system components of the applications themselves.

Following the definition of processes that are going to be modified, the systems workflows are created, often in a graphical formatting tool like Visio for example. Figure 2 from the Service Availability Forum (2005) shows graphically how the workflows are defined for handling the service-related functions within a service order management system HP created in 2006 for a client.

Figure 2: Defining Workflows as part of the Systems Analysis Phase Further steps regarding systems analysis and design include the creation of roles and responsibilities in a matrix, defining alpha and beta test programs, with strong focus on making each step of the systems design and analysis phase focused on both internal and external customers or stakeholders for the system. The use of the Customer Advisory Council is often used specifically for this purpose.

Internal and External Stakeholders AMR Research (2003) has stated that fully 70% of the cost of implementing any quoting or customer-facing system is in changing the behaviors of existing users. Called change management, this area focuses on getting both users internal and external to the company to change how their jobs are done daily. This is admittedly no small task and requires significant effort. The focus on change management strategies both during the systems analysis design, programming, testing, quality assurance and launch of both systems is critical.

Many quoting, pricing, loan modeling, interest rate calculators and loan tracking systems are launched and achieve only 60% or less use due to the fact that many companies rely on the launch event itself as the pivotal moment for getting their internal and external stakeholders involved and using the system. The internal stakeholders of sales, product management, service, operations, software engineering, and all other support services need to have a comprehensive understanding of the entire launch process first.

In fact these organizations need to be included in the development processes and cross-functional development meetings so the needs not only for their own departments but also to enable them to synchronize their efforts with others are critical. Studies have shown that these internal stakeholders need a minimum of at least 16 weeks of preparation time to enable them to interlock with and maximize the value of the applications' many impacts on their own organizations.

For external stakeholders the need for education is the most critical, and the ability to position and promote both FlashQuote and the related real-time integration and associated applications. The bid for loan prospects and customers loyalty is the need to ensure the applications being launched are more closely aligned with these critical stakeholder groups' needs relative to competitors. To gain external stakeholders' loyalty in other words, the FlashQuote system, related applications, and benefits of real-time integration need to be better aligned with these stakeholders vs.

any other manufacturer in this segment. The external stakeholders' percentage of users who actually use the applications is the most telling statistic or measure of performance of any available, as it says what the perceived value of the systems are by users, according to Columbus (2002). Business and Security Risks Given the highly confidential nature of the quoting, interest rate, and pricing data delivered to Long Beach Mortgage sales representatives through applications available outside the company through Internet connections, the very center of the company's business model is at risk.

The fact that VPNs have proven to be effective security applications, Long Beach Mortgage must constantly improve to keep this critical part of their business secure. It is a significant security risk to have these applications available through a web browser, yet the responsiveness to customers and potential gains outweigh the risks.

The bigger risk however is doing nothing at all, and having competitors find an approach that works for serving, gaining loyalty, and eventually maximizing the revenue contribution of the indirect sales channels that both system initiatives are built to serve. The risks associated with both initiatives center on security, acceptance by partners, resellers, and distributors, and the development of the applications, and the risk of losing key talent in the IT organization before the applications are built.

The first risk of acceptance has to be minimized through the use of advisory councils and a strong focus on bringing them a series of applications and broader system they can quickly take ownership of. Accomplishing this starts with a focus on integrating their requirements, thinking through their stated requirements to define what future enhancements are needed given the direction they are going with their channel programs, and most importantly, creating workflows for the managing of special pricing requests.

Columbus (2003) states that of all pricing workflows, the highest ROIs are possible when the special pricing request workflows are automated and taken away from being a purely manual process to one where rules engines are used for quickly making decisions. The business risks of not implementing these two systems have far more significant circumstances vs. The security risks of delivering these applications and their data outside the firewall of the company. These risks can be overcome however through effective use of security and authentication technologies. Financial Planning Costs The following.