Marketing Expense Tracking System
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Client: Colliers Turley Martin Tucker
Web Address: www.ctmt.com
Executive Summary
Colliers Turley Martin Tucker (CTMT), the largest commercial real estate company in the central region of the United States, presented Rose International with an obstacle to overcome. Each of CTMT's offices used a different software package to track and manage marketing expenses. The information from all these systems interacted with a centralized accounting database. Unfortunately, without a common system, information was often keyed multiple times and common information was not shared.
Business Challenge
To overcome such obstacles, CTMT, envisioned an e-business solution where branch offices could track and manage marketing expenses from a centralized database. The information would seamlessly interface with the existing accounting system, thereby increasing accuracy and efficiency. In addition, CTMT saw an opportunity to combine this new system with their existing intranet and security system.
The Rose International Solution
Rose's solution consists of a Web-based system that allows users in different branches to access property and marketing information from a centralized database. This system has the same interface as the existing company's intranet, thus resulting in a minimal learning curve. Information regarding user access is determined by directly interacting with CTMT's security system. As deals are brokered, information is entered into the system, resulting in a tie to the company's existing property database. Once marketing expenses are incurred, they are entered into the Web system where they are reported on system-created invoices. As payments are received, the accounting system and marketing system interact to ensure that client accounts are debited as appropriate.
The Marketing Expense Tracking System is providing CTMT with an accurate, centralized database where all marketing costs and reimbursements can be tracked. By integrating with existing systems, information is seamlessly shared across the enterprise. By working closely with users, Rose International delivered another successful solution that meets the needs and expectations of the customer.
Rose International was responsible for project management, analyzing existing workflows and working closely with users from different divisions. As the system was designed, Rose held a usability lab with representatives from the user community to ensure that the solution was intuitive and met the needs of field workers. Rose was responsible for designing the systems and ensuring that they were successfully implemented. By meeting with employees of CTMT, the Rose team became subject matter experts and gained a full understanding of the business needs. This knowledge assisted in creating an efficient design that streamlined the business process.
Once the system was designed, Rose's offshore development team performed all coding and unit testing duties. The offshore team performed code reviews to guarantee that the system would be easy to maintain, as well as quality assurance activities to ensure consistency throughout the application. By using an offshore development solution, Rose International was able to keep costs minimized yet achieve the quality product required.
"Rose's implementation of our Marketing Expense Tracking System is increasing both accuracy and efficiency within the company. In addition, they made the application easy to understand, so our employees have had no trouble adapting to it." Bill Florent - CFO, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker
Value Derived
Since implementation of the Marketing Expense Tracking System, CTMT has been able to streamline their expense reimbursement process. By synchronizing with the CTMT accounting and broker systems, data is no longer entered multiple times, thereby resulting in fewer mistakes and better company interaction. In addition, by seamlessly integrating this new application with the existing Intranet infrastructure, users are able to quickly adapt to the new application.
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