We were contacted by three NYPD-based labor union and benefit funds groups—the Lieutenant’s Benevolent Association (LBA) and the Captain’s Endowment Association (CEA), and the Superior Officers Council (SOC)— to help them implement a seamless NYPD system with a membership management solution.
Problem
The core challenge we faced was consolidating three separate desktop-based systems with separate databases and duplicate data into a single integrated system that streamlined their business processes.
Prior to the upgrade project, the LBA/CEA/SOC tracked and updated membership data manually using paper-based processes. Adding and updating member data and associating members with their benefits data was cumbersome, time-consuming, and error-prone.
The LBA/CEA/SOC wanted a more efficient way to keep track of their members and their relevant information. They hired Winmill to implement an eMembership solution that could consolidate these three databases into a centrally accessible and secure Cloud-based solution.
Major Challenges
The task of consolidating three different systems with several thousand members proved challenging. A thorough data validation and cleansing effort across the three departments was required. All business processes needed to be evaluated and optimized to fit into an integrated and modernized application architecture. Winmill needed to design a solution that smoothly migrated every member to the new eMembership software with minimal impact.
Solution
Winmill began by addressing how each group tracked and updated membership and benefit fund information.
The project effort included consolidating each database into a single shared repository. We wrote data-cleansing and migration scripts that migrated the desktop database into the eMembership database. We undertook a well-managed effort to ensure all the data was consistent.
We also developed a strategy to ensure the transition to the new platform was simple and painless. This strategy included a weekend cutover and staying on site as long as we were needed to assist with training and troubleshoot issues or problems.
Winmill specializes in transforming legacy applications into secure, hosted cloud solutions.
Result
Not only did eMembership reduce the need for physical paperwork and manual data entry, it enabled quick and seamless updates of membership information in the new NYPD system. The central database eliminates the need for three separate databases to keep track of members in different organizations.
LBA/CEA/SOC continue to effectively use the platform. Several enhancements have been implemented on the platform since the initial rollout, which continues to support a highly optimized business process solution.
