In 1999, the Member and Statistical Records Department (MSR) began considering a rewrite of the local unit Member Information System (MIS) and Financial Information System (FIS). Since 1986 priesthood leaders had been using separate applications to manage local Church unit membership (MIS) and finances (FIS). MIS and FIS were available only to Church units in the U.S. and Canada and a limited number of English-speaking units outside the U.S. and Canada. In 1998, a separate tool, Convert Data Entry (CDE), was introduced for use by missions to submit convert information needed to create membership records. MIS, FIS, and CDE were developed in a text-based DOS environment. In April 2000, AP Software was contracted to help the Church in this rewrite.

During 2000, local leaders in 17 countries were visited to determine local unit needs for a new software application that could:

1. Record member ordinances (e.g., baptism/confirmation) and activities (e.g., marriage).
2. Provide tools that support local priesthood and auxiliary leaders in their member-nurturing responsibilities.
3. Record member donations and manage local unit finances.
4. Support mission convert information reporting requirements.
5. Support multiple languages and writing systems.

Also, an analysis of local infrastructure and security issues was made during these visits (e.g., Web availability, telephone infrastructure, building security, electrical grid, etc.).

Two primary architecture designs were considered for MLS development: Web-browser based or a stand-alone Java application. After seeing the limitations of computer skills in local units and the poor communications infrastructure in many international areas (e.g., lack of Web access and poor telephone infrastructure), it was decided to develop MLS in Java. The remainder of 2000 was used to research and prototype MLS. Significant development began in 2001.

The MLS project was planned to be released in three phases, with each phase building upon the previous phase:

1. CDE (Convert Data Entry): To be used by missions to submit convert information needed to create a membership record, replacing the current DOS CDE version.
2. MLS 1.0: To be used by selected international local Church units, this phase provided basic membership and finance functionality. This would be the first local unit software made available to units outside of the U.S. and Canada.
3. MLS 2.0: To be used by all authorized local Church units. MLS 2.0 provided full membership and finance functionality, replacing MIS and FIS in the U.S. and Canada.

CDE and MLS 1.0 development started in early 2001. CDE shipped during October 2001. MLS 1.0 shipped during February 2002. MLS 2.0 shipped during December 2002.

Convert Data Entry (CDE)

CDE was the first product to come out of the MLS project. CDE is used to record and submit convert information needed to create membership records. It is also the vehicle used to report a mission’s official monthly baptism and confirmation statistics back to a mission. It was written entirely in Java using the JVM 1.4.0. CDE 1.0 was piloted in two missions in October 2001. In February 2002, CDE began full rollout to all missions.

CDE was designed to be the "proving grounds" for MLS. It contained the fundamental pieces that MLS would be built upon, namely:

1. An application written in Java.
2. A database written in Java (from Pointbase).
3. An interface to submit convert membership data to the Church Membership Information System (CMIS). CMIS is the system that manages individual Church member information and is the official repository for all membership information.
4. Used Afaria instead of the RemoteWare that MIS and FIS used.

CDE 1.0

Today CDE is used in 318 of 346 total missions. CDE is not used in non-proselyting missions or missions whose language is based on non-Roman writing systems (e.g., Cyrillic).

The current version of CDE is 2.8.2 using the JVM 1.6.0.

CDE 2.8.2

Member and Leader Services (MLS)

MLS 1.0

After the CDE pilot was successfully completed, MLS 1.0 was well into development. MLS 1.0 was planned to provide basic membership and finance functionality that would be used in international units where they previously had no local unit computers or software. MLS 1.0 first shipped in February 2002 to selected stakes in Australia and New Zealand. MLS 1.0 used the JVM 1.4.0.

MLS Prototype

MLS 2.0

MLS 2.0 added functionality provided by MIS and FIS: home and visiting teaching, organization information, certificate printing, temple recommend tracking, stake functionality, check writing, and budgeting.

MLS 2.0 was to begin the replacement of MIS and FIS in four pilot stakes in Utah in December, 2002. By June 2003, MLS 2.0.4 began shipping to all domestic units.

MLS Today

As of June 2008, the current MLS version is MLS 2.8.3. It uses the JVM 1.6.0. MLS is used in 90% of all Church units, in 65 countries. MLS supports 17 languages and four writing systems. Four languages and two additional writing systems will be added during 2008.

From its simple beginning to today, MLS's functionality has grown beyond its original membership and finance roles. As for the future of MLS, additional functionality will continue to be added as needs change and as directed by priesthood councils.

Larry Jones is a senior business analyst for the Church.

Recently I came across a Utah business magazine that listed the top 25 most influential people in Utah.  Many of their biographies stated that the books which influenced their leadership style the most were Good to Great by Jim Collins and Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. Having read these books when they were first published, I went back and reviewed them to see how they applied to my current role as a business process manager. I found it interesting that Execution presents almost one-third of the book on three core processes:

•    The people process
•    The strategy process
•    The operations process

Collins found alignment between disciplined people, thought, and action and introduced us to concepts such as level five leaderships; first who…then what; confront the brutal facts; hedgehog concept; culture of discipline; and technology accelerates. I found it interesting that he stated:

So what is this thing about processes, how does it apply to technology, and why are processes so important in our business? Processes and process improvement have been around for years. Fredrick Taylor and his scientific study of motion tracked, measured, and improved workers’ performance by studying a worker’s every motion and eliminating those that did not add value to the work task. Following World War II, Edward Deming introduced his 14 key management principles for transforming business effectiveness and applied this in Japan.

Within ICS, there is a core group of five business process managers that report to Joel Dehlin. Our mission as a department is to assist in improving organizational performance throughout the Church by improving processes. We have developed a methodology based upon our combined experience in process improvement that we believe will help the way departments function in the Church.

Each business process manager is aligned with an ICS portfolio and is part of the portfolio’s leadership team. When a need exists for a technology solution from a customer, we work with the program manager and the customer to analyze the existing business processes within the requesting department (the first step in Identify within PTS) and look for improvement opportunities. After a thorough analysis of the business processes, we provide the program manager with the business requirements necessary to develop a technology solution, based upon the department’s strategy. I’m currently working on mapping the integrated human resource process with a goal of developing business requirements in which an integrated technology solution can be identified and implemented. I’m also working to map the Perpetual Education Fund’s processes. Technology will not solve all performance problems, but we believe that any solution should be tied to the business’s processes and strategies.  

In Rumler and Brache’s book, Improving Performance – Managing between the White Spaces, a model is presented which states that three areas need to be in alignment for organizational performance to work effectively. These are:

1.    The organization’s vision, mission, strategy, and goals.
2.    The work processes.
3.    Job/Individual’s assignments or tasks.

We are currently working with ICS, Human Resources, Audiovisual, Family and Church History, Welfare, Finance and Records, and other departments to align the processes in these three areas.

If you would like more information about who we are working with or how we could help, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

References:

Collins, Jim (2001). Good to Great. New York: Harper Collins
Bossidy and Charan (2002). Execution. Crown Business
Rummler and Brache (1995). Improving Performance – How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart. Jossey-Bass

Mark McCashland is a business process manager for the Church.

For over 20 years the Church used the same software program for scripture publication.  Although it served well, it was not updated to take advantage of improvements in companion software programs and therefore needed to be replaced.  The solution re-created its capabilities in current software tools—in less time and at lower cost than expected.

A significant innovation of this solution is the ability to convert XML files into publication-worthy documents. This allows the Church to:

•    Facilitate and accelerate the transition to a single-source XML repository by providing a robust publishing solution for XML content.
•    Accelerate and simplify the publishing process, thereby saving time and money.
•    Provide a scalable solution that will easily accommodate multiple languages and can be adapted for future publications.

Benjamin Wood is a project coordinator for the Church.

Last week we released a new beta Web site: LDS Maps. This is a Web site that people use to locate LDS buildings all over the world. This will eventually (probably July) replace a tool called Meetinghouse Locator on LDS.org and Mormon.org.

We’d love for people (members of the Church and nonmembers alike) to check it out and give us feedback! This is only a beta so you will probably see some glitches, performance problems, incorrect data, or issues with the design. When you do, let us know about them!

Visit Joel's blog to read the entire article.

Or visit the forum to discuss LDS Maps.

Last month, Gartner identified the top 10 disruptive technologies for 2008 - 2012. And the list is pretty accurate:

• Multicore and hybrid processors
• Virtualization and fabric computing
• Social networks and social software
• Cloud computing and cloud/Web platforms
• Web mashups
• User interface
• Ubiquitous computing
• Contextual computing
• Augmented reality
• Semantics

We’re already trying to figure out how to deal with some of this stuff. Disruptive? Yes. Scary? Definitely. How does a CIO (or IT manager) deal with, embrace, or hold off new technologies?

Visit Joel’s blog to read the entire article.

Generation Y is the generation born between approximately 1981 and 2001. They are primarily the children of the baby boomers.

Visit Joel's blog to read the entire article.