The Department of Health was looking for an effective online tool to capture, interpret and apply the wealth of knowledge that is being generated by the Healthy Together Victoria workforce. Parisfirst had previously developed detailed functional and non-functional requirements that described an accessible, intuitive and effective knowledge system. See Healthy Together Online Tool

The Healthy Together Knowledge System (HTKS) environmental scan reviewed products that could deliver to the requirements established for the Healthy Together Online Tool.

We considered customer relationship management (CRM) products, project management products and behaviour change management systems.

After a broad-based global review of software products, the project team investigated on off-the-shelf proven customer relationship management (CRM) products as they represented the lowest risk and time to deliver, offered a comprehensive fit to requirements and costs were known over the project lifecycle.

A comprehensive analysis against agreed core criteria, was conducted on six products, three of which (Sage, Salesforce and VillageHive) were shortlisted as options for delivery of the system.

The agreed core criteria were:

1. Ability to capture, store and retrieve information on individuals and entities that play a key role in the local health system (and including information about their initiatives and activities that are directly influencing the local health system). It is important that relationships be established between individuals and organisations (e.g. in an employment relationship, or membership of a community group) and vice versa
2. Ability to capture, update and report information related to HTC interventions in the local health system in the form of projects, probes, programs, and including the facilitation of connections between and amongst individuals and entities. It must assist HTCs to create, manage and monitor, HTC strategic activities designed to influence the key decisions within in the local health system
3. Ability to capture, update and report on information related to funded agencies and state-wide programs
4. Ability to capture and analyse practice notes and reflections
5. Ability to track activities related to criteria 2 and 3.
6. Ability to store and manage documents storage (library) and have dashboard functionality.

Our approach for conducting an environmental scan of fit for purpose products covered:

1. Broad global scan of (25) potential CRM, PM & behaviour change management products
2. Environmental scan of (16) long listed products
3. Mapping and analysis of (6) short-listed products

Ultimately, Salesforce was recommended as the preferred solution.