Over the years Soren has completed a large variety of projects. A typical project is the development of a custom web-based application to meet a company's specialized needs. Some projects are modest in scope and completed within weeks, while others involve complicated business processes and may last a year or longer.Below is a sampling of some of the projects we've completed for our clients.
Developed on behalf of the most widely read magazine in the U.S.
One-stop, integrated request system for sales staff to request all available services from the business. The salesperson completes an integrated form to request one or more services: Print Pricing, Online Pricing, Marketing, Merchandising, Research, Circulation Reports. The system's features include:
- Interface with the master sales database of advertisers, incorporating sales staff assignment rules maintained in that system
- Complex, multi-layered security model limiting visibility based on business requirements and user roles
- Reporting: custom and canned reports can be quickly generated to produce a full view of an advertiser relationship
- Automated Workflow: email notifications alert staff at key points throughout the request/fulfillment process
- Easy Administration: an administrative user can easily adjust the application to accommodate staff changes and new developments in the business process
"The New Yorker has worked with Soren Technology Consulting on several projects; two of the solutions created for us are still in use after eight years. In a more recent project, Steve Santurri developed a web-based editorial production tracking system for newyorker.com that is used to replicate The New Yorker's print reviewing process for all the web pages, allowing us to maintain the same quality control we have in the print magazine while using the same editorial staff. The project materials he created were meticulously drawn up, with the details that we mentioned as asides seamlessly integrated into a workflow that fulfills the business objective, is a pleasure to work with, and doesn’t waste our time with extra steps. The end-result is an excellent user experience."
— Kilian Schalk
Technical Director of Digital Projects
Deputy Director of Production
The New Yorker
Technical Director of Digital Projects
Deputy Director of Production
The New Yorker
Developed for use by 15 Art Departments at a magazine publishing company
Request system for Art Departments to intake job requests, supporting the process from request through job completion, as follows:
- Business staff complete an easily customized form to request deliverables from the Art Department
- Art Director controls the intake of requests and assignment to designers
- Production schedules can be entered and updated as the project progresses
- Integrates with Adobe Acrobat/Reader to route art through the system to the requester and other key staff for electronic review and editing
- Email notification alerts staff when it's their turn to review artwork
- Serves as a repository of all activity within the Art Department for reporting and work queues
Developed for US division of international bank
Enhancements and new features for Know Your Customer (KYC) and New Account Opening system. Features include:
- Real-time interface for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and OFAC name checking
- Security features to monitor for system unauthorized use
- Expanded functionality to streamline new account opening process and integrate KYC updates with core banking system
Developed for several Promotions departments at a media company
Contact and event management database, including custom fields for tracking details of specialized interest. Features include:
- Extensive sorting, searching, and reporting options for contact data
- Event management features: define events, invite contacts to events, and track invitation/attendance status
- Integrated correspondence modules – for email blasts and mail merges
- Track event details for each attendee – guest info, seating, travel, lodging
- Canned and custom event reporting: attendees, door list, seating lists
For the sales staff of a magazine with multiple regional editions and sales staff located throughout the U.S.
Analysis and implementation project to identify the best mid-level off-the-shelf CRM (Customer Relationship Management) product to meet the sales staff's needs. Services included:
- Performed a detailed review of sales process and systems, itemizing deficiencies and requirements
- Analyzed product offerings and recommended product with best fit
- Defined and executed a strategy for managing product customizations by vendor, converting data from ACT!, implementing new product in all locations, training users, and establishing ongoing support process
Developed for the web content team of a weekly magazine
Online checklist for coordinating the efforts of multiple people who work together to create the content for a news-oriented website. Feature highlights:
- Status designations and simple note-taking allows users to quickly communicate about each web page: edits needed, art, checking, publishing, etc.
- Rapid performance and minimal page refreshing to facilitate frequent, incremental updates
- Automated tools identifying which pages have been published to staging and production environments
- Archive of all web pages with indexed meta-data for searching and reporting
- Email integration for directing users to web pages requiring their attention
Developed for a busy photo department that dispatches photographers to cover events for multiple publications
Web-based request system used by editors to request that photographers be sent to photograph events for reporting in the newspaper/magazine. Automates entire workflow:
- Editors complete and submit a straightforward form with all pertinent details
- Photo Editor manages the intake of requests, assigning them to photographers through a simple one-click process
- Photographers receive an email assignment with all the information about the job, and can link back into the system for updating status once the job is done
- Assignments can be viewed in list or calendar format
- Customizable reporting for measuring and monitoring department workload
Developed for two online media companies merging their operations
Analysis project to enable system upgrades necessary to support new business model. Services provided included:
- Created a detailed analysis of two separate Lotus Notes-based CRM products that had been custom developed at two merging companies
- Developed a plan for consolidating the two systems into a single custom solution possessing the best features of each
- Delivered a recommendation advising internal staff on how to redesign applications so as to achieve consolidation and migration