morgan

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

1'Developing a Business Plan for DSpace@Cambridge' SPARC, Washington DC, 19 Nov 2004

Developing a Business Planfor DSpace@Cambridge

Peter Morgan Julie Walker Project Director Project Liaison DSpace@Cambridge DSpace@Cambridge Cambridge University Library MIT Libraries



Outline

• business plan fundamentals• DSpace@Cambridge project• business plan components• what's next?• conclusions



Business plan fundamentals• a business plan …

– is part of strategic planning process– contributes to organizational sustainability– is iterative, not linear– integrates different elements…



Business plan fundamentals• the elements of a business plan include

– vision and goals– service definition– market research– organizational structure – operations plan– cost model– revenue model– communications & PR– evaluation and ongoing market review



DSpace@Cambridge

• 3-yr project (to Dec 2005) funded by Cambridge-MIT Institute

• collaboration between Cambridge (Library + Computing Service) and MIT Libraries

• project vision and goals– establish institutional repository– develop functionality of DSpace platform

(digital preservation & learning management systems)– create business plan– collaborate with others



DSpace@Cambridge business plan

• project funding ends Dec 2005• business plan will support sustainable

service• consultants commissioned• business plan must be context-sensitive• methodology potentially useful elsewhere



Business plan components

… let's look in more detail at the planning process…



Business plan components - service definition

• review of existing information• service model definition

– input from library and computing service staff– interviews with early adopters– interviews with potential users– staffing considerations

• place within overall business plan• place within overall library service

strategy and organizational structure



Business plan components- market research

• survey goals– confirm service

definition– test attitudes and

understanding– acquire demographic

data– size market – gauge marketing

channels

• survey design and distribution issues – pilot version– target audience– distribution methods– online v. hardcopy– timing



Business plan components - cost models

• cost categories, especially…– staffing– hardware

• derived from service definition• range of options (minimal service full

range of features and services)



Business plan components - revenue models

• should reflect market research• identify local constraints

– financial– political– cultural

• think creatively - question conventional wisdom



What's next?

• (reprise) the elements of a business plan include– vision and goals– service definition– market research– organizational structure – operations plan– cost model– revenue model– communications & PR– evaluation and ongoing market review



Conclusions

• business planning is important• each institution is different• listen to the customer/educate the market• all institutions have fundamental choices

– policies– service definition– local constraints

• need to share business plans– will establish consensus and reveal patterns that others

can adopt/adapt



Contacts

Peter Morgan <[email protected]>

Julie Walker <[email protected]>

* * * * * * * * * *Apto Consulting Limited

Lucio Cicolecchia <[email protected]>

Oliver Hill <[email protected]>