RETS Implementation Issues

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RETSImplementation Issues
New Topic

• Business Case
• Project Preliminaries
• Resource Identification
• RETS Service Supplier
• RETS Service Consumer
• Project Execution

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RETS Implementation Issues Topic Objectives

• Identify potential issues around a RETS service
• Provide recommendations and suggestions to
  resolve issues
• Ensure the RETS implementation addresses the
  business case
• Reinforce sound project execution practices

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Business Case

• Focal point of the RETS implementation
• Match RETS capabilities to the business problem
  that you are solving
• Identify tangible intangible benefits
• Dont over-sell

Highest benefit area is service to data customers
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Implementation Project Preliminaries - 1

• Describe business case
• Capture business rules ensure that you know
  yourself
• Capture and validate business requirements for
  the metadata data about the data
• Confirm internal and external contracts,
  processes, security
• Identify internal resources
• Identify RETS service supplier and consumers

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Implementation Project Preliminaries - 2

• Identify skill levels in RETS service supplier,
  RETS service consumers
• Understand and validate feature set
• Understand impact to existing consumers
• Define roles and responsibilities for MLS,
  supplier and consumers
• Recommendation Create and maintain visible
  reference documents

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Business Rules

• Who is permitted to see what data?
• Authentication, Access Controls and Audits
• What data can be entered where?
• Data quality rules does the supplier offer it?
• Data quality enforcement - tools
• Are there sessions controls?
• Multiple sessions
• Session duration limits

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Contracts

• RETS Service Supplier
• Who does what
• You own the data
• RETS Service Consumer
• Control the access
• Control the uses
• General observation
• Control your asset with appropriate language

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MLSRETS Service Processes

• Understand who does what
• Contract management
• Help desk access
• Service initiation and termination
• Service issues
• Understand problem escalation
• Responsibilities in the resolution process
• Chain of control to ensure resolution

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Security

• Understand your security requirements before
  starting
• Statutory security
• Physical security of system
• Software security of system
• Audit trails
• Recommendation Define the security requirements
  at the beginning

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NARInformation Security Toolkit

• Develop processes, tools and technologies to keep
  your Internet information secure with these
  easy-to-use guides that were created by NAR
• For Residential Brokers
• For Real Estate Agents
• For Commercial Brokers
• For Association Executives
• For MLS Executives
• Information Security Guidelines
  http//www.realtor.org/rocms.nsf/pages/InformSecCt
  r

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Resource Allocation

• Internal versus Outsourced Resources
• Training
• Help desk
• RETS support
• Statistical and other report generation
• MLS service computing infrastructure

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MetadataData about the data - data content,
structure

• Without metadata, software is very fragile and
  will break when structure is changed
• Metadata driven applications can respond to
  structure change without technical intervention
• Columns and property types can appear when they
  are added without more work
• Metadata can be a challenge to unsophisticated
  developers
• Ensure that the consumers understand issue

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RETSFeature Set

• RETS compliant does not mean all the optional
  features exist
• Different suppliers will have different optional
  features
• Related to their business decisions
• Ensure that supported feature set matches between
  the supplier and consumer

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RETSService Supplier

• RETS compliant
• Available resources
• Business continuity plan
• Business continuity tests
• Availability
• Recommendation Must be a match to your needs

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RETS Service SupplierResources and Skills

• Does supplier have dedicated resources for your
  project?
• Will they get pulled off on some other hot
  project?
• Can supplier provide third party resources for
  your project?
• Should you use an external project champion to
  manage your project?

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RETSService Consumers

• Existing Services
• Homestore
• IDX/VOW
• Brokerages
• Newspapers/book publishers
• Primary client software

• New Services value to Realtors
• Multiple choices for primary client
• Multiple choices for secondary client
• Multiple choices for laptop orpda client
• Data aggregation
• Marketing tools

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RETS Service ConsumerResources and Skills

• The RETS service will change business practices
• Communicate the benefits of RETS
• Reusable code
• Many sources of knowledge
• Industry standard
• Improved data structure change management
• Recommendation Communicate the benefits

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RETS Impact on ExistingService Consumers

• Will require changes to their applications to use
  RETS
• May have a sense that you are off-loading work
  to them
• You are impacting them, communicate the reasons
• Highlight the benefits from easier maintenance of
  their applications in response to your changes

Data customers may not share your pain with the
current situation
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Project Execution

• Manage scope with a change order process
• Priorities shift during implementation project
• Beginning ? quality, functionality
• Middle ? cost
• End ? schedule
• Insist that resource commitments be honored
• Ignore distractions

Project management contributes to project success
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Conclusion

• RETS benefits will add value to your MLS
• Many modest hurdles
• All have been successfully overcome
• Project issues
• a few are RETS specific
• majority of the issues are the common system
  implementation issues

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TopicSummary

• RETS offers many benefits, but faces many of the
  same issues of any service supplier service
  consumer technology
• High learning curve but there are many resources
  available to help
• Business case must be the driver for the
  technology

Discussion Time
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Implementation ProjectReward