Success Story:
Boy Scouts of America 
The Situation
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest and most prominent values-based, youth-development organizations. The BSA provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship and develops personal fitness.
Given a dramatically changing society, this 4 million-member organization regularly evaluates its relevance to young people and their parents. The organization looks to innovate so it will maintain its relevance and refresh its overall business strategy into one that's more efficient and effective.
The Solution
The Boy Scouts of America engaged Farr Systems as a part of its overall business strategy review – specifically to determine whether the organization should outsource its shared services. Farr Systems benchmarked the BSA’s internal IT capabilities against those of vendors to determine whether it would be more cost-efficient and effective to outsource certain functions or keep them in house.
As a part of the engagement, Farr Systems also built a service catalog and new business and IT processes. Farr Systems worked with the BSA to:
- manage the request-for-proposal (RFP) process and select an e-commerce vendor for the BSA’s for-profit retail division. The Farr Systems team worked with the business unit vice president and CIO to successfully complete this strategic project;
- define requirements for, and manage, the RFP process for selecting a content management system; and
- benchmark the BSA’s shared services – including IT, magazine and printing – against those of other organizations. Farr Systems managed the RFP process during a fast-paced, four-month engagement. The final recommendation – it would be more effective and cost efficient for the BSA to reorganize and reduce staff, but retain most of these services in-house.
The Result
By managing these RFP processes, and providing expert advice to the BSA leadership, Farr Systems reduced the time and costs associated with projects crucial to the organization’s business success. As a result, the Boy Scouts of America enjoys leaner, more efficient and more cost effective shared services, IT and other functions. The organization’s management is confident it made the right decisions.
What The Boy Scouts of America says:
Tom Hulcy, group director, information delivery:
“As our members and their parents become more technology-savvy, we have to provide products and services in ways that are easy to use. Farr Systems worked with our team to guide these investments so we made the right decisions – for us and for our members.”
Nate Langston, former national director of administration:
“During a critical stage of our overall business-strategy review, the Farr Systems team completed three important RFP and benchmarking projects in a very short time. These projects allowed us to make informed decisions that were smart for the organization’s long-term strategy."
