Innovative approach for project viability: from a diversityof business models to harmonized and scalable nationalservices
Pierre-Yves Burgi, Eliane
Blumer, & André Jelicic
Université de Genève

Aude Dieudé

Ana Sesartić

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale

ETH Zürich

de Lausanne (EPFL)

ETH-Bibliothek, Digital Curation

VPAA SISB

Rämistrasse 101, CH-8092 Zürich

RLC D1 220+41 44 632 73 76

Station 20, CH-1016 Lausanneana.sesartic@library.ethz.ch

DiSTIC/DIS
Rue du Général Dufour 24,CH-1204 Genève+41 21 69 34784+41 22 379 71 45

eliane.blumer@unige.chandre.Jelicic@unige.chpierre-yves.burgi@unige.ch

aude.dieude@epfl.ch

ABSTRACT
Within the context of a national-level project on Data LifeCycle Management (DLCM), we aim to present in thisworkshop the methodology our team applied for developing
service business models for serving the researcher community.
Based on this experience, working groups will consider
concrete cases of long-term data management, which then will
be shared among participants to discuss the challenges andopportunities brought by the proposed methodology.

Keywords
Data life-cycle management; research data management;
service business modeling; Swiss Higher Education Institutions

1.

VIABILITY METHODOLOGY

To assess the viability of the future services, we applied acustomer-centric approach based on Lean Startup principles byEric Ries [4], in combination with industry reference tools,
namely the Business Model Canvas (BMC) and the Value
Proposition Canvases (VPC) created by Osterwalder andPigneur [2,3]. The VPC aims mainly to explain how to create
1-DLCM PROJECTThe DLCM project [1] is a collaborative initiative regroupingeight Swiss Higher Education Institutions (HEI)1. The primaryobjective is to provide sustainable services to implement
research data lifecycle management in Switzerland. Those
services target the efficient management of active research data,and aim at ensuring publication, long-term reference andpreservation of data subsets selected by researchers. The projectis financially supported by each participating institution and by
the Swissuniversities’ program P2/P5 (until July 2018, and2020 if an extension is afforded). At the term of the project,services should however become self-financed. That’s why
there are strong efforts put on viability methodology based onstrategic management and lean startup method for improving
the chance of having sustainable services on the long term,
which is essential for services concerned with long-termpreservation of research data.

2.

value for the customer, while the BMC explains how to create
value for the legal entity delivering the service. The Value
Proposition Canvas consists of two parts: (i) the Customer
Segment, that lists jobs (what the customer tries to achieve) as
well as pains (risk/barriers preventing a proper job execution)and gains (benefits from achieving/exceeding customer’sobjectives). (ii) the Value Map, that defines a suitableproduct/service relieving the customer from some of the pains
that have been identified and that creates gains. Once defined,
the Customer Segment and the Value Map are integrated into
the Business Model Canvas and forms 2 out of its 9 building
blocks. Here are the 7 remaining ones:

There are two Federal Institutes of Technology, four Universities, one
University of Applied Science, and SWITCH, a foundation providing
ICT services to HEIs

-Customer Relationships (i.e. self-service or personal
assistance and the strategy to get, keep and grow acustomer base)Distribution channels (i.e. downloads, software
integration, etc.)
Revenue Streams (i.e. subscription fees, licensing,etc.)
Key Resources (i.e. human, physical and financial)
Key Activities (i.e. to operate the services)
Key Partnerships (e.g., joint ventures)
Cost Structure (i.e., cost models to run the services)

In the context of the DLCM project, starting with a customercentered approach based on the Value Proposition Canvas,
several services have been identified in relation to the perceived
needs and their match with the different DLCM steps, namely:
Training and Consultancy, Electronic Laboratory Notebook(ELN) as well as a Long-Term Preservation Services. For eachof these services, a corresponding business model has been
elaborated and tested through a validation process. As a final
consolidation phase, the resulting business models areassembled to yield a global service covering the whole data
lifecycle.

3.

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

We initiated the business-modeling methodology in the fall of2016 and intend to get the overall service consolidated byAutumn 2017. To reach this goal, several challenges ofdifferent natures must be faced: the geographical distribution of
the service providers complicates the consolidation of thebusiness models; having to work at a national level acrossdifferent regions, each with their own languages and culture(federal context); adopting the same tool, templates andvocabulary to share the progress of individual business models
and to validate important milestones; finding the right balance
between economic and research practice interests.
However, once all partners adopt a common methodology, amore coordinated view of what is happening regarding data
lifecycle management in different institutions can emerge, witha direct positive impact on the target audiences' needs.

4.

AIM OF THE WORKSHOPWith this background experience gained at a national level fromthe DLCM project, the workshop aims at: (1) presenting theapplication and outcomes of this viability methodology from2015-2020 with a focus on the outcomes of the long-termpreservation service; (2) inviting participants to work in small
groups to apply the methodology (with the set of tools) on
concrete cases of their choices regarding long-termpreservation; (3) opening a general discussion so thatparticipants can express their insights and opinions on themethodology based on their use cases.

5.

CONTENT OF WORKSHOPThe workshop is organized in two parts of 90 minutes. The firstone and a half hour will start after an introduction round with amore detailed overview of the viability methodology as well as
an in-depth introduction into the DLCM project. Then,
participants will have time to take a closer look into the alreadyexisting Business Models elaborated within the DLCM project,with a focus on consultancy, ELN/LIMS as well as archiving
services. Having taken notice of those existing services,participants will have the opportunity to share their opinion anddiscuss about the service description.
The second one and a half hour will be dedicated to theconcrete application of the methodology on a given or free use
cases. In this context, participants are asked to work in small
groups. In the end, they will have the opportunity to present
their work to the other groups.

6.

TARGET AUDIENCEThis workshop is especially designed for administrators andpractitioners of digital preservation as well as information
professionals who deal with service design as well as everyone
interested in service business models practices.

7.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Our thanks go to the entire DLCM team across institutions led
by Pierre-Yves Burgi.

8.

REFERENCES

1.

Burgi PY, Blumer E, Makhlouf-Shabou B (2017)
Research data management in Switzerland IFLA Journal43(1) pp. 5 – 21; see also the DLCM Portal www.dlcm.ch

2.

Osterwalder A and Pigneur Y (2010) Business Model
Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers,and Challengers. John Wiley and Sons.

3.

Osterwalder A, Pigneur Y, Bernarda G, Smith A andPapadakos T (2014) Value Proposition Design: How toCreate Products and Services Customers Want. John Wileyand Sons.

4.

Ries E, (2011) The Lean Startup: How ConstantInnovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses.
Penguin.