Soccer Canada

The Differly team was first retained by Canada Soccer to develop a full technology and digital road map.  

Canada Soccer was anticipating many large organizational shifts including the need for a new enterprise-level website and infrastructure, a full information management strategy and a new enterprise data hub to manage all soccer member, coach, and fan data.  

Like many other national sporting federations, Canada Soccer was facing several challenges in managing a growing technology stack, member management data as well as rapidly changing fan expectations. Some of the core challenges included:  

1. Software-as-a-Service products were causing a shadow IT footprint, leading to inefficient technology spending, security and privacy risks, and incompatible data. 
2. International partners, like FIFA, had growing demands to support and integrate with new data interchange standards.  
3. Fans increasingly wanted to stream large quantities of high-quality video content to desktop and mobile devices.  
4. There was a growing need to engage with fans and partners on an expanding list of digital platforms which required thoughtful content planning.  

Differly was engaged to conduct a systematic review of IT and Digital Infrastructure starting with a thorough current state assessment and needs analysis followed by the development of a multi-year road map allowing the organization to plan out budgeting needs, capacity, and work from a list of prioritized initiatives.  

Differly was then retained to help implement and oversee the road map and take on fractional CIO responsibilities. During this time, the work has involved:  

1. Detailed IM strategy and business requirements leading to a vendor selection process and the development and deployment of a national registry system and data warehouse supporting FIFA reporting requirements while enabling new data analytics.  
2. A new video-driven content strategy across multiple platforms.  
3. The development of a new IT management approach leading to significant cost efficiencies and reduction of shadow IT.  
4. Development of a new cybersecurity strategy and improved cybersecurity resilience 
5. The selection and launch of a corporate eLearning platform for Coach Education.  
6. The development of an eSports strategy.  

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