The Challenge
Plexis Group, an Indiana company providing eGovernment opportunities to local governmental agencies, wanted to help county auditors and treasurers streamline their operations through the creation of software called audisey. The new software would become part of a suite of products designed to offer a complete governmental management system. Plexis Group had already created and marketed some of the elements, but with no programming team of their own the software work needed to complete the task wasn’t feasible. So they looked to the resources and expertise of Rose-Hulman Ventures. 

The Result
The multi-tiered strategy for Plexis Group began in 1999 with the development of its first component, efinity—an Internet based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) product. In 2001, Plexis Group designed ecama—tax assessment software. With audisey as the third component, the system would enable local governmental agencies to assess property, generate and collect tax bills for property, associate this data with their GIS data, and serve as an integrated data set to consumers, citizens or other private agencies via the Internet.

 Students working as interns at Rose-Hulman Ventures became a programming team for Plexis Group. A group of 22 multi-disciplinary students, under the direction of project managers and faculty, worked on audisey, along with various other projects for Plexis Group, over an 18-month period. They gained experience in design and analysis, as well as effective client communication.

 “Rose-Hulman Ventures offered a one-of-a-kind solution to our programming needs,” GIS manager for Plexis Group (since acquired by Mantron) Dina Sabri commented. “We found a partner that enabled us to complete crucial software projects without having to expand our staff.”

 The software developed by Rose-Hulman Ventures student interns gained customers, contributing to the acquisition of Plexis Group by Manatron, a leading national provider of property software systems and services, in November, 2005.

For more information about Manatron, visit www.manatron.com.