IT Services
SITUATION
Global leader in IT services needed help to significantly reduce operating costs, accelerate government agency deployment and revenue, and improve customer service.
DRIVER GOAL
- Maximize system/service deployment and revenue through expense deferral/reduction/redeployment.
- Minimize system/service cost per transaction.
- Improve customer satisfaction.
RESULT
- Improved developer utilization.
- Increased product stability.
- Reduced implementation cycle time of the core system.
- Improved training satisfaction.
Case Study
Reduce Costs & Optimize Service
Issue
A global leader in information technology services was awarded one of three Master Contract approvals to deliver Web-based, “self-serve,” electronic travel services (travel, authorization and expense management) to the U.S. Federal Government in 2003. Two years into the Master Contract, the company engaged The Highland Group to significantly reduce operating costs, accelerate government agency deployment and revenue, and improve customer service.
Highland Approach
A core team of The Highland Group’s expert information technology professionals conducted a Discovery and Design process on the core system to understand service gaps, capacity constraints and process inefficiencies in development, deployment and customer service and to outline the specific approach required to achieve the desired results and the projected benefits.
Actions Taken
- Defined and stabilized the core system while expanding development capabilities and capacity.
- Streamlined and standardized deployment and customer service.
- Implemented a System For Managing and aligned program leadership to enable a metrics-driven, proactive, problem-solving culture.
- Established a “War Room” highlighting client implementation and technical delivery status, including key performance indicator dashboards for customer support (external), travel agencies (third party suppliers), and operations (internal process view).
- Capitalized the majority of development and related costs allowing them to be deferred until the “completed” product is deployed. Non-capitalizable time was reduced to 13.9% of total hours.