A government department integrates its branches
The Defense Department of a NATO-member country wanted to consolidate their Army, Navy and Air Force. In conjunction with this, they intended to implement SAP in the new organisation. They called on IBM to facilitate the plan.
Q: How do you integrate three branches of the military and implement a new SAP system at the same time?
A: You begin by using the new perspective offered by the Component Business Model.
The goals for the unification were clear: They would become more capable and flexible, enabling them to act as one should they need to. It would also allow them to leverage emerging technologies more quickly. Consolidation would mean they could share real-time information more easily, to give better decision support to management.
What's more, they wanted to implement SAP in conjunction with the unification.
Of course, there were barriers to this project. The culture of each branch was different. Agreeing on a strategy was highly influenced by this culture. They determined that a system-by-system approach would take too long. And a process-by-process approach was deemed too technically complex.
How the Component Business Model helped
IBM introduced the Component Business Model to offer a new perspective all three branches could agree on. Activities within each branch became components that incorporated all branches. Each component included a robust definition and solution that aligned with the SAP implementation.
With the structure set, next came the rollout - now easier than ever thanks to the Component Business Model. The newly componentised approach meant that they had control over the data for each component, which incorporated each branch. They had a clear view of what the business benefits would be as the implementation rolled out. They were able to reduce the number of times they had to effect change on different parts of the organisation.
With the implementation of SAP and standard processes, they were able to change their existing cultures and create one new culture. They realised the creation of more efficient personnel, material and financial administration processes.
Results
They saved more than $75 million in procurement alone. They are able to do more with lower overhead, reducing their workforce 25%. And they consolidated their legacy infrastructure from 140 systems to between 10 and 15 new application platforms.
