Zimmer gains real time visibility into
ongoing initiatives and improves project
completion time by 10-20 percent
“TCS has helped us in delivering a better process for Project and Portfolio
Management, providing visibility for decision making, while realizing
efficiencies in project delivery disciplines. Using MS EPM has enabled
us to manage our portfolio of projects more efficiently.”
- Valerie Lowry
Associate Director, Zimmer IT.
Abstract
Zimmer, a leading US based global medical devices company, wanted to
improve its IT project management and gain real-time visibility into
ongoing assignments. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) recommended the
Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) 2010 solution, and
partnered with the company to provide advisory services and solutions to
enhance the EPM tool. The EPM-based solution helps Zimmer's IT teams
manage on-going initiatives collaboratively by providing visibility across
programs, projects, and operational activities. The solution, along with best
practices and standardized processes instituted by TCS, has improved
project delivery outcomes by 10-20 percent.
Client
Zimmer Inc.
Industry
Medical Devices
Offering
Consulting
About the Client
Founded in 1927, Zimmer is a leading medical device company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets
orthopedic reconstructive, spinal, and trauma devices, dental implants, and related surgical products. In addition,
it offers interactive training and education opportunities for health care professionals. Zimmer sells its products
through its distributors and sales representatives. It has operations in 25 countries, sells its products in more than
100 countries, and employs over 8,500 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Warsaw,
Indiana in the United States.
Business Challenge
Zimmer's business units relied on the company's IT
department to support core business functions.
With over 150 on-going IT projects at any given time,
whose priorities changed frequently, the department
faced continual challenges with resource scheduling
and project management. IT managers, who lacked real
time visibility into project progress, could not take swift
and proactive steps to ensure on-time delivery, which
was a business imperative. Non-standard processes and
inadequate tools also impeded efficiency.
The department realized the need to adopt best
practices and tools, streamline processes and
implement a centralized project, program, and portfolio
management solution. Hence, as a first step, it
established an IT Project Management Office (PMO) to
improve transparency, increase efficiency through
standardized best practices, and minimize costs through
repeatable processes.
The PMO needed an integrated project management
system to better manage all its IT projects and provide
visibility for informed decision making, and consulted
TCS to help find the right solution.
TCS’ Solution
TCS began the engagement with an as-is analysis to
study the existing situation. Based on this assessment,
the TCS team compiled a list of key pain areas as well as
areas for improvement, and thereby determined the
requirements for project and portfolio management.
Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) was
chosen as the centralized project management tool to
meet Zimmer's project and portfolio management
needs. TCS offered strategy consulting to help Zimmer
define processes and identify practices for a robust PMO
and effective management of the company's portfolio of
projects. TCS advised the company's IT department on
using the right EPM modules and also helped create
solutions to:
n
Capture and manage strategic demands, with realtime visibility into resources
n
Streamline and automate the proposal and project
approval process
n
Track and manage the portfolio of proposals and
projects, project risks and issues, and change
requests, as well as tasks and activities within each
project
n
Strategically plan and manage priority discussions
on all proposals, projects, programs
n
Manage project financials to ensure effective cost
controls
n
Improve visibility of the portfolio with effective
Business intelligence dashboards
n
Manage the application lifecycle to maximize the
value of investments
The EPM-based solution ensured visibility across
programs, projects, and operational activities, helping
the IT teams manage all on-going initiatives from
concept to completion. The EPM tool also served as a
single repository of all project status reports and
automated processes for managing scope, risk, quality,
issues, and schedules. Role-based dashboards provided
managers with real-time information and enabled faster
analysis and response.
The EPM solution addressed many of the current
challenges through its various modules—it provides
integrated project management and process control,
facilitates skill and role-based resource allocation, and
tracks time spent across activities and resources. In
addition, Zimmer's IT managers are now able to collect
the data needed to calculate Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs), identify deviations if any, and react quickly.
The EPM solution also allows the company's key
stakeholders to create and submit requests to the PMO.
Using the tool, requests that required more effort can be
better evaluated by collecting pertinent information
about the business case, priority, risks, strategic fit, and
high-level effort requirements and schedule estimation.
The PMO converts the approved proposals into projects
and assigns project managers. The project manager then
drives the project – from initiation through execution to
closure – through the predefined EPM workflow.
Experience certainty
True certainty of success comes from working with a partner you trust to provide
the insight, support and expertise that will propel your business forward. Experiencing
certainty with TCS means you can count on results, partnership and leadership.
Results
Zimmer's IT and senior management now have an
improved ability to make rapid and informed decisions.
The EPM solution, together with the standardized
processes and best practices instituted by TCS, have
helped Zimmer achieve these benefits:
n
10-20 percent improvement in time taken for project
delivery
n
50 percent decrease in time spent by IT managers on
project status reporting
n
35 percent reduction in project change requests due
to enhanced portfolio visibility
n
30 percent reduction in the queue of IT demands,
due to faster prioritization and approvals
n
Reduction in administrative efforts related to project
management
In addition, the accurate data collected in the EPM
solution's Demand Management module provides
senior management with critical information in real time
to support effective investment decisions. The
company's executive team has top-down visibility and
control over the entire project portfolio. At the same
time, IT project managers are able to manage individual
project resources, risk, costs, and performance from the
bottom up. The solution also helps Zimmer effectively
monitor actual project costs against estimates, and
consistently enforce standards and methodologies.
Zimmer's senior management evaluates more than 200
proposals every year, to decide on projects that will help
the company achieve its business objectives. By
providing accurate data, the solution allows
management to make strategic decisions on selecting
the right projects. The EPM solution has also provided
increased visibility into future proposals and initiatives
and improved visibility into the number and types of
incoming demands.
About TCS' Global Consulting Practice
TCS' Global Consulting Practice (GCP) is a key component in how TCS delivers additional
value to clients. Using our collective industry insight, technology expertise, and consulting
know-how, we partner with enterprises worldwide to deliver integrated end-to-end IT
enabled business transformation services.
By tapping our worldwide pool of resources – onsite, offshore, and near-shore – our high
caliber consultants leverage solution accelerators and practice capabilities, balanced with
our knowledge of local market demands, to enable enterprises to effectively meet their
business goals.
GCP spearheads TCS' consulting capacity with consultants located in North America, UK,
Europe, Asia Pacific, India, Ibero-America, and Australia.
Contact
For more information about TCS' Global Consulting Practice
visit: http://www.tcs.com/offerings/consulting/Pages/default.aspx
Email: global.consulting@tcs.com
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About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that
delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match.
TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT and IT-enabled infrastructure, engineering
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recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata Group,
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