Strategy Use Case
This Astral client is head officed in Melbourne, Australia, with global operating sites. They currently manage their unstructured information across multiple systems and are seeking an integrated solution for the management of engineering data and drawings and other critical business information that could be leveraged across the organisation.
Astral was engaged to prepare an Information Management (IM) Strategy and Roadmap to define the future direction for the management of information balancing the business needs, IT strategy and the regulatory environment. This included defining the options for the IM solution, based on the business requirements and the assessment of the viable solution set options.
Business Challenges
- Manual handover processes from Capital Projects and synchronisation limitations with operational documents/drawings result in conflicting sources of information.
- Copies are made of vital documents and stored in separate systems – no single source of truth
- SAP uses three different methods to store unstructured information related to a transaction.
- Multiple ways of managing controlled documents across different areas of the organisation for both Corporate and Operational sites.
- Legal matter management documents and emails can be stored across multiple systems making it difficult to have a single view of all the information and to share information both internally and externally.
- A number of business applications are custom developed SharePoint solutions which utilise end-of-life technology components and require re-implementation.
- Some users continue to use network drives or create uncontrolled copies of documents due to a lack of training and governance.
- The organisation is not meeting the IM-related compliance obligations including records retention and privacy.
Strategic Recommendations
Astral conducted a series of workshops with business representatives to discuss the current approach to managing information for all unstructured information, with a high emphasis on Capital Projects, Engineering Data & Drawings, Controlled Documents, and SAP Hosted Documents. Technical architecture workshops were also conducted with the lead architects to understand the current IT landscape, the IT Strategy, and future directions from a technology perspective.
Astral then undertook an assessment of the current solutions being used at the client, and performed a market scan and assessment of other suitable tools that are available globally. The preferred options were identified based on the agreed key criteria established with the client.
A breakdown of each option was worked through with the customer using the context of the business strategy, the IT strategy and the customer’s compliance obligations to identify a recommended solution. Go to market options were also provided to make the final selection of a solution set that will best meet the business requirements.
The Information Management Roadmap detailed the recommended implementation approach to deliver the agreed IM Strategy, facilitating budgeting and investment decisions, and identifying an efficient execution process to maximise ROI.
Business Benefits
- Establish single source of truth for engineering drawings and data
- Reduce risk through automated handover process from Capital Projects
- Reduce total cost of ownership for IM solutions
- Streamline access to asset information
- Drive greater productivity
- Improve control, compliance and access to vital business documents