Resource Type: Case Study

Elevating Employee Experience for Caregivers: How a Leading Healthcare Organization is Making a Difference

Posted on May 20, 2025 by -

The Mission

As Idaho’s only not-for-profit healthcare provider for over 120 years, this organization operates a network of six hospitals and 200 clinics, labs, and medical centers. With a mission centered on quality, accessibility, and affordability, the organization prioritized enhancing employee experience to retain top talent and meet growing healthcare demands.

Recognizing that employee satisfaction is critical to delivering exceptional outcomes, the provider invested in more efficient, accurate, and accessible HR services. This included a centralized digital portal to support staff across all locations.

The Opportunity

To address the need for streamlined HR support and improve the employee experience, the organization implemented ServiceNow HRSD with INRY. The Employee Service Center Portal offered self-service access to payroll, benefits, and time-off support, along with:

  • A comprehensive knowledge base for policies and FAQs

  • Automated case management with intelligent routing

  • Integration with platforms like Cherwell and OnBase for workflow and document handling

This centralized approach significantly reduced ad hoc requests and allowed HR teams to focus on strategic workforce planning.

Choosing INRY was pivotal, as their proven track record in healthcare and deep ServiceNow expertise ensured an effective, industry-aligned deployment.

The Rewards

Working with INRY, the organization launched its Employee Service Center Portal and ServiceNow HRSD solution in just 12 weeks using the SMART Success methodology. This accelerated timeline minimized risk and maximized adoption, enabling rapid value realization.

Benefits included:

  • Centralized access for all HR and IT support needs

  • Reduced manual workload on HR through self-service

  • Freed HR capacity to focus on strategic talent planning

By embracing intelligent service delivery, the organization strengthened its employee support infrastructure and reinforced its long-standing commitment to delivering exceptional care.

Would you like to see similar results for your organization?

Explore our flexible ServiceNow Solutions to see how we empower healthcare teams and drive efficiency.

Helping Nebraska Methodist Health System Become a Dominant Regional Provider through HR Services Innovation

Posted on May 20, 2025 by -

The Mission

Founded in 1982 to serve urban and rural communities in its home state of Nebraska, Nebraska Methodist Health System (NMHS) is the most recent incarnation of a facility network that has served Nebraskans for more than 120 years. As a not-for-profit healthcare provider comprising 3 hospitals and two dozen clinics, NMHS is committed to treating each patient and colleague as they would a family member. This extraordinary level of care and service has resulted in a “culture of competence” that allows NMHS to compete effectively against much more prominent players in the healthcare ecosystem. Despite its relatively small size, Nebraska Methodist Health System has grown exponentially in recent years. From 21.1% of its local market share in 2014, the organization commanded a 26.6% share in 2019 – and that share has likely grown since.

This success has mainly come through strategic investments in the makeup of its patient care services and the enabling systems that make that care possible. As the organization sought to better fulfill one of its core missions – namely to “work as one… demonstrate respect and concern for everyone, value each individual as an equal team member, and support professional growth and autonomy” – the NMHS team realized that its legacy processes for Human Resources Services Delivery were no longer up to the challenge.

The Opportunity

Like many mature organizations, NMHS has long-standing investments in HRIS and enterprise resource planning solutions, including Infor Lawson. While these investments worked well for managing core HR requirements like compensation and benefits administration, they needed to provide a viable platform of action for resolving more frequently occurring requests. The struggles brought about by the COVID pandemic only highlighted a more long-standing requirement around more timely, interactive, available HR services to support the organization’s critical provider and back-office support teams.

As the NMHS team looked for options, ServiceNow emerged as a standout and thought leader in HR Services Delivery. The platform’s ability to empower colleagues with self-service options like knowledge bases and virtual agents meant that help was available 24 hours a day on virtually any device. Case management features meant that when self-service options were inadequate for the request, support could be requested and resolved predictably, with a quick and accurate resolution, thanks to automated routing of requests to the most qualified resources. Finally, integration with the organization’s existing Infor Lawson system meant that the Employee Experience solution could automatically access and update HCM “system of record” information at the right points in the workflow process.

Critically for the organization’s success, the investment in ServiceNow HRSD was supported by INRY’s expertise in delivering the solution to many of the world’s leading healthcare providers. As the co-developer of the HRSD solution in 2013 and the 2022 Global Partner Award Winner for Healthcare, INRY was the ideal partner to help Nebraska Methodist Health System take this critical step on behalf of its teammates.

The Results

The healthcare industry is tough, with demanding workloads and stress levels that few people even begin to understand. By working alongside INRY and ServiceNow to deploy a next-generation HR Services Delivery solution, NMHS has demonstrated to its colleagues that their hard work is appreciated and supported by a team of HR professionals committed to their success and professional growth.

Some of the benefits realized by NMHS as part of this HRSD transformation include the following:

  • Improved employee satisfaction with their level of HR services support thanks to a portal that makes it easy to access the latest HR services information, request help, and get visibility on the status of existing requests.
  • Access to a platform that can meet more complex HR services needs around streamlined employee onboarding, transitions (transfers, promotions), offboarding, and alumni engagement.
  • Improved patient care thanks to the organization’s improved HR services, which reduce the attrition rate and ensure that the NMHS team is fully equipped to provide superb patient outcomes.

In the years to come, the investments in innovation made by Nebraska Methodist Health System in ServiceNow platform technology and INRY services will continue to bear fruit. As the organization enhances its Employee Experience in the coming years, its ServiceNow HRSD solution will become an even more valuable asset in fulfilling its mission to improve the health of their Nebraska communities in how they care, educate, and innovate.

Want to see similar results? Speak to our ServiceNow HRSD experts today!

INRY and Aon: Driving Market Leadership with ServiceNow Enterprise Architecture for Informed Investment

Posted on April 16, 2025 by -

Market Leadership Through Informed Investment

The Mission

As a $12B insurance and risk management juggernaut, countless opportunities exist for investing – whether in real estate, information technology, acquisitions, or virtually any other area in which efficiencies, capacity or top-line revenue can be impacted.

For Aon’s leadership, the problem has never been a lack of investment opportunities but instead a consistent methodology for capturing, evaluating, and (if approved) monitoring them. Investment processes were often siloed in the parts of the organization from which they emerged – Legal, Finance, Facilities, IT, Human Resources, or Product teams.

Understanding which investments can have the biggest impact is a complex challenge in such an environment. A siloed approach also complicates the possibility of a cross-functional investment strategy in which multiple functions can invest in a coordinated fashion. In a worst-case scenario, some parts of the organization may even invest in ways that undermine the investments made elsewhere.

As the firm sought options to bring a more informed, agile approach to its investment and portfolio management strategy, it turned to INRY to leverage the Power of the Platform to enable the data capture critical as part of the first step of the overall process.

The Approach

The firm has long leveraged INRY as an engine for innovation, employing it for a wide range of global business services as well as IT and colleague experiences. As the organization sought an enterprise-scale solution to build an investment evaluation and oversight engine, the Application Portfolio Management (APM) built by INRY on a leading platform was an obvious choice. APM had been used to track the firm’s application investments’ performance, so its potential was well understood.

APM also provided core capabilities essential to modelling complex investment requests, including the concepts of the Business Service Portfolio, Taxonomy Layer (and Nodes), Business Service, Business Service Offering, and “Sell / Consume” services delivery and monitoring model relevant to this type of request.

With the underlying APM foundation already in place, the firm leverages INRY to build an application “hub” at the heart of its Portfolio Investment Reporting (PIR) system to address these opportunities.

  • Organization Transition Planning: As the merger or acquisition transaction goes from the evaluation stage to the implementation stage, choreographing the movement of teams and leadership requires complex approval and sequencing. The Organization Design and Talent (OD&T) functions of the M&A Portal provide key functions like:
    • Iterating on the structure of the to-be organization
    • Defining leadership roles and responsibilities for the combined org
    • Determining HR systems of record be leveraged
  • Data Request: Providing a means to facilitate the request of documentation or data needed to advance the merger or acquisition transaction and to notify stakeholders when this request has become delinquent
  • Meeting Request: Allowing actors in the transaction to request meetings to discuss any aspects of the deal through the M&A Portal, where these requests can be fully documented via an audit trail. By providing a hub for all interactions related to the merger or acquisition, the M&A Portal increases the transaction’s transparency compliance and level of
  • Access Request: Creating an access control and permissions model to ensure that all the actors in the process are given only the level of information access appropriate to their area of responsibility is critical to the integrity of the M&A process. As part of this, Access Request features made it possible to delegate new permissions as needed through a well-governed and traceable process
  • Process Simplification and Ergonomics: To make this aspect of the solution usable and ergonomic, special attention was given to making the information captured within the M&A Portal more sable. For example, colour-coding was employed to differentiate players within each organization – with the firm participants contributing “red data” and target company participants contributing “purple data.” Seemingly minor features like this made a big difference in making the large volume of collected information more easily digestible by transaction participants
  • Process Guidance and Enforcement: Delivering guided interactions to help ensure that participants in the M&A transaction clearly understand where they are in the process, which steps come next, and if they are delinquent in fulfilling any of their review or approval responsibilities

As the firm looked to fulfill these and other critical technology and functional requirements, the platform recommended by INRY proved to be an ideal choice thanks to built-in security, process traceability, accessibility, and ergonomics. Likewise, INRY surfaced as an ideal partner for this engagement thanks to their deep knowledge of the INRY platform and the firm’s business. The firm and INRY worked to deploy the first iterations of the M&A Portal in a matter of weeks, then refined it incrementally afterward to support more complex functional and technical requirements.

The Result

Implementing a transformational set of portfolio management capabilities like those described is something other than something that can be implemented at the flick of a switch. However, by defining a clear long-term roadmap that emphasized incremental progress and quick time to value, the combined firm and INRY team showed substantial value in just 6 months – with the system going live in November and reports with approval and forecast data going live in May.

By providing a system of interaction for the capture, review/approval, and tracking of investments across all enterprise functions, the firm has achieved significant benefits that enhance its competitive position in an everchanging market, including:

  • Enterprise-wide insight into investment opportunities allows firm leaders to make informed decisions about those investments with the greatest return
  • Deep insight into portfolio performance to ensure that investments meet or exceed identified targets and to understand the cause of any underperformance
  • Improved business resilience thanks to a system that allows revenue protection, risk mitigation, efficiency, automation, and growth opportunities to be surfaced, evaluated, and implemented timely

By accessing these benefits through a single environment where all stakeholders can interact to evaluate and monitor large-scale investments, Aon has transformed its business in critical ways that strengthen its competitive position and drive value for customers, colleagues, and shareholders. This powerful solution proves the possibilities that innovative technology can deliver when combined with expert delivery and configuration services provided by INRY.

Baptist Health Maximizes the Impact of IT Assets with ServiceNow ITAM

Posted on April 16, 2025 by -

INRY aligns Baptist Health’s IT assets investments with critical requirements to advance patient care quality and velocity.

The Mission

Baptist Health is the leading healthcare provider in Jacksonville, Florida, and is committed to a faith-based approach to serving the healthcare needs of patients in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. Baptist Health, as a non-profit organization, focuses on making the best use of its resources to deliver excellent patient care. The organization has received recognition in radiology/oncology, surgery, clinical services, and dozens of other patient care disciplines.

Founded in 1955, Baptist Health has grown alongside its community to encompass six hospitals, four emergency care centers, two hundred clinics, and fifty primary care centers across the Northeast Florida region.

The Opportunity

Baptist Health fully realizes the integral role that IT investments play in delivering quality medical care. In today’s world of electronic medical records, virtual visits, and seamless patient data exchange, IT assets and services provide the nervous system that connects patients, care providers, and the back office. To help ensure the maximum return on investment for its IT hardware investments, Baptist Health partnered with INRY and ServiceNow to deploy an innovative HAM/SAM and Business Continuity Management (BCM) solution that included market-leading capabilities like:

  • Capture of information aimed at making the organization’s IT services and assets more resilient in the face of a wide range of risk areas via the configuration of ServiceNow Process, Asset, and Vendor Libraries
  • Full lifecycle management of hardware and software assets from acquisition through end of life provides visibility into asset alignment with the organization’s business, data, or compliance-related requirements
  • Definition of the organization’s most critical IT processes, services, and assets through Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
  • Development of mitigation strategies and plans, including Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, and Crisis Recovery
  • Governance of the BCM Framework so that roles, responsibilities, processes, and enabling technologies are well-defined for key BCM areas

By aligning Baptist Health’s IT asset investments to critical requirements for the organization’s mission and continuity requirements, the solution helps to ensure that every dollar spent on IT helps advance the quality and velocity of patient care.

The Results

Thanks to the ongoing partnership between Baptist Health, INRY, and ServiceNow, the organization has seen compelling benefits such as:

  • More resilient IT operations that can identify, understand, and mitigate risks to its business continuity to ensure that the organization’s information systems are available to advance its patient care mission
  • More informed insight into the correlation between software and hardware investments and their value to Baptist Health. Without clear information on how IT spending aligns with mission requirements, overspending or underspending is likely. The HAM/SAM solution offers valuable cost/benefit insights to guide IT investments
  • Elimination of manual tracking via spreadsheets, and other ad hoc systems used to manage the IT asset lifecycle. By automating this process and aligning assets with IT mission capabilities, Baptist Health has freed up capacity for more strategic planning to meet evolving information system needs.
  • INRY, ServiceNow, and Baptist Health continue this partnership to help grow the Power of Platform within the organization to make it more efficient, resilient, and impactful in the lives of patients in their community.

Would you like to see similar results for your organization?

Explore our flexible ServiceNow Solutions to see how we empower healthcare teams and drive efficiency.

Transforming Portfolio Management at Skipton Building Society in Just 9 Weeks

Posted on November 12, 2024 by -

When organizations evolve their strategic planning processes, their portfolio management capabilities need to evolve as well. This was the opportunity facing this leading financial services organization in the UK, until a pioneering approach to Lean Portfolio Management transformed their delivery capabilities.

When Portfolio Scale Outpaces Process  

Like many organizations, our client had historically approached their corporate planning with flexibility rather than clear commitments. “Previously, the corporate plan was more of a directional document than an execution roadmap,” explains one project leader. This approach shifted when a new CEO arrived with a vision for more structured delivery and began asking for specific execution timelines.

The organization recognized opportunities to improve portfolio visibility and team alignment. Their existing change prioritization process needed modernization, and departments had opportunities to enhance collaboration. Most importantly, they sought better ways to track delivery and value.

After evaluating seven to nine different companies, the company chose Cprime because they felt we truly understood the issues they were facing and were going to guide them to success rather than hand them a generic PowerPoint deck and walk away.

Essential LPM: A Strategic Approach to Portfolio Management

Recognizing that traditional LPM implementations had become increasingly complex, Cprime developed a streamlined, essential approach. This new methodology, piloted in partnership with our client, focused on implementing core LPM elements in just nine weeks.

The solution included:

  • A comprehensive two-day LPM training event
  • Current state portfolio evaluation
  • Value stream identification workshops
  • Strategic theme creation
  • Portfolio canvas and vision development
  • Epic identification and prioritization
  • Implementation of a Portfolio Kanban system
  • Regular portfolio sync meetings

Following the initial nine-week implementation, Cprime guided the company through SAFe PI Planning, successfully rolling it out across nine Agile Release Trains (ARTs) involving 450 people within six months.

The Results  

“We saved them four million pounds within six weeks just because they now have full visibility into the work being done, how and why it’s being funded, and how it aligns with high-level strategy.” — Gez Smith, Cprime LPM Consultant and SAFe Fellow

The impact was immediate and substantial. Within the first two months, the client identified opportunities to optimize their portfolio that resulted in £4 million in cost savings. “We got everything in the same place and could make more informed decisions about our investments,” one stakeholder reported.

The organization experienced significant improvement in project predictability, with ARTs consistently achieving their delivery commitments after the first PI Planning. Teams developed increased confidence in their planning and execution capabilities.

The benefits were so clear that they decided to retain a dedicated space for PI Planning though it cost £50,000 annually in taxes, determining that “the conversations that we’ve had have already paid for the space just through the alignment.”

Most notably, the organization achieved comprehensive portfolio visibility. As one leader noted, “This is the first time we can actually see across the organization what all of the teams are working on.”

Could Essential LPM Work for Your Organization?

Cprime’s Essential LPM approach demonstrates how portfolio management opportunities can be addressed through a focused, streamlined implementation. For organizations looking to enhance portfolio visibility, project delivery, or organizational alignment, Cprime’s proven methodology offers a path to efficient, sustainable transformation. Like our client, we’re confident your organization can achieve meaningful results through a structured, well-planned implementation with the right approach and expertise.

Moving forward, Skipton Building Society has a strong foundation for organizational transformation, providing the opportunity for even greater results through continued development of these LPM capabilities.

Explore our innovative and flexible Lean Portfolio Management solutions today!

WellStar Leverages INRY’s ServiceNow Expertise for a Tailored SPM Solution

Posted on September 25, 2024 by -

WellStar chose INRY as their preferred partner to revamp their Strategic Portfolio Management System. The objective was to bring about a significant transformation, and INRY provided support to make it happen. Through detailed workshops and collaborative sessions, INRY acquired a deep insight into WellStar’s challenges and areas of concern. INRY carefully documented the workflow and processes, identified bottlenecks, and analyzed the underlying causes of inefficiencies. This in-depth understanding was crucial in crafting a solution tailored to WellStar’s needs.

A customized solution was created to address the different challenges identified, to streamline WellStar’s workflows, enhance productivity, and cut down expenses. Given the complexity of the transformation, INRY recommended a phased implementation approach to ensure success.

The first phase involved building a solid foundation, which was crucial to the entire project’s success. Once the foundation was established, Phase 2 introduced advanced features and optimization. With this approach, INRY delivered a comprehensive solution addressing WellStar’s specific challenges while minimizing disruptions to their day-to-day operations.

The Journey of Transformation

Phase 1: Building the Foundation for Success

In Phase 1, it was essential for INRY to gain a comprehensive understanding of WellStar’s current project and Portfolio Management procedures. The existing process and practices were reviewed along with historical data. Workshops were conducted, and existing reports were analyzed to conduct a thorough analysis. INRY was then able to identify areas where the platform was not being utilized to its fullest potential.

INRY efficiently optimized the existing ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management System to address WellStar’s specific requirements:

Project & Portfolio Management

Key processes like portfolio creation, financial planning, and project workspace functionalities were optimized to align with WellStar’s objectives. Deliverables included configuring portfolio and project management settings, enabling SPM processes, defining project criteria, and establishing task assignments. Custom fields, workflows, and templates were also configured to streamline project initiation, management, and closure. This ensured alignment with enterprise strategies and efficient resource utilization.

Idea & Demand Management

WellStar was shown management tools that encourage innovation, including initiating and collaborating on ideas, and evaluating them. Workflows, notifications, access permissions, and forms have been configured to accept different types of ideas based on demand.

Resource & Time Management

Efficient resource allocation and time tracking were prioritized to optimize resource utilization and project cost control. The Resource and Time Management module was configured ensuring alignment with WellStar’s unique requirements and workflows.

Seamless Integration for Enhanced Collaboration

The integrations aimed to foster seamless collaboration by integrating ServiceNow with external systems, such as Cloud Coach for EPMO integration and Outlook/MS Teams for project meeting tracking. Security protocols were maintained while configuring integration channels to ensure secure data exchange and compatibility between systems.

Empowering Data-Driven Decision-Making with Performance Analytics

INRY tailored performance analytics solutions to empower WellStar with actionable insights for strategic decision-making. Key configurations included the development of customer-specific reports, metrics, and benchmarks, enabling WellStar to measure performance against organizational goals effectively.

Phase 2: INRY Optimizes WellStar’s SPM Foundation

During Phase 2, WellStar partnered with INRY to enhance the operational and user experience of the existing system. INRY worked closely with WellStar stakeholders to identify areas for improvement in the functionalities introduced in Phase 1. User feedback was incorporated to streamline workflows, optimize data flow, and refine the user interface.

Streamlining Workflows, Empowering Users

Phase 2 focused on adding new features and aimed at improving the efficiency of existing processes. INRY organized workshops to analyze WellStar’s workflows and identify any bottlenecks and opportunities for optimization. Based on the feedback received from WellStar, INRY advised on how to enhance the existing solution. New features were introduced like defining project phases, managing approvals for scope changes, and capturing completed projects. Past project templates were leveraged to streamline resource allocation and task identification while defining clear milestones and budget allocation criteria.

Seamless Data Integration into Single System

Customer APIs have been designed to seamlessly integrate existing systems with Workday and Salesforce systems for data synchronization. The APIs have eliminated data silos, thereby ensuring that everyone is working from the same page. Workflows have been scheduled to automate data exchange between ServiceNow and external systems, which has further streamlined the data synchronization process.

Data-Driven Decisions for Improved Performance

INRY configured advanced features such as a Dashboard setup for targeted audiences, Gantt charts, and additional reports to enhance WellStar’s performance analytics, providing invaluable insights. Reports, metrics, and dashboards were tailored to WellStar’s KPIs.

This enabled the leadership team to anticipate trends, monitor project performance, and identify areas for improvement. Self-service reporting capabilities were configured which empowered users to access the data they need, customize reports based on their specific requirements, and gain insights into various aspects of their organization’s performance.

Unlocking the Key to Long-Term Success

WellStar’s clear vision and commitment to excellence have led the way for the transformation. Ensuring that every step taken is in line with WellStar’s unique goals and aspirations, INRY has provided tailored solutions and expertise. With advanced functionalities, strong governance, and the potential for automation, WellStar can navigate the everchanging healthcare landscape with confidence, ensuring delivery of exceptional care to their patients. Together, we celebrate WellStar’s remarkable achievements and look forward to continued collaboration.

Want to see similar results for your organization? Explore our flexible ServiceNow SPM solutions today.

Fueling the Future: How Chevron Boosted Efficiency, ROI, and Financial Alignment Using Strategic Portfolio Management

Posted on September 25, 2024 by -

As a titan in the energy industry, Chevron found itself at a crossroads. The company was grappling with siloed operations across numerous business units and geographies, difficulty aligning IT initiatives with business strategy, and inefficient resource allocation and financial tracking. Additionally, Chevron faced challenges in adapting to market volatility and regulatory changes while balancing current operations with investments in future energy solutions.

The vast, complex organization spread across continents was hindered by legacy systems that weren’t equipped to handle the agility and strategic alignment needed in today’s fast-paced energy landscape. It became clear that a comprehensive transformation was necessary to maintain Chevron’s competitive edge and prepare for future challenges.

Crafting a Comprehensive Solution Beyond Just Implementation

Cprime’s engagement with Chevron went far beyond a simple software rollout. The solution was multifaceted, addressing Chevron’s complex needs through a series of strategic initiatives. 

Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) supported by Lean Portfolio Management (LPM)

At the core of the transformation was the implementation of Strategic Portfolio Management practices. This involved configuring systems to map initiatives directly to strategic objectives, supporting Chevron’s drive for clarity and focus. Complementing this was the integration of Lean Portfolio Management practices within their established Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®), which streamlined decision-making and improved resource allocation across Chevron’s expansive portfolio.

Implementing and optimizing Apptio Targetprocess

A crucial component of the solution was the implementation and optimization of Apptio Targetprocess. Cprime tailored Apptio’s tooling to Chevron’s unique needs, enabling real-time financial tracking and strategic planning. This provided unprecedented visibility into Chevron’s massive portfolio, allowing for more informed and agile decision-making.

The transformation also included a comprehensive value stream mapping exercise. This helped Chevron identify and optimize 13 key platforms, each aligning IT and business functions to specific value streams. This alignment was critical in breaking down silos and improving collaboration across the organization.

Agile transformation

To ensure the success of these new practices and tools, Cprime supported the implementation of agile practices across the organization, with a focus on business outcomes rather than just IT delivery. This was accompanied by extensive coaching and training to ensure adoption and a cultural shift across 13 integrated platforms spanning continents, and based around 25 value streams. In total, 6,600 individuals in 50 teams-of-teams were directly impacted. 

The Ripple Effect: Transforming More Than Just IT

The impact of this transformation extended far beyond improved software systems. Chevron experienced a fundamental shift in how they approached strategic planning and execution.

Greater strategic alignment and resulting ROI

The new system dramatically enhanced strategic alignment, giving Chevron the ability to directly connect individual initiatives to overarching strategic goals. This ensured that every project contributed to the company’s vision, eliminating waste and improving overall efficiency.

Enhanced adaptability

The new system allowed Chevron to adapt more quickly to market changes, regulatory shifts, and emerging opportunities in the energy sector. This agility is crucial in an industry known for its volatility and rapid technological advancements.

Real-time, data-driven insights

Data-driven decision making became a reality across the organization. Leadership now has access to real-time data and insights, enabling more informed and timely strategic decisions. This has proven invaluable in navigating the complex landscape of the energy sector.

“Our Agile transformation has revolutionized how we manage our vast portfolio. We’ve improved alignment across our digital platforms, enhanced our decision-making process, and significantly increased our ability to adapt to market changes. This strategic approach is driving innovation and efficiency across Chevron’s operations.”

— Jiddu Ledezma, Head of Program Management, Chevron

Optimal resource allocation

Resource allocation also saw significant improvements. Chevron can now dynamically adjust resource allocation across its global operations, optimizing for both current needs and future investments. This flexibility is crucial for balancing the demands of current operations with the need to invest in future energy solutions.

Streamlined, efficient operations

Perhaps most importantly, the transformation led to streamlined operations across the board. The reduction of silos and improved collaboration between IT and business units has created a more cohesive and efficient organization, better equipped to face the challenges of the energy sector.

Looking Ahead to Continuous Improvement in a Changing World

While the transformation has been significant, Chevron’s journey is ongoing. The company is now positioned to further refine its SPM practices and expand the use of data-driven decision-making across all levels of the organization. 

Chevron is also better equipped to continue balancing current operations with investments in alternative energy sources, a crucial consideration in today’s energy landscape. The improved agility and strategic alignment allow the company to adapt more readily to regulatory changes and environmental concerns, positioning Chevron as a forward-thinking leader in the industry.

Cprime remains a trusted partner in this journey, ready to support Chevron’s evolving needs. The long-term nature of this engagement (over six years and counting!) has allowed for deep understanding and continuous refinement of the solutions.

The Bigger Picture: Lessons for the Energy Sector

Chevron’s journey offers valuable insights for other organizations in the energy sector and beyond. It demonstrates that strategic alignment is crucial in navigating complex market conditions, and that even massive, global organizations can become more agile and aligned with the right approach and tools.

The transformation underscores the non-negotiable nature of data-driven decision making in today’s volatile markets. Having real-time insights is critical for making informed strategic decisions, especially in an industry as dynamic as energy.

Finally, Chevron’s multi-year engagement with Cprime underscores the value of having a consistent, knowledgeable partner through major transformations. This long-term partnership approach allows for deep understanding, continuous refinement, and sustained success.

Would you like to see similar results for your organization? Explore our flexible Enterprise Technology and Financial Management solutions.

Digital Dollars: How Ahold Delhaize USA Rewrote Its Financial Playbook

Posted on September 9, 2024 by -

The Tipping Point: When Excel Just Doesn’t Cut It Anymore

Ahold Delhaize USA found itself at a crossroads. As the digital innovation hub for one of America’s largest grocery retail groups, they were pushing the boundaries of Agile practices. However, their financial management was stuck in the past, relying heavily on manual processes, siloed data, and the ubiquitous spreadsheet.

“We had absolutely no system in place to support the transition,” recalls an Ahold Delhaize USA team member. The pain points were clear:

  1. A disconnect between agile execution and financial tracking
  2. Time-consuming manual updates across multiple platforms
  3. Lack of real-time visibility into resource allocation and utilization
  4. Difficulty in demonstrating value to their more traditional parent company

 

Moreover, the company was determined to move away from time writing, a practice they found subjective and often inaccurate. They needed a solution that could bridge the gap between their Agile aspirations and financial realities.

Crafting a Custom Solution: More Than Just Software Implementation

Cprime consultants were brought in to craft a tailored approach to Ahold Delhaize USA’s unique challenges. The solution centered around implementing Apptio Targetprocess, but it went far beyond simple software deployment. Here’s how they tackled Ahold Delhaize USA’s complex needs:

  1. Value Stream Alignment: Configured the system to allocate work directly to value streams, supporting the org’s lean budgeting structure.
  2. Automated Cost Modeling: Developed a system that ingests Jira work items and allocates costs based on team assignments, running parallel to existing time tracking for a smooth transition.
  3. CapEx and OpEx Automation: Implemented role-based automation for capital and operational expenditure splits, dramatically reducing manual management.
  4. Two-Way Integration: Created seamless data flow between Jira and Targetprocess, supporting quarterly planning and standardizing estimation practices.
  5. Custom Financial Reporting: Built custom reporting capabilities within Targetprocess to meet the client’s specific needs.
  6. Capacity and Demand Management: Developed features to analyze and forecast at both team and value stream levels.

“We hit many key pain points across planning, capacity and demand for resource management, estimating and managing budgeting from a portfolio perspective, supporting their transition to lean budgeting, and then giving them a no-pressure way to potentially adopt an automated cost model,” explains Mohammed Attieh, a Cprime consultant and Senior Apptio Solutions Architect on the project.

The Ripple Effect: Transforming More Than Just Finances

The impact of this transformation extended far beyond streamlined spreadsheets. Ahold Delhaize USA experienced a seismic shift in how they approached financial management and decision-making:

  1. Unprecedented Portfolio Visibility: Ahold Delhaize gained real-time insights into their entire $160 million portfolio, thanks to an automated system that updates every 15 minutes.
  2. Stronger Organizational Influence: The company enhanced its ability to demonstrate the value of agile practices to its parent company, potentially shaping larger organizational strategies, through comprehensive reporting and measurable outcomes.
  3. Enhanced Cross-Team Collaboration: Program managers at Ahold Delhaize now enjoy improved collaboration and alignment, leveraging new tools that facilitate priority setting and budget sharing across value streams.
  4. Data-Driven Strategic Decision-Making: The company now makes more informed strategic decisions, powered by improved roll-up reporting that connects team execution directly to portfolio-level insights.
  5. Agile Resource Allocation: Ahold Delhaize achieved remarkable flexibility in resource management, with the ability to make allocation changes throughout the year and see immediate portfolio-wide updates, thanks to the integrated, responsive system.

“They’re in love with the fact that they can make allocation changes throughout the year,” notes Mohammed. “Within fifteen minutes, the entire system recalculates… So tremendous reporting synergy.”

“Since implementing Targetprocess and the accompanying automation, we’re seeing vast improvements across the org in terms of time savings, greater visibility into the data, and a more strategic, data-driven approach to decision-making.” — Grant Williams, Senior Finance Director TBM

Looking Ahead: The Road to Continuous Improvement

While the transformation has been significant, Ahold Delhaize USA isn’t resting on its laurels. The organization is now poised to:

  • Potentially deprecate time writing in favor of their new automated cost model
  • Expand the use of the new system across more stakeholder groups
  • Further mature their cost model for even more accurate financial tracking
  • Standardize the use of story points across the enterprise for improved estimation

And, of course, Cprime experts will be there to guide and assist.

The Bigger Picture: Lessons for the Industry

Ahold Delhaize USA’s journey offers valuable insights for other organizations grappling with similar challenges:

  • Alignment is Key: Ensuring that financial practices support rather than hinder Agile methodologies is crucial for digital innovation.
  • Automation Drives Accuracy: Reducing manual processes not only saves time but also improves the accuracy and reliability of financial data.
  • Visibility Enables Agility: Real-time insights into financials and resource allocation allow for more responsive and data-driven decision-making.
  • Change Management Matters: Successfully implementing new systems requires careful attention to cultural shifts and user adoption.

As the digital retail landscape continues to evolve, Ahold Delhaize USA’s story can guide organizations looking to harmonize their financial management with Agile principles. It’s a testament to the power of innovative thinking, tailored solutions, and the willingness to embrace change.

Would you like to see similar results for your organization? Explore our flexible Enterprise Technology and Financial Management solutions.

From Spreadsheets to Strategy: McGraw Hill’s Financial Transformation Journey

Posted on August 30, 2024 by -

McGraw Hill, a long-time leader in the fast-paced, competitive publishing industry, found themselves at a crossroads. Their financial processes, particularly in labor budgeting, were holding them back. Enter Cprime, with a mission to revolutionize how McGraw Hill managed their finances.

The Excel Labyrinth: A $145 Million Puzzle

McGraw Hill’s financial team was grappling with a complex web of Excel spreadsheets to manage their $145 million labor budget. This manual process was not just time-consuming—it was a barrier to strategic insights. Different business units were creating isolated budgets, which then had to be painstakingly consolidated. Adding to the complexity, calculations for employee benefits, merit increases, and fringe benefits were all done by hand.

The result? A budgeting process that required many hours and a lot of manual effort to maintain each quarter, and took six long weeks to finalize each year, with the budget often not published until well into the new fiscal year. This delay had a ripple effect, impacting decision-making across the organization.

Breaking Down Walls: The Quest for Financial Transparency

Beyond the budgeting challenges, McGraw Hill faced a critical issue: financial data was siloed within the finance department. Product managers, resource managers, and other key decision-makers lacked visibility into financial data that could inform their strategies. This disconnect between financial realities and product roadmaps was a significant hurdle to effective resource allocation and strategic planning.

Cprime’s Blueprint: Integrating Systems, Automating Processes

Recognizing these challenges, Cprime devised a comprehensive solution that would not only streamline McGraw Hill’s budgeting process but also democratize access to financial data across the organization. The plan centered around implementing and configuring Apptio Targetprocess and Apptio One to create a powerful labor budgeting solution that integrates seamlessly with other financial management and related tools.

Key goals of the solution included:
  1. Seamless Data Flow and Time Savings: Manual data entry and consolidation became a thing of the past. Cprime achieved this by creating an end-to-end automated integration between IT Planning, TBM Studio, and Targetprocess.
  2. Improved Cost Visibility and Strategic Alignment: McGraw Hill gained deeper insights into the total cost of ownership for technology investments. This was accomplished by creating a new hierarchy in Targetprocess that connected portfolio epics to business initiatives and cases.
  3. Empowered Decision-Making Across Departments: Product managers and resource managers gained access to critical financial data, enabling more informed decisions. Cprime made this possible by leveraging integration capabilities to share non-sensitive financial information through Targetprocess.
  4. Increased Consistency and Accountability in Business Planning: Ad-hoc PowerPoint presentations were replaced with a standardized approach to business cases. Cprime developed a comprehensive template within Targetprocess that captured both quantitative and qualitative aspects of business cases.

From Weeks to Days: The Impact of Financial Transformation

The results of this transformation were immediate and significant:

  • Accelerated Budgeting: The budget finalization process was slashed by 66%—from six weeks to just two weeks—allowing for more timely financial planning.
  • Empowered Decision-Making: With financial data now accessible through Targetprocess, product managers and resource managers could make more informed decisions about resource allocation and project prioritization.
  • Strategic Alignment: By connecting financial data to strategy and OKRs in Targetprocess, McGraw Hill could now better align their spending with their strategic objectives.
  • Improved Accountability: The new standardized business case template in Targetprocess allowed for better tracking of ROI assumptions and budget estimates, creating a historical record that enhanced accountability.

Looking Ahead: The Road to Continuous Improvement

While the initial implementation focused on labor budgeting, McGraw Hill and Cprime are exploring further enhancements. Future projects may include integrating infrastructure costs, non-labor contract management, and cloud consumption assessment into the financial management ecosystem.

The McGraw Hill case demonstrates how the right combination of technology and expertise can transform financial management from a necessary evil into a strategic asset. By breaking down data silos and automating manual processes, McGraw Hill has positioned itself to make faster, more informed decisions in an increasingly competitive market.

As the publishing industry continues to evolve, McGraw Hill’s newfound financial agility will be a key factor in maintaining its leadership position and delivering value to students and educators worldwide.

Would you like to see similar results for your organization? Your best first step would be to book a free strategy session to explore the holistic Enterprise Operating Model as it can be applied to your unique goals and constraints. 

Book your session today.

Transforming IT Demand Management: A Global Pharmaceutical Success Story

Posted on August 26, 2024 by -

The Prescription for IT Chaos

Our client, a major player in the health sciences industry, initiated a program to drive delivery efficiency and cost optimization by insourcing hundreds of technology jobs in three IT Capability Centers globally. This central organization would support technology demands across the globe in 13 different business units. With multiple business units operating across the globe, each with its own IT department, managing the company’s technology demand management had become a labyrinth of disparate systems and inconsistent practices.

The symptoms of this IT fragmentation were clear:

  • Lack of standardized process for Demand Intake across business units
  • Poor transparency in resource demand to inform hiring activities
  • No standard processes or tools for resource allocation
  • Portfolio management lacked visibility of value delivery
  • Challenges in capacity planning and cost estimation
  • Confusion in stakeholders around how to request technology support
  • Lack of transparency to stakeholders on Demand Fulfilment

These issues weren’t just administrative headaches; they were actively hindering the company’s ability to respond quickly to market demands and maintain its competitive edge in the fast-evolving pharmaceutical landscape.

Diagnosing the Root Cause

At the heart of the problem was the lack of processes and tools to provide centralized, transparent support for the hub and spoke IT model.  The pharmaceutical giant recognized the need for a unified approach to its IT Demand Management. They needed a solution that could consolidate these disparate processes into a single, cohesive system without sacrificing the flexibility required by different business units.

Cprime’s Prescription: A Unified Demand-to-Delivery Process

Cprime’s solution was to implement a comprehensive “demand-to-delivery” process using Apptio Targetprocess, integrated with Atlassian’s Jira and other key systems. This approach aimed to create a single source of truth for all IT Demands across the organization.

Key components of the solution included:

  1. Centralized Intake: A single point of entry for all IT requests, regardless of origin or scale.
  2. Standardized Service Catalog: A comprehensive list of IT services offered across the organization, ensuring consistency and clarity.
  3. Automated Workflows: Streamlining communication, reporting, and approval processes to reduce manual work.
  4. Enterprise-wide Visibility: Enabling holistic prioritization and resource allocation across all business units.
  5. Integrated Reporting: Connecting Targetprocess with Power BI and the company’s data lake for comprehensive analytics.

A Rapid Treatment Plan

What sets this case apart is the speed of implementation. Despite the scale of the project—spanning 13 business units and involving over 200 stakeholders—Cprime and the pharmaceutical company’s team completed the initial rollout in just three months. This accelerated timeline—half the industry standard for similar projects—was crucial to meet the company’s fiscal year deadline.

The implementation team consisted of:

  • 20 core team members working across 8 time zones
  • 100 partners from 13 business units
  • 100 additional stakeholders in various forums

This diverse, global team worked tirelessly to ensure the new system was ready for the start of the fiscal year on April 1st.

The Prognosis: Early Signs of Success

While it’s still early days, the new unified demand-to-delivery process is already showing promising results:

  • Rapid Adoption: Over 2,000 users have been onboarded globally
  • Improved Resource Management: More efficient allocation of personnel to demand requests, improving technology speed-to-market and TTV (Time to Value).
  • Cost Savings: By deprecating Jira Align and Clarity in favor of Targetprocess, the company is seeing significant licensing cost reductions.
  • Enhanced Data Utilization: Automated reporting and integration with the company’s data lake support a data-first policy, enabling better decision-making.

Ongoing Care: Continuous Improvement

The story doesn’t end with the initial implementation. Cprime continues to work closely with the pharmaceutical company, providing guided services to further refine and evolve the system. As the team learns from real-world usage, they’re identifying new opportunities to extract value and advance the company’s IT maturity.

This ongoing partnership exemplifies a key principle in modern IT management: continuous improvement. By treating the implementation as a living system rather than a one-time fix, the company is ensuring that its IT processes will continue to evolve with its business needs.

“Working with Cprime was fantastic. The breadth of skills they brought to the engagement including meeting leadership to create organizational alignment, technical architecture and system development allowed us to achieve our goals in record time. It has helped us deliver value faster and more effectively than we would otherwise have been able to.” — Senior Director – Data, Digital & Technology

The Long-Term Health of IT Operations

This case study illustrates how a strategic approach to IT Demand Management can transform operations for a global pharmaceutical leader. By consolidating disparate processes, enhancing visibility, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, the company has laid the groundwork for more agile, efficient, and cost-effective IT operations.

As the health sciences industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace, this unified approach to IT Demand Management will play a crucial role in enabling the company to respond quickly to market changes, allocate resources effectively, and maintain its position at the forefront of pharmaceutical innovation.

If you’d like to see similar results for your organization, explore our flexible Enterprise Technology and Financial Management solutions.