Our IT consultants have been saving clients millions and getting big results for over 15 years. Below are just a few of our case studies. We highlight in the table below that our assignments require a unique combination of skills in vendor management (VMO), program management, sourcing consulting, as well as enterprise technology services (ETS) and IT Service Management (ITSM).

To see any case study, just click the link or scroll down.

Launch of an IT VMO – Vendor Management Office

Client:  $10B / Year Leading Canadian Retail Drug & Beauty Stores

Client Challenge

In 2006 the client’s best-of-breed strategy had organically grown to over 200+ IT vendors providing various maintenance & enhancements.  This Keep-The-Lights-On shop was starting a significant portfolio of new projects and multi-year programs.   Legal, strategic procurement, CIO and CFO experienced events that demonstrated that they did not have adequate policies, processes and controls around the $70M+ in external IT vendor annual spend. R3P was asked to investigate and concluded that the client was taking undue risks, not fully utilizing pre-paid contracts, accepting below market productivity and performance levels.

The root cause of these challenges were: (1) too many vendors to manage & govern; (2) inadequate definition of the operating model with each parties’ accountabilities; (3) governance structure without adequate controls for verification; (4) “best effort” vendor accountability due to missing/ineffective SLAs & KPIs; and (5) short-term view that was inadequate for the supply-demand forecasting and scheduling model required for magnitude of spend.

R3P Approach

The approach agreed to with the client CEO was to:

(1) take centralized ownership of steady-state operations under CFO guidance and link processes into key stakeholders: finance, legal and procurement – promote VMO mandate statement;

(2) Address critical tactical needs that provide the most value in Year 1;

(3) Roll-out new operating model & governance at a pace and granularity that can be absorbed by client;

(4) Recruit and mentor accountable VP, Director and managers for effective long-term sustainability;

(4) Automate via tools for key repetitive tasks;

(5) Roll-out training to key stakeholders and customers to promote self-service

Results

  R3P facilitated and oversaw $18M in savings in this first initiative and subsequent significant $MM/annual savings; reduction of risk and surprises; established supply/demand models; as well as performance & productivity measures to enable top 5 vendor management and customer/stakeholder expectations.

Design a more robust project intake with controls, and publish policy to institute and lock-down

Client: $10B Leading Canadian Retail Drug & Beauty Stores

Client Challenge

Client had a informal IT project in-take process for assessing and approving the start of new projects. As a result, projects were being assigned budgets and started across the enterprise without a proper business case, or alignment between the Business and Information Technology (IT). A number of these projects were operating under the radar, not aligned to the company’s strategic direction, and C-level executives were unaware of the project’s existence.  As a result budget was being consumed by unnecessary projects.

R3P Approach

(1)   Develop a formal project intake process. R3P developed a standard Business Case template, highlighting the purpose of the mandate, how it aligned with the strategic direction, the forecasted schedule and budget, and the expected hard and soft benefits. Both the Business and IT presenters had to commit to the mandate, availability of staff, the schedule and budget, and the identified benefits.

(2)   Develop awareness, implement and govern the process. R3P socialized the new process and benefits. We also  provided feedback on the submitted Business Case to ensure it was realistic and assessed Business and IT alignment.

(3)   Facilitate PIC. R3P scheduled and facilitated the Project Investment Committee meetings, taking minutes and documenting the approval decision. Projects were not allowed to be initiated or staffed without receiving an approval from the Project Investment Committee.

Results

The new process ensured all new projects were aligned with the strategic direction of the company, had available funding, and a commitment to realizing benefits. This saved the company money and ensured the forecasted benefits were realistic. This process was used to assist in the company’s budgeting exercise for projects in the next fiscal year and also prevented rogue projects from being executed under the radar.

Strategy & business case to consolidate all IT hardware maintenance agreements and outsource

Client: $10B Leading Canadian Retail Drug & Beauty Stores

Client Challenge

IT hardware maintenance services have grown tremendously in both types of devices and number of stores over the past 15 years. There were inadequate governance and controls for the $11MM/year spend in asset, financial, contract & SLA  management.  The environment was overly complex with different definitions, processes and accountabilities among vendors. No common understanding among users, vendors and help desk.

R3P Approach

(1)   Create robust strategy & high-level business case. We created a credible business case of cost savings and service improvements leveraging known best-in-class improvements assembled into a new operating model. We had active engagement of Directors and we gained alignment with the VPs.

(2)   Document optimized interaction model, roles, accountabilities for RFP. A single best in class interaction model & RACI was documented for all hardware maintenance. Central roles were clarified, interactions and accountabilities.  Were appropriate we introduced swaps, remote diagnostic, as well as improved warranty and disposal management.

(3)   Run RFP and chose provider. We managed the RFP process, solution validation, provider selection & business case.

(4)   High-Level Transition Plan. We created a plan to onboard key roles, create the incident hub among vendors, consolidate contracts, consolidate operations and perform IT asset true-up.  This positioned the client to lead and complete the transition.

Results

R3P successfully completed a robust strategy, new operating model, chosen provider and transition plan.  The client had all the elements to complete a major transition over 18 months.  All the projected benefits were achieved, as planned and the client lead was promoted.   

Project Portfolio Review And Rationalization Against New Priorities

Client: $10B Leading Canadian Retail Drug & Beauty Stores

Client Challenge

The Business Intelligence program was executing 7 concurrent projects intended to develop a new set of data marts, while decommissioning an existing data warehouse. A vendor partner was managing the portfolio of projects, and none of the projects were delivering according to the agreed budget or schedule. The vendor was attempting to share a small team across all projects in the program, so none of the projects had a dedicated team, and as a result they continued to miss milestones and spend beyond budget.

R3P Approach

1)   Assess and prioritize the active projects. The projects were temporarily halted, while the mandate for each project was analyzed to determine if it aligned with the company’s overall strategic direction. Projects that weren’t in alignment were cancelled, resulting in 4 of the original 7 projects remaining active.

(2)   Revise schedules and rationalize staff. A Sr. Project Manager, and Data Warehouse Architect from the Client were engaged to review/revise the schedules of the projects contained in the revised portfolio. Concurrent to revising the schedule, the team reviewed developed a staff model required to achieve the schedule.

(3)   Revise vendor contracts. The resulting teams were comprised of client and vendor staff. Each project was led by a client Project Manager, and joined by selected staff from the vendor engaged as talent on the project, with defined tasks, deliverables, and target dates. The vendor contracts were revised with new roles, responsibilities and budget.

Results

R3P successfully stopped the ongoing budget bleeding, restructured the program, positioned each project for success, and monitored the projects on a weekly basis until they were completed. The data marts went live in accordance to the revised schedule, and the client was able to decommission the original data warehouse, saving significant budget and effort due to no longer being required to support and maintain an old data warehouse.

From inhouse ETS/GTS organization with 200+ 3rd party contracts to a $1B ITO outsourcing arrangement

Client:  A Big 5 Canadian Bank

Client Challenge

The client was venturing into it’s 2nd large outsourcing deal, a 1st generation $1B multi-tower enterprise IT infrastructure.  This was a large initiative that the outsourcer could not do on their own.  Significant client involvement, work effort, coordination and organizational change was required.  The client decided to engage our experienced consultants that could leverage our templates, tools, best practices and lessons learned.  We were asked to design the program structure, staffing levels, program governance and the program planning based on our past experience at other major financial institutions. We were also asked to launch the program with a integrated consultant and client team.

R3P Approach

We used our proven program framework and checklist to rationalize work-streams from 12 to 6.  We led a work breakdown structure exercise to better understand project deliverables, timing, work activity for project planning and effort for staffing levels from client and externals. We challenged the outsourcer to explicitly state in writing client obligations. A single integrated outsourcer/client plan was developed. We leveraged best practices for program structure and governance, customized to client situation and unique needs.  We leveraged our T&T program charter template and checklist to insure completeness and did several SME reviews to insure quality.

We launched the program supplying the program director and core program team supplemented by the client.  We challenged the outsourcer and mentored the client staff as they on-boarded into the program. We led the first phase and then handed the reins over to the client.  We stayed on in a advisory capacity for the most challenging issues/risks.

Results

The outsourcing transition finished on-time and on-budget.  The governance effectively handled the escalated issues, risks and decisions in a timely manner.  The organizational change and communications plan was leveraged successfully.