Operation of urban public transport in Plzeň and its neighborhood, deliveries and operation of electronic check-in and booking systems, and more.
The new portal assured better availability of information to our employees and significantly improved the quality of business workflow processes. The integration of documents and selected applications in one place saved us a significant amount of time. The structured records of contracts, traffic accidents, and incoming and outgoing mail streamlines the methods of working with data and provides quick access to key documents. Ing. Pavel Šindelář, vedoucí IT oddělení, PMDP
Task
To modernize and consolidate selected processes in the company.
Before the portal was implemented, the information system of PMDP was highly fragmented and inconsistent as a result of its historical development. The existing applications could be thus divided into approximately four groups: information systems that did not use electronization in virtually any manner; information systems that were based on sharing documents created in non-networked applications such as MS Word, MS Excel, etc.; single-purpose applications based on non-network solutions; and networking solutions of the client/server type. Some of the applications communicated with the SAP system in various manners.
The company was not satisfied with this situation, and therefore sought a modern solution that would upgrade the current IT to the next level and serve as a stable base for the development of IT for many years to come. It had several key requirements:
- to ensure better accessibility and arrangement of information for users
- to replace outdated applications and integrate the existing applications into a single platform
- to migrate and integrate the existing documents and applications
- to introduce a single authorization system
- to create customized applications that would help users with their specific agenda
Solutions
PMDP decided to implement the Microsoft SharePoint portal solution. Infinity a.s. was selected as a partner in a tendering procedure. Due to its large scope, the project was divided into three separate stages. Each stage contained a comprehensive package of activities from detailed analysis through specific development and testing by users to user training. This approach enabled sufficient time and effort to be spent on each agenda. This assured that the user requirements were met to a high degree. Thanks to this, users mastered the system in a very short time and the system really helps them in their daily tasks now.
MS SharePoint incorporates a truly wide range of day-to-day transactions that are part of PMDP’s operations. Among others, the following were implemented as part of the solution:
- An intranet portal
A portal platform was created and serves as a single point for sharing documents and information. It included the migration and consolidation of data and documents from different data repositories. The portal is also used for sharing information between PMDP and its suppliers and partners. The portal serves in the publication of managed documents of the company.
- Application for Contract Records Management
Implementation of a central register of contracts, including contract life cycle management and management of the whole consultation and approval process.
- Records of incoming and outgoing mail
Implementation of an application to manage incoming and outgoing correspondence of the company, including related processes.
- Records of road accidents
Development of an application tailored for the recording and procedural processing of traffic accidents caused by drivers. Securing communication with insurance companies and controlling the financial management and on-line payments by interconnecting the application with the SAP economic system.
- Request forms – management of internal processes
A large part of the project focused on computerising and simplifying the internal approval processes. Each process was analysed in detail and deployed in the electronic version. Among other things, this includes:
- automation of internal request forms
- requests for vacation
- travel expense reports
- requests for liquidation of assets
- requirements to fill a vacancy, agreements to perform work
- Cooperation of project teams
A single system for the management and monitoring of projects has been established. Projects are formally managed from project planning through implementation, evaluation, and archiving. All activities related to projects are recorded and can be continuously controlled in terms of time and financial management. It also includes a single repository of all project information and documentation.
- Vehicle repairs
An application used by employees of PMDP to share information about vehicles and solve their defects with the contracted maintenance services supplier. From the perspective of PMDP, this is an important application because its failure could adversely affect the availability of public transportation vehicles.
Achievements
The key benefits of the new portal for PMDP are mainly:
- The transition from paper to electronic agenda.
- Utilization of the Active Directory database for unified authentication of users, eliminating the need for a large number of logins and passwords.
- Unified control of all applications – the web application environment known to the vast majority of users from their standard work with the Internet – with resulting reductions in required user time, the number of potential user errors, training costs, and the number of requests for help desk assistance.
- Availability of applications from anywhere within the company, requiring only that a user log in to a domain and a web browser.
- Search Centre – unified search in several sources.
- E-mail notifications.
- Processing using workflows, i.e. defining workflows and their current automatic control.
- The choice of different views of data, report generating.
- Register of accessed documents and records (Act No. 101/2000 Coll., on the protection of personal data).
- Efficiency: the process works much faster, significantly reducing the time required to process the document and minimising the risk of non-payment, settlement dates, etc.
- Higher security: the system has strictly defined rules and access rights for individual users. Each user has access only to the information that is intended for him.
- Greater control and transparency: the individual processes are defined according to transparent rules. Thus various exceptions that commonly exist in the company are minimized. It can very effectively control activities of individual workers. The solution includes a definition of reminders when a task is not performed by the deadline, etc.
- Dynamic character: the solution is universally designed. It can be modified and further developed.
Business Impacts
MS SharePoint brought Plzeňské městské dopravní podniky IT integrity, allowing the company to respond more flexibly to all events that may occur in its everyday and its emergency operations.
