Introduction

Halian’s technical expertise, professional approach, and determination to succeed where others fail, helped them to secure a global desktop application integration managed service to a worldwide pharmaceuticals company. Global business units now rely on Halian to integrate 50 to 80 new desktop applications into the locked down environment every month, in less than 15 days from initial request - 50% faster than previous global service providers.
Over the past seven years, Halian has developed a strong relationship with the company in the UK and earned a position of trust.  Following their rise to primary vendor in 2005, they have not only introduced a unique commercial proposition and turned the service around, but they are also delivering savings of 10% year on year through service innovation.

Background

Over a period of ten years Halian provided a range of services to the company, including some application integration services in the UK, which typically involved ad hoc consultancy and technical trouble shooting for the primary vendor in this area. With constant delivery issues and failure of the initial suppliers to deliver on SLA’s, the global application integration service was persistently in escalation, which meant weekly reviews with senior corporate IT Management.
The service had also transitioned between global suppliers, using both on-shore and offshore delivery models. However, increasing pressure from business to shorten timescales for integration of desktop applications into the managed desktop environment down to 15 days and the need to increase service delivery, led to the project being put out to tender once again.
Halian entered the bidding against three global blue chip organizations and won the business for a number of reasons. Halian had already been delivering highly technical and specialized skill sets to the project, generally when called upon by the vendor at the time to deal with technically difficult scripts. This meant that the team was able to identify current issues and provide quick fixes, but they were also able to fully understand the requirements from both a business and technical point of view. With a clear pricing model, commitment to quality assurance, the provision of a UK and US on-site team and a strong history of service improvement and innovation, Halian were able to provide the quality of service the company needed.

Solution

The global Application Integration service (AIS) had been run off shore in India by the previous supplier, which had led to numerous communication problems. Halian’s first task was to bring the service on-site, in order to effectively engage with the client, deliver results and restore confidence in the service company-wide.
With a team specialized in scripting skills, Halian set about managing the backlog, at the same time as dealing with the transition and BAU activities, which meant working closely with the corporate IT department and business units on a global scale. Effective and regular communication with the customer at both a business and IT level meant that Halian were able to take the service out of ‘escalation’ status. A new and efficient handling process was also been created to rapidly move applications in and out of service.
In the first two years of the service Halian has integrated over 1500 desktop applications ranging from upgrades of existing applications to the integration of completely new applications. Initially they check that the application won’t cause conflicts with the existing working environment including other applications, hardware, software, operating systems and printer drivers. Using specialist scripting skills and tools the team creates a script to enable the application to work effectively in the necessary environment. It is then sent for user testing, quality assurance, and ultimately distributed for download on the appropriate server.
Strict SLA’s for AIS mean that it was critical for Halian to engage top technical consultants who are not only experts at scripting but also have good working knowledge of multiple technical and hardware environments. As they are often under extreme pressure to deliver it is important that members of the team are screened and selected not only for their technical skills, but also for a good cultural fit.
The on-demand nature of this service means that the number of applications can fluctuate, but Halian are able to maintain the right level of resource to meet the demand and are also working towards continuous improvement. Halian is not only the first company to deliver against the SLAs, but they have also produced an effective pricing model, based on a price per application, which means that they always deliver good value for money.
Outcomes/Benefits
Halian has worked hard to develop a strong rapport with both corporate IT and business users and is regularly exceeding the service level agreement by processing many applications in less than the 15 days. They have also identified 10% savings in direct relation to applications submitted to the service and aim to deliver more savings by taking on additional components of the service, for example delivering the applications directly to the desk top.
Excellent feed back on the depth of technical knowledge and helpfulness has been received from many users who are asked to complete a survey every time an application is delivered.
Most importantly, the company is now able to depend upon a fast, cost efficient, and high quality managed service, which means the customer can focus on improvement and innovation in other parts of their business. As a result Halian’s AIS contract has recently been renewed for a further two years with expected revenues of £500k per annum.

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