Military Organization And Inforte Deploy Defense & Security Business Content

Company Background

Our client operates in the future at around 400 locations and in several countries, ensuring peace and supporting NATO and UN missions. To support its core business - national and alliance defense and international missions - the organization is involved in several other areas including health care, airports, airlines, logistics, and recruiting.

The military organization is currently transforming towards achieving sustainable improvements in its spectrums of operations utilizing modern information technology. A special focus is multinational operations in the area of conflict prevention, as well as crisis management.

Business Issue

Similar to large corporations, defense and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) face the challenge of having to act and react faster, more effectively and more efficiently in highly complex environments. Today's defense scenarios are shifting away from engaging massive units in combat towards highly networked, international operations and welfare missions. This requires flexible and quick responses to a complex, everchanging mission environment.

To meet these challenges, quick and accurate information delivery, based upon a modern information infrastructure, is vital. Analytic Applications play a crucial role in enabling and supporting:

• Capability-Based Planning
• Network-Enabled Warfare
• Events-Based Operations
• Continuous improvement of force readiness under tightening budget and time constraints

The Client's Initiatives

In a Strategic Development Project (SDP) with SAP the organization is currently enhancing the existing SAP ERP solution with defense specific functionality to meet the challenges of managing operations and task forces, as well as all common business processes. Over time, a big part of existing legacy systems will be replaced by this solution. Embedded in this initiative, an Enterprise Data Warehouse will supply the single point of truth for analytic applications.

The core element of the solution is, the so-called Force Element - an organizational unit - that integrates all aspects of complex organizations: flexible organizational structures and hierarchies, personnel and qualifications management, material and inventory management, plant and line maintenance, controlling, finance, and so forth. In the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), the Force Element provides a holistic view of business processes; supporting flexible planning, on-demand restructuring of organizational segments for operations, relocations and their logistics on short notice.

Therefore, the Defense & Security Business Content is not only suitable for armies and NGOs. Companies operating with similar structures - such as task forces - can also benefit from this Business Content and its integration capabilities.

Inforte's Solution

Inforte's business intelligence practice designed and developed the Defense & Security Business Content for SAP BI in cooperation with SAP at their headquarters in Walldorf, Germany. Subsequently, Inforte deployed the Business Content at the client's organization, enhancing it to meet client specific requirements.

The Business Content now provides tactical and strategic reporting capabilities around the Force Element which enables instant access to relevant information, as well as integrated analysis and multi-perspective planning, such as operational readiness, cost, logistics of operations, or plan/actual comparisons.

Bringing together experience from various public sector and Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) projects, Inforte has been engaged in managing the client's SAP BI projects and developing the EDW architecture based upon the Business Content unifying the different SAP BI initiatives.

Business Benefits Delivered

Information gathering, processing, analysis, and distribution have become the foundations of modern operations. Objectives like Network Enabled Warfare require a seamless network of all involved units. To provide this "Commonly Recognized Picture," today's business intelligence systems play a central role.

The solution, built with the help of Inforte's BI Business Unit enables our client to take advantage of the following benefits:

• Plan and Operate More Accurately Via Integrated: Plan-actual Reports Delays due to missing parts are reduced. Multiple logistic actions can be coordinated more easily to make sure everything is prepared for mission execution.
• View Historic Information Instantly: Learning from past experience, today's actions and operations can be optimized to reduce costs and provide a safer environment for deployed units.
• Match Positions, Persons, and Qualifications: Open positions can be filled faster and more accurately. Specialists needed for certain tasks can be found more quickly and at reduced educational costs.
• Make Decisions Based on a Common Operating Picture: The current organizational restructuring process of the Bundeswehr is supported. Decision makers have a common basis to analyze the status quo; transparency of the open issues helps to reach consensus.
• General Benefits: More accurate planning and networked operations lead to reduced cost and fewer delays, because bottlenecks and pitfalls can be identified earlier. Potential problems can be recognized and solved up front.

Inforte will continue to work with the the military organization on the improvement of the defense force and public security EDW content. The next steps include enhancing the Business Content for the new NetWeaver 2004s BI release together with SAP. New features include integrated strategic and tactical planning with NetWeaver 2004s BI for various areas e.g., capability planning, readiness planning, flying hours planning. The new Content will then be implemented and customized at our client.