4-page Case Study - Posted 7/5/2007

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Siemens IT Operations

Electronics Company Cuts Project Development Time by 50 Per Cent with Service-Oriented Architecture

Siemens is one of the world’s largest electrical engineering and electronics companies. Over the last four years, the Siemens business unit IT Operations has created a service-oriented IT architecture that integrates disparate data sources and eliminates human bottlenecks in key business processes. To progress its service-oriented philosophy, Siemens rolled out Microsoft® BizTalk® Server 2006 at the heart of its infrastructure. This integrates SAP applications with business process modelling software Aris, reducing development times for new, automated business processes by 50 per cent. In 2006, the company used these tools to automate IT provisioning for employees. HR professionals are now free to focus on core activities as time-consuming telephone and fax communications have been eliminated, and employees can work more effectively from day one.

Situation

Four years ago, Siemens began a far-reaching project to revolutionise the delivery of IT services internally. As a key element of this initiative, disparate systems and applications across the group were integrated based on a centralised, service-oriented architecture. Thomas Buse, Section Manager, Siemens IT Operations (ITO), says: “IT requirements, such as e-mail services or Internet access, are common across all Siemens business divisions. We therefore recognised the need to deliver services in a centralised way, closely aligning our technology environment to the business needs of our end users.”

With business processes that have been developed over more than a century, and IT infrastructure dating back to the earliest days of computing, the creation of an effective, fully integrated IT infrastructure was a key challenge. “We overcame problems of systems interoperability by placing Microsoft® BizTalk Server® 2004 at the heart of our infrastructure,” says Buse. “This technology, which has now been upgraded to BizTalk Server 2006, has allowed us to maximise the value of corporate data and streamline our business processes.”

To take its service-oriented philosophy to the next level, Siemens ITO wanted to automate ever more complex business processes and extend IT service delivery effectively to external, as well as internal, customers. This required fast, effective ways to transform business ideas into real-world solutions.

In 2006, an internal customer in the Siemens transport sector proposed a new way to streamline IT provisioning for new and existing employees. “We saw a means of reducing manual intervention in the process of setting up and changing employee user accounts and e-mail inboxes,” says Buse. “The resulting solution is proof that a strategic, service-oriented architecture can effectively reduce workloads, streamline processes, and increase overall operational efficiency.”

But the new solution is about much more than effective IT service provision. “The true benefit of this solution is that a wide spectrum of business processes across the company can now be optimised quickly and effectively through the seamless integration capabilities of BizTalk Server 2006. These processes include setting up new employee mailboxes and access to certain department-shares. This positions us to achieve significant time savings and eliminate expensive manual processes, resulting in increased overall productivity.”

Solution

The automated business processes for IT provisioning, which demonstrate the broader benefits of integration between systems internally, were rolled out quickly and cost effectively. “We deployed this solution with almost no custom development using standard BizTalk Server 2006 functionality,” says Buse.

The new provisioning process draws on data held in existing SAP Human Resources (HR) systems, eliminating manual data entry and reducing administrative workloads for IT and HR personnel. Roman Fleischer, Senior Consultant, Siemens ITO, says: “This new solution has delivered significant time savings for employees and eliminated ineffective phone and fax-based communications. It also ensures that new employees have all the IT tools they need to work effectively from day one.”

BizTalk Server 2006 integrates seamlessly with the full SAP portfolio, helping organisations streamline previously manual processes and reduce rekeying of data. In the Siemens

Integration of key systems and processes using BizTalk Server 2006 has allowed us to enhance overall operational efficiency and respond more quickly to end-user requirements. Thomas Buse IT Operations Manager Siemens

This integrated process is just one example of how integration between BizTalk Server 2006 and other leading software tools can deliver real-world business benefits. Additional advantages are delivered through integration with Aris business modelling software from IDS Scheer, which allows new, automated processes to be deployed quickly and cost effectively in the Siemens technology environment.

Buse says: “We can use Aris and BizTalk Server 2006 to see which processes are interdependent and to design new, integrated solutions for our users. These technologies also reduce development and deployment times for new projects and ensure that our architecture remains closely aligned to our core business needs.”

This and other automated services will be made available to Siemens customers using a secure, portal-based interface. “Instead of sending us unformatted e-mails, we want external customers to interact with us using our portal,” says Buse. “In doing so, they will be able to trigger complex business processes automatically and gain additional value from new service reports, commercial reports, and integrated trouble-shooting systems.”

Benefits

By automating the complex business processes required to provision IT services to employees, Siemens ITO has eliminated bottlenecks associated with manual administration and is now able to process approximately 180,00 requests per month. In addition, the company’s service-oriented architecture provides a solid foundation for new, integrated services.

“Integration of key systems and processes using BizTalk Server 2006 has allowed us to enhance overall operational efficiency and respond more quickly to end-user requirements,” says Buse. “Divisions across Siemens have seen the work we have done to streamline IT provisioning and are now coming forward with new ideas for how to enhance their own operations.”

Driving Business Innovation
The seamless integration of BizTalk, SAP, and Aris allows enhanced business processes to be deployed and amended quickly, ensuring that IT is never a barrier to innovation. “To roll out new, automated business processes, we simply model all required interactions between data sources and other systems,” says Fleischer. “We then combine existing components in our service-oriented architecture, moving directly from a business idea to full-scale technology deployment in a single step.

“We can also talk to customers about existing processes and make value-added changes based on effective process modelling,” he says. “This provides visibility of how changes will impact on related or interdependent services and ensures that systems continue to perform at optimum levels.”

Development Times Reduced by 50 Per Cent
All new processes can now be deployed in the live environment quickly and cost effectively. Because custom development is no longer required to convert business ideas into workable IT solutions, Siemens ITO has reduced new project development times by 50 per cent.
“Business process development can now be carried out with no need for trial-and-error engineering work. IT requirements for the new process are then generated automatically, delivering significant time savings for our team,” says Buse.

Fleischer says: “Development projects that previously took four weeks can now be completed in just two weeks, with the majority of this time spent working out process details. Because of the integration capabilities of BizTalk Server 2006, deployment to the technology environment takes just a few hours, which is a fraction of the time previously required.”

Enhanced IT Provisioning Saves Time
Previously, HR personnel sent information through fax machines and made telephone calls to set up and change user accounts and e-mail Inboxes for their employees. This was time consuming, making it difficult for employees to focus on their core responsibilities.

By automating the process of provisioning IT services to their employees, Siemens ITO has reduced administrative workloads and helped HR professionals increase their productivity. Buse says: “The new solution eliminates human interactions between HR professionals and our IT organisation. This allows HR staff to focus on their core activities, such as collecting data relating to employees.”

In addition, the new solution empowers employees to begin working effectively from their first day at Siemens. Fleischer says: “All new employees need user accounts, Internet access, and e-mail addresses before they can start work. We can now provide all these services efficiently in a matter of minutes.”

Solution Serves External Customers
While the Siemens IT division was created to serve internal customers, it now delivers innovative IT services externally. This requires new levels of security and interoperability, which have been met and exceeded by BizTalk Server 2006.

Buse says: “Our service-oriented approach is now delivering significant cost and time savings to our external customers. Those who access our services using our own customer portal are already experiencing the benefits of business process automation and streamlining their operations as a result.”

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com

For more information about SAP products and services, visit the Web site at:
www.sap.com

For more information about Siemens IT Operations products and services, visit the Web site at:
www.siemens.de/it-outtasking 

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio

For more information about the Microsoft server product portfolio, go to:
www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx

For more information about Microsoft Exchange Server, go to:
www.microsoft.com/exchange

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