NCOC overhauls ITM project management processes with Project for the web and Power Platform

The North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), a leading oil and gas company from Kazakhstan, is revamping its Information Technology Management (ITM) project management processes. To increase visibility, make collaboration easier, create efficient KPI management and reporting, the team relied on Microsoft’s Project for the web and the Power Platform. According to Maxat Shaumenov, the Head of IT Project Delivery, “All key pieces of information are structured in one place now, making it possible to control costs, manage risks and issues, and plan our resources. We are now resolving issues three times faster than before.”

“The North Caspian Operating Company N.V. (NCOC) is one of the leading oil and gas organization in Kazakhstan. It is an international consortium that includes seven world’s largest energy companies” says Maxat Shaumenov, the Head of IT Project Delivery at NCOC. “Our vision is to be the leading oil and gas company, recognized in Kazakhstan and internationally for our safety performance, environmental leadership, business excellence and employee satisfaction. We are applying the best international standards and practices to all our activities, and digitalization is a big part of it.”

Becoming more Agile and efficient

A crucial part of NCOC’s digital transformation was revamping its ITM project management processes and becoming more flexible and efficient in its day-to-day project activities delivery. “Across ITM projects delivery, we are in the process of moving away from the waterfall model and bringing agile practices into our project delivery framework,” explains Ruslan Kuanyshev, the IT PMO Lead at NCOC.

“Initially, we were using multiple tools to manage our projects,” remembers Kuanyshev. For example, SharePoint lists were used for managing project’s detailed information. Schedules were maintained in Excel sheets. The team had difficulty collaborating internally as well as with external parties, and the lack of visibility and transparency due to unstructured data prevented the team from becoming more agile. “We didn’t have a centralized platform for ITM project data management. For status reports, we made different slides,” says Shaumenov.

Right before the COVID-19 pandemic, NCOC made the move to integrate ITM Portfolio and Project Management (PPM) based on Project for the web (through Power Apps) and the Power Platform (through Power BI) for automated reporting and task management. Seamless integration of Project for the web with Microsoft Teams provided effortless internal and external collaboration capabilities.

Effortless collaboration and visibility

After the transition, team collaboration, management, and reporting have become more flexible and efficient. “Seamless integration of Project for the web with Microsoft Teams improved collaboration across project teams. For reporting, we no longer use multiple files,” explains Kuanyshev. “All key information is structured in one place, making it possible to control costs, manage risks and issues, see the big picture and plan project resources,” Kuanyshev adds. “Power BI provides a simplified way of sharing information about the project with a wider community. It also helps us gather information from multiple sources and easily make data-driven decisions.”

“Seamless integration of Project for the web with Microsoft Teams improved collaboration across project teams”

Ruslan Kuanyshev, IT PMO Lead, NCOC

“We received positive feedback from our Leadership Team,” says Shaumenov. “They get all necessary information about a project in a clear way. They can see the workload of each resource for each project. Planning activities, resources management and cost management have become easier. Since our transition to Project for the web, we resolve issues 3 times faster than before.” Digitalization of ITM project management process complies with ITM principles “Cost Leadership” and “Results Oriented” set by NCOC in its ITM Strategy. With strengthened cybersecurity and efficiency, the solution has been especially instrumental for remote workers.

“Planning activities, resources management and cost management have become easier. Since our transition to Project for the web, we resolve issues 3 times faster than before.”

Maxat Shaumenov, Head of IT Project Delivery, NCOC

Project for the web solution was implemented in NCOC with support from Microsoft and Microsoft’s partner LimeOn company. “It was definitely quite a journey, but Microsoft’s partners helped us customize the experience and the solution to our needs,” explains Ruslan Kuanyshev. “Even now, they still help us resolving issues.”

“Microsoft remains one of our core partners on digitalization”, notes Maxat Shaumenov. “The partnership, the collaboration and the technology are both effective and flexible. So, Microsoft is a great choice if you want to kick off your digitization journey”