The Situation
$270 billion worth of trade is shipped through Ports of Auckland, making it New Zealand’s most significant port. Ports of Auckland had embarked on a significant review of the business and technology landscape that underpins their provision of world-class services.
From an infrastructure perspective they were in good shape and had also made organisational changes to their business model. However, the roadblocks lay with the delivery of internal processes and the myriad of applications that delivered services and solutions throughout the organisation. Ports of Auckland were running a multitude of technologies and platforms in the applications space, including an increasingly unsupported FMIS platform. Their FMIS solution was expensive to maintain from an internal resourcing perspective, and licensing and support were big-ticket expenses.
Strategically the decision was taken to embark on an application renewal strategy aligned to the Microsoft stack of technologies. A key project on the roadmap signalled the replacement of their FMIS platform with Microsoft Dynamics AX.
The Pain
Ports of Auckland had a strong desire to create agility and responsiveness within its business solutions by strategically moving to a more homogenous technology platform, which would provide better resource utilisation and service delivery.
The Microsoft Dynamics AX point of difference
Ports of Auckland CIO, Pieter Bakker, believes that finding the right tiered solution for an organisation’s size of business is critical. “Strategically we could see that Microsoft Dynamics AX hit the sweet spot in terms of its fit with the size and scale of our organisation as a medium sized business. From a technology perspective it was a straightforward choice, ticking all the boxes for service-oriented architecture and adherence to our technology direction. Dynamics AX was the clear choice, and one that carried a lot of confidence.”
Business Applications Manager, Clinton Moon, talks about Port’s decision to align itself with mainstream vendors: “The decision made to be firmly in the Microsoft landscape, we then sought a partner with a strong alignment.
"Intergen showed an absolute desire to make a name in the Dynamics AX space, and while we acknowledge we would be the first cab off the rank for them with Dynamics AX, we had confidence in their expertise. They proved a very good choice, largely due to their very process driven approach, which aligned well with our own high level of governance, ensuring consistency, accountability and quality across the project. Intergen had a real desire to get it right; it seems to be part of their culture.”
Solid gains across the business.
In terms of value delivered, Pieter Bakker is confident that good benefit realisation and gains are being seen. “Our post go-live activity since November 2009 has been smooth and controlled. Our Group Financial Controller, Steve Copley, has been able to implement a number of changes to processes that he would not have been able to do with the old solution in place and that has brought real productivity benefits and cost savings.
“Risk has been entirely mitigated and our costs of operating are already on track to dip below our previous level. Dynamics AX is incredibly broad and we now have a foundation solution that will manage many aspects of our business, including inventory, purchasing, supply chain optimisation, customer management, AX CRM and business intelligence.”
Dynamics CRM has also been implemented alongside Dynamics AX and this solution is important in terms of how Ports of Auckland manages its relationships with partners and influencers in their business. Biztalk integration is firmly on Port’s roadmap as they continue to leverage value and
integrate Dynamics AX into two existing core applications; their SmartAssets maintenance system and their Port Information Management System (PIMS).
The Gain
The anchor has been pulled on risk. Dynamics AX has delivered stage one of Ports of Auckland’s IT vision, realising benefits immediately. It has proved the appropriate high tier solution and fit for Port’s business model and has established a path for integration for the future.