In an era marked by rapid technological advancement, our client, a globally recognized leader in the toy industry sought to significantly enhance its operational resilience and efficiency. Despite its prominence in the market, the company faced several logistic and administrative challenges that hindered its growth trajectory and service fulfillment. Recognizing the need for a transformative solution, the organization partnered with HCLTech to reimagine its vendor and project intake processes.
The Challenge
Process inefficiencies impact business outcomes
Our client was facing challenges due to operational inefficiencies that demanded immediate attention to avoid further repercussions. One of the primary issues was their reliance on offline approval processes, which significantly delayed project initiation and affected the momentum of operations. This, coupled with inconsistent SLA fulfillment, started to erode both vendor and client satisfaction, leading to noticeable revenue losses that could not be overlooked.
Furthermore, the lack of a scalable process became a major hurdle for the company's growth ambitions, as there were insufficient reporting mechanisms to identify and address system gaps effectively. Critical activities, especially pertaining to intake and SOW approvals, were severely bottlenecked, making it clear that the existing systems were in dire need of a comprehensive redesign to restore efficiency and support future expansion.
The Objective
A scalable solution providing a seamless experience
Our client sought a partner capable of implementing an automated approval process to eliminate these hurdles and enhance the experience for requestors, vendors and governance. They were looking for a solution that was scalable, transparent and could ensure seamless intake processing without incurring additional licensing costs.
The Solution
An internal ePortal and stringent process controls
To help our client fulfil their objectives, HCLTech proposed and implemented a comprehensive suite of solutions that featured:
- A standardized technical design to automate workflow efficiently
- Development of an in-house ePortal for capturing and streamlining requirements
- Transparency in the reporting system for current status access by all stakeholders
- An entirely internally developed solution with no extra license costs
Process highlights:
- Strict dependency chains were established, where each approval step could not proceed without the previous one being completed
- Intake requests had to be acknowledged within two days
- Estimation classification as Major or Minor based on the effort hours (≥ 160 hours for Major)
- In-depth G2 estimations prepared for major intakes, encompassing resource loading, scope, assumptions and effort breakdown
- A swift and thorough SOW drafting and review process, followed by uploading to the Governance portal for approvals and signatures
Intake ePortal and workflow ecosystem
The ePortal designed functions as a central hub with interfaces such as:
- Home page: An intuitive gateway to the various forms and dashboards
- All intake form home page: Where requestors submit and track their requests
- Enhancement form: A specialized template for adding new enhancements
- Solution delivery form: Allows for new change requests on approved projects
- Resource form: Streamlines new resource requests
Each form is embedded within a process flow diagram, providing a clear visualization of the solution delivery and resource management pathways.
The Impact
From manual to automated - elevating IT operations
This automation journey led to impactful enhancements for our client:
- Transparent process: Clear operational visibility and tracking for all parties involved
- Reduced manual effort: A significant decrease in the hands-on effort required for approvals and tracking
- Timeliness and SLA adherence: Overcoming delays in approvals and fulfilling SLAs efficiently.
- Advanced reporting mechanism: Incorporating best-in-class reporting tools for a holistic view of intakes and deliveries
- Cost-effective solution: A tailored, no-additional-cost solution that streamlined request submission and tracking
- Funding security: Assistance in securing the funding necessary for Annual Operating Plan (AOP) and Major enhancements
- Skills forecasting: Enhanced capability to predict skill demands for a 30-60-90 day timeframe with precision
By leveraging HCLTech's in-house technical expertise and advanced ePortal, our client has fundamentally transformed how they manage their IT service intake, achieving a substantial leap towards their ambitions of supercharged progress, efficiency and productivity.
