Turning customer challenges into successful projects

PAAN-Group Consulting aims to professionalize organizations in ways IT is run as a service. Our extensive experience in Enterprise & IT Service Management, Multi-Project Management and Quality Management have resulted in sustainable solutions for our clients, reaching beyond a company’s mere IT functions.

Recognized as a key driver for change, we rest on our competencies to take on a comprehensive service approach in producing lasting results for our clients.

Showcase of paan-group case studies & projects

Standardization of service design and operational on-boarding for workplace services:
Designing and piloting the process for service design & service on-boarding of new smart managed workplace services, including service readiness & supplier integration aspects within the consumer goods industry.

The client is an international diversified corporate group headquartered in Germany and founded in 1883. The main business is the direct distribution of household appliances and cosmetics.
The client operates in more than 70 countries worldwide as of 2014.

The solution was to pilot and implement a blueprint for a standard service design and readiness process, which would ensure the new IT services fully meet the expectations of service management so that the services may be supported and optimized throughout their life cycle.
A part of the solution was to produce the needed documentation and approvals (stakeholder involvement) of the service scope (service architecture and dependencies), showing how requirements are covered through newly developed technical and process-based solutions.

The solution resulted in a standard process covering the design and on-boarding of new IT services into the organization. This included the standardization of artifacts such an encompassing requirements catalog, solution design documentation, service trees and architectures, data models, service request catalog, process on-boarding standards and the implementation in servicenow. The subsequently largest benefit by far was the ability to support the services end-to-end due to the ability to run impact analysis‘ and monitor the SLA-based performance (service performance, supplier performance, …).

Highly specialized servicenow™ training for an ITSM consulting firm:
Designing a concept for functional and technical servicenow™ platform training within the consulting business as part of the junior consultant on-boarding curriculum.

The client is one of the leading ICT service providers in the German market for data center, network and application operations. With more than 800 employees, the client develops and operates information systems for its customers, ensures long-term system support and the availability of critical operating processes.

The solution was to design an training concept suitable to the clients specialized training needs. Following the design and the customers‘ approval, the training of approximately 12 new staff members was planned and executed accordingly. A variation of the most effective learning methods outlined in the concept were applied to ensure the highest rate of successful certifications by the individuals.

ITSM evaluation & optimization for a public IT service provider:
Evaluation and optimization of the IT Service Management system landscape and ITSM processes, including the aggregation of data sources to meet license management requirements in the public sector.

The clients belongs to Germany’s public IT Service providers responsible for providing IT solutions, support functions and IT operations for all authorities within the entirety of the regional state of Berlin.

Due to the e-Government ruling in the state of Berlin and the subsequent standardization strategies the customer was tasked by the state to implement and expand their service management function within the organization, which resulted in substantial changes and optimization in terms of service scope, support, order management, and IT operations. The aim was to establish a company wide service initiative to ensure the relevant public authorities in Berlin could be on-boarded into the newly established service management ecosystem. This included processes, supply chain, and enhanced ITSM system functions.

The results have moved the organization onto a position where a high degree of internal standardization could be achieved. This included optimized, well documented and implemented processes, an assessment of the best tools for the relevant support units, as well as standard procedures for improved customer service. In addition, a federated data management concept (CMDB interfacing) has strengthened the enterprise architecture function within the organization and successfully completed a proof of concept regarding license optimization and financial compliance.

Setup of an operations center for remote infrastructure management (RIM):
Setup of a far-shore remote management of infrastructure and SAP architecture (RIM) function spread across two data centers, including asset migration and process transition from a single- to a multi-vendor environment within the logistics and transportation industry.

The client used to be the world’s leading manufacturer of both planes and trains. The rail division had 60 production and engineering sites in 28 countries with over 37000 employees. Its portfolio covered the full spectrum of rail solutions, ranging from complete trains, sub-systems, maintenance services, system integration and signalling.

Undergoing a transition form a single-vendor to a multi-vendor environment, the client has decided to propagate its IT strategy through a fresh outsourcing strategy for its IT services through various partners located across the globe. Amid a data centre migration, the infrastructure and certain application and their architecture needed to be managed remotely from a service provider in India, using internally developed and implemented processes. The aim was to design relevant processes, implement these in the according tool landscape, and transition these to a remote control centre vendor team in India.

The RIM team needed to be setup and trained from scratch, ensuring proper and efficient operations of the new RIM control center. PAAN-Group Consulting has taken over the Program Lead and ITSM Process Lead roles for ensuring the processes, tools, and people can effectively manage the new support function within the boundaries of the agreed SLA framework. The entire handover and training aspects of the new team located in India were also considered.
From a Program Management perspective, the risks and dependencies amongst the various projects had to be dealt with during project planning and execution.

More than 20 processes were globalized and centralized within the client’s core operations team, ranging from the design all the way to the support stages of the service life-cycle. This included drafting the processes and implementing these in the new Remedy tool, which in turn had to be configured in accordance with the service levels. A service integration concept ensured seamless end-to-end operations with clear roles and responsibilities assigned amongst the different vendors.

IT strategy & operations within a heterogeneous IT landscape for real estate financing:
Drafting and implementing a new IT service strategy, including the organisational repositioning of the IT department with the aim for a closer alignment with the overall business strategy for a real-estate financing company.

The client has almost 150 years of experience in professional real estate financing and close ties to the largest savings banks finance group in Germany. This makes the client one of the leading German real estate and bond certificate banks. With its main focus on customer-centric and standardised future-oriented processes, the bank is faced with challenges of continuously undergoing transitional changes with strenuous demand for strategic alignment. The bank is headquartered in Berlin and operates numerous offices spread across other locations throughout Germany, as well as in Amsterdam, Paris and Warsaw.

The solution was to choose the best suited “IT positioning” within the company to ensure the IT resources and initiatives are fully aligned and effectively governed within the IT department, while comprehensively capturing and reflecting the business requirements. The base of such approach was to derive the IT services and initiatives form a “collective” stance. Subsequently, the top three priorities from which the strategic objective were derived from were: – Business process efficiency & effectiveness – System automation & platform digitalization

The IT strategy brought the IT department closer to the individual business departments, allowing for a better understanding of business requirements, in turn strengthening strategic partnerships. The department’s new position also placed focus onto performance and innovation, bringing quality and service delivery to the forefront. Further results: – A clear position of the IT function within the overall organisation & a better understanding within the business of the value-add activities and solutions provided by the IT department – Concerted implementation planning transferable onto the goals of the individual IT Teams

Establishment of a quality management systems (QMS) and successful ISO auditing:
Implementation of a Quality Management System in accordance with ISO 9001 Norms for a German-based satellite imaging and geo-spacial information provider.

The clients was a German geospatial information provider focused on assisting in management decision-making through services based on their own Earth observation imagery. The company operated a five-satellite constellation producing 5 meter resolution imagery offering know-how in satellite image analysis and business consulting. Today, the client’s brand name refers to the constellation of 5 earth observation satellites owned and operated by a California-based geo-spacial information provider.

The QMS implementation and internal auditing procedures resulted in a successful TÜV audit and subsequent accreditation and re-certification of the ISO 9001 certification. Additionally, the certification enhanced the customers‘ perception of a structured and professional approach to producing and delivering high quality products and services. The QMS itself lead to an integration of quality control mechanisms within the company’s daily decision making process.

Near-shore contact center setup for high-security product support:
Setup of a new multi-level near-shore Contact Center for the support of ID and authentication products and e-Government services within the public sector.

The clients is Germany’s largest public limited company providing identification and security services rooted in the secure identification of citizens, customers, employees and systems in both the analogue and digital world.
In addition, its subsidiary is the largest accredited and qualified trust service provider in Germany. The company is a pioneer in the field of secure electronic identities and is among the few German trust service providers listed by Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).

Due to capacity forecasting and new product placement, the client urged to extend its customer contact centre services through a near-shoring strategy. A new contact center needed to be setup, including the staffing, process and tool implementation. The inter-European legislation adherence was one of the main drivers in the planning phase. The situation also demanded strict security regulations to support the company’s products and manage highly sensitive data beyond German geographical borders. Additionally, the intricate legal and export control aspect of such data and knowledge exports needed thorough consideration.

The solution was to extend the function of the first line support onto the client’s new near-shore support centre and gradually phase out the support scope thereof until the desired maturity and quality levels have been reached. Furthermore, the primary e-Government services were transferred to the new contact centre second and third line support teams, including all vendor management tasks. The technical solutions have been fully integrated into the local infrastructure, taking into consideration all legal and export control requirements placed onto this particular setup.

The results were a seamless and well orchestrated support case-handling by well trained and German speaking staff from the client’s new near-shore control centre. The cultural and people aspects have been emphasised throughout the project resulting in cultural acceptance and excellent communication amongst the team members across the different locations. Moreover, the customer satisfaction increased due to shorter resolution times and an overall increase in the quality of customer service.

Strategic support developing a product portfolio and a collaboration platform:
Project Management of a collaboration platform within the creative industry, covering the project management, functional requirements and technical development aspects across multiple vendors.

The client is an online network and collaboration provider with social media and networking capabilities within the creative industry. Committed to help the individual and company grow their professional network, the company’s unique offer lies in drawing together the core people to work together on a wide range of projects and productions within a specialized community.

The situation demanded comprehensive project management skills and included drafting the full scope of features in consultation with the client. The functional specification needed to be translated into technical requirements and the development and testing progress tracked accordingly. In addition, the contractual framework and support structure with various service providers had to be drafted, reviewed and put in place.

A solid background in running projects:

Among the showcased projects, there are many more examples when our specialists have lead successful projects for our clients, bringing the set out goals across the finish line and results into the organization.

Contact us to find the right service constellation for you.

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