Co-Sourced Integration
Service Delivery for a National Retailer
Company Description
Our client is one of the largest retailers in Canada, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Its banners are strategically customized to serve the needs of a wide range of demographic groups. It was founded in 1974 in Calgary and has since exponentially grown organically and through acquisitions. In 2011 this organization had more than 1,000 retail outlets across Canada, employing over 19,000 people.
Business Background
In 2008, the organization was building a mature integration practice with enterprise-scale technologies. Some of the challenges faced throughout this journey were:
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Absence of a formal integration strategy, as integration relied mostly on an ad-hoc approach.
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No experience with a structured enterprise-grade integration toolset that satisfies the business requirements for reliable and flexible business solutions.
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Very much a ‘green field’ for integration. Methodologies, processes, architecture framework, and guidelines were yet to be established.
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Problems with staffing the day-to-day operations and projects with skilled TIBCO resources that are in high demand on the market.
- Providing scalable and stable operational environment able to sustain growing business needs.
The Solution
The company selected Groundswell based upon our highly-recognized, industry-leading integration practice in Western Canada.
We began by providing our client with the definition of hardware/server requirements that had the capacity to support the initial pilot phase of TIBCO integration. We defined a platform which would support sustained growth for the organization. Our work also included the establishment of integration processes that included the implementation, code and deployment reviews, as well as support and onboarding processes. Additionally, we provided an enterprise service business method of integration and integration design patterns.
For several years now, Groundswell has been the “go-to” partner for this organization. Together we have established a co-source arrangement within the context of an Integration Center of Excellence as a long-term model of service. This model gives Groundswell the responsibility to staff and run the TIBCO development and administration team, a group that has been successful in providing a responsive service of integration support, maintenance and administration while delivering major integration projects.
The scope of the co-source has been expanded to include data analysis and integration stewardship, taking ownership of resolving day-to-day integration issues and continuous improvement of existing integration processes.
The key factors for success of this initiative were:
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Establishment of a robust integration environment, providing the organization with immediate access to data, by supporting the batch and real-time environments (i.e. supply chain transactions).
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Implementation of a solid integration architecture, including ongoing governance provisions.
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Response to critical business needs for integration solutions through a structured service engagement model for support and administration requests adhering to an agreed-upon SLA (Service Level Agreement).
- Execution of successful integration projects, delivering scalable integration solutions that met business requirements within aggressive timelines.
The Benefits
Through this partnership, the major benefits obtained by our client are:
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Ability to deliver integration projects that meet business requirements and timelines.
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Reliable integration service delivery and operations through the co-source model.
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Self-sustained integration practice through an integration Center of Excellence that includes an integration lead, architects, developers and support team.
- Access to a highly skilled resource pool at Groundswell, allowing flexible (by demand) resource management and continuity of the service.
