HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS ENHANCESPROJECT PROVISION

Acando Case Study

Wayne Philpott knows more than a thing or two about successful project management. He has seen pretty much all there is to see during his 28 year long career at Hitachi Data Systems. As a manager in the Programme Management Office, Wayne is responsible for ensuring all project activity is delivered successfully, on-time, every time.

When Wayne started at HDS almost three decades ago, the project management landscape was a very different industry from what it is today.

“ In the beginning, project management as a discipline was solely defined by the individual project managers. We had to conceive and develop to ensure success for Hitachi Data Systems as an organisation and fundamentally for our customers.”

Wayne continually looked for new ways to enhanceproject provision at HDS and developed initiativesranging from the ordinary to the radical in his quest to ensure project success rates stood at 100 per cent, delivering on even the most demanding customer requirements.

In 2001 he created the Programme Office within the company, an industry-leading move at the time. Wayne and his team worked tirelessly to develop the Programme Office, its staff and their capabilities including adding PRINCE2® as a basic requirement.

Everything Wayne and Hitachi Data Systems have done has been focused on improving project success. So, what exactly does their project expert mean when he says… “In 28 years I’ve never seen a company like Acando.”

Prior to Acando partnering with Hitachi Data Systems, the company worked with a range of suppliers to help them find the best project managers to work on the projects they deliver.

As a result, Wayne sought a company that could be relied upon for project delivery in the short and long term so that he could focus on delivering the increasing number of innovative new projects.

Up stepped project management specialist Acando, who helped Wayne navigate some of HDS’ most challenging projects yet. Wayne was immediately impressed by Acando’s outcome focused approach, which included immediate attention on project success and continual engagement to ensure measurable cross-project results.

“ We chose Acando as they invest time upfront, understanding how to drive project success so that each project and project manager could achieve value and the best possible delivery. Now, when project demand is turning I have a single partner I can rely on to deliver the best result.”

Acando’s team at Hitachi Data Systems provides a proven capability for project delivery extending up to programme direction. Acando handles both challenging and routine deliveries many of which are global, high profile, critical and operate within complex stakeholder environments.

“ With Acando, I have one partner who can talk at board level, represent large programmes perfectly and understand exactly what we need. They have made a huge difference.”

However, the HDS story is not only about the Acando people working in the Programme Office to deliver projects. Wayne also recognises the added value Acando offers to drive continual improvement in project results. Acando has engaged widely to improve engagement, governance and the support for projects to ensure that Hitachi Data System continues to deliver truly best in class projects.

“ Acando is there to help us deliver successful projects. It is a real partner that we value and we look forward to continue working with them in the future. That’s why in 28 years I’ve never seen a company like Acando.”

“ Our projects are tailored often to customer needs, technology or industry trends. We found that the suppliers at the time often approached project managers with a blanket approach and often struggled to recognise some of the subtle nuances associated with our projects. Whilst their approach worked to some extent it required additional internal effort to ensure success“

With a greater number of increasingly diverse projects being managed each year, Hitachi Data Systems needed to ensure it had a flexible, proactive and responsive Programme Office that could react to new and exciting projects, fast.

“ WITH ACANDO, I HAVE ONE POINT OF CONTACT WHO CAN TALK AT BOARD LEVEL, REPRESENT LARGE PROGRAMMES PERFECTLY AND UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED. HE HAS MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE.”

“ In 28 years I’ve never seen a company like Acando.”

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Delivering successful projects and programmes around the world…London / Manchester / Helsinki / Stockholm / Gothenburg / Malmö / Linköping Ludvika / Falun / Västerås / Hamburg

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