Executive summary
Although IT deployments are often referred to as
mission-critical, it is very rare that a project actually has the
potential to impact the success of a critical mission.
There was, however, just such a risk with the roll-out of a new
desktop infrastructure to one of the main organisation’s within the
Ministry of Defence. Teams within the Defence Logistics
Organisation provide critical asset and engineering information to
the RAF, and can make all the difference to whether an aircraft
takes off and completes its mission.
As a result, when the department embarked on a desktop refresh
for this important group of users, it needed to make sure that
disruption was kept to a minimum and that the new infrastructure
could support existing logistics applications.
In conjunction with IBM, Computacenter helped to ensure the
desktop deployment not only kept to its tight schedule but also
fulfilled its objectives. Thanks to the new infrastructure, the
Integrated Project Teams within the Defence Logistics Organisation
are now able to provide an enhanced support service to their flying
units and have increased access to business and reporting
tools.
Business description
Government department responsible for the UK’s defence and Armed
Forces.
Business challenge
Ensure RAF flight schedules are not impacted by the lack of
critical asset and engineering information.
Solution
Deploy a new desktop infrastructure which will ensure the
availability of existing information, and provide asset support
teams with additional functionality.
Business benefits
Improved efficiency and financial management for Integrated
Project Teams.
Services
Installation, configuration, technology sourcing.
Timescale
The project started in January 2004 and was completed in June
2004.
Key partners
IBM.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is responsible for defending the
UK and its interests, and strengthening international peace and
security. In the UK it employs more than 270,000 civilian and
service personnel, and controls some £30 billion worth of resources
for the Armed Forces.
The Armed Forces are increasingly working together to make more
efficient use of British defence resources and to increase
operational impact. Such co-operation is not restricted to just
defence activities, but also applies to the use of technology and
provision IT management within the Royal Air Force, Army and Royal
Navy.
As Royal Air Force squadron leader Dave Lander, from the
Logistic Application Integrated Project Team, explains: “To help
simplify IT management, the MoD is starting to implement a
standardised infrastructure across its many organisations, with
common workstations, servers and office applications. A dedicated
Integrated Project Team has been set up to help implement the new
standard, and it is therefore essential that any IT roll-outs
comply with the specified Defence Information Infrastructure
(DII).”
As a result, when the Royal Air Force (RAF) needed a new desktop
infrastructure to support its mission-critical aerospace
engineering and asset management system, DII compliance – and a
rapid roll-out – were fundamental to the success of the
project.
“The RAF needs to be able to respond swiftly and effectively to
new threats and challenges, while also keeping pace with new
technology,” comments Dave. “Our LITS (Logistics Information
Technology Strategy) application is critical to the operational
efficiency of the RAF, and needs to be reliable and scalable and
easy to maintain.”
Desktop project takes off
Integrated Project Teams within the Defence Logistics
Organisation - which is one of the largest parts of the MoD - are
the main users of LITS. Each team supports a different aircraft
type from Tornados and Typhoons to Hawks and Harriers, providing
online fault and failure reporting, maintenance forecasting and
post-sortie feedback capture.
The system also provides users with access to standard office
applications, such as e-mail, and until recently was running on
legacy hardware. “Although there were no performance issues around
LITS, the existing desktop hardware was preventing the Integrated
Project Teams from rolling out new applications and functionality,”
comments Dave.
It was also becoming increasingly difficult and costly for the
MoD to manage the desktop infrastructure due to a number of
non-standard builds and hardware. To help overcome these issues and
ensure DII compliance, the department took the decision to refresh
more than 3,000 desktops and 350 printers.
Due to the mission-critical nature of LITS, it was essential
that the new hardware was deployed with minimum impact on the
users. To help ensure the success of the roll-out, IBM, the MoD’s
prime systems integrator, called on the resources and expertise of
its partner, Computacenter.
IBM project manager Ruth Surtess commented: “Computacenter
offered a wealth of logistical experience, but what really made the
difference was its professional and flexible approach. It was able
to communicate with us and our customer at many different levels,
and was prepared to go the extra mile to ensure the customer was
accommodated and the project was a success."
Minimising downtime
The deployment, which was co-ordinated by the MoD’s Logistic
Application Integrated Project Team, was scheduled for 10 weeks
during the spring of 2004, with a target of more than 70
workstation installations per day.
Martyn Spettigue, a Computacenter project manager, comments:
“Extensive planning and watertight implementation processes were
core to achieving the installation target. We worked closely with
IBM to ensure all elements of the roll-out were co-ordinated from
procurement and configuration through to installation.”
As a result, Computacenter and IBM were able to develop a slick
and repeatable deployment solution, which minimised the impact to
the 3,000-plus users of LITS. “The high installation rate was
specifically designed to reduce the project’s impact on business
continuity,” comments Dave.
“As the implementation, however, took place during normal
business hours, user disruption was unavoidable. We therefore
allowed for a maximum of 24 hours of downtime per user. Beyond
this, and the Integrated Project Teams would have found it
extremely difficult to support their flying units, which could
result in an aircraft being grounded. The project was therefore
truly mission critical, and the timescales absolute.”
Sky’s the limit with new system
Thanks to its flexibility, Computacenter was able to ensure that
the project remained on schedule – no matter what. As Dave
explains: “As with any IT project, problems did arise, but
Computacenter made certain that these did not impact the roll-out
and was extremely flexible. Computacenter uses a very similar
project management methodology [PRINCE II] to the MoD, which meant
we were able to work very effectively together.”
The new IBM hardware has been in use at RAF Wyton, and Royal
Naval Air Station Yeovilton and Sherborne since June 2004. As a
result, the Defence Logistics Organisation’s Integrated Project
Teams have been able to benefit from a number of new
applications.
“The increased functionality of the hardware means we have been
able to optimise the potential of a number of reporting and
business tools that the legacy infrastructure was struggling to
support,” comments Dave. “For example, the teams now have full
access to the Defence Finance Management System, which has given
the greater budget and cost control.”
Additional functionality, however, is not the only benefit of
the desktop refresh, as Dave explains: “We now have a fully
standardised desktop infrastructure, which will be easier and less
costly to manage. We have also improved visibility of our desktop
assets, and have been able to save space by rolling out flat
screens. Most importantly, the overall efficiency of the Integrated
Project Teams has improved, enabling them to provide an enhanced
service to their RAF flying units."