Vilicom, an international supplier of engineering solutions to the communications industry, focusing on cellular and wireless solutions, has further enhanced its customer experience through the implementation of Project Portfolio Office’s online project portfolio management (PPM) and collaboration application, PPO.
Established in 2000 and with offices in both Ireland and the UK, Vilicom has developed a proven record for delivering projects on a global level, specialising in the design, testing, optimisation, analysis, strategy and project management for wireless systems. Repeat clients include network operators, government agencies and investors, equipment vendors, including companies such as Vodafone, Ericsson, BT Group, Eir, O2 and Huawei.
According to Se’an Keating, Vilicom’s CEO and the PPO project sponsor, the organisation conducted a formal request for quotation (RFQ), to which PPO responded via its Irish partner, Trigraph Professional Services. “PPO’s adaptability, flexibility, and ability to easily scale up and down as needed when consultants are used, were key factors in Vilicom’s decision to award this tender to Project Portfolio Office.
“As a business that has enjoyed ongoing partnerships with many large telcos across Europe, successful project delivery is critical for us. Linked to this, our initial objectives for the PPO implementation were to improve project-related time and costs, as well as the quality of our customers’ experiences; a better customer experience means improved margins. And as a business that operates within a highly customer-focused country, this was a critical concern for Vilicom.”
PPO’s ability to integrate its online project portfolio management (PPM) and collaboration application, with Vilicom’s Salesforce customer relationship management (CRM) platform was also significant.
Since its initial launch 18 months ago, Vilicom’s entire staff complement – around 70 people – is now using the PPO tool for workflow management, essentially managing projects from birth to death. “PPO has fulfilled our need to measure performance on a day-to-day basis, as well as allowing us to put in place quality measures and reduce overheads,” explains Keating. “We now have tighter control over project financials, with timesheets completed by all employees on a daily basis, can track project revenue and current costs at the click of a button, and have enhanced our forecasting abilities.
“In addition, Vilicom’s rate of projects completed on time has jumped to 98%, our budget rate has also improved, and we are now able to give key clients access to PPO to view the real-time status of projects. PPO has represented more than a technical solution for Vilicom – it has become a change programme.”
Says Guy Jelley, Project Portfolio Office CEO: “Aside from its time and cost management benefits, PPO’s ease of use allowed for great user acceptance with no culture changes, despite a fast learning curve. Its cloud-based nature as a software as a service tool (SaaS) was also an advantage to Vilicom due to the company’s multiple site set-up.
“Furthermore, PPO provides a flexible licensing agreement, where users can be scaled up and down as needed – ideal for the Vilicom environment – and only licences in use are paid for.”
According to Jelley, Keating’s commitment to the roll-out, as project sponsor and a member of the steering committee, has ensured the project’s success. “This level of senior management involvement is critical to an implementation of this type, and we recommend this approach for all PPO clients.”
“As a strong customer service company, the entire process of implementing and using PPO has been a great exercise for Vilicom in terms of raising client benefits,” Keating concludes.
