Case Study
UST helped global toy manufacturer streamline application support and increase IT productivity
OUR CLIENT
Founded decades ago, this American multinational entertainment company manufactures some of the world's most popular toys and games. With over 25,000 employees, the company generates billions in revenue annually.
THE CHALLENGE
Multiple vendors led to high costs and low-quality support
Our client had an extremely complex application footprint. With multiple vendors supporting different applications, the company spent an exorbitant amount of money on maintenance while receiving mediocre support overall. The lack of centralized management led to confusion, a reliance on key individuals with institutional knowledge about the different applications, and very little synergies between functional support teams. The manufacturing company wanted to engage with a highly experienced technology partner who could help the company strategically consolidate its application support structure.
THE TRANSFORMATION
Best practice approach streamlined application support
The UST project team conducted a meticulous due diligence effort to understand the company’s application portfolio. With that knowledge, the project team created a transition plan, a governance structure, a communication management plan, and a system of standard processes that included:
- Procedures manuals documenting operating processes
- An appropriate mix of junior and senior-level support personnel
- A quality review process to ensure applications meet the needs of business users
- A “client university” tool for training and knowledge transfer
THE IMPACT
New framework enabled support for more applications without adding headcount, boosting productivity
After a 3-month transition effort, the company has a consolidated application support framework with standardized technical and business documentation, including important institutional knowledge from key individuals. The process-oriented transition helped create synergies and stability between functional teams and improve the quality of support deliverables. The productivity gains allowed the IT team to add support for new applications, like a client reservation system, without adding headcount.
RESOURCES
https://www.ust.com/en/what-we-do/strategy-implementation-operations