GlaxoSmithKline

TL;DR

too long; didn’t read

GlaxoSmithKline IT team needed a request management system that could be implemented by all IT departments within the company worldwide, providing users with a single, familiar interface that was more welcoming and user-friendly. Nutrient Workflow helped GSK set up some of its key processes and provided ongoing training and support. GSK has seen a vast improvement not just in the efficiency of its IT service groups but in the overall satisfaction of the employees who use the system regularly.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), headquartered in the U.K. with operations based in the United States, is one of the leading research-based pharmaceutical companies with an estimated seven percent of the world’s pharmaceutical market. The company was formed in 2000 through a merger between Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, two organizations from the early 1800s.

GSK has more than 100,000 employees worldwide; of these, more than 40,000 are in sales and marketing, the most significant sales force in the industry. Around 35,000 employees work at 82 manufacturing sites in 37 countries. Every hour, GSK spends more than $560,000 on researching new medicines.

With such a large workforce culled from two sizable established organizations, GSK’s IT team found its request processing methods to be diverse and disconnected. The company’s IT departments were developing their methods and interfaces for processing users’ requests for IT equipment and service without following a standard template or system. Some processes and resources were redundant, while some services and equipment weren’t even available through online requests. While the work was done, users were confused about where to go for service and how to make their requests. Management wanted a more organized and efficient method to effectively manage and utilize staff and resources.

The Challenge

• GSK wanted to find a request management system that could be implemented by all IT departments within the company worldwide, providing users with a single, familiar interface that was more welcoming and user-friendly.

• The company wanted to reduce the costs incurred by individual IT groups financing the development of their request processes through outside business and computer consultants.

• GSK needed to find a solution that could work across a multi-national company with numerous business units and legacy systems.

• The IT management group wanted to find a solution to build on existing systems and databases without having to build a new system from scratch.

• The IT group wanted a solution that was easy to implement and use, with no end user training required, so it could quickly roll it out to employees in a short amount of time.

• The solution was enhanced with several custom functions to match GSK’s requirements, including integration with LDAP and GSK’s Remedy help desk software.

The Solution

GSK was already using Nutrient Workflow’s solution as one of many components of its IT systems. The company chose to expand and enhance the implementation of this challenge because it allowed GSK to build on its existing systems rather than start over with something entirely new. For example, Nutrient Workflow connected with the GSK directory, so many fields in the online request forms could be pre-populated, saving the end users time and effort during the request process.

“We wanted to build upon our existing Nutrient Workflow system to standardize and centralize,” said Neil Weitz, Director of IT Help in the Process and Service Improvement Organization End-User Advocacy Group at GSK.

To help ensure a smooth rollout of Nutrient Workflow, Nutrient Workflow helped GSK set up some of its key processes and provided ongoing training and support to GSK employees. These employees leveraged the examples that Nutrient Workflow provided when setting up over 50 business processes in their Nutrient Workflow implementation resulting in the development of almost 100 request types. Nutrient Workflow’s Professional Service group developed several reusable add-in functions and provided process development consulting for GSK groups that did not have the resources to set up Nutrient Workflow processes.

Nutrient Workflow is a flexible business process management tool that allows companies to automate requests and streamline approval processes. The software provides form creation, routing definition, and tracking tools to those responsible for processing requests, minimizing data entry, and simplifying requests for approval and fulfillment. Nutrient Workflow is Web-based, allowing for easy user accessibility and management of approval processes. The solution eliminates problems typically related to labor-intensive processes such as manual paper handling and email requests. It can reduce costs per transaction by 60 to 90 percent compared to paper-based processes.

By allowing a company’s employees the most efficient means to access, submit and obtain fulfillment for requests, an organization can offer its customers the best possible level of service. With Nutrient Workflow, efficiency gains are immediate, and most companies can expect a return on investment (ROI) in three months or less.

Currently, GSK uses Nutrient Workflow to handle more than 600 different types of requests, with more being added every day. The system processes almost 16,000 requests each month, a massive leap forward from the 2,000 processed in April 2004. “We wouldn’t have ever thought that was possible before Nutrient Workflow,” said Weitz.

According to Weitz, “As we get service owners to use Nutrient Workflow and we are developing these request types, we’re able to identify areas where we can eliminate redundancies, consolidate services and improve our process workflow. It’s likely that through process improvement initiatives, we will reduce the number of request types.”

In 2006, GSK passed the one-million mark for the number of requests processed and is currently servicing users in more than 60 countries, demonstrating Nutrient Workflow’s easy adaptability for many languages.

“One of the main drivers in internationalizing the system has been the ability to standardize processes,” said Weitz.

The Benefits

One of the most immediate benefits was providing a simple, universal interface to users who were previously confused by the variety of “looks” they found when attempting to make a request online. Nutrient Workflow vastly improved the user experience, one of the IT group’s most significant problems before turning to Nutrient Workflow. Employees who needed to request IT service or new equipment weren’t sure where to go or how to do it, and tracking their requests was even more difficult. Employees were frustrated with the confusing and time-consuming process when trying to find the correct web page or paper form.

“On our current existing website, we now have a one-stop-shop for service requests that simplifies the end user experience, cutting in half the time it takes them to find what they need,” said Weitz. “It has increased our success rate dramatically by creating just one place for users to go.”

Nutrient Workflow has also helped Weitz’s team handle requests more efficiently. For example, before Nutrient Workflow, if a request was routed to a U.K. team and their offices were closed, the request would sit until they re-opened and could sort through accumulated requests. Now, with Nutrient Workflow, the system can automatically route the request to a location where IT team members are in the office and able to address it immediately.

In addition, before Nutrient Workflow, many requests had to be sent to dispatchers who would determine which IT team or approvers should be notified. Nutrient Workflow enabled GSK to remove these intermediate steps and have requests routed directly to the appropriate IT team or approvers based on criteria such as the client’s location or business unit.

The time savings was significant, as with one particular request type, 90 percent of requests were filled within 13 days as of April 2005. A year later, 90 percent of such requests were fulfilled in just eight days. And recently, Weitz’s team evaluated the nine worst-performing processes in one business area and found that Nutrient Workflow had provided a 79 percent reduction in request fulfillment time.

Because GSK’s departments could continue using existing internal processes/systems, Nutrient Workflow was easily integrated. With less than 10,000 employees using the system when it was first introduced in April 2004, more than 78,000 are currently using it.

“The widespread adoption of this system went much faster than we expected,” said Weitz. “What we did was give employees an automated approval and notification process, replacing the manual gathering of approvals, saving the business units time and money, and we’ve been able to make that available to many more employees in a very short amount of time.”

GSK was also able to assign staff more effectively, as eight employees were re-purposed to other areas within the company where they could be more productive rather than remaining in the unproductive, non-value-added roles they played in creating and maintaining redundant, out-of-sync systems. All of GSK’s core IT groups are now using Nutrient Workflow, including the Identity Management Group, Desktop Services Group, Email Operations Group, and Security Services Group, among many, many others.

Once the daily user experience had been overhauled and improved, the IT team could focus on issues such as service management, more analytics on the back end, and other long-term issues.

“We’ve got a laundry list of things we want to look into, and now we have the time to do it,” said Weitz. “Nutrient Workflow allows us to move a few thousand feet above the day-to-day. The system automates daily so we can focus on improving service management.”

Some of the earliest automated processes with Nutrient Workflow have recently proven to need further adjustment and tweaking as business areas grow and change. Weitz has found updating the system to be methodical and intuitive. “Nutrient Workflow has eased our pain in this area,” he said. “It wasn’t difficult; it was very clear and programmatic to go back and fix what needed to be fixed with minimal demands on the backend.”

ROI

Before implementing Nutrient Workflow, GSK’s IT groups were responsible for creating their processes for handling user requests for service and equipment some used paper forms, and some had web forms. Each time a business unit needed to add a new request type to its system, the development process often included hiring outside web designers, computer technicians, and business consultants and could take anywhere from a few hours to six weeks. After Nutrient Workflow was up and running, the development time for this service dropped by 77 percent, and costs were cut by 96 percent, as the average interface development time was cut from three weeks to four days.

According to Weitz, many IT teams worldwide worked with consulting companies and computer companies to build costly new systems. “One group had already contracted someone to write a system for $15K, while another brought a consulting group for $30K to design a custom solution. Then they were facing ongoing costs in maintaining these new systems,” he said. “We saved a tremendous amount of money by implementing Nutrient Workflow when we did because right off the bat, we could put an end to these costly projects.”

The cost of Nutrient Workflow was paid for just in the re-purposing of eight employees. The rest of the savings has been an even more significant benefit to GSK’s IT group.

The return on GSK’s investment continues to grow as the number of users increases. Every time an employee calls the help desk, Weitz estimates the call costs $5. Many help desk calls are service or equipment requests simply passed along to the IT service department. “If you’re talking about passing along 1,000 calls a month, that’s $5,000 in unnecessary calls. When we provide an online request form that’s easier than picking up the phone, we can cut those costs and free up the help desk personnel for other calls.”

Conclusion

GSK has seen a vast improvement not just in the efficiency of its IT service groups but in the overall satisfaction of the employees who use the system regularly. Weitz believes GSK has only just begun to tap the system’s potential.

“Nutrient Workflow brings the capability to bundle multiple individual service requests into a single process request,” said Weitz. “Bundling individual requests aligned with end-to-end services provides a better customer experience. Customers are interested in the end result.”