Microsoft Server Product PortfolioCustomer Solution Case Study

Portuguese Public Administration Improves Information Sharing and Efficiency

OverviewCountry or Region: PortugalIndustry: Public administration

Customer ProfileGestão Partilhada de Recursos da Administração Pública (GeRAP), or Shared Resource Management of the Public Administration, is a public corporation in Portugal. It manages and develops public administration services in the human, financial, and technological resources departments, and it manages workers requiring special mobility.

Business SituationThe Public Administration has a complex structure with thousands of users and various services, and it needed to modernize and simplify operations.

SolutionGeRAP deployed Microsoft Business Intelligence technologies to transform the human and financial resources systems of the Public Administration.

Benefits Easy information sharing Improved efficiency Optimized infrastructures Significant cost savings

“Microsoft BI tools give the Portuguese Public Administration and its staff timely access to critical business data in the financial and human resources departments.”

Maria Henriqueta Almeida, Business Intelligence Administrator, GeRAP

Gestão Partilhada de Recursos da Administração Pública (GeRAP) gathers and manages information critical for the proper use of organizations of the Public Administration in Portugal. Its shared services management includes approximately 500,000 users for 500 government agencies. The Public Administration wanted to create more transparent and efficient information sharing processes, so it could improve information access and make decisions based on more reliable, updated data. GeRAP deployed a solution for the human and financial resources departments based on Microsoft Business Intelligence tools such as Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. Now users can access and share information more easily with the user-friendly system. The solution has also optimized existing infrastructures and reduced costs.

SituationAs the largest structural Portuguese entity, the Public Administration has spent the last three decades establishing a number of steps to reorganize its structure and the interaction between different departments, citizens, and businesses.

The Public Administration has a complex structure with various services and thousands of users and skills. Its agencies needed to improve their operations, which was a goal of the government’s Administrative Modernization and Simplification Program and related sub-programs.

The Public Administration faced challenges regarding timely access to relevant information. For citizens and companies, such difficulties could affect their ability to solve concrete problems, leading to delays, increased costs, and, ultimately, the failure to complete goals. For the Public Administration, difficulties with information access could hinder efficiency, hurt agency relationships, delay decision making, and increase the cost of interaction between government agencies.

The Public Administration wanted to create more transparent and efficient information sharing processes in the human and financial resources departments, so users could improve information access and make decisions based on more reliable, updated data. To meet this goal, it decided to create a new IT system.

Joel Silva, Director of Development at the IT Institute of the Ministry of Finance, says the solution needed to provide productivity, interoperability, and return on investment.

“Regarding productivity, it is important to us that the investment, in terms of time, is applied more on the business component and less on the use of technology,” says Silva. The solution also needed to interoperate with existing systems, he says, “particularly the systems that will support us for some time.” In addition, the Public Administration needed to minimize costs and achieve a good return on its investment. “We are investing money that is from the citizens,” Silva says.

SolutionGestão Partilhada de Recursos da Administração Pública (GeRAP), or Shared Resource Management of the Public Administration, decided to use Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) technologies.

Microsoft BI tools were chosen for the support and operational monitoring of the state budget, and that solution would be implemented in all the ministries. For shared services management of the human and financial resources departments, GeRAP implemented a BI infrastructure based on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, PerformancePoint Services in SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 data management software, and the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. It also included the option of using Microsoft Office 2010 as a uniform solution for approximately 500,000 users.

Microsoft BI tools had the necessary stability and interoperability that the IT Institute and GeRAP were looking for. They also could sustain the growth of IT solutions developed by GeRAP. Maria Henriqueta Almeida, Business Intelligence

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“The BI solution, using an environment that is familiar to the user, is designed to provide all of the relevant information needed to support the bodies in management decisions.”

Nelson Boavida, IT Architect, GeRAP

Administrator at GeRAP, says the selection of Microsoft software compared to competitors was based on two main factors: “The first factor was the cost and return on investment for the Portuguese Public Administration, with 500,000 users,” she says. “The second factor was that this solution naturally interoperates with the Office tools.”

Nelson Boavida, IT Architect at GeRAP, reports, “The BI solution, using an environment that is familiar to the user, is designed to provide all of the relevant information needed to support the bodies in management decisions.”

He continues, explaining more features of the infrastructure: “Through Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Integration Services, the information is extracted and transformed from various sources, such as operation process databases, business back ends, or master data already supported by Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Master Data Services.”

The next step, according to Boavida, is to consolidate this information in its own data warehouse, which PerformancePoint Services uses as a source for building dashboards and reports. He says, “The information is not only available in a collaborative portal using SharePoint Server 2010, but also through Microsoft Office tools, such as Microsoft Excel 2010.” With Excel 2010 spreadsheet software, users can make their own queries in real time, based on access to analytical data.

BenefitsThe Microsoft BI solution has improved information access and efficiency. It has

also helped optimize existing systems and reduce costs.

Easy Information SharingThe Public Administration has met its goal of improving information access and facilitating the practical use of updated information in day-to-day operations. “Microsoft BI tools give the Portuguese Public Administration and its staff timely access to critical business data in the financial and human resources departments,” Almeida says.

Improved EfficiencyThe user-friendly system helps improve efficiency with easy information sharing and familiar office productivity tools. “The solution offers authorized users access to the Public Administration’s performance indicators and benchmarking analyses. It also includes a self-service system, in which the users themselves create and print their reports.”

From the technical point of view, Boavida says, “The Microsoft BI platform, including the new capabilities of Office 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, PerformancePoint Services, and SQL Server 2008 R2, makes it possible for GeRAP to enhance all of the knowledge already acquired and provide a solution that supports the needs of the business.”

Optimized Infrastructures and Significant Cost SavingsWith the new solution, the Public Administration has been able to reuse critical information and some existing systems, maximizing important infrastructures.

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“The solution offers authorized users access to the Public Administration’s performance indicators and benchmarking analyses. It also includes a self-service system, in which the users themselves create and print their reports.”

Maria Henriqueta Almeida, Business Intelligence Administrator, GeRAP

“After a market analysis, we concluded that the Microsoft BI platform was the best suited for the development of IT solutions and services by GeRAP,” says Boavida. The practical gains obtained through the implementation of the Microsoft BI infrastructure include significant cost savings, a return on investment, a focus on information, high security, increased availability, optimized time and system scalability, and the ability to adapt to new needs that arise.

Boavida says, “By choosing SQL Server 2008 R2, SharePoint Server 2010, and Office 2010, we are assured that the development teams are investing in a common and familiar platform, which guarantees a higher level of productivity.”Microsoft Server Product PortfolioFor more information about the Microsoft server product portfolio, go to:www.microsoft.com/servers

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For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.com

To access the Microsoft Portugal website, consult:www.microsoft.com/portugal

For more information about GeRAP, visit the website at: www.gerap-epe.pt

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published June 2011

Software and Services Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Windows Server 2008 R2− Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010− Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Microsoft Office− Microsoft Office 2010− Microsoft Excel 2010

Technologies− Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Integration Services− Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Master

Data Services− PerformancePoint Services in

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010