The Situation
PSIS is one of New Zealand’s longest-serving financial institutions. Being 100% owned by customers, its co-operative status differentiates it from banks and other financial service companies. Customer service resonates as the number one priority within PSIS, as they seek to deliver excellent value products and services. Accurate, accessible information is a valuable commodity for PSIS as it supports a branch network spanning New Zealand. As a means of communication, their existing intranet was failing on many levels. No structure for document management existed - information was duplicated, out of date and difficult to upload. Publishing was rudimentary and search functions were ineffective. The intranet had stagnated over the years and fallen into a grey void of ownership, with few seeking to use or drive it. Turning the intranet from rudimentary to a responsive working tool became a priority.
The Pain
As an outdated tool with little functionality, the intranet had become a roadblock to meaningful information sharing throughout PSIS.
Right platform. Right partner. Rapid Results.
Wanting to future proof their IT strategic direction, PSIS sought to stand firmly in the Microsoft space as PSIS Technical Services Manager, Allan Dorne, explains.
“We saw Microsoft SharePoint as a proven platform with a set of capabilities which would achieve a solid start for us by transforming our intranet, and then having the wider potential to evolve into delivering an integrated document management system in the future. We had the right platform, no question, the catalyst to getting up and running quickly was engaging the right partner. Having had good dialogue with Microsoft cemented our view that SharePoint was the right platform. Choosing Intergen to deliver our goal was an easy choice, as they were the only company who responded to every parameter of our RFP. They had a tangible feel for what needed to be delivered and went outside the square with their thinking to solve issues we had around bandwidth capacity.”
“Intergen’s Rapid Results thinking resonated with our need for a very clear start and end point.”
Intergen’s Rapid Results for SharePoint methodology understands that time is money. An accelerated delivery of good capabilities from day one was realised for PSIS in a matter of weeks, surprising project sponsor and GM Information Technology, Annette Natta. “The turnaround was extraordinary. Intergen were well resourced, they knew our requirements and an outstanding migration plan really set us up. They placed a big emphasis on knowledge transfer so at the end of it we had far more than a turnkey solution – they wanted us to own, touch and control it with confidence and ease. Intergen worked alongside our usability experts and the outcome is an intranet which is really inclusive, has best practice functionally and is intuitive for people to use without high training needs.”
Communications Manager Miranda Hogan concurs. “Other people wanted to sell us a Mercedes when what we needed was a quality Toyota with the right functionality at the right price.”
And look at the mileage they’ve gained…
The intranet was relaunched as “Our Place” in late August. Miranda Hogan believes a good cultural shift is underway as staff buy back into the benefits of the intranet. “After years of printing hard copies of policies, the intranet has become a ‘live document’ - by being able to access ‘one version of the truth’ our staff can get answers quickly and that’s good news for customer service, particularly as we grow our offering of new products and services.”
PSIS has made good gains around content capabilities and has moved from a sea of emails to much more targeted communications. “The intranet has given our business teams good autonomy to update and manage content. Feedback has been very positive and surveys show our heavily used areas such as the staff directory, news and views, interest rates and other tools are being accepted widely.”
The new intranet has also delivered from a technical viewpoint, with an enhanced level of robustness and recoverability.
The Gain
Wanting not just a solution for the present, PSIS have achieved a milestone as they embark on a solid SharePoint-led strategy for the future.