National R&D Laboratory – Application Clean Up and Upgrade

INDUSTRY

Life Sciences

National R&D Laboratory – Application Clean Up and Upgrade

Due to numerous development efforts that did not follow standard procedures for customizing several areas in the system, an Application Clean Up effort was necessary at this National R&D Laboratory. This project included resolving issues which create problems during new development projects. In addition, this project was needed to alleviate extra work during the Application Upgrade required to stay current with IBM Maintenance and Support.

The scope of this work included:

Object Analysis:

Form: 250+
Query: 1000+
Workflow: 650+

Forms Updates:

Identified and fixed forms that did not follow naming convention
- Pure custom versus invalid
- Built form rename table
- Built and applied renamed SQL from table
- Identified and updated impacted workflows

Workflow Updates:

Identified and fixed workflows that did not follow naming convention
- Removed orphaned and unneeded workflows that did not follow naming convention
- Pure custom versus customized OOTB
- Built workflow rename table
- Built and applied rename SQL from table

Query Updates:

Identified and fixed queries that did not follow naming convention
- Removed orphaned and copied queries that did not follow naming convention
- Pure custom versus customized OOTB
- Identified and reviewed outstanding non-standard queries for targeted resolution
- Identified and updated the queries used in extended formulas impacted by renames
- Built query rename table
- Built and applied rename SQL from table

The Application Upgrade included the following work requirements and upgrade efforts:

Platform Compatibility Readiness Assessment
- Verified that OS, Database and Application Server versions are supported
Platform Upgrade
- Released Notes Impact Report
- Regression Testing
Application Upgrade
- Work Process Documentation
- App Upgrade Dev, Qual & Prod
- System Test
- User Acceptance Test
- Post Deployment Support

Scope of Work Included:

Initiate Phase

This phase included the Project Kick Off and Strategy Sessions to prepare the teams for the required project tasks, as well as review and revision of the project plan based upon strategy session findings.

Define Phase

This phase involved Application Review and Work Process Flow meetings. These workshops ensured that all business requirements, process flows, and detailed functionality were documented. Additionally, the roles that interacted with the system, and their use cases were documented. Deliverables included the Work Process Flow Documents.

Development Phase

The Development Phase was driven by the completion of the Work Process Flow Documents (WPD). The Product Backlog was generated by the collection of details in the WPD and upgrade development work commenced. This phase included all aspect of development and deployment of upgraded objects into the test environment.

Validate Phase

From system test through to User Acceptance Testing, the Validate Phase provided exertion of stringent controls to ensure that all product features and functionalities were thoroughly reviewed and functional requirements were validated against test result criteria.

Deployment Phase

In the Deployment Phase, EDI drew upon their deep Object Migration expertise to accurately migrate test functionality and configuration from test to production systems. The result is an effective deployment and a system ready for heavy user activity.

National R&D Laboratory – Visual Project Access Tool (VPAT)

SERVICES

Implementations and Upgrades

INDUSTRIES

Life Sciences

National R&D Laboratory – Visual Project Access Tool (VPAT)

For this national R&D Laboratory, the VPAT application delivered a simple user interface presenting the relevant service order information with minimal clicking. The VPAT application included a simple search mechanism for finding service orders and utilized data maintained in the VPAT Oracle Database.

The following objectives were included in the design process:

Replace existing VPAT application with new VPAT application
- Integrate the application with the existing VPAT Oracle database
  - Maintain daily and weekly update schedule
  - Migrate historical service order data
Create a service orders portal home page allowing simple search capabilities
- Create a service order form allowing data to be viewed on a single portal (Web) page
  - Provide ease of visibility into service order financial data
  - Provide ease of access to related data (contacts, contracts, requests, etc.)
Define roles & responsibilities to support both current and future development

While the initial mandate was focused on the above-mentioned goals, it was recognized that the ultimate objective was to garner positive ratings from the current VPAT users with the new VPAT system.

Visual Project Access Scope of Work Included:

The primary scope of this implementation was to add a new module to the existing system which will elevate the overall reputation of the IBM software product. Utilizing the existing people, organization and location records meant the VPAT system was supported by consistent data. This offered the opportunity for improved reporting, email notifications and data security.

This implementation replaced the existing VPAT client software in use at that time. The compressed time frame for rolling out the new application required that existing functionality was in scope of this design and development project. Current users of VPAT found the data and functionality they expect by using VPAT, and with minimal training.

PHE Maximo Implementation and Enhanced Support and Maintenance

SERVICES

INDUSTRIES

Life Sciences

KEY CONTACT

Jenna Riffer

PHE Maximo Implementation and Enhanced Support and Maintenance

Electronic Data, Inc. managed the implementation of IBM Maximo for all Public Health England (PHE) plant maintenance and calibration activities for the entire campus in Porton, England.

Scope of Work Included:

EDI’s effort began with a Blueprinting process for the entire PHE project, which included the following:

Key elements of EDI’s Project Approach

Description of assessment findings and relationship to maintenance and compliance best practices and benchmarks
Recommendations on maintenance processes, policies, and procedures
To-Be process diagrams
Assessment of data sources and estimate to convert or develop key data elements
Initial Change Management Plan
Initial Communication Plan
Detailed Implementation Project Plan

Following the Blueprinting process, EDI began the Maximo V6 implementation, with the purpose of producing a validated Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system to support cGxP Maintenance Operations. The system was then able to be used as the source for and management of all asset and maintenance related data and processes. This implementation resulted in the following:

Consistent, effective method of managing the installation and maintenance of cGxP assets
Unified information system, by combining information managed in two systems into one
Ability to easily report on cGxP asset inventory and maintenance history
Support of Calibration processes and data, which included the conversion of Blue Mountain Software calibration data to Maximo
Demonstration of control over maintenance operations suitable for regulatory audit
Provided Johnson Controls with effective billing and financial control over services being provided to PHE

A validated EAM system was the most cost-effective way to enhance PHE’s compliance and regulatory position. The specific compliance drivers for the implementation of this system included the following:

Demonstration of Compliance to 21 CFR Parts 11, 210, and 211
Single Source for Asset Records and Specifications
Electronic Job Plan Creation and Revision Control
Electronic Signature (E-sig) Enabled Dynamic Work Flows for Work Approval/Execution
cGxP Criticality Driven Workflows to Enable a Risk-Based Approach to Compliance in Maintenance Processes
Calibration Data Storage, Traceability and Corrective Actions
Spare Parts Assessment Based on GxP Criticality and/or Product Contact

EDI provided ongoing enhanced support for several years after the initial Maximo implementation in the form of annual support and maintenance. This consisted of two levels of support services. As part of Level 1 support, EDI deployed consistently available, dedicated support resources collectively possessing a broad, general degree of expertise for all supported programs. Level 1 support to End Users provided primary support for installation activities, including configuration problems, installation-related problems and post-installation reconfiguration. As part of Level 2 support, EDI deployed consistently available, dedicated support resources collectively possessing both broad and in-depth product expertise, including thorough knowledge of product interdependencies and relationships for all supported programs and the ability to recognize and determine the nature and extent of reported problems. Level 2 End User support consisted of performing problem troubleshooting and developing prevention plans and workarounds.