IMS Customer Snapshot

Burlington Northern and
Santa Fe Railway Company

Fort Worth, Texas www.bnsf.com

Business Challenge

The Technology Services Project Office at BNSF was searching for a means to standardize project processes, increase project efficiency, and improve product quality while paying strict attention to cost-effectiveness and time. In addition, the railway company needed to define a consistent approach to developing and maintaining software systems. Primavera’s TeamPlay was selected as the top software solution to address BNSF’s specific needs, due to its ability to provide enterprise project management, increase project efficiency, and enhance access to best practices.

After speaking to current Primavera customers, BNSF determined that an extensive implementation process would need to be established. Primavera recommended Innovative Management Solutions, Inc. (IMS), a premier solution provider and Primavera Authorized Representative.

Solution

IMS harnessed world-class project management expertise to address BNSF’s challenge on three different dimensions. First and most importantly, IMS developed organizational readiness by providing comprehensive training for the entire staff, tool administrators, project managers, and executives. The second key method of attack consisted of IMS’ thorough application of project expertise to seamlessly integrate the Martin Tate project management processes effectively with the use of Primavera TeamPlay. The final, most essential component was completed by the provision of the technical expertise and consulting experience of IMS. IMS configured Primavera’s TeamPlay Enterprise Project Management suite to a precisely defined specification that addressed all of BNSF’s unique and demanding needs.

Impact

The implementation process was completed as planned. In addition to the solutions provided, IMS accommodated an internal change in plans by providing customized tool training in order to accelerate preparation for the next year’s projects. An internal customer survey yielded a rating of 4.2 on a scale of 5, one of the highest ratings of any internal IT project ever deployed at BNSF. BNSF continued to scale its usage of TeamPlay on an enterprise basis as it implemented strategic organizational and business changes in the time following execution. During the acceptance stage, BNSF noticed a substantial improvement in project metrics, project management principles, more accurate time reporting, better resource and cost management, improved tracking method, and improved visibility.