Netherlands Railway Gets 2020 Vision

The Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), sourced its IT to not one but three vendors, hoping to capitalize on the unique strengths of each of its new partners. CSC used its Dynamic Sourcing approach to integrate vendor and railway operations and give NS the visibility and structure to efficiently manage all the relationships.

“From the start of the multivendor contract, NS has had a strong focus on the joint results of the four partners involved,” says Kostas Gerogiannis, chief technology officer for NS. “CSC helped NS implement the right conceptual framework for a successful collaboration. With the best-of-breed strategy now properly implemented, and the right collaborative governance in place, we now have a modern IT organization that can deliver the innovation we need.”

Improving the travel experience

NS is responsible for over 2,000 km of track, 4,500 daily train journeys and 1.1 million passengers each day. As of 2006, the company’s passenger numbers had grown by five percent for two consecutive years. Though its customer satisfaction levels had been growing, the increased passenger numbers were placing new demands on the company.

To maintain its high standards — carrying passengers safely, on time and in comfort — NS needed the ability to make ongoing investments in the quality of service provision. Managing costs and getting the most out of investments in all areas of the business, including its IT infrastructure, were seen as vital to its continued success.

NS developed a long-term strategy for its services called Vision 2020. The plan set goals to optimize the travel experience for its passengers: Transform stations to enable activities like shopping, working and relaxing; and ensure smooth connections between different forms of transport. In pursuit of this vision, NS needed innovative IT services that would cut costs and dynamically align with its business agenda.

To get best-of-breed services in each area, NS wanted to be able to source services from a number of providers, and efficiently manage what would be a more complex, multisource environment. In December 2006, NS issued a European tender for full-scope infrastructure outsourcing and IT-enabled business improvement programs.

Collaborative multipartner governance

The NS tender sought an optimal mix of delivery partners that would assure continuity of IT service, contribute to joint business development and expansion initiatives, and increase the business value of IT. NS awarded the tender to three suppliers, charging them to collaborate in a multisourcing model and provide integrated solutions. Dutch-based IT vendor Getronics PinkRoccade became responsible for workspace management and application services. KPN, a European telecommunications company, assumed responsibility for data center hosting. CSC won the role of operational integration partner, using a collaborative framework based on its Dynamic Sourcing approach. CSC is also the provider of the Enterprise Service Desk, the one-stop shop for all user service requests and central orchestrator for operational management.

“The quality improvements, cost savings and continuity offered by the collaborative approach led us to select the Getronics PinkRoccade-KPN partnership in combination with the innovative Dynamic Sourcing approach from CSC,” says Gerogiannis. “This decision contributes to the realization of our new objectives.”

According to Paul van Roozendaal, CEO of CSC in the Netherlands, the Dynamic Sourcing approach makes business value and innovation core focus areas of the agreement. It also builds a high level of flexibility into the operating model for the relationship, and facilitates collaboration and partnership between NS’s information management organization, CSC and the other IT suppliers.

CSC’s Dynamic Sourcing Collaborative Engagement Model provided the roadmap for designing the four-way partnership, using the following steps:

• Client and industry analysis, to determine conditions and imperatives
• Shared understanding and C-level sponsorship
• Value discovery, to ensure Dynamic Sourcing fits with the client’s imperatives
• Portfolio definition, definition of collaborative solution and prioritization of initiatives
• Development of collaborative business model, governance and partnership principles
• Finalization of the agreement

Benefits on track

With the CSC-led partnership agreement in place, NS now has the best of both worlds — a combination of multisourcing to ensure access to the most appropriate services from a range of suppliers, and a single overarching framework that drives and governs multiprovider collaboration in service delivery, development and innovation.

This innovative agreement is expected to deliver:

• Closer strategic alignment of IT with NS business needs, with the flexibility to continue to meet those needs as they evolve
• More proactive management of the IT services lifecycle
• A collaborative approach to service improvement, innovation and service development
• Efficient service delivery across a well-managed multiprovider environment

As the partnership agreement matures, CSC will act as the single service aggregator and Managed Service Desk supplier. CSC will also provide the consulting and systems integration services required for joint business improvement and innovation initiatives.

“The manner in which all four partners are now working together is unique in the Dutch marketplace,” says Roozendaal. “It’s a partnership approach that provides the best-in-class services and the levels of agility and innovation clients need to sustain their business performance.”

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