Microsoft SharePoint Success Story
Maximum efficiency and cost reduction in financial support for development and employment.
Summary Country: Paraguay Sector: Financial Services
"Using SharePoint is key for the AFD as it means we can effectively comply with the guidelines established by the Paraguayan government." Viviana Gamarra, Infrastructure Coordinator.
Customer Profile A public body channeling financial resources to the private sector, which manages a portfolio in excess of $ 895 million Situation The company handles a large volume of sensitive documents associated with different business processes. New legislation required greater traceability and control of these documents. Solution Implementation of SharePoint Foundation on a full MIcrosoft infrastructure. Benefits Traceability of documents according to the new regulations in force. Cost savings in terms of paper and transfers. Reduction of time taken in each procedure. Agility and business continuity. Real-time information for Directors.
The AFD plays a crucial role in the development and generation of employment in Paraguay. New government regulations meant that the body had to implement a solution to automate document management. In just three months they completed all the cultural changes necessary to electronically process all the applications and communications received by the agency.
"Before this, everything was handled using a book for new applications where things were entered manually into spreadsheets. However, the requirements for transparency and efficiency in public agencies in a context of economic development and operational growth had to be solved. The solution developed with SharePoint Foundation was the answer."
Situation
Solution
The Financial Development Agency (AFD) is a public body which promotes and generates employment by channeling financial resources to the private sector, effectively a second-tier banking institution using foreign funds supplied by multilateral lending agencies. It currently manages a portfolio in excess of U$D 895 million.
Ever since the start of the AFD, the IT area has been reviewing free distribution options and they finally adopted the Microsoft platform to handle the different requirements that arose over time. This includes a Windows Server and SQL Server environment as the database for its core financial system, and Exchange Server for email. "The new infrastructure organization allowed projects to be developed using optimized solutions; it is in this context that we developed our SharePoint Foundation to incorporate different areas which were slowly adopting it as a repository for files shared with different members in other areas. This tool is the backbone of the traceability solution for documents coming in through the Admissions Desk which allows us to meet the new regulatory requirements," says Gamarra.
As a public institution, it is governed by various national laws and supervised by the Superintendency of Banks and Comptroller General of the Republic, regularly undergoing both internal and external audits. Each credit application requires an extensive process involving a great deal of sensitive information, and this in turn means an ongoing demand to further integrate systems. "We have been working to improve the use of technology at the AFD for the last three years, initiating the process in the areas of infrastructure systematization, standardization and organization. The entry into force of Law 4679/12 ("Regulations on Administrative Procedures, RTA") imposed new formal requirements as the law states that any formal application sent to the AFD must provide information including dates, areas or sectors, people involved and the status of the request, from the beginning to the end of the process called ‘Admissions Desk’, thus introducing the concept of traceability," explains Viviana Gamarra, Infrastructure Coordinator. The AFD Secretary General, Advocate Oubenfm Figueredo, commissioned the IT area to develop a tracking solution for each document received as it passed through the successive stages of the Admissions Desk and any subsequent related processes, which would allow comments to be added and the operating procedure to be speeded up. However, the solution had to be implemented within three months.
AFD operates with 42 entities, including banks, finance companies, credit unions and other institutions. Applications come in every day which triggers complex administrative processes for evaluating risk and carrying out credit analysis and inter-agency consultations as well as analyzing information records, for instance. There are also countless formal communications with internal and external stakeholders, particularly with international organizations, which require timely answers, sometimes for reasons of courtesy but other times because failure to reply promptly may involve penalties. "Before this, everything was handled using a book for new applications where things were entered manually into spreadsheets. The requirements for transparency and efficiency in public agencies in a context of economic development and operational growth had to be solved. The solution developed with SharePoint Foundation was the right answer," comments Marcelo Segovia, in charge of the IT Area.
"The implementation was very fast but we had to work on cultural change within the organization. We ended up digitalizing all the documents admitted and this meant a very different way of working. Thanks to the support and the ongoing demands made by both the Board and the Secretary General, in just three months we managed to replace all the old methods using SharePoint. Viviana Gamarra, Infrastructure Coordinator.
"Implementation was a very speedy process; we went very quickly from making manual entries in a book when new applications came in, making photocopies and distributing the documents physically to all the AFD offices on different floors of the building, to digitalizing all the documents received and distributing them electronically. All of this meant innovating, and although we sometimes hit a stumbling block with users wary of cultural change, we finally managed to bring about a transformation not only in the way things were done but also in people's attitudes. New requests for automation arose after implementation as the new technological tools were assimilated, not only as a safe and reliable repository of data but also as a way of conceptualizing teamwork, equity, fairness, processes and innovation. In turn, this fostered the transformation of the organization from within, offering each player the chance to learn and access more information in less time. This meant improving processes and the options for monitoring and implementing safety standards, as well as backing up information, classifying and storing it for as long as necessary. Thanks to the support and the ongoing demands made by both the Board and the Secretary General, in just three months we managed to replace all the old methods with SharePoint. Today everybody is used to operating in this new way, which shows their confidence in the solution implemented," says Gamarra. After this, other processes were undertaken by the Secretary General's department, such as the processing of documentation received for Board meetings, Discharge and repository minutes of the various Committees and Task Forces, the monitoring and entering of compliance evidence for the Annual Operating Plan. The Institution's Manual was also published on SharePoint listing a range of key procedures, regulations and internal policies.
"Additionally SharePoint is seen not only as a repository of data and information, but also as a platform which helps to strengthen the implementation of business continuity at the AFD. It stores all and any information or data involved in business processes which are not otherwise automated or which are constituted as auxiliary tools outside the Financial Core and for which there is an alternate site. Previously, it was believed that just making a backup of the Financial Core database would be enough but now the whole institution understands that this requires additional elements outside the Core and this is where the AFD considers that SharePoint is such a valuable tool in achieving this goal," says Segovia. The SharePoint implementation also involved LOGIN S.A. (Olam Group), a Microsoft certified partner with expertise in infrastructure, collaboration and productivity solutions. "Our strategic allies provided vital support for improving process efficiency, speed and transparency using technology," says Gamarra.
Benefits "SharePoint is key for the AFD as it means we can effectively comply with the guidelines established by the Paraguayan government. It enables us to track the progress and storage of the compliance evidence required by supervisory agencies, the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) and the General Audit Executive (AGPE)," says Viviana Gamarra. According to each process, those involved can access information online in an orderly and organized fashion and can also perform analyses of elapsed time per process, identifying opportunities for improvement.
For further information About Microsoft products and services, please visit: www.microsoft.com/paraguay For more information about the Finance Development Agency, visit: www.afd.gov.py For more information about the Olam Group, visit: www.olam.com
"Deployments involving workflow and document imaging enable savings in paper costs and transfers as well as reducing processing times. This encourages the greater use of email as a communications medium rather than as a data repository. Business continuity processes have also been enhanced, information and security policies put into effect with greater ease, and mobile access via notebooks and tablets enabled within the AFD, achieving cost reductions in the budget and improving transparency throughout processes. This will position the AFD as a model institution as regards this kind of technological solution," adds Marcelo Segovia. Currently, the organization is analyzing the possibility of implementing document management on the same platform. "As SharePoint is a mature product, it offers stability and, simultaneously, the possibility of growth over time. These advantages are necessary to store the information required by a public institution such as ours, as it is governed by binding legislation that requires access to information for long periods of time. Furthermore, our core business is still about long-term loans, which requires the use of information stored in physical format, outside the Financial Core, for periods of up to ten or twenty years," Gamarra expands.
This case study is published solely for general information. MICROSOFT OFFERS NO GUARANTEES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED HEREIN. Document published in June 2015.
"Members of the Board now know in real time what documentation comes in and what comes out; they have access to dynamic control panels which allows them to further appreciate the relevance of these business processes for their own analyses. The Secretariat General is now far more efficient in its management of Board meetings, which involves important and sensitive documents. We have the possibility of using time metrics for each process, which simplifies the response to external controls. Now it is easier to get the heads of each area to sign off on a process when required, and work involving different areas is also far more efficient. All of this fosters the growth of a collaborative team spirit which enhances the positive changes in our organizational culture, one of our strategic objectives," concludes the Infrastructure Coordinator.