In the IT services of the city of Turku, project work was made easier with an automation solution independent of location and device, centralizing all work in Teams.
The different stages of project work are often performed with different tools, and a large amount of time is spent on storing, processing and transferring information from one system to another.
Typically, a robust project tool may remain in little use when working methods change and due to the tool’s complex features and work steps related to its use.
This is what happened in the IT services of the city of Turku, where the unit’s 70 employees are responsible for various IT issues of a total of more than 20,000 users.
A centralized solution to support today’s processes and needs
IT services project managers, service managers and experts develop different IT solutions for all the different units and group companies of the entire city of Turku. They also maintain the tools and systems in use as many different projects to manage.
Due to its rigidity, the previously used Microsoft Project tool was no longer suitable for today’s processes and needs, such as, for example, remote working independent of location and device.
“We wanted a solution that would work everywhere: at home, in the office and in different places and on different devices, so that it wouldn’t be so tied to a laptop,” says Esa-Ville Vanhatupa, project manager at the IT services of the city of Turku, who was responsible for the development and implementation project of the new tool.
The goal was to find a solution with everything needed from everyday work management and time recording to reporting and monitoring focused on Microsoft Teams, and the completion of the work stages would be easier compared to the previous solution.
Solu 365 automation tool for project management
Based on the definition of the solution, the Solu 365 automation solution with a time recording feature turned out to be a suitable tool.
Esa-Ville’s previous experience in cooperation with Solu Digital facilitated the customization of the new tool to meet the needs of the IT services of the city of Turku.
The solution, which works entirely on the Microsoft platform, concentrates the management of projects in one application, which also works on the browser.
Uudet työkokonaisuudet Microsoft Project for the Web -työkaluun luodaan Solu 365 -työkalun lomakkeella, jonka jälkeen tuntikirjausrivit ja työkokonaisuuden työtila Teamsissa sekä kaikki raportit Microsoft Power BI:hin syntyvät automaattisesti. Tämän jälkeen Solu 365 lisää automaattisesti halutut käyttäjät uuden työtilan jäseniksi ja omistajiksi.
New projects for the Microsoft Project for the Web tool are created using the Solu 365 tool’s form, after which the time recording items and the project’s workspace in Teams, as well as all Microsoft Power BI reports, are created automatically. After this, Solu 365 automatically adds the desired users as members and owners of the new workspace.
Before the Solu 365 tool, for example, recording hours required a lot more effort from many people, when project managers had to separately attach hour recording items to each person, so that recording hours by employees was possible.
More flexible work with the help of automation
“Now everything really works regardless of location and device, which means that doing work has become more flexible in a certain way. Today, automation does many things that we had to do manually in several different places, so in a certain way the time spent on that work has decreased and become easier,” Esa-Ville explains.
The creation of project resources in the Project for the Web tool has become clearer and simpler with the help of automation. The findability, manageability and transparency of information and documents has also improved. All the necessary information, tools and colleagues can be found directly in Microsoft Teams.
“I personally feel that this new solution saves time compared to the previous one, since the procedures are easy to do via Teams now and certain steps have been omitted, it doesn’t take as long as it used to,” says Esa-Ville.
The IT services employees of the city of Turku have been satisfied with the new solution and the benefits brought by its automation. After reducing the number of manual steps and procedures for employees, time is left to take care of the most important things in terms of work.
Read more about the Solu 365 automation solution for project management here.
Mikko Sorsa
Senior Consultant, Partner
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