Microsoft Project Server 2010
Customer Solution Case Study
Digital Security Firm Makes More Efficient,
Data-Driven Decisions About IT Projects
Customer: Nagra
Website: www.nagra.com/dtv
Customer Size: 3,000 employees
(Kudelski Group)
Country or Region: Switzerland
Industry: Media and entertainment—
Radio, television, cable and satellite
Partner: Kennebec Group
Partner Website: www.kennebecgroup.com
Customer Profile
Nagra, a division of the Kudelski Group,
provides technologies for digital
television. Based in Cheseaux,
Switzerland, the Kudelski Group had 2010
revenues of 1 billion Swiss francs
(U.S.$1.2 billion).
Software and Services
 Microsoft Server Product Portfolio
− Microsoft Project Server 2010
− Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
 Microsoft Project Professional 2010
 Technologies
− Microsoft Project Web App
Hardware
 Dell PowerEdge R905 server
computers
 HP ProLiant BL685c G7 server
computers
For more information about other
Microsoft customer successes, please visit:
www.microsoft.com/casestudies
“With Project Server 2010, we can manage the entire
life cycle of the project, from the project request all the
way through to tracking benefits.”
Pascal Paltz, Head of the IT Project Office, Nagra
The Nagra IT department needed more transparency in making
decisions about a growing number of project requests. To that
end, it implemented Microsoft Project Server 2010, which
integrates portfolio planning with project management. With
Project Server 2010, Nagra now can manage projects from
request to benefits tracking, has improved the quality of data
collected in proposals, and has increased project managers’
productivity.
Business Needs
Nagra, a division of the Kudelski Group,
provides digital security and convergent
media solutions for digital television.
Based in Cheseaux, Switzerland, the
Kudelski Group employs about 3,000
people. Its 2010 revenues were 1 billion
Swiss francs (U.S.$1.2 billion).
The Nagra IT department supports digital
television activities with a variety of
projects, some infrastructure or integration
projects sponsored by IT itself and others
sponsored by departments such as
Research & Development (R&D) or Sales.
Nagra has long used Microsoft Office
Project Server 2007 to manage 1,100
projects, 100 of which were in IT.
However, Nagra was concerned about its
processes for choosing new projects. “The
way that IT made decisions about which
projects to pursue lacked transparency,”
says Pascal Paltz, Head of the IT Project
Office at Nagra. Thus, other departments
struggled to understand why their projects
would get selected or rejected.
Indeed, the department’s portfolio
management processes were vague and
cumbersome. The Nagra IT staff logged
and tracked project requests using a
custom-designed spreadsheet in Microsoft
Office Excel 2003 spreadsheet software
and a template in Microsoft Office Word
2003. “It was difficult, with a single
template, to validate that we had all the
required information at a sufficient level of
quality,” Paltz says. Such poor information
hampered decision making.
Nagra sought a way to improve its project
selection and the tracking of its project
portfolio.
Solution
In July 2008, Nagra investigated Microsoft
Office Project Portfolio Server 2007. “Our
proof of concept showed that the tool
corresponded to our needs for portfolio
management,” says Paltz. “But we were
concerned about its integration with Office
Project Server 2007.” As a result, the
company decided against the software.
In October 2009, Nagra IT decided to
redesign its project portfolio management
processes. Over the next year and a half, the
company worked with the Kennebec Group,
a Microsoft partner specializing in project
and portfolio management and governance
solutions. To support those new processes,
in March 2011 Nagra IT implemented
Project Server 2010 and Microsoft
SharePoint Server 2010. The software runs
on a virtualized server farm of Dell
PowerEdge R905 and HP ProLiant BL685c
G7 server computers. The solution was
initially deployed to about 100 IT users,
although it is configured to support up to
3,000 users to accommodate growth.
Project Server 2010 is built on SharePoint
Server 2010, and Nagra takes advantage of
that interoperation. Each project is linked to
a SharePoint site. The project type
determines which SharePoint template is
used to set up schedules, workflows,
reports, issue registers, risk registers, and
other project documents.
Projects proposed to Nagra IT now go
through formalized stage gates in Project
Server 2010, including one to consider
developing a business case and another to
evaluate that business case. A project
sponsor and project manager develop the
business case using customized templates
that collect specific information about
expected project resource requirements,
timelines, and benefits. Projects that are
selected can then be compared with the
business case throughout their life cycles.
Paltz has eliminated the spreadsheets and
Microsoft Office Word templates formerly
used in project evaluations. He and project
managers can evaluate and report on
projects directly from either the full client,
Microsoft Project Professional 2010, or the
web client, Microsoft Project Web App.
Next year, Nagra will compile the IT
department project budget using Project
Server 2010 rather than spreadsheets.
Paltz also uses data on the skills needed
for proposed projects to manage longterm organizational capacity. “With Project
Server 2010 we can have more confidence
in our longer-term road map,” Paltz says.
Two other departments at Nagra are now
in the process of implementing Project
Server 2010 for both project and portfolio
management. “I’m pleased that our
example convinced them to use the same
approach and tool,” Paltz says.
Benefits
Nagra is using Project Server 2010 to
support the entire project life cycle,
improve the quality of data on proposed
projects, and increase project staff
productivity through better use of
templates and efficient procedures.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS
SUMMARY.
Document published September 2011
Manage Entire Project Life Cycle
“With Project Server 2010, we can manage
the entire life cycle of the project, from the
project request all the way through to
tracking benefits,” Paltz says. The
integration of portfolio management and
project management overcame the
company’s initial concern about Office
Project Portfolio Server 2007. Increased
transparency automatically provides
executives and other departments with
valuable information on portfolio
selections and ongoing projects.
Improve Data Quality for Proposed
Projects
With refined and standardized processes,
formalized gates, and templates
customized to its business needs, Nagra
can make more informed decisions about
proposed projects. “With Project Server
2010, we have improved the quality of
data collected in the business case when
projects are proposed,” Paltz says. “And by
formalizing the process of defining the
business case with Project Server 2010, we
can create a more consistent long-term
project road map.”
Raise Productivity of Project Staff
Nagra has used Project Server 2010 to
improve the productivity of project
managers. Paltz says, “To take one
example, in developing the budget, Project
Server 2010 is saving us a month’s worth
of effort on the part of two people.” The
most significant productivity enhancement
is the link between Project Server 2010 and
SharePoint Server 2010. “Because Project
Server 2010 is built on SharePoint Server
2010, we can design schedules, workflows,
and other SharePoint templates for each
project type, rather than having one set of
templates for all project types,” Paltz says.