| The client is a
large automotive manufacturer in the U.S. |
| |
| The client had
an existing supplier portal for streamlining
and digitizing business processes between
the client and its worldwide supplier base,
and streamlining the internal processes
of the client World Wide Purchasing. With
over 65,000 suppliers spread throughout
the world, this portal was the single window
for all supplier collaborations. |
| |
| The client needed
to revamp the portal due to its poor usability
and lack of required functions. The existing
system also suffered from limited flexibility,
stability, performance, and other usability
issues. |
| |
| The client wanted
to replace its custom-built portal with
Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products
based on third generation portal technologies,
while ensuring that the architecture supported
the COTS products as well as served as the
base for easier future enhancements. |
| |
| A specialized group
from Cognizant's Technology Architecture
and Strategy Consulting (TASC) Group was
engaged to review the as-is system and propose
a new architecture suiting the flexibility
required by the client. The TASC Group also
relied on Architecture Mining to validate
the proposed architecture. Specific COTS
products were recommended in each specialized
area through comparative analysis of leading
products using TASC's Product Analysis Processes.
A Rollout Plan and Testing and Training
Strategies were developed. |
| |
| Risks with the
suggested architectures were identified
and a mitigation plan suggested. Special
care was taken to ensure that the new architecture
had the high flexibility desired by the
client to take on multiple functionality
enhancement efforts in the near future.
Finally, a three-phased strategy was developed
to create the target architecture and to
detail the associated rollout effort to
the development team. Solutions included: |
| |
- User Profile Management
- Search
- Site Search – Basic and
Advanced
- Directory Search/User Search
- Content Management
- Security
- Portal Personalization
- Delegated Administration/Security
Management
- Integration with Back-end Data Sources
- SSO Integration with External Applications
|
| |
| Benefits of the solution included: |
| |
- Improved functionality and reduced
Total Cost of Ownership
- Internationalization provided for
use by the client’s suppliers
worldwide
- Easily maintainable and scalable architecture
for future enhancements
|
| |