Unicef's journey toward the adaptive enterprise

'I want to demystify a few things and explain the relationship between Unicef and technology,' he said. 'By the end of this session, I hope you will come away knowing that Unicef does IT and has IT.'

Unicef was created in 1946, with headquarters in New York, operating in 158 countries and 245 locations providing 40% of the world's doses of children's vaccines. As a semi- autonomous but integral part of the UN, Unicef's annual revenue was $1.6 billion in 2003, with over 8000 staff, 85% of which are located outside of the headquarters operation.

'We are mandated to advocate and act for and with children to protect their rights and to help meet their needs,' Spatz began. 'Our programs include immunization against childhood diseases, nutrition, early childhood development, girls education, HIV/AIDs programs, and more.

In 2003 for example, Unicef built 7000 schools in Afghanistan and hired 30,000 teachers. One vaccine campaign in Kenya alone resulted in 13 million doses.

'All of this activity goes through our IT systems, our processes and of course our people. We need to achieve operational excellence under very difficult, unpredictable and dangerous settings. We need to achieve results for children, share and use information globally. We need to change and scale for long-term sustainability and presence,' stressed Spatz.

Offering an historical perspective on IT, he explained that in the mid 90s, Unicef had no global IT organization, and our IT infrastructure was extremely weak and disparate. 'We had few LANS, no WAN, and no standardized desktop. Limited email was available, and 70% of all the countries in which we operate had less than 1K of bandwidth,' he added.

Unicef also had over 100 custom systems on WANG legacy, and stand-alone DOS-based systems. It was under-invested in terms of processes in infrastructure, poor control, little or no governance, and no business alignment, according to Spatz.

'In the mid-90s, we began to redistribute and reorganize our IT environment,' he said. 'Fast forward seven years, and today we have a fully-deployed ERP (SAP-R/3) in our headquarters, and we have one custom-developed C/S field system in 245 locations. We now have a global fully-managed and secure WAN, IP-only WAN, QoS in over 150 countries, policy-based firewalls, SSL-VPNs, with a minimum of 128Kbps,' he added.

Unicef now has Voiceover IP (VoIP) deployed in 90+ countries, and fly-away emergency (IP)-VSAT operations, deployable in less than four hours, as well as standardized desktop/server infrastructures everywhere.

Spatz proudly states, 'You can go anywhere in the world now, emergency or non-emergency, and you will have the same infrastructure anywhere.' Unicef also implemented a global intranet and extranet, and dramatically revamped their web presence with a new web content management system.

'We are running most of the elements that are required for enterprise management with HP OpenView. Why? How else do you manage an infrastructure with desktops all over the world? We have used enterprise management systems to manage and deploy our systems globally,' noted Spatz.

'In the end, today we have a mix of technology and risk. We have one globally implemented IT strategy. We re-centralized our IT functions for costs and skills and efficiency, but we leverage those resources by rotating people around the world in a decentralized model. We have transitioned from push by IT philosophy to pull of IT. Fundamentally we are enforcing standards and infrastructures, and IT delivers on its promises,' he said.

'IT is a critical enabler for Unicef's mission and programs, and our operational excellence strategy. It increases our efficiency and effectiveness of our internal processes. IT has fundamentally transformed the way we operate, and it is a competitive and differentiator for Unicef amongst non-profits. You need to show your donors that you can deliver, and that you are efficient and effective.'

To get to this point in their IT journey, Unicef's blueprint, created in 1997, started with the base architecture and focused both top-down and bottom-up with a living document that was validated around the world from feedback from regional directors and their teams. The elements of the strategic framework included several principles:

1. Unicef won't tackle an IT project without an executive owner(s);
2. Unicef will buy and integrate before building something; and,
3. Unicef will enforce global standards, reduce the technology footprint, and use best-in-class IT roadmaps, even if it's more expensive.

Spatz went on to explain, 'We had one global strategy using building blocks based on these principles. As a foundation element we used enterprise management systems, tools and processes, and ITIL service management. We used standardized roll-out models, and streamlined and selected a strategic portfolio of partners. We focused on cost containment and benchmarking, delivery of quality services and value. We have a customer focus and effective user service quality for both headquarters and the field.'

How do you sustain an operational environment globally? How do you reduce the risk and avoid having IT heroes running around everywhere? How do you control, consolidate and reduce IT costs while increasing quality, efficiency and effectiveness and improve IT services levels, with limited additional staff?

According to Spatz, 'The main and fundamental reason that we implemented IT service management was a major re-engineering of the IT function and continuous improvement processes. We needed to break the IT silos, and change the culture.

Unicef began with rigorous due diligence and a selection process that took less than 12 months. 'We adopted best practices supported and enhanced by toolsets, and integrated modular toolsets by design. We are not in the tool integration business…we use the tools for Unicef. We believe in partnership for long term success, such as our relationship with HP. Unicef and HP have been on this adventure journey together since 1999,' noted Spatz.

The complexity and challenges were overwhelming. Some of the technology challenges included a rollout of sophisticated technology in the midst of a global IT infrastructure transformation, when bandwidth is at a remium.

'Organizationally, we had language, culture, and geographical challenges. We needed to change processes, incorporate new operating principles, and in the midst of new roles and diversity…it is a challenge,' said Spatz.

'We have deployed Service Desk on a 24x7 basis, and we consolidated with a single point of contact providing different levels of support. We train and redeploy our people at our headquarters and help broaden their horizons and enhance their career development. We have put many elements in the field upgrade roll-out, including beta testing, quality assurance, change management, closed pilot, open pilot, and then on to general release,' he said. According to Spatz, this process generally takes less than 21 days and is now used for all systems that are deployed globally.

Spatz highlighted some key lessons learned. 'You must focus on people, process and technology…no exceptions, no shortcuts,' he said. 'You need to train, enforce the process but you cannot change faster than the absorption capacity of your individuals. You might get results, but it is not sustainable in the long run. Change management must be cultivated. Stay on course toward the vision requires constant vigilance, focus and reinforcement from the top, but empowering the staff to move forward while staying on course. It's a journey, not a destination, and it's sometimes very painful.'

He reminded the audience of the need to invest in the partnership with your strategic vendor. 'It takes substantial resources, people, time and money. It's not a cheap endeavor. You need to balance, by taking your reduction in costs and moving that into improvements.

'The continuous integration and update of the toolset based on ITL best practices is essential. The integrated tools need to support the new processes to enable the change to take root,' he added. 'IT done right, it yields impressive results and major improvements on the service delivery and image of the IT division.'

'For the world's children, our IT is a lifeline. While protecting children, we cannot afford to fail. Neither can our IT,' Spatz concluded. HP and Unicef have worked together since 1997, and the journey continues today.