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Enterprise Asset Management System (EAMS)
Ministry of Works
Bahrain

The Problem

The Ministry of Works is a socially responsible organization certified for the quality of its services. Its core competencies are policy management, sectoral planning, project management and monitoring control and evaluation of service industry.The Ministry being a customer focused organization and a key contributor to the development of the Kingdom of Bahrain faces challenges in constructing, supervising, managing and maintaining large numbers of information related to public infrastructure assets. There were many manual business processes relating to infrastructure assets life cycle management and maintenance management. There was a need for more effective methods and tools for public infrastructure asset lifecycle management and maintenance management, increasing need for enhancing the operating life, performance and services of the public assets.
With huge infrastructural development planned, the public infrastructure base in the Kingdom is set to grow rapidly in near future resulting in further increasing the challenges of maintenance and management of the knowledge base, the projects and the infrastructure Assets.
The challenge for The Ministry of Works was its directorates distributed across multiple locations. The directorates generate and store millions of documents, maps and drawings each year. The ministry has an estimate of over 5 million documents (with an average of 25-50 pages per document).Ministry runs on processes that create, collect, process, distribute, store, manage, retrieve, maintain and dispose of information as an integral part of every activity.

There was a need to move towards predictive, preventative and pro-active modes of maintenance of infrastructure assets, as opposed to reactive maintenance modes. There were Significant delays, long wait times and re-work in accessing information relating to assets due to lack of integrated asset information systems which lead to slackness in the overall business cycles.Non-availability of accurate information on investments, expenditures, current values and conditions of infrastructure assets; and absence of a consolidated repository of all information through the lifecycle of an asset starting at the design phase of the asset itself all the way through the completion of the asset. This results in significant routine communication within and across the MOW directorates resulting in longer project cycles.
Non-availability of reports and performance statistics on MOW infrastructure assets resulted in great challenges in the management tracking for accountability and determining audit trails on public infrastructure assets. This also constrains availability of reliable statistics and information on infrastructure assets which is required for Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) initiative and for securing external funding. Duplication and redundancy on capture, modification, maintenance and management of asset information; and existence of disparate non-standard systems for capturing, storing and maintaining information on public infrastructure assets resulting in multiple in-compatible, non-congruent and un-reliable sources of information.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
To meet the requirements of rapid growth of infrastructure assets and services, and manage the growing work load, The Ministry of Works in Bahrain intended to introduce and establish a range of Enterprise level Programs to help in constructing managing and maintaining large number of projects and resulting infrastructure assets. The program consisted of three sub projects listed below all intended to be seamlessly integrated to help manage the above mentioned challenges.
1. Enterprise Document Management Systems (EDMS)
2. Project Management system (PMS) &Project Management Information Systems (PMIS)
3. Enterprise Asset Management Systems (EAMS)
EDMS:
MOW implemented an Enterprise-Wide Document Imaging and Workflow Management System to resolve the problems of document creation, organization and storage involving electronic document archiving, imaging and workflows to meet the challenge of handling such large volume of documents.

PMS:
The Ministry of Works & Housing developed and successfully tested a Project Management System comprising a framework and a set of processes, policies, procedures and templates to manage and control its portfolio of Projects. The Ministry also established a PMO which is fully operational. This was all carried out under Phase 2a the Project Management System Implementation Initiative.

PMIS
Phase 2b of this initiative was to acquire and install a project management information system (PMIS) to automate the “manual” system developed under phase 2a. It was considered imperative that the PMIS implementation project also act as a model and catalyst for the new processes which are being strictly monitored and formal quality audits are performed at predefined key milestones. The objective was to automate the PMS Methodology which applied sound project management practices resulting in more effective and efficient delivery of the Ministry’s portfolio of projects.


EAMS:
The Ministry is in the process of implementing a state-of-the-art Geographic Information System (GIS integrated with the Asset Registry and the Enterprise Asset Management System (EAMS) to manage its capital assets, predict reliability problems, prevent them and plan alternatives. The Ministry will be able to monitor and manage the use and performance of its assets to gain better insight and control of them.
The EAMS aims to establish continuous processes guiding management, use and disposal of public infrastructure assets to optimize service delivery and minimize costs over infrastructure assets’ entire life. The public infrastructure assets referred to herein are the long-lived capital assets that are owned, operated and maintained by MOW in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
EAMS is also designed to provide access to consolidated information all from within the Ministry and with integrations with other ministries for eg,Electricity distribution networks, Transmission networks, Water distribution networks, Oil and Gas Pipes, Telecom networks, Geographical and spatial Information, Financial Information, Project Management Information, Transactional and Maintenance Information, External Agencies Information, Road Accident Information
The Kingdom’s Way Leave system will be able to make better strategic decisions using the above mentioned consolidated information as inputs.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
Ministry of Work’s Project Management Office and Strategic Planning Unit is established to gather the directorate level portfolio of initiatives and to align them based on strategic objectives of MoW. These initiatives are then prioritized and ranked based on a balanced scorecard which align with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s National objectives and vision 2030. The Ministry’s mission and vision were identified and stated up to the year 2015. The highest ranked initiatives are activatedas Programs and Projects based on budget approvals. The mentioned solution is thus derived from a ranked initiative.

The stakeholders and the contributors to the designs of the EDMS and PMS/PMIS solutions were the Roads Sector consisting of Roads Planning & Designing Directorate (RPDD) and Roads Projects & Maintenance Directorate (RPMD); Sanitary Engineering Sector consisting of Sanitary Engineering Planning & Projects Directorate (SEPPD) and Sanitary Engineering Operations & Maintenance Directorate (SEOMD); Building Maintenance Directorate (BMD); Cost Engineering Directorate (CED); Material Engineering Directorate (MED); Information Technology Directorate (ITD); Financial Resources Directorate (FRD); Human Resources Directorate (HRD); Special Projects Directorate(SPD); Constructions Projects Directorate (CPD); and Public Relations & Media Directorate(PRMD)
The stakeholders and the contributors of the EAMS solution were Roads Sector consisting of Roads Planning & Designing Directorate (RPDD) and Roads Projects & Maintenance Directorate (RPMD); Sanitary Engineering Sector consisting of Sanitary Engineering Planning & Projects Directorate (SEPPD) and Sanitary Engineering Operations & Maintenance Directorate (SEOMD); and Building Maintenance Directorate (BMD).
The external contributors who indirectly contributed to the solution were the National GIS Committee (NGIS) Central Planning Unit (CPO) Ministry of Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) and Survey & Land Registration Bureau (SLRB) to name a few.

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The primary strategy used for implementing the EDMS solution was automating and archiving the document flows and to improve internal communication to better facilitate the sharing of the knowledge and the information. To provide electronic means to perform its operations resulting in the increased productivity and efficiency. To improve the response time and decision making process in MOW. To foster E-Governance integrating the entire ministry into a common information flow context. To help improve cost savings in locating information, cost reduction in distribution of document, cost reduction in storage of records and improvement in internal process performance.
EDMS System was started in 2007 and it was launched and activated in 2009.

The principal strategy of the PMIS system was to provide improved Efficiency & Improve processes to industry leading practice, improved ability to anticipate and react to changes, Increased Service Responsiveness to provide better and faster support services. For better use of Information Technology by continuously applying new technologies to its business, and offering these technologies to its customers. This project enhanced Visibility & Integrated Business Intelligence and gave the ability to extract key performance trends of the organization anywhere, anytime, and by anyone. It helped improve employee accountability and enhanced transparency in business operations. It enabled collaboration between MOW projects, locations and users and enabled knowledge sharing across various projects. It integrated systems with ability to link operational and core accounting systems for improved and timely reporting in an automated manner. And so realize sustained strategic and operational business benefits. The Implementation period for this system was from 2008 to 2011
The strategy used to implement the EAMS solution was to reduce manual business processes relating to infrastructure assets life cycle management and maintenance management. To establish more effective methods and tools for public infrastructure asset lifecycle management and maintenance management. To enhance the operating life, performance and services. To Optimize capital and recurrent expenditures to move towards predictive, preventative and pro-active modes of maintenance, as opposed to reactive maintenance modes.To have more realistic predictions on capital and recurrent funding needs and to reduce significant delays and re-work in accessing information due to lack of integrated information systems.To provide training and motivation and to provide new opportunities for the staff to improve efficiency. Support to Ministry’s Mission, Vision and Values; improvement in professionalism, employee productivity, efficiency of processes, and working environment which would accommodate the kingdom of Bahrain’s vision for 2030 and support the e-Governance initiatives and other national initiatives.
Tendering process for the EAMS project was done in 2099 and the it was initiated on 2010 to this date.
Information Technology Directorate (ITD) planned and led the initiative. The solution was implemented by independent vendors (External contracts) who were selected through the Ministry’s tendering process. The external contractors awarded for the solution were Global Business Machines (GBM) for EDMS and LSS Technology in partnership with SPM group for PMS solution and East Arabian Company for Specialty Projects (EACOM) for PMIS solution and UNITECH for the EAMS Solution. The Information Technology Directorate (ITD) monitored the implementation from the start to the end.

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
ITD followed the standard SDLC process of Analysis Design, Development and deployment phases to implement this solution. Initially the current processes were evaluated and the requirements for the end solution were gathered and documented. The solutions were developed and or mapped based on the requirements taking into consideration the scalability requirements for future enhancements. The solutions were then tested for sustainability and once approved by the stakeholders they were deployed across the user community. The users were trained on the new solutions before the rollout.
The time taken to implement the EDMS component of the solution was 24Months from the date the initiative was approved to the actual rollout. The EDMS solution was initiated on 2007 and rolled out to the user community on Feb-2009.
The PMS Methodology was implemented within 12-16 months May 2006 to Nov 07 and the PMIS solution was implemented within 14 – 16 months from April 2009 to July 2010 and rolled out to the user community in the month of July 2010 (Release 11). Later upgraded to Release 12 and roll out to Construction Sector in August 2011.
The EAMs solution with the final integrations completed is scheduled to be rolled out in the month of August 2012. The duration of this project implementation is 16 months. It was initiated in the month of Dec 2010.

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Change Management was the biggest obstacle for the solution. It is a commonly known factor that change is not easily accepted. Inorder to overcome this obstacle we conducted awareness programs at regular intervals to maintain the visibility of the solution to the stakeholders. The expectations were set around the solution. This made the transition easier and more manageable.
Another obstacle was to gather all the data that was scattered and available in various formats. In order to overcome this we have started the exercise of data collection much ahead of the required deadline to give the team the additional flexibility first to identify the whereabouts of the data and then to gather it.
We have faced many situations during the requirement gathering phase were there was a requirement for scope creep. We have identified the additional scope items and documented them in order to address them in the future phases of the implementation. This helped us focus on the contracted and agreed upon scope and helped us successfully complete the solution in a timely manner.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
ITD during the planning phases identified a group of MOW resources from the technical and the Business sectors as core team members who would be the key contributors to the solution. These members were handpicked based on their experience levels within the ministry and their current skill sets especially those who would be in a position to translate the requirement into the final solution. These members were categorized into the two groups. (1) Project technical committee and (2) the project core team and SMEs
The project Steering committee consisted of the management personnel from the different stakeholder groups. These members helped the project teams resolve issues in a timely manner and were also the escalation points where required.
These resources along with the vendor resources formed the complete project group responsible to deliver the solution.

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The solutions developed were very robust and implemented keeping the future scalability in mind. The systems are already being considered to be extended across various other ministries across the Kingdom of Bahrain. This systems once extended and integrated across various other ministries would serve as one high level dashboard for the whole kingdom where in the executive management of various ministries and key stakeholders can access all the information related to various public assets, to be able to make better strategic decisions and improve the cost efficiency and promote economic development within the Kingdom of Bahrain. The systems have been designed in a manner where they can be easily transferable if the same technology is adopted.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
One key strategic objective of Ministry of Works is the Excellence in Project Management along with the Documents Management. It defines how the organization adopts, embeds and practices best project management practices so as to ensure all projects undertaken by the Ministry of Work are delivered in time, within budget, within scope and with quality acceptable by its client.
The Project Management Information System and Documents Management System initiatives are geared towards achieving the above objectives whereby the project management system, a defined and established project management processes adopted by the MoW, is packaged into an automated planning and control system. By the end of the PMIS project 350 Users have been trained and 180 Projects have been migrated and activated in the production system. Therefore the key elements that made PMIS a success are:
1. Centralized Project Information Warehouse – Creates a platform whereby all project data, especially project milestone, work breakdown structure, project team information, project cost and budgets, to be stored centrally and reduce the risk of data lost and data theft.

2. Encourages project team collaboration – Creates a platform whereby all project teams can now collaborate in a systematic and efficient manner. No longer have to wait for instruction to perform any work as the system triggers notification of what are the upcoming activities, pending activities and on-going activities on real time basis. This lead to better time management and increase productivity.

3. Manage Stakeholder Expectation – Stakeholders who own the project will now have better access to the project progress. As compare to the manual practices, the information is readily available and the stakeholders have a better understanding about the projects and lead to a better decision making.

4. Increase Financial controls – Creates a platform whereby project financials can now be better managed through a systematic system. This will lead to better cash flow controls and increase efficiency. This ability will allow Financial Resources to monitor the project budgets so as to ensure the project budgets are spend according to the cost management plan.

As for the lesson learnt from the active systems,
1. High participation during Business Requirement Stage – Having a very high participation from the process owners and the vendor has helped the project to reduce the gaps in defining the requirement for the projects. Each business requirement is debated, refined and validated by the process owners and the vendor ensures these requirements are recorded and tracked throughout the design, development and implementation stage.

2. Project Sponsor and Top Management commitment – Having a strong commitment from the Project Sponsor and Top Management allows the project and the project team to execute the project plan accordingly. Major Key issues are discussed in the project steering committee and technical committee so as to ensure proper action is taken to minimize the risk the project.

3. Communication – Communication plays the important factor in the success of the project. Clearly communicating the expectations, activities, deliverables, project milestones to the project team and having a clear line of reporting to the project sponsor, communicating the project status to the top management, may it be in the form of written or verbal communication, is crucial.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Ministry of Works
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   Hisham Sater
Title:   Information Technology Directorate  
Telephone/ Fax:   +97317545466
Institution's / Project's Website:   http://www.works.gov.bh/
E-mail:   dsarhan@ega.gov.bh  
Address:   Building 86, Road 1802, Block 318, Hoora , Manama, Bahrain
Postal Code:   P.O. BOX 5
City:   Manama
State/Province:  
Country:   Bahrain

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