Business Needs
The national government of Oman, under the auspices of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, created the Oman Information Technology Authority (ITA) in 2006. The organization is responsible for advancing several important national initiatives as part of “Oman 2020,” the state-sponsored, economic-development program aimed at improving the country’s technology infrastructure. In pursuit of its charter, the Oman ITA is focused on:
n Setting up a unified e-government architecture.
n Establishing a government-backed technology resource center and consultancy.
n Fostering the growth of a network of highly qualified IT professionals to support the technology needs of public and private organizations.
n Accelerating government service delivery through IT infrastructure optimization and process reengineering.
To achieve these goals, leaders recognized the need to transform the government’s IT systems architecture while moving forward with several substantial capital expenditures.
Each of Oman’s government agencies depended on its own set of stand-alone systems, which made information sharing across bureaucratic functions a challenge and hampered creation of a modern, fully coordinated government services delivery framework.
Complicating the challenges, the government’s IT team lacked the training and experience to handle large-scale infrastructure and deployment projects. To complete the first phase of projects scoped as part of the Oman 2020 campaign, leaders acknowledged the need for additional technical support, specifically in the areas of technical project management, IT architecture planning, and implementation of best practices.
Solution
To fulfill its mission of providing governmental technology infrastructure and support, the Oman ITA established the Innovation and Support Center (ISC) as a joint venture with Microsoft. “We turned to Microsoft for assistance based on two main factors,” says Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi, CEO of the Oman ITA. “First, for such a high-profile, national project, we wanted to go with a global leader in enterprise IT support. And second, because of an existing Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) already signed with ITA, it only made sense to partner with Microsoft.” The ISC was identified as one of the formal channels to deliver these services.
Establishing the ISC
The journey to the ISC began when leaders from the Oman ITA met with a team of consultants from Microsoft Services to map out the ITA’s long-term technology strategy and define the parameters and precise requirements for a series of multiyear projects. After performing a thorough analysis of the organization’s existing technology assets and internal capabilities, an IT Architecture and Planning Advisor from Microsoft delivered a concise strategy presentation to senior ITA officials. “Given the scope of the initiatives, the formal strategy presentation that Microsoft provided at the beginning of our engagement was a critical path to solidifying buy-in at the highest level of our organization,” says Al Ruzaiqi. “It was also vital in helping to ensure that we had a clear road map for the project and that everyone understood their roles and responsibilities and the actions they needed to take.”
With an actionable road map in place and with the Oman ITA’s Microsoft Services Premier Support agreement underpinning these efforts, the Oman ITA worked closely with select team members from Microsoft:
n Microsoft Consulting Services:
− Principal Project Manager—Provided program management and customer relationship management and maintained operational excellence.
− Enterprise Strategy Consultant—Through the Microsoft Services IT Architecture and Planning (ITAP) offering, established the direction of the ISC, including the framework for how the ISC engages with the government, performing strategic assessments, profiling, and mentoring Omanis.
− Senior Infrastructure Consultant—Provided architectural advice and guidance, developed the consulting delivery component of the ISC, created design documents, formulated a service delivery methodology, and provided side-by-side mentoring to Omanis in service delivery.
− Application Development Lead—Created a development team and trained and certified them. This team also became the “innovation” component of the ISC.
n Microsoft Premier Support Services:
− Technical Account Manager—Was responsible for the operational health of technical environments through the delivery of both proactive and reactive services.
− Premier Field Engineers for Platforms and Messaging—Established the support component of the center and provided workshops and training. These engineers also led development of processes and best practices for the center, including training, certifications, handling of support calls, site visits, and skills development.
As part of this agreement, the ISC has provided the Oman ITA with hundreds of hours of training on the latest Microsoft technologies, best practices for infrastructure and deployment projects, IT systems maintenance and troubleshooting, support, and a range of other topics. Formed in 2007, the ISC now serves as the nation’s foremost center of excellence in IT, providing integrated support and IT solutions to government bodies through customer-friendly ethos. In addition, the center trains young Omani professionals to become proactive participants in Oman’s digital society. The ISC provides:
n Quality integrated support and IT solutions to government bodies.
n Consulting across IT strategy, infrastructure, and development.
n IT training, internships, and numerous other hands-on learning opportunities for students and professionals across Oman.
In addition to its core services, the ISC serves as a center of innovation and strives to bring new solutions to market that can help underpin the country’s technological advances.
Benefits
By working side by side with Microsoft Services, the Oman ITA has realized significant progress in achieving several of its major goals toward providing a central IT service and introducing technological modernization to achieve the country’s 2020 initiative. Foremost among these goals was the development of a regionally renowned ISC. “It would have been difficult to turn our Innovation and Support Center into such a success so quickly without the knowledge transfer we received through our alliance with Microsoft,” says Al Ruzaiqi.
Nationwide Impact from Technology Innovation and Support
Tangible results from the development of the ISC and its ongoing alliance with Microsoft Services are far-reaching. “In a few short years, we’ve been able to completely transform our government operations to improve the efficiency and quality of our services. And now, because of the ongoing training we’ve received from the Microsoft team, the ISC is the catalyst for technology innovation in Oman,” says Al Ruzaiqi.
IT Self-Sufficiency
By working alongside Microsoft experts and taking advantage of extensive training opportunities from Microsoft, the Oman ITA has strengthened its internal staffing resources. Now, the organization is fully equipped to take the primary leadership role in imparting technology expertise and support countrywide and advancing innovation and important initiatives. Says Al Ruzaiqi, “Our close collaboration with a team of committed experts from Microsoft has empowered our staff with the skills and the confidence they need to carry projects forward on their own.”
This material is provided for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.Document published November 2010