Streamled financial project portfolios by Easy Redmine: AXA Group Czech Republic and Slovakia
Insurance
2021
Czech Republic, Prague
Project Management Officer
AXA Group is a global leader in insurance and asset management, offering life and non-life insurance, pension schemes, and investment mutual funds across the Czech Republic and Slovakia. With a client base of 94 million and assets under management totalling EUR 644.45 billion, AXA operates in 51 countries worldwide, supported by over 147,000 employees.
This case study explores the implementation of Easy Redmine, showcasing its tailored solutions for the Czech and Slovak markets under the brand Easy Project.
AXA Group is included in the most important international SRI indices, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4GOOD. Also, it is a founding member of the United Nations Financial Initiative (UNEP FI), the United Nations Sustainable Insurance Principles (PSI), and a signatory to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment.
The previous state of project management of AXA Group
AXA Group Czech Republic and Slovakia sought to introduce a project portfolio management system for its project office in collaboration with various departments. Initially, Easy Redmine was rolled out to the project office in a pilot phase and was later extended to other departments.
The client specifically required a tool for resource management to better oversee project resources both at the departmental level and for individual team members.
From the start of the implementation, key stakeholders had a well-defined vision of how the application should be utilised and the specific data they needed to extract from it.
Expectations of project portfolio management
- Enhanced document management
- Intuitive personal dashboards
- Optimal capacity planning and resource management
- Project evaluation
- On-premises deployment
- Data security
Key requirements of AXA Group
- Crafting transparent reports for management review
- Quick project creation using predefined templates
- Efficient management of personnel
From pilot to the approval of ideal project portfolio
Date of implementation - 2018/2019
Before the implementation began, a pilot phase was conducted to identify and define the fundamental requirements. These were integrated into the Easy Redmine suite and presented to the company's leadership.
After approval, a detailed implementation began with active involvement from key users in the project office. The implementation was executed through weekly sprints, during which previously defined requirements were demonstrated and tested.
Setup and project templates
The first step involved setting up a clear project structure, defining all user roles, and customising their personal dashboards. Project templates were also created, enabling teams to quickly and easily start new projects with standardised settings. These templates save time, reduce errors, and ensure consistency across all projects, allowing for more efficient management and improved team productivity.
On-premises solution
AXA Group Czech Republic and Slovakia chose an on-premises solution to meet their security needs. Initially, we set up the system environment on a temporary cloud before migrating the entire system to the client’s own server. Further changes to the application were made remotely through remote access to the server.
Training of the key users
We provided training for key users and administrators during the implementation, and additional users were trained later in detailed, topic-based sessions.
Testing with real data
AXA Group Czech Republic and Slovakia utilise a secure testing environment with real data, enabling them to safely trial new features and requirements before implementing them in the live production system.
Objectives and benefits of Easy Redmine
The adoption of Easy Redmine greatly enhanced the project management processes at AXA Group Czech Republic and Slovakia:
- Streamlining resource management for users and departments
- Centralised project documentation—a single source of truth
- Saving time in project and task creation
The most used Project Management tools by AXA Group Czech Republic and Slovakia
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) feature relies on the approach of dividing a project into smaller, more manageable components, often referred to as deliverables. Projects can be organised in a logical sequence similar to the widely used and efficient mind mapping technique. By breaking the project down into subprojects and tasks, planning becomes quicker and more focused on maintaining a clear and logical structure.
Project portfolio management
A clear and user-friendly visual overview of the project portfolio. Enables swift planning and seamless oversight. Shows project progress, current stages, and alignment with plans. Features intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
Custom fields on the project overview page
Custom fields at the project level enable customisation of the data structure to meet specific client needs. They facilitate more accurate categorisation and grouping of projects and tasks into the desired segments.
