The Maritime Access division (MOW-aMT) of the Flemish government has had SharePoint 2010 Server and Project Server 2010 installed by TOBIUS. This means all project information is centrally available for all users.

1. Maritime access agency automates project
and budget planning
The Maritime Access division (MOW-aMT) of the Flemish government has had SharePoint 2010 Server and
tel. +32 2 300 80 30
info@TOBIUS.be
country: Belgium
sector: government
Project Server 2010 installed by TOBIUS. This means all
project information is centrally available for all users.
Previously, MOW-aMT had no software for project
planning and management. As a result, there was an
incomplete overview of the state of affairs and people
did not always work with correct and up-to-date infor-
profile
mation. So the budget was less reliable, and the imple-
The Maritime Access division (aMT) is part of Mo-
mentation often deviated 20% from that anticipated in
bility and Public Works (MOW), one of the 13 pol-
the annual planning.
icy areas of the Flemish government. AMT manages the waterways of Flemish harbours as well as
artworks and properties along the maritime access
routes. In addition, aMT is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the basic infrastructure of the harbours. Some 140 people work at
aMT.
Thanks to the new Microsoft technology, MOW-AMT
now works in a much more efficient way. Automated
workflows have been created and people always have
an overview of the status of projects, both in terms of
how project files are progressing and financially. Now
there is also no problem collaborating with other divi-
challenge
Each year MOW-aMT manages an average budget
sions, so together they can further standardize project
planning and monitoring as well as budget reporting.
of 370 million euros for projects, including major
infrastructure works. MOW-aMT had no software
Microsoft Project Server

2. in-house for planning the budget and monitoring
these projects. The lack of an overview meant that
the implementation often deviated 20% from that
anticipated in the annual planning.
“The Maritime Access division works with massive projects
and budgets, but we didn’t have any structured processes
and tools for project management,” says Youri Meersschaut. He is an engineer at the Maritime Access division
(aMT), which is part of the Mobility and Public Works
solution
IT specialist TOBIUS installed Microsoft SharePoint
2010 Server and Project Server 2010. SharePoint
Server serves as the central information hub where
all users can find the correct information.
(MOW) policy area of the Flemish government. “So we
decided to invest in new software in order to professionalize our way of working. That was Enterprise Project Management (EPM) from Microsoft. The main objective was to
capture information that enables us to draw up the
budget with reliable information. This way, we can carry
benefits
out the entire planning and implementation precisely,
Û Correct information is available fast
whereas previously we often deviated 20% from what we
Û Structures processes
had planned on an annual basis. A second objective was
Û Collaboration across the divisions
to make all the information related to projects available to
Û User-friendly
Û Effective overview of status of projects
Û Meta-data added automatically
Û Integration with other applications
the other departments involved.”
MOW-aMT called on the services of TOBIUS, a Brusselsbased service provider and Microsoft Gold Partner with
extensive experience in the field of project management.
TOBIUS structured the processes of MOW-aMT as much
software&services
Servers
Project Server 2010
SharePoint 2010 Server
as possible based on the standard features of the software
package.
Jim Verbist of TOBIUS: “After the needs analysis it soon
became clear that all the information about projects had
Developer Tools
to be available quickly and easily. We could do this per-
Windows
Server, which provide access to all the financial and opera-
fectly well with Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint
tional information on projects. In addition, SharePoint
Desktop Applications
Business Solutions
Online Services
Microsoft Services
Server can also extract information from external systems.”
Greater efficiency
The new approach at MOW-aMT led to a great improvement in efficiency not only because the correct information is managed centrally, but also because of the accessi-
Microsoft Technologies
bility of the software. The 70 end users are primarily senior
Microsoft Security
project managers and technical draughtsmen.
officials and administrative support staff, but also include
The greater efficiency extends to the simplification and
standardisation of the planning and monitoring of the
project and to the budget reporting across departmental
boundaries. In addition, the users can always see in Project Server what phase a file is in, so they can also report
how long each file is with each party.

3. Youri Meersschaut, engineer at MOW-aMT: “Now that everyone uses the same system, we can rely on
having uniform and accurate information.”
Relevant meta-data
physical programme, MOW-aMT plans for periods
In addition, SharePoint Server provides a modern
of several years, each time specifying which projects
Content Management System for the digital man-
it wants to implement with the allocated budgets.
agement of all documents, where the documents
This is done on the basis of various policy docu-
automatically receive the relevant meta-data. The
ments, such as the Flemish government coalition
integration capabilities are an added bonus. Jim
agreement, policy papers and policy documents, the
Verbist: “It is possible to integrate SharePoint and
Port Decree and the objectives of the division.
Project Server with external systems such as Post
Within the Maritime Access division, project plan-
Registration – for scanning and digital transmission
ning is divided into 'Main Projects' and 'Sub-
of incoming documents – and the GIS application
projects’. Then an estimate is made of the financial
for displaying the geographical location of a pro-
resources needed to implement each of these pro-
ject.”
jects.
MOW-aMT can also manage its ICT tools more effi-
The implementation of Microsoft Project Server and
ciently by disabling a number of local applications.
SharePoint Server, with the latter acting as an infor-
For instance, the organization could eliminate some
mation hub, allows the manager of a main project
of the smaller applications and also curb the use of
to consult the related sub-projects and the associ-
Excel. Youri Meersschaut: “Previously, everything
ated long-term budget at a glance. The manager of
was done in Excel or other tools and there were al-
a sub-project can view the status of their files and
ways different versions of reports and documents in
see what resources are still available. The project
circulation, with all the resulting consequences. Now
manager can then monitor all the files that they
that everyone uses the same system, we can rely on
manage.
having uniform and accurate information.”
Approach in three phases
The flexible reporting now gives each unit head a
consolidated overview of the state of affairs, both in
The project consists of three phases. During the first
terms of how project files are progressing and fi-
phase TOBIUS automated the planning of the long-
nancially.
term budget and the ‘physical programme’. In the

4. Collaboration and document management
In a second phase, TOBIUS and MOW-aMT focused on
collaboration and document management. The project
type – for example infrastructure or dredging operations –
determines the life cycle and task division, the document
types that are applicable here and what meta-information
users want to manage. The projects spaces are set up
based on these parameters, so that there is uniformity per
project type.
“For us, encouraging collaboration around one central
platform across the divisional units is the biggest catalyst
for benefiting from this project,” explains Youri Meers-
Jim Verbist
“It is possible to integrate SharePoint and
Project Server with external systems such as
Post Registration – for scanning and digital
transmission of incoming documents – and
the GIS application for displaying the geographical location of a project.”
schaut. “We now have a structure where we can define
projects with a controlled workflow. Meta-information is
validated and all the documents that were previously scattered everywhere are now centralized in the project workspaces.”
The third and last phase should be completed in the
course of 2013 and centres on operational planning,
monitoring and reporting. Youri Meersschaut: “Ultimately,
the aim is for us to be able to capture sufficient information down to the specification level, so that we can also
test the feasibility of the budget and provide better predictions for the next budget. Then the next logical step is
to increase the quality of the information.”
for more information
For more information about the Microsoft
products and services described, call +32 2
503 31 13 or visit www.microsoft.be/
cases. There you will find other companies
that use similar applications.
For more information about Tobius, call
+32 2 300 80 30 or visit www.tobius.be
For more information about the Maritime
Access division, visit
www.maritiemetoegang.be