Business intelligence flies high at Finmeccanica ... literally

Driven by its products and by SAS® technology used in business processes, Finmeccanica is a company strongly committed to the process of integrating its various companies. It has a singular goal: taking on a market driven by the concept of “co-opetition” (i.e. cooperative competition between businesses).

Finmeccanica is the first Italian company operating on a global scale in the aerospace, defense and security industry. In addition to being the European leader in satellite and space services, it is also one of the world’s foremost suppliers of helicopters and defense electronics.

With headquarters in Italy, a vast industrial base in the United Kingdom, and important production assets in the rest of Europe and the United States, the Finmeccanica Group is a dynamic global company that dominates the domestic markets in Italy and the UK and excels on the international level. With more than 56,600 employees, the company boasts a production value of about 11.5 billion euros.

Finmeccanica’s success is founded on technology and innovation, the key factors in its competitiveness. To this end, the Group invested more than 1.7 billion euros (15 percent of its production value) in R&D in 2005. This figure has registered steady growth in recent years, making Finmeccanica the biggest Italian investor in the high-tech sector. Investments make up 20 percent of core business revenues, a percentage that is higher than that of several of its major competitors. A considerable part of the capital invested in R&D is used for new technologies capable of significantly improving strategically important civilian applications.

Finmeccanica requires sophisticated technology to compete in an industrial market that is characterized by its own unique rules. Its internal processes are regulated and monitored by performance indicators. Business intelligence is one of the elements that make the company one of the jewels in the crown of the Italian economy.

We spoke about this with Giorgio Mosca, Group Information Communication Technology (ICT) Vice President of Finmeccanica Group Services.

What level of integration have you achieved?
Finmeccanica is the parent company of a Group that brings together several companies from different sectors: aeronautics, helicopters, space, defense electronics, defense, energy, and transportation and integrated systems. Once the group’s integration process got underway, the parent company found itself needing to design a strategic control structure to address the various companies’ activities and make them synergetic. Integration was one of the most urgent strategic objectives for being competitive in the marketplace by offering products and services, not as individual companies belonging to the same parent company, but as a strong industrial group with a single communications policy and a single strategy.

Does this drive towards integration (also reflected in the use of licensed SAS® Business Intelligence solutions) arise from a particular demand?
Exactly. A need that comes directly from the particular market that Finmeccanica operates in, the defense and security market. The characteristics of this market have been changing recently. Access to entire systems – not just single solutions – are required more and more. In order to do this, companies that used to operate separately now find themselves more integrated and synergetic. And this same “closeness” is also asked of our partners. To illustrate the point: No one asks companies of our caliber for a single helicopter anymore but rather for an entire system of coastline defense. Business intelligence and information management are essential tools for enabling this scenario, and SAS makes a significant contribution in this regard.

What are the most common requests from top management? What type of information do the Group’s users need?
First of all, there are the “classic” requests for corporate reports typical for a company listed on the stock exchange. Obviously, you have to distinguish between requests coming from the parent company and those coming from operating companies. Corporate needs to have a broad vision of operations, so the data generated by reports is all business information. We respond to a corporate request with an economic/financial report, which we are combining with performance management; in addition, the Group’s lifecycle management model, which accompanies all phases up to final delivery, is applied to large-scale projects.

What about information systems?
In this phase of integration among the various companies, information is also requested about the state of technology. So we have to be able to manage the renewal of information processes. The information exchange happens in two ways: either through professional mechanisms or through business intelligence and data management solutions.

How did the relationship with SAS begin?
The story of our collaboration with SAS started about two years ago, following a request from Human Resources. They asked Information Systems to identify an instrument for managing information about key resources. I should explain that Finmeccanica leverages all the group’s figures in order to identify the skills necessary for its development. So, an instrument was needed that would allow us to study replacements and possible candidates for particular positions. That’s how, with the help of SAS, a kind of quick and intuitive dashboard for top management was created, which now facilitates the selection of managers and resources of high strategic value. This solution, which is fed by the information systems of the group’s companies, is only used by corporate at the moment, but we foresee it being rolled out to other companies as well.

Has top management appreciated this new functionality?
There’s certainly satisfaction about the tool and the in-depth knowledge it provides of the company’s situation, and it’s appreciated for the potential that it represents. In any case, HR is only one step on the road to better integration of the entire Group’s information systems.

What are the “hottest” issues that are bringing the company closer to business intelligence solutions?
I would say that the issue discussed most often is overall information management. Economic reporting on the one hand and information about products, skills and technologies on the other. To that we’re also adding performance management for contracts signed by the Group.

Remember, there are very few players in our sector. For that reason we often find ourselves being both partners and competitors. This requires managing two obligations. First, flexibility: We have to adjust the method of managing information by following the prime contractor’s requests. Secondly, we have to be absolutely certain that we are managing this information properly. One of the nearest and dearest issues for SAS is the issue of “time to intelligence,” which is fundamental for us. Decision times are decreasing significantly. It has almost become more important to share information in the production of our products than to withhold it.

Where are your information systems headed?
There are presently three major business intelligence systems in the Group. One of the efforts is to make data uniform. Even more important than the tools used is the challenge to commit to following three priorities: integration, internationalization and increased profitability.

Can you confirm that the Finmeccanica Group is now experienced with regard to business intelligence processes?
At the moment, there is not yet total integration of the companies’ information. The model is in the process of being defined, because it is necessary to maintain a cross-sectional approach, coherent with the needs of the individual sectors in which our companies operate.

How is the ICT division structured within the Group?
A corporate definition of ICT Governance has only existed since 2006. The Group has a technological partner, Elsag, but often the companies are still following IT management processes independently. In 2006, Finmeccanica chose to address ICT with a single vision: to define a single g243overnance model and create synergy among all the CIOs of the companies.

What is your role as the head of ICT Governance?
I joined Finmeccanica two years ago, with the goal of collaborating on the path to integration promoted by corporate. The responsibility of governance is direction and control: both of sourcing on the group level as well as total ICT costs and instruments and methodologies adopted for the management of data processing projects. Today Finmeccanica manages ICT in the individual companies in different ways, with structures of varying complexity and responsibility. Our task is to make the models, methodologies and inter-group processes uniform as well as to promote ICT’s role in the company’s production process. The role of the CIO as a support to the business is fundamental and cannot be improvised.

How do you think business intelligence can contribute to the acceleration to innovation?
I think that business intelligence can encourage innovation through the intelligent sharing of information and a proper definition of performance management with regard to major processes. Business intelligence can effectively respond to a series of questions such as: What do we do? How could we do better by saving and using existing technology? What resources do we really have available? This, for us, is fundamental. SAS helps us to be competitive in a market that often suffers from the “not invented here” syndrome, where we want to be, above all, key players.

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