Equans

Scaling SLAM portal invocations by over 1000%

Time to process reduction

Reduced average processing time for HR tasks such as approvals, IT access changes and employee onboarding.

Cost optimisation

Achieved an estimated 90% in cost savings through the utilisation of cloud technologies and a pay-as-you-go model ensuring optimised resource allocation and efficient use of infrastructure resources, minimising operational expenses.

Compliance adherence

Demonstrated full compliance with GDPR regulations, with a reduction in associated compliance risks.

SITUATION

Overview

EQUANS is a facilities management company that supports businesses, communities and the public sector by mobilising its expertise to provide low-carbon energy solutions, offer cutting-edge technical and FM services and transformative regeneration across the UK and Ireland. A market leader in the sector with over 74,000 employees leveraging 200 years of expertise, EQUANS is present in 17 countries - mostly across Europe, but also with significant interests in North America, Latin America and Australia.

The business continually changes as it grows both organically and through acquisitions, which makes the role of the human resources (HR) team at EQUANS especially critical and sometimes challenging. A key part of its HR function is its starters, leavers and amends process (SLAM), which facilitates approvals and processing for the onboarding of new staff, employee changes and leavers for UK-based employees.

Having moved from a manual, paper-based process in 2018 to a digital solution using Microsoft SharePoint, the solution quickly reached the limits of its capabilities by 2019. Supporting the timely issue of employment contracts and amendments, updates to payroll, and timely changes to IT access including the issuing and recovery of IT equipment, the SLAM process was business critical, however was at high-risk as Microsoft started withdrawing functionality affecting the process.  

With the looming threat that Microsoft could withdraw further functionality at short notice, there was significant risk that the entire portal would be decommissioned by Microsoft and the process would become unusable, affecting over 13,500 UK-based employees.

EQUANS needed a partner to create a custom software solution in an accelerated timeframe. One that would meet the complex requirements of the SLAM process, whilst improving the experience for employees and meeting data security and GDPR requirements.  

Solution

Navigating complexity

With stakeholders including HR, IT, procurement, finance and legal teams involved in the SLAM process and end-users including new and current colleagues and leavers, a key part of the project was the planning, discovery and analysis (PAD) phase. At this stage we worked with the product owner, subject matter experts and other key stakeholders to understand the needs of the business and how they worked with the existing SharePoint process. This allowed us to gain invaluable insights into the nuances of their complex workflows which enabled us to design a solution that not only met their existing needs but also anticipated future requirements.

Building upon the foundation laid during the PAD phase, we started on the design and delivery phase working with the product owner to conceptualise a system that replicated existing functionalities while enhancing the overall user experience (UX). The system architecture needed to balance performance and complexity.

Leveraging our expertise in cloud technologies, we architected a scalable solution capable of meeting the demands of EQUANS’ evolving business landscape without compromising on features or expectations. To optimise workflow management and ensure timely execution of tasks, we employed AWS Step Functions as the backbone of our application. This event-driven architecture facilitated seamless coordination between services, automating document allocation, progress tracking, and email notifications. By leveraging event-rich processes, we enhanced visibility and transparency across the entire approval workflow, empowering users to monitor progress in real-time.

Cloud technology using AWS served as a cornerstone of our solution, offering unparalleled scalability and cost-efficiency. By leveraging cloud-native services, we optimised resource utilisation, scaling seamlessly to accommodate fluctuating demand without human intervention. This not only reduced operational overheads but also ensured uninterrupted service delivery during peak operating hours.

To empower informed decision-making and drive continuous improvement, we implemented a robust reporting mechanism that provided actionable insights into key metrics such as request fulfilment time. By extracting, transforming, and analysing database data, we generated CSV reports that could be seamlessly integrated with the customer's business intelligence tools. Additionally, real-time log analysis enabled proactive error detection and resolution, ensuring optimal system performance and reliability.

Ensuring critical success

With a keen focus on delivering a solution that not only meets but exceeds the client's expectations, our solution was strategically designed to ensure critical success factors were fully addressed. From enhancing user experience to ensuring GDPR compliance and scalability, our solution is engineered to optimise efficiency, minimise redundancy, and pave the way for sustained success in HR management. Key features of the solution include:

Full support provided
Enabling single sign on (SSO)
Scalability and future-proofing
Enhanced data security and GDPR compliance
Streamlined workflow automation

Tech stack

The application was intended to be used within UK office hours, whilst remaining available out of hours and at weekends. To ensure cost-effectiveness, we adopted a micro-service architecture coupled with cloud-native technologies leveraging AWS services to create a scalable solution that dynamically scales down to zero during off-peak hours. This approach not only ensures uninterrupted availability but also optimises costs by utilising resources efficiently.

Amazon EventBridge
Amazon Route53
Amazon API Gateway
AWS Lambda
AWS DynamoDB
Amazon Cognito
Amazon SES
Amazon CloudFront
Amazon s3
AWS Glue
AWS Athena
React.js
Node.js
Python
IMPACT

Increased speed and accuracy, reduced risks

The implementation of the new and improved SLAM portal has yielded significant impact and results for EQUANS, transforming critical HR processes and enhancing organisational efficiency.  

Embracing Agile principles and leveraging the latest cloud technologies, we engineered a solution that met the customers’ requirements whilst also providing a platform that is primed for future enhancements.

The result is a SLAM portal that increases the speed of approvals, IT access changes, IT equipment issuing and recovery, onboarding new employees, notifications of employee changes and notifications of leavers whilst also increasing accuracy for payroll, employee contracts and employee changes. It also improves visibility across the process whilst reducing associated costs due to re-work and poor quality and reducing GDPR risks.  

  • Time to process reduction

    Reduced average processing time for HR tasks such as approvals, IT access changes and employee onboarding.

  • Cost optimisation

    Achieved an estimated 90% in cost savings through the utilisation of cloud technologies and a pay-as-you-go model ensuring optimised resource allocation and efficient use of infrastructure resources, minimising operational expenses.

  • Compliance adherence

    Demonstrated full compliance with GDPR regulations, with a reduction in associated compliance risks.

  • Scalability

    Built a scalable solution capable of accommodating over 100,000 invocations per week while also implementing a pay-as-you-go model that allows the system to scale down to zero during periods of inactivity. The solution is geared for growth in user base and data volume without compromising performance or functionality.

  • Performance enhancement

    Increased system performance with the new application capable of handling over 1070% more requests per week compared to the previous SharePoint solution, demonstrating a substantial improvement in scalability and responsiveness.

Similar case studies
Tablet and smartphone showcasing the user interface and functionality on different devices.
Testing market viability with an MVP in 20 weeks
iamproperty
View case study
HC-One login screen, ready for user authentication and access to the platform's services.
Streamlining access to apps with a single sign-on solution
HC-One
View case study
Multiple iPads displaying examples of Workcast case studies.
Scaling digital events by 900% with cloud-native technology
WorkCast
View case study
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.