Serena Customer Story - AdvancePCS

AdvancePCS Achieves 175% Increase in Productivity and an 83% Decrease in Software Delivery Times

Challenge

To improve internal and external communications and software delivery times by implementing a change management system to manage and track software code, web content, service requests and business processes.

Solution

Serena Dimensions, a robust solution that provides the flexibility and scalability for managing all phases of the software lifecycle and the change process.

Results/ROI

Delivered an 80% increase in the quantity of software builds per day as a result of improved workflow and the ability to reuse code
Improved AdvancePCS’ software delivery mechanism through greater efficiency and visibility – resulting in an 83% decrease in software delivery times
Dramatically improved software development and business processes – boosting overall productivity by 175%
Significantly reduced overhead costs associated with having a full-time, dedicated administrator
Provided the flexibility to define processes for all teams and projects and the scalability to fit any size or type of enterprise project or process

AdvancePCS is the nation’s largest independent provider of health improvement services, with more than 75 million health plan members and approximately $28 billion in annual prescription drug spending. The company offers plans with a wide range of health improvement products and services, such as prescription benefits management and pharmaceutical care consultations, designed to help manage costs and improve the quality of care delivered to plan members. AdvancePCS is ranked by Fortune magazine as one of America’s 100 fastest-growing public companies and is included on the Forbes Platinum 400 list of best large companies. It is recognized as both a Fortune 500 and Fortune Global 500 company and has earned the number two spot on the Barron’s 500 list of best performing companies.

Unfortunately, despite its obvious business success AdvancePCS was finding it difficult to manage and track changes – to software code, web content, business processes, etc. – across the organization. This resulted in poor internal and external communications, time-consuming development efforts and lengthy delivery times. Among the company’s biggest pain points was the fact that it could not track the changes being made to source code, making it difficult to successfully manage this process. This issue was exacerbated by the fact that AdvancePCS is a global company with many people throughout the organization involved in managing code.

The company realized that it needed a comprehensive change management system and turned to Merant’s PVCS Dimensions for help.

Greater Flexibility and Scalability

Having used Dimensions at his previous place of employment, John Jackola, CM Manager for the Web Services Group, was aware of Dimensions’ robust capabilities and flexibility. He witnessed firsthand how Dimensions could be leveraged with existing technologies for requirements as diverse as tracking software licenses, logging trouble tickets and managing vacation requests. “Many companies nowadays are looking at how they can get the most bang for their buck. As a result, they are looking for tools that easily integrate with the systems they have in place to increase the overall ROI,” said Jackola. “Dimensions’ flexibility allows companies to get more out of these combined solutions. In our case, Dimensions provided us with the flexibility to manage multiple change cycles across our organization – from HR to billing.”

As part of the company’s introduction to Dimensions, project teams were allowed to work out how they performed their jobs using the new product. In addition to their training, team members were able to “test drive” the product and provide feedback on their likes and dislikes, and make adjustments accordingly. According to Jackola, buy-in from users was an important part of making the implementation successful and, in fact, helped spur Dimensions’ adoption in other departments. “Our teams were so impressed with Dimensions that they have helped us evangelize the product to other departments,” said Jackola. “In fact, we have received many requests from employees in other departments who want to use this product simply through word of mouth.”

AdvancePCS is currently utilizing Dimensions to manage its front-end application for rebate billing, track time off requests, manage the source code for several HR applications, and to help Web operators track internal department work. For example, AdvancePCS’ Web organization is using Dimensions to manage approximately 60,000 Web items in its repository. According to Jackola, the company is also in the process of expanding its use of Dimensions across departments in Arizona and Texas. “Dimensions has so many capabilities that we are just on the threshold of what is possible,” he stated.

Another way in which AdvancePCS is utilizing Dimensions is in its efforts to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a new government regulation designed to ensure patient privacy and portability of electronic records. As part of HIPAA, healthcare and life sciences companies are required to be able to track and validate changes to their internal systems. So like other healthcare organizations, AdvancePCS is making adjustments to its IT systems to meet the April 2003 deadline for compliance. The company is currently in the process of trying to incorporate the new federal requirements with its Rx claims process and is confident that it will meet the government’s deadline – especially with the help of Dimensions.

Dimensions Provides Robust Solution

Among Dimensions’ many benefits is a powerful and flexible process engine that combines software configuration management capabilities (such as version, issue workspace, baseline, build and release management) with a pre-defined, automatic change process. These combined capabilities give AdvancePCS a comprehensive framework for managing all of the phases of the software lifecycle, and the process of change itself. Additionally, the company now has the flexibility to define processes for all of its teams and projects, since Dimensions scales and adapts to fit any size or type of enterprise project or process. AdvancePCS credits Dimensions with helping make customizations to web applications quickly and efficiently and touts the product’s compatibility with its business processes and best practices.

Improved Productivity and Faster Delivery Times

Because AdvancePCS teams are distributed, it is imperative that they have access to a single repository to share critical information. Dimensions offers multiple departments quick access to this sort of standards-based, central repository via a Web browser, ensuring easy access to an array of information on assets, processes and activities. Unlike before, teams now have the capability to track and trace all the changes made to digital assets and manage entire processes, no matter where they are located in the enterprise. This makes it possible for end-users to have much needed visibility on timelines, defects, and issues affecting quality. Additionally, a single repository makes it possible to manage change across several lines of business, including development, QA, production and IT.

Furthermore, team members now have the tools to synchronize and communicate to rapidly build reliable systems, which have led to an impressive return on investment. According to AdvancePCS, the company has witnessed an 80% increase in quantity of software builds per day, citing build times that have been reduced from 3-to-4 hours to as little as 15 minutes due to improved workflow and the ability to reuse code. The company has also experienced an 83% decrease in software delivery times, a 175% increase in overall productivity and has reduced the overhead costs associated with a having a full-time, dedicated administrator.

“I am surprised when I reflect on the capabilities of the product,” said Jackola. “Serena is constantly evaluating how customers use the product and extend its application throughout an organization. I am amazed at how the company manages to make Dimensions better.”

About Serena

Serena is a global provider of application lifecycle management solutions that deliver control, insight and predictability to enterprises that are dependent on software applications to run their businesses. Serena helps companies protect and optimize these business-critical assets, supporting regulatory compliance, improving IT governance, mitigating risks and boosting productivity, quality and ROI.

Serena is a registered trademark of SERENA Software, Inc. Dimensions is a trademark of Merant. All other products or company names are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright 2004 SERENA Software, Inc. CS04DIM014