Case Studies / Research and Development Manufacturing

Taiwan Mobile

Building a cross-departmental software development collaboration and customer requirements management platform.

Building context/challenges.

The Technology and User Management Division of Taiwan Mobile is responsible for the formulation of software architecture and related processes within the IT department. It also supports the company's digitalization needs across other departments. Consequently, it manages a considerable number of projects simultaneously, resulting in a complex task and issue tracking process. During project execution, retrieving relevant historical records without a robust system mechanism is time-consuming and labor-intensive. After several months of evaluation and trial runs, the decision was made to introduce the ezteamwork™ collaborative project management platform to facilitate easier communication between work teams and enhance work efficiency.

Solutions

The project management mechanism of ezteamwork™ is workflow-oriented, providing project stakeholders with collaborative planning, execution, communication, and control. By integrating knowledge management mechanisms, it effectively accumulates, utilizes, and manages project knowledge, including work history, issue discussions, and documents, throughout the planning and execution process. This provides a comprehensive view of the entire project's knowledge, significantly enhancing research and development speed and shortening product development cycles.

► Changing work habits and workflows through collaborative operations to share information.

During the initial implementation phase, it wasn't easy. Most team members were accustomed to using spreadsheets as auxiliary tools for various project tracking tasks. As for work records and file management, the majority relied on shared disk space. However, from a management perspective, keeping spreadsheets updated required significant manual effort. Therefore, obtaining the latest real-time information wasn't straightforward, and there was no clear link between file documents and relevant workflows. As a result, historical information often remained dormant in file managers, with low reusability.

To enhance our department's operational approach, we began by changing our software usage habits. Whenever there was a need to aggregate information using spreadsheets, we transitioned this behavior to organizing information using ezteamwork™. Initially, we established projects in ezteamwork™, defined the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and related planning. Through collaborative operations, team members reported information using ezteamwork™ while also sharing file documents. Moreover, when information came from various sources, ezteamwork™ allowed us to flexibly define different data field formats according to our needs and establish workflows based on the relationships between the data.

► Utilize ezteamwork™ to customize various management framework templates according to your needs.

By adopting the approach described above and creating various management framework templates, communicate these concepts and ideas with team members. Through this implementation process, users can experience firsthand the convenience brought by the system. Furthermore, since ezteamwork™ is a highly flexible tool, it is advisable to train at least one expert user during the implementation process or apply appropriate templates to facilitate the onboarding process and overcome any resistance from team members. Overall, while there may be some initial challenges, the value of ezteamwork™ is evident, and its learning curve is manageable.

► Naturally preserve the complete associative framework during work.

I have been involved in many IT projects, and quality assurance in software development projects relies heavily on effective test case management. In the past, the approach was for managers to provide team members with a template, and responsible team members would write test cases in text files. However, the execution records and results of each test case were often stored in another (or multiple) files, making it difficult to track their whereabouts during and after project execution. Therefore, I hoped to have a management tool that could effectively organize and store all test case information, as well as record the results of executions comprehensively. ezteamwork™ provides excellent support in this aspect. Initially, it establishes a work breakdown structure (WBS) based on system specifications, including features, modules, or subsystems, directly linking test cases to relevant subsystems. During execution, test progress or encountered issues can be linked to test cases, forming a complete association structure from feature to test case to execution. Once completed, it can be saved as a test project template for quickly establishing related project work structures in the future.

► Handling customer requirements in real-time and with transparency to enhance customer satisfaction.

We also utilize ezteamwork™ for managing customer requirements. For example, in a meeting, a supervisor proposes a customer visit plan and assigns personnel for the visits. After the meeting, if subordinates do not proactively report progress, and the manager does not inquire about the progress, the execution of the plan may go unnoticed and could gradually be forgotten. However, when we put the customer visit plan on the ezteamwork™ collaborative project management platform, everything from planning, task assignments, to actual execution can be tracked. If team members indeed carry out the tasks and report progress using the ezteamwork™ platform, along with the real-time email notifications, managers can stay informed about the execution status of the tasks. Regarding customer requests and suggestions, we can have a clear outline and context, making it easy to conduct various statistical analyses on the requests raised by customers and grasp the actual execution status of each requirement. With the improvement in information transparency and real-time updates, customer satisfaction is inherently enhanced.

► Senior management can monitor progress at any time.

Senior management can also generate reports through ezteamwork™ to monitor the progress of all project plans at any time. Because ezteamwork™'s report viewing mode is dynamic, reports are updated automatically whenever there is a change in the work status. Therefore, plans arranged in meetings are no longer neglected, and with effective tool assistance, efficiency is immediately apparent.

New Product Development

Benefits of implementation.

►The flexible system architecture of ezteamwork™ caters to custom requirements, allowing for tailored solutions to be easily implemented.

If we were to assess the value of ezteamwork™, it's important to acknowledge that no tool is perfect or without flaws. However, what's most satisfying about it is its flexibility. While I could request the IT department to design a tool for my e-management needs or purchase additional commercial software, with ezteamwork's flexible architecture, I can quickly customize the platform to meet my requirements without having to seek external solutions. This means I can promptly provide my team members with the tailored management tools they need, which is what I find most advantageous about ezteamwork™.

► Optimizing work management operations to enhance the effectiveness of information.

The effectiveness of implementing ezteamwork™ may not be easily quantifiable, but one significant change is evident: Previously, managers had to collect information individually to confirm work progress, which was neither efficient nor accurate. However, with ezteamwork™, work progress and related information are uploaded and updated proactively by team members, rather than passively tracked and controlled by managers. This difference is significant, and the accuracy of information has also greatly improved.

► Implementing ezteamwork™ has simplified the workload and allowed for the concentration of core energy.

In traditional project management approaches, project managers often spend a significant amount of time and effort tracking the progress of team members and monitoring issues. However, with the use of collaborative project management platforms, the work mode of project managers has undergone significant changes. They no longer need to chase after each team member to monitor project progress. Instead, they can instantly track all projects and every work status within them. This significantly improves project performance and allows managers to focus their time and energy on communication, coordination, and important decision-making.

Taiwan Mobile was founded on February 25, 1997. It is one of Taiwan's leading telecommunications brands. It has experienced the digital eras of 2G, 3G, and 4G. In addition to telecommunications services, it also operates diversely in various industries, including Internet, Media & Entertainment, and E-Commerce. As one of the industry representatives, Taiwan Mobile actively integrates its core capabilities and resources, striving to realize a comprehensive digital lifestyle. With "Creating the best customer experience" as its guiding principle, it is committed to providing customers with the products they need most, the highest quality services, and the safest environment for use.

Industry category.

Telecommunications service industry

Solutions

New Product Development