Interview: Clarity and the Inte­gration of Third-Party Systems at Flughafen München GmbH

Matthias Graf, Chief Project Portfolio & Resource Management

As an airport, we can consider ourselves like a large general store with many different projects. For instance, a truck plows through a field to lay fiber optic cables to connect outdoor transmitters for German air traffic control. This is an example of an IT project. We also have more conventional IT projects, such as implementing ERP systems. 

The topics at FMG are wide-ranging and cover a large IT system landscape. Therefore, information is distributed across many systems, giving rise to the need for interfaces. 

To a certain extent, we work in an agile environment when developing an interface. We first roughly conceptualize internally what we want. The joint implementation process with itdesign is then very iterative, which has worked well. This process helps us to ensure that we only implement what we need, nothing more and nothing less.  

It is only during the operation of the interface that it becomes apparent that some cases have not yet been specified or addressed. Thanks to the iterative approach, we can gradually add the elements we need along the way and achieve the desired benefit faster, such as a reduction in workload. 

Our success story in implementing Meisterplan is quite nice. When we introduced the topic of IT resource management and transferred our data to Meisterplan, we could see for the first time that our planned demand did not match our capacity at all. We were torn because it was obvious that we couldn’t get the projects done with the available resources. We were only able to get the positions approved after we showed with Meisterplan that we would have to cut numerous projects given the current resource availability.  

We use Meisterplan in the following way: Every two weeks we hold an IT resource board meeting that brings together all the executives who contribute resources to the projects, which include around 15 to 20 people. We discuss changes to projects, project launches, and new project proposals to be included in the portfolio. Meisterplan is the basis of this discussion and is projected on the wall with a projector or the screen is shared in web meetings. The tool provides us with a live view of the current status of the project. Based on this, we make decisions such as resource allocations.  

We all agreed on the fundamental principle that basic data will continue to be stored in Clarity. Clarity is the gold mine, while Meisterplan is the simulation tool. 

To understand how the bidirectional interface works, let me walk you through the process. First, we take the data from Clarity, import it into Meisterplan and simulate the planning there. We make resource allocation decisions during the IT resource board meeting and the data is then exported back to Clarity into the team’s hard allocations. Previously, getting this data into Clarity alone used to take an hour, but now it takes only ten minutes. At the next resource board meeting, the fresh data is transferred from Clarity to Meisterplan. 

I was not on board at the time, so I do not know the details, but to my knowledge, we found itdesign through a recommendation. itdesign has evolved tremendously over the last 12 years and today no one even comes close to what your team is doing. I’ve been involved in implementations with other partners, but itdesign’s implementation has been the best.  

When I talk to people who are interested in Clarity, I make the following argument: itdesign knows how Clarity works and in which direction topics are developing. This gives itdesign the ability to provide us (the customers) with tips and make better decisions on how to implement specific topics. As a result, it gives itdesign a competitive advantage over others, and benefits everyone who works with you.  

What I value most about the partnership is the way we work together. Your approachability and technically savvy management team have impressed us with their expertise and partnership. Specific topics are easily communicated during discussions with upper management. Communicating on that level has also helped us. 

Last but not least, with my main contact Ralf, I have someone on hand with whom I can connect on a human level. I often work together with Ralf, and we quickly find a solution in a kind of ‘pair programming.’ Because of the intensive collaboration, I can develop topics in Clarity independently and assess the implementation in a completely different way.