Case Study - Easy Project: Centralised project management system of Kazakhstan government

Client Overview 

Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world, located in Central Asia, and divided into 17 regions and 3 cities with special status. Managing a country as large and diverse as Kazakhstan requires highly complex coordination between various levels of government and branches of power.  

The uniqueness of the Kazakhstani experience lies in the development of the National Project Management System Concept in 2011. The concept aimed at the extensive integration of project management into the project management system through the development of three key components: 

1. Training of government officials and the development of their competencies in project management; 
2. Formation of the necessary legal framework for institutionalizing project management at the legislative level; 
3. Centralized information system for project management. 

What challenges faced Kazakhstan's government?

The Kazakh government, prioritizing economic growth and modernization, coordinated diverse projects across sectors like infrastructure, healthcare, education, and more. The vast territory, diverse population, and economic challenges add even further complexity to governance and administration. 

To streamline governance and project implementation, a centralized, cross-platform management system became imperative. Challenges included navigating complex government structures, eliminating reserve reporting practices, and fostering cohesive collaboration across all levels. To achieve the strategic goals of Kazakhstan's socio-economic development, the necessity for a centralized and cross-platform project management system deployed nationwide became indispensable for ensuring effective governance and the successful implementation of projects at both national and local levels. 

The complexity of developing and implementing such a project management system for the government of Kazakhstan involved several aspects: 

1. A complex hierarchical system of government administration requires consideration of all structures and the incorporation of a complex matrix of interactions. 
2. The ongoing practice of generating numerous types of reports leads to report duplication and negative reactions among government entities due to the lack of clear instructions to manage all projects directly in one system. 

How did Kazakhstan choose its project management software? 

Choosing the ideal project management software for country-wide implementation is a critical decision that requires the utmost careful consideration. To streamline workflows and foster collaboration across government levels, a meticulous assessment of scalability, cost, customization, integration, and user-friendliness was conducted. This rigorous process ensures the selected solution aligns seamlessly with the country's governance structure and project management needs.

The technical specification included a vast array of requirements, such as the ability to:

• Form cross-functional project teams to integrate project activities vertically and horizontally among participants.
• Manage state programs, territorial development strategies, and documents within the government planning system.
• Facilitate collaboration among numerous participants to manage extensive program and project portfolios, considering industry and regional specificity.
• Collect, process, store, and visualize data on planned and actual KPIs for industry-specific and regional development programs, accounting for each project's contribution.
• Navigate seamlessly from country-level indicators to specific project progress without excessive reporting or bureaucracy.
• Monitor expenditure, particularly state budget allocations, for project implementation.

Moreover, system localization was a crucial factor for Kazakhstan's government, ensuring the ability to fully adopt the centralized project management system at both national and local levels. 

Requirements:

• Task management + timeline
• User-friendly interface
• WBS, Gantt, dashboards & KPI
• Mobile app
• Cloud and Open-source

What solutions were considered? 

At this point, the "Yevniy Consulting Group" conducted a comparative multi-factor analysis of several dozen different project management information systems based on various criteria (subscription cost, user-friendly interface, quick adaptability, scalability, and customization for the needs of Kazakhstan's government, etc.).

Based on the results of the large and thorough analysis, which included every relevant project management system on the market, the decision overwhelmingly favored Easy Project as the best-fit solution for Kazakhstan’s government.  

The decision-making committee concluded that, apart from Easy Project, there are no other project management products in the market that can be effectively scaled for managing the mega-portfolio of an entire country while offering almost unlimited customization, local support, and system localization for Kazakhstan simultaneously. 

Key features of Easy Project 

Easy Project provides key features vital for Kazakhstan's government:

• Formation and interaction with cross-functional project teams via the unified project partnership matrix.
• A comprehensive approach to human resource utilization for the joint portfolio management of government sector programs and projects at all life cycle stages.
• Adaptation and integration of management technologies, tools, and best practices in Change Management, Project Management, Agile, SCRUM, Kanban, and information-analytical project management systems.
• Creation of a unified ecosystem and adaptation of modern standards, methodologies, and best practices of project activities to reduce document turnover and bureaucracy. This is achieved through direct joint activities of cross-functional project teams, timely information exchange, and accelerated decision-making.

High adaptability of Easy Project 

Easy Project was customized to meet the Kazakhstan government's diverse requirements, enabling the management of extensive program and project portfolios. This customization fostered collaboration among stakeholders involved in all aspects of implementation, considering industry and regional needs.

Moreover, the system allowed country leaders, officials, entities, and investor companies to navigate effortlessly from strategic indicators to individual project specifics within locations in just a few clicks. This capability facilitated real-time project tracking, enhancing efficiency and transparency across governance levels.

Deep Integration of Easy Project with Microsoft Power BI

Integration of Easy Project with the analytical platform Microsoft Power BI allowed users not only to manage their projects collaboratively but also to track, in real-time, the progress of numerous key performance indicators and indicators for their programs. 

The integration with Microsoft Power BI enables the formation of interactive reporting on projects/programs and portfolios in an automated mode. It also allows the creation of interactive online dashboards for programs and portfolios with all the necessary information for operational decision-making. 

• Embedded algorithm for calculating efficiency, risk assessment, and identifying specific projects affecting these indicators. 
• Multilevel cascading visualization of achieving planned target indicators in the context of components (programs, projects, regions, industries, etc.). 
• Rankings of structural units based on KPI performance. 
• Geoinformation analysis of achieving target indicators and project execution by regions and districts. 
• Assignment of personal responsibility to performers through precise decomposition of indicators and dependent projects. 
• Automatic data updates, eliminating the need for manual development of presentations and updates. 

Phases of implementation:

The deployment of Easy Project within Kazakhstan's government was meticulously planned and executed to ensure seamless integration and effective utilization at the country-wide level. The implementation of Easy Project began with the deployment of a pilot platform for managing projects and programs in one of the 20 regions of Kazakhstan. Subsequently, access to the pilot platform was extended to central sectoral ministries, including ministries of tourism, health, and education, allowing for collaborative project management. 

Over time, the pilot Easy Project platform was scaled up into a shared instance for all government agencies, coupled with deep integration with Microsoft Power BI for enhanced business analytics. To ensure the proper functioning of the system and provide support to users, a comprehensive three-level technical support system was established. 

1. Analysis and requirements specification

At the first level of technical support, specialists assisted end users—employees of government agencies and project participants—in resolving operational issues related to the use of the platform. 

2. Test Environment Build

The second level of technical support involved specialists providing methodological and functional support, including system configuration, integration with other information systems, and collaboration with the first and third lines of support. 

3. Production Environment Build

The third level of technical support comprised specialists responsible for the system's source code and infrastructure support, ensuring server software components' stability, network infrastructure security, and system monitoring. 

This multi-level technical support system contributed to the uninterrupted operation of the system and ensured user satisfaction with Easy Project. 

Additionally, to facilitate user adoption and provide educational resources, a Knowledge Base was established, featuring short instructional videos and longer-format educational content.  

The implementation of Easy Redmine brought:

As of today, all government agencies of Kazakhstan, the 9th largest country in the world, utilize Easy Project as their centralized project management system to manage projects and teams effectively and strategically across the entire country. This remarkable project management success has not gone unnoticed. In 2023, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) awarded Kazakhstan the Gold at the Global Project Management Professionals Forum in Spain. 

The capabilities and tools of Easy Project have enabled a country-wide organized workflow, wherein all responsible and involved parties such as central government agencies, local executive authorities, construction companies, technical engineers, supervisory experts, and many others collaborate in real-time. Now, each of them can set and monitor tasks without bureaucracy, generate reports, and promptly address arising issues directly within the unified information system. 

The new interactive online dashboard allows stakeholders to seamlessly navigate from national-level indicators (Government level) to visually observe and access tasks and document archives of specific objects (schools) in less than 3 clicks. 

Real-time monitoring of all KPIs is available in a plan/fact format. The implementation of online reporting through interactive dashboards has significantly reduced traditional paper reports, references, and presentations.