As part of the merger of the former nine regional health insurance funds into one Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK), a new department for risk management, internal control system (IKS), and internal audit was created. The department also consolidates knowledge in crisis management and business continuity management, integrative process and requirement management, as well as organization and project management.

The Challenge 

The extensive range of tasks of the new department required the further development of existing processes and strategies with regard to the new corporate structure. Due to the new framework conditions, a professionalization of processes and management systems was also necessary. Therefore, in the summer of 2023, ÖGK commissioned Spirit in Projects with the design and implementation of a strategy workshop.

Our Approach

Within the scope of the consulting mandate, the consultants were able to draw on experiences from various public organizational contexts. Bridging business and IT – this approach by Spirit in Projects enabled a comprehensive view of the task at hand.

After evaluating existing strategy documents and department-specific documentation, the experts from Spirit in Projects, in close exchange with the client, determined the topics and contents for the strategy workshop. The workshop was also moderated by Spirit consultants.

A target group-oriented workshop design clearly communicated the analysis results and opened up space for constructive discussions. During the workshop, participants were able to focus on strategic issues and examine them using a SWOT analysis – always with the actual customer benefit in mind.

Together, a strategy including a mission statement, vision, and mission was defined. The focus on a clear roadmap and measures to be taken ensured concrete, implementable derivations from the workshop.

The Benefit

The experience of the Spirit in Projects team ensured that the ÖGK strategy workshop was conducted in a goal-oriented and professional manner. An in-depth examination of the mission, vision, and associated metrics and KPIs brought future steps into focus. By evaluating current implementation successes, confidence was strengthened in the ability to implement newly identified measures. The professional moderation fostered a constructive conversation climate and was a key factor in the success of the workshop.

The successful implementation of the ÖGK strategy workshop is an example of Spirit in Projects’ consulting expertise: We always advise with a focus on clear decisions and implementable measures. We draw on our experience from implementation projects and can thus anticipate where challenges may arise. And your company can also benefit from this – from solutions that create added value!”

In 2021, Austria passed a bill to implement a text-based public warning system, which required that mobile network operators implement a cell broadcast service. This would make it possible for IT systems to automatically send to operators any official warnings issued by state warning centers and the Ministry of the Interior. All devices registered in the mobile network would then receive a corresponding notification on their displays and/or an audible signal.

The Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH (RTR) regulatory authority was appointed to implement the system and to display any warning notifications that were issued on a central website. To implement the project, the RTR tendered an invitation to bid for the “Procurement, Programming, Installation and Operation of Two Polling Servers, an AT Alert Web Server and a Platform Server”.

The task

The RTR hired Spirit in Projects in 2023 to support the invitation to tender as requirements engineers. Our services included a comprehensive preliminary survey as well as an analysis of existing environments, data flows, interfaces and roles. Our main deliverable consisted of working out a performance catalog, for which we collected both functional and non-functional requirements and defined the basic architecture of the solution. After reviewing the performance catalog for quality, we worked with contracting experts to incorporate it into tender and evaluation documents.

The challenge

The project was characterized mainly by its complex landscape, which included a variety of stakeholders and technologies (state, federation, mobile network operators, end devices), and by the high visibility and criticality of the solution, to be used by the general public in emergencies and disasters.

Client Value

The technical expertise of its consultants combined with their experience in supporting tenders and a sound methodological approach made it possible for Spirit in Projects to target and develop the documents necessary for the complex invitation to tender. The high quality of the requirements catalog and tender documents was a key factor in ensuring the solution was implemented quickly.

In particular, the client noted Spirit in Projects’ high level of technical expertise and quality of its process organization. The system’s initial Austria-wide test run was successfully completed on October 5, 2024.

In 2018/2019, the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS), a federal development and financing bank for the promotion and financing of companies, after drafting a requirements specification for a task tracking tool wanted to subject it to a quality assurance review. In addition, tendering support was set up for the requirements specification.

The experts at Spirit in Projects analyzed the existing requirements specification with regard to structure, concepts, linguistics and readability and worked out a number of recommendations for improvement. These recommendations significantly improved quality with regard to the subsequent call for tender, and problems of scope and definition were already avoided well in advance.

The subsequent tendering process was likewise supported by Spirit in Projects.

In 2015 Austria Federal Railways (ÖBB) commissioned Nomad Digital, a connectivity supplier which specializes in the transportation sector, with implementation of an IOB (Internet on board) solution in its Railjet fleet. This was only an initial step, as the ÖBB further planned to extend IOB to up to 900 trains and 2,000 buses – the… Continue Reading Tendering and project management for Austria federal railways internet on board