Client background

This government contractor develops aerospace products for military and commercial customers in a variety of industries.

The business challenge

A large military contractor with multiple divisions and locations, which has expanded through acquisitions over the past 20+ years, recently implemented IFS ERP software to standardize and optimize their business processes across all units. As part of this standardization, they needed to deploy IFS Analytics, built on Microsoft Azure and Power BI, to provide widespread access to analytics for all IFS users.

Due to their work with government contracts, the military contractor required the deployment of IFS Analytics on the Azure Government Cloud High (GCC High) to comply with specific government standards and certifications. This necessitated unique configuration methods and presented several challenges that had never been encountered before.

With a two-month deadline and limited experience in Power BI and service-based deployments, the company engaged Baker Tilly for their expertise in configuring, integrating and deploying these resources efficiently.

Strategy and solution

Baker Tilly worked with the company to successfully connect and deploy IFS Analytics Power BI modules in Azure Gov Cloud highly restricted resources. Deploying cloud solutions in Gov Cloud presents considerable challenges, particularly when utilizing templated solutions. This is due to the restricted set of resources and capabilities available within the Gov Cloud platform which meet specific security requirements. Despite these challenges, we were able to integrate IFS Analytics, deploy it into Azure Gov Cloud and then showcase the data in the embedded Power BI solution.

In addition, we provided the company with training on how to configure, set up and deliver end-user training around how to actively engage with these tools in their day-to-day work. As a result, the company now has broad scale access to analytics for all their IFS users to help them better manage and plan out their resources, drive customer service, lower costs and ultimately maximize profitability.

With the configuration up and running, next steps include establishing data governance, building out robust continuous integration and continuous delivery (CICD) and DevOps pipelines and augmenting the data from IFS with additional data feeds to customize the reports so they reflect the specific needs of the company.