eGovernance: With the aim to modernise and build a world class port infrastructure in the country, the Indian Ports Association (IPA) has appointed IT consulting firm Tech Mahindra as the Managed Service Provider for the five major ports at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Deendayal Port, and Paradip Port Trust.
For this project, Tech Mahindra is partnering with technology companies like SAP, Envision, Cisco, Dell, RTCom and other major players. IPA has hired global consulting services firm Ernst Young to assist in conceptualizing Port-EBS and support IPA and ports in the implementation of this transformational initiative.
The government informed that the proposed Enterprise Business System will comprise of three core solution components – Port Operations Solution, standard ERP solutions, and auxiliary solutions, and would tightly integrate with Port Community System (PCS) and other retained applications of ports, Enterprise Business standard processes and shared infrastructure on cloud, making it next generation modern system which will serve ports purpose in coming years.
The government asserted that the system would be driven by transparent, simple and error-free business processes, easily measured by clearly defined key performance indicators, use the latest technology to achieve strategic business objectives and integrate seamlessly with prevalent systems and devices. The solution proposes a cafeteria approach for ports, which allows them to select the systems that they want to be implemented as per their needs. This model enables minimal efforts in a seamless manner if new ports opt to join the system in near future.
The Project Implementation and Stabilisation period is 20 months and Operations & Maintenance support is for 5 years. For this project, the five major port trusts – Mumbai Port Trust, Kolkata Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust, Deendayal Port Trust and Paradip Port Trust have come together in this collaborative effort towards building a common shared platform for modernization and automation of port processes.
