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"We know that the desire to be the best and the constant drive to improve performance, is a culture shared by both ING Renault F1 Team and Xansa."
Bob Bell, Technical Director, ING Renault Formula 1 Team
When your client is the Formula 1 World Champion, it's not surprising to occasionally hear the phrase 'flying by the seat of your pants'. However, for ING Renault F1 Team, the normal rules of business apply - well, most of them anyway.
The Team has a budget, a headcount and a mission. If one process in one part of the business can be delivered faster, cheaper or better, then that frees up time, money and intellect which can be applied elsewhere to help achieve the company's ultimate aim of flying round the track faster than anyone else.
Renault F1 Team first approached Xansa in the summer of 2005; they needed help to increase their development capacity in both the Performance Software Group, which deals with bespoke trackside programmes, and in the business systems team which manages administrative applications such as SAP and ERP.
The partnership with Xansa was officially announced in October within days of the Team securing the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships for the 2005 season.
The Xansa project team's initial tasks covered auditing systems and methodology, improving software usage and delivering software improvements. They played an active part in helping Renault F1 Team retain both Championships at the end of 2006.
More than in any other business, however, there is no resting on your laurels in Formula One. So Xansa is now concentrating on a new set of projects to help the Team make the most of its resources and intellectual capital in the 2007 Championship. A good example of this is the Angel Project, where Xansa has assembled a team of onshore and offshore resources to design and implement a wind tunnel data analysis system. The Angel application maximises the effective use of the wind tunnel and frees the aerodynamicists from manual administrative tasks, allowing them more time in which to focus on engineering decisions.
Scope
Our view
Whether we are working for a government department or a Formula One team, our philosophy remains the same - if we can deliver efficiencies, or cost-savings, then that will help the client to achieve their ultimate goals.
In the NHS, the money we help to save in back-office administration is redirected to front-line care.
At ING Renault F1 Team, we help the engineers to focus on the business of winning races.
It's a huge challenge for Xansa's delivery team to be involved with a partner whose every result is dissected by the media, scrutinised by their fans, and measured in milliseconds.
For ING Renault F1 Team, every two week cycle is a roller coaster. One of our roles has been to take a step back, to understand the specific needs of the business, and to use our expertise in IT and process development to optimise, redesign and re-engineer the monitoring and analysis software that could help shave crucial tenths of seconds out on the track.
Client view
"As the official supplier of software development and consulting to ING Renault F1 Team, Xansa is actively helping us with the development of our car, as well as freeing up our experts to do what they do best.
The software that they are developing for us is capable of analysing high volumes of data whether on the car, at a test session, during a race weekend or from the wind tunnel. Such analysis helps us to pinpoint the performance critical areas that our engineers can then address.
ING Renault F1 is far from the biggest team in the World Championship, but we exist only to win. Xansa is not the biggest company in its marketplace either, which is perhaps why we instantly recognised in them the ambition and focus that enables us both to compete with far bigger rivals."
Julian Cottam, ING Renault F1 Team
Key achievements
Improved systems and methodologies: the first task carried out by the Xansa team was to propose a common methodology across the entire ING Renault F1 Team organisation. An audit of the tools and systems in use was followed by recommendations on systems integration and efficiency improvements. Among those already being implemented are the methods and tools to drive the aerodynamics project.
Delivering offshore value: Xansa's offshore operation is a proven means of increasing cost-effective delivery of key enterprise applications. The majority of the development work on the aerodynamics Angel project will be delivered from Xansa's Noida facility.
Automation of processes: incorporating new methodologies to capture user requirements, we are ensuring technology really is fit for purpose. By turning data into information that can be readily used at the next stage of the process, we are freeing up the Team's people to focus on what they do best.
Translating applications expertise into business benefit: delivery of dedicated SAP tools to define and monitor the specifications of engine components, and control their assignment within the test programme.
With their expertise in IT and process development and their structured approach to project management, the Xansa team not only deliver quality and innovative solutions, they enable us to get more out of our systems and resources, and give us the flexibility to focus on the end game.
Guillaume Jacquemin, IS Manager, ING Renault F1 Team
