Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS), an entity of the Government of Kuwait and a leading social security organization in the region, is now marking a full year since their ambitious project to modernize their information technology infrastructure went live.

PIFSS contracted Khorafi Business Machines (KBM), the Kuwait operation of Gulf Business Machines (GBM) - IBM's representative in the region, to partner with them in carrying out the modernization project designed to meet today's challenging and ever-evolving business environment and to prepare for the future. GBM has been involved in projects that improve Government efficiency and service delivery throughout the region for many years.

The PIFSS database conversion, the core of the modernization project, was designed and implemented within a two-year time frame, and the primary consideration was to avoid disruption to day-to-day PIFSS operations.

Cesare Cardone, GBM's CEO, explained that the solution replaces PIFSS' old system, based on IBM technology developed in the mid-1970s. "This conversion allows PIFSS to handle its current and future computing requirements in a more efficient manner, which translates into better and faster service for Kuwait's citizens and businesses. GBM's long-standing partnership with PIFFS is one example of our participation in Kuwait's progression towards a digital society. I believe that the key factor for success of this project was the partnership and collaboration by professionals from PIFSS, GBM and IBM," he said.

Now that PIFSS has adopted a modern relational database based on IBM's DB2 environment, it is easier for PIFSS to handle client reports and facilitate ad-hoc queries, develop new functions and be ready for new developments in the social security laws in the State of Kuwait.

The conversion project was initiated in 2005 and finalized ahead of the two-year timeframe, going live in 2007. The first three months were devoted to design, followed by a twenty-one month implementation phase, which included the development of a data warehouse prototype. The design phase focused on analyzing and designing the best approach to convert millions of lines of COBOL code from VSAM to DB2, designing the new DB2 data model, detailed planning of the implementation phase and DB2 knowledge transfer to the PIFSS developers and IT personnel.

The support extended by PIFSS' technical and management team enabled the rollout to be a seamless process, and made it possible for the system migration to be accomplished smoothly. The collective expertise of KBM, IBM and PIFSS gave the project additional leverage while implementing all of its objectives. This collaborative approach was a key factor in its success, and will provide a useful blueprint for any future expansion.

Commenting on the past year, Ahmed Al-Turki, Deputy Director General, IT Sector at PIFSS was satisfied with the results. "This conversion opens the way for data warehousing and business intelligence which will be a major advancement in every aspect of PIFSS business functions. Our achievements so far are integral steps towards achieving our objectives of providing Kuwaiti citizens and the business community with higher levels of accessibility to our existing services, plus the ability to deliver an additional range of services quickly and efficiently," he said.

With the deployment of IBM technology in bolstering PIFSS' technological readiness, it is now at the forefront of being a future-ready organization, which can effectively and efficiently address myriad challenges, ad hoc queries and customer demands.