Assessing business functions and services to create a roadmap for the future

Within the U.S. Department of State, the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN) oversees international agreements focused on arms control and international security. Other specific responsibilities include directing and coordinating export control policies to prevent missile, nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional weapons proliferation. 

As part of an ongoing business transformation initiative to drive the executive office (EX) towards a “To Be” model, ISN sought an experienced partner to develop a strategic assessment and program roadmap. The goal was to enhance information sharing across the three T bureaus, and to create an informed executive office of the future.

In support of ISN’s mandate, Tsymmetry was engaged to evaluate overall service effectiveness provided by ISN Executive Office (ISN/EX) to T bureau personnel around the globe. Reporting directly to the executive director, Tsymmetry assessed services for all major business functions provided by ISN/EX, including human resources, resource management, general services, and its technology division.

Identifying opportunities to optimize service delivery, drive efficiency, and improve effectiveness, Tsymmetry’s findings focused on two central business transformation themes that would enable ISN/EX to be more customer service-centric: organizational enhancement and self-service. Leveraging a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) customer relationship management (CRM) software package, Tsymmetry demonstrated how ISN/EX could significantly improve support through an enhanced self-service platform.

The ISN/EX initiative demonstrated the full breadth of Tsymmetry’s business transformation capabilities — from strategic planning and visioning to the innovative application of technology to address critical business challenges. With a strategic assessment, roadmap and follow-on implementation activities, the ISN/EX can achieve the director’s goal to “do things better together and make everyone’s work lives better and easier,” while also realizing improved resource utilization.