Oxfam-Quebec, member of the Oxfam International coordination, is a non-governmental organization whose aim is to raise public awareness of the realities of developing countries and their developmental aid. As part of Oxfam-Québec’s voluntary cooperation, the Access Innovation Program (AIP) was created to establish a system for producing and operating “monitoring, evaluation, and learning (ME&L)” reports based on Oxfam-Quebec’s common approach. This system was intended (both globally and in each individual country) to generate key findings, systematically improve the Access Innovation Program (AIP) strategies, and adequately respond to Oxfam-Quebec’s commitments towards its funders, partners, and supported populations.
"We were very satisfied with the knowledge and professionalism of the Alithya experts. They provided us with valuable support for the development and implementation of an IT solution using AgilePoint and PowerBI. This solution enables our teams in 11 different countries to quickly access the most relevant information for their work, which greatly increases our efficiency. The Alithya team demonstrated flexibility and rigorous expertise throughout the process." Pierre-Yves Charpentier, Program Manager - Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning; OXFAM Quebec
Problem faced by the client
Originally, the ME&L reporting production and operations system included Word forms for information gathering, as well as Excel sheets for reporting, tracking activities and management indicators. Reporting required manual work to consolidate the information and to complete the required management reports from information collected via the Word forms.
Results of the project are aimed at improving operations, with regard to the expected benefits of the solution in terms of:
- Labor savings
- Remote online access
- Structured content management
The system is intended for non-specialized personnel.
Proposed solution
Alithya’s solution includes a computerized Business Process Management (BPM) engine built on the AgilePoint technology platform, as well as a business intelligence solution based on Microsoft's SQL Server and Power BI technologies. The entire solution is hosted in Microsoft Azure.
AgilePoint’s BPM platform has made it possible to build simple and complex work processes that meet Oxfam-Québec’s specific needs in a 100% Web environment. Forms and processes are built by simply putting the necessary elements on the canvas and configuring them, without any lines of code. The simplicity of the tool and the support provided by Alithya has enabled the Oxfam team to take ownership of the tool without the people involved having to acquire or have previous advanced technical knowledge.
An SQL server allows the collection of all data entered by the forms, the status of the processes in which the forms are submitted, and all information relating to validation of this information. The information is subsequently used to build reports via Power BI Desktop before finally being displayed across Power BI's online platform.
The use of Power BI has made it possible to automate the production of indicators, and to distribute those indicators to Oxfam-Quebec stakeholders. With Alithya’s support, those responsible for producing the reports autonomously have managed to independently develop much of the information contained in these reports.
Benefits
By formally automating its Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning processes and reports, Oxfam-Quebec has been able to:
- Make an online solution available to its stakeholders and partners, accessible from all Oxfam-Quebec's locations, including overseas
- Benefit from a rapid-deployment cloud solution that doesn’t require local infrastructure at Oxfam-Quebec
- Save considerable effort in the consolidation, reporting, analysis, validation, and diffusion of reports
- Enable data retention in a structured and easily accessible manner enabling research and classification by subject, country, programs, projects, and resources, as well as by fiscal year