POL00090459 - Fax from Vince Gaskell to Dave Miller, re Horizon testing and entry to live running

Evidence on official site

POL00090459
POL00090459

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FAX COVER SHEET
CAPS PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

Date:
To:
Tel:
From:

Tel:

Number of pages (including this cover sheet): 3

9 April 1999
Dave Miller

Margaret Dowse

Fax;

Messages:-

09/04 'S8 15:49 TX/RX NO. 2308 POL

POL00090459
POL00090459

. OS APR ’*99 15:46 CAPS & CA DIRECTOR P.2

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RESTRICTED - COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE
WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND SUBJECT TO CONTRACT

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ns Date: 9 April 1999

Dear Dave
HORIZON TESTING AND ENTRY TO LIVE RUNNING

Thank you for your letter of 8 April and I note your declared intention to proceed with the
Migration phase this coming weekend. I also welcome your suggestion of working with us on
resolving the overall way forward,

Like you, I have no wish to go over the recent ground again about our reasons for withholding
approval at the Release Authorisation Board (RAB) to proceed to Live Trial. However the
position we are now in is that neither POCL or BA have formally approved the New Release 2
(NR2) go-live and the BA have made our position quite clear that a further run of Model Office
and end to end testing is needed to give us that assurance before agreeing to the Release and
progress towards the Live Trial.

09/04 '99 15:48 " TX/RX NO. 2308 P02

POL00090459
POL00090459

¢ y @9 APR ’99 15:46 CAPS & CA DIRECTOR P.3

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RESTRICTED - COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE
WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND SUBJECT TO GONTRACT

If you proceed without our agreement, it will be contrary to the agreed Release Authorisation
process, and therefore at POCL's and ICL Pathway's own risk in doing so, We must draw that to
ICL's attention and we will need to disouss whether you or I write to ICL Pathway to that effect
today, Clearly it would be better from a joint authorities perspective if you were to do 50 as
Chairman of the Release Assurance Board, but if you felt unable to do so I would be prepared to
write on behalf of the BA.

We remain firmly of tho viow that we should withhold approval to proceed to Live Trial,
However, as Peter Mathison explained in his letter to Stuart Sweetman today, we do not believe
that NR2 is any worse than the existing software in the existing 204 Pilot Post Offices, Thus,
should POCL and ICL Pathway wish to proceed with the upgrade this weekend and your own risk,
BA would not object, For the avoidance of doubt this concession is based on our assessment that
NR2 is only adequate for Pilot operation in a strictly controlled and managed environment butnot

This docs give you and ICL a basis to continue should you choose to do so without disrupting
your communications in connection with the upgrade or with sub contractors while concurrently
running a further Model Office test that would give the BA the necessary leyel of assurance to
enter Live Trial. Clearly we will need to hold urgent discussions to plan on this basis.

T hope that you share the same preference as I do to find sufficient agreement to present a united
front in dealings with ICL and the above proposition is a way of trying to find a way to do so. I
hope you agree.

Yours sincerely

VINCE GASKELL
PROJECT DIRECTOR

09/04 '99 15:49 TX/RX NO. 2308 POS