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uz
CUMMERUIAL LnAm
Claimant
K Baines
Second
Exhibits: -
Dated: August 2004
10 CR101947
IN THE BLACKPOOL COUNTY COURT
BETWEEN
POST OFFICE COUNTERS LIMITED
Clalmant
AND
MRS JULIE WOLSTENHOLME
Defendant
SECOND WITNESS STATEMENT OF KEITH BAINES
I, KEITH BAINES of Calthorpe House, 15 — 20 Phoenix Place, London, WC1X ODJ STATE
AS FOLLOWS:
1 I refer to my first witness statement dated 14 October 2003 which sets out details of
My Pasition with Post Offics Limited (the Post Office”) as Contract Manager and my
responsibilities in that position. ! confirm that I am still employed by the Post Office
as Contract Manager.
2 The facts and matters deposed to in this statement are within my own knowledge
unless I say otherwise. Insofar as they are within my own knowledge, they are true.
Insofar as they are derived from information Provided to me by others, they are true to
the best of my knowledge and belief.
3 ‘The Horizon system was developed as a managed service by Fujitsu Services
Limited (Fujitsu), formerly ICL Pathway Limited who also Provided the actual
equipment. Notwithstanding this and as is the Post Office's usual practice in
Contracts for the development of complex IT services, the Post Office put in place 2
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formal acceptance process to satisfy itself that the service was fit for purpose before
allowing it to be widely deployed.
The Post Offices’ required specification of the service provided by Fujitsu included
requirements relating to the ease of use of the system, the stability of the system and
the integrity of the financial information which it produces.
The acceptance process of the system used a mixture of technical reviews, testing by
Fujitsu and by the Post Office and the operation of a live pilot stage in Post Office
branches to confirm that each requirement was being met satisfactorily. 1 should
state that this was not a “rubber stamping” exercise, and that Significant problems
were found and remedied before the main “roll out” was authorised.
6 Whilst there were some problems with system Stability during the early stages of the
acceptance process, these were rectified, and a period of monitoring in pilot offices
during October and November 1999 demonstrated that the rectification had been
effective in reducing the incidents of re-boot and related problems to an average rate
of less than 4 per counter position per annum. Subsequent improvements by Fujitsu
during the year 2000 reduced this to less than 3 per counter position per annum.
7 During the roll out of the Horizon system, all users of the system (including Sub
Postmasters and their assistance) were trained in its use. The training courses were
developed and delivered by Fujitsu having being based on an analysis of user needs
carried out in conjunction with experienced Post Office trainers.
8 The training courses provided took into account the profile of the users, namely that
they were older and less experienced in the use of computers than would be the case
in most IT projects but were already aware of the manual processes carried out in
managing or working in a Post Office branch.
9 The training was practically based, carried out in small groups and was concluded by
an assessment to ensure that the trainees had acquired the necessary skills and
knowledge to use the system. The standard course lasted for 1 day with a longer two
day course for Branch Managers (including Sub Postmasters). Training was carried
out shortly before the relevant branches went “live” with the system.
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Further, the Post Office Provided a number of reference guides which were provided
to Sub Postmasters for use during the period while they were becoming familiar with
the system.
Furthermore, Fujitsu provided a Help Desk service which was known as the Horizon
System Help Desk to answer calls from Sub Postmasters regarding problems with the
equipment or software and to provide advice and guidance on using the system,
including its use in preparation of weekly cash accounts. This Help Desk was not
required to answer general enquiries about the Post Offices’ business processes, as
@ separate Help Desk operated by the Post Office was available for this.
The Post Offices's contract with Fujitsu set service levels for their Help Desk service
to ensure that it was appropriate to the needs of the users of the Horizon system. In
summary these were:
i) Hours of service — a full service from 8.00 a.m. till 8.00 p.m. Monday to
Saturday and a skeleton service from 5.00 a.m. to 8.00 a.m. and 8.00 p.m. to
midnight Monday to Saturday and from 7.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. on Sundays.
ii) Call Answering — 80% of calls were answered within 20 seconds and 99% of
calls within 40 seconds.
iii) Calls Not Answered to be less than 1%.
iv) Help Desk to act as a gateway to first, second and third level services as
follows:
a) First level ~ dealing with all simple and straight forward problems and
with general enquiries. 95% of first level calls to be resolved within 5
minutes and 100% within 10 minutes.
b) Second level ~ providing a diagnostics and fixing service for more
complex problems. 95% of second ievel calls to be resolved within 30
minutes and 100% within 45 minutes.
c) Third level — Analysing problems that cannot be dealt with at the first
two levels and developing a remedy or “work-around” resolution of the
problem or documenting the problem as requiring subsequent software
changes.
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v) There were also more detailed service levels requiring the provision of
accurate and timely advice and guidance on completion of cash accounts.
These service levels were much more demanding than is general in IT contracts due
to the fact that the Post Office recognised the importance to its business of being able
to serve customers in Post Office branches Sfficiently and this in turn required the
effective and fast ‘support of the staff serving them.
Performance against service levels was monitored in detail during the period 3
December 1999 to 13 January 2000. This confirmed that service was operating
correctly ahead of the main National roll out of the Horizon system. Subsequently
service levels were reported monthly and were generally satisfactory. Whilst, of
Course, problems were sometimes encountered in the Operation of the computer
systems, full support was Provided both: to provide an immediate or quick resolution
So that business would not be unduly affected; and also to ensure that problems that
could not be fully resolved or that required system development were appropriately
and quickly analysed, with the Necessary software or hardware changes being
developed and implemented as Part of the support service
STATEMENT OF TRUTH
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