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IN STRICTEST CONFIDENCE KW (tie)
@ AUTOMATION TRANSFORMATION
PROGRAMME
Automation Transformation Steering Group
Notes of meeting on 20 October 1998
Present _ Paul Rich (chair)
Rob Durrant
Mike Hellier (for Dave Morphey)
John Main
Dave Miller
Wendy Powney
Basil Shall
David Smith
Roger Tabor
Paul Thorton
Elena Marsh (Notes)
Apologies Duncan Hine
Dave Morphey
Mena Rego
Distribution _ As above
CEC circulation list
Next meeting is 2.00 pm, 20 October in Second floor Board Room, KEB.
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TSG Progress Report
Actions
Item 1. Actions from last meeting
See updated action points
Item 2 Red Light issues
There were no new red light issues.
Item 3 Other issues
3.1
It was noted that there isa potential for overspend versus the business
case numbers for 99/00. This was due to a different understanding
over the scope of the project from that in the original July MaPEC
business case. ,
3,2 Overall business case
: It was noted that an overall business case with updated numbers and
assumptions is due to go to the December PO Board and that a new
Horizon case would be required by then.
Release 2+
3.3 It was noted that release 2+ is now expected in February 2000
(pending the Horizon update on timescales) and that it will include
smartcard products. In some cases the counter will have to
accommodate both the Horizon terminal and the AP terminal to
continue to provide AP functionality until Release 2+ is implemented
3.4 Another potential issue is that a British Gas new product requires
smartcard capability not currently provided by Release 2+, raising the
- possibility of needing to maintain the AP terminals until release 3, in
order to keep British Gas as a client. The British Gas issue is being
impact assessed.
Action The ergonomic implications of having the two types of equipment on D Smith
the counter need to be fed into the survey process.
9 .
3.5 The ATSG was informed that in order for the automation programme
to deliver the 20% cut required timescales will need to slip and one
major project will have to be delayed. POCL MIS and End to End
implementation have already been cut by the CEC and the Single Sap
System would have to be delayed to enable delivery of the cuts.
3.6 It was noted that where projects were cut/ slowed down there was an
opportunity to divert the resource to other projects and / or Group.
3.7 It was noted that there is a possibility that technology requirements
have been double counted across the programmes and that Wendy
would assist Finance in identifying such duplication.
Item 4 Horizon testing and timescales
4.1 Dave Miller gave an update on the progress of testing in the Horizon
programme and how that impacts on current timescales,
4.2 : Testing was due to complete on 18 December with a release
Authorisation Board taking place after that. The testing phase will be
extended by four weeks following MOR and a further testing phase
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Item 5
Item 6
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
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has been added in January/ February lasting four weeks which will
enable complete testing results to be assessed prior to authorisation.
National roll out is now due to commence on 16 August ending in
November 2000. These dates have not been formally agreed with
Pathway , they are however prudent dates to be used for planning
purposes.
Release Authorisation :
: Naresh Mohindra gave a presentation on the release authorisation
process (slides attached).
The following were noted:
e the Release Authorisation (RA) decision endorses the release for
live trial, it does NOT provide contractual approval of the delivered
services
e the main risk with RA is that there is an exposure to errors in the
live trial environment
e the release authorisation process is not intended to be bureaucratic,
less paper will be used, issues will be raised at an early stage and
there should not be too many thick reports to read.
regular reports will be produced at -12,-10,-6 -2,-1 weeks from
authorisation.
© a business owner would be assigned to each criterion and they
would take the decision on the acceptability of the results attached
to the criterion assigned to them by looking at the relevant
evidence.
Requirements Specification
Dave Smith gave an update on this work..
The requirements specification document needs further work and a
number of critical business people must contribute to it as a business
priority.
It was noted that the requirements specification is based on a “generic”
capability that will enable bringing products to market quickly, and
-that the ATSG have in the past been supportive of this concept.
The “generic” capability is much more than a “technical requirement”
and requires significant change elsewhere within the business for
example, the account managers may need to have a different approach
to clients and there may be a need for re training in the new way of
working.
It was noted that PONTIS have recommended that with respect to a
banking product, the clients should not be shown the details of the
technology supporting the offer.
The ATSG agreed that:
e further work should be done to the requirement specification with
input from appropriate people as a business priority
there is a need for a plan to manage the implications of moving to a
“generic” product offering
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Item 7
Td
1.2
Action
Item 8
8.1
8.2
85
8.6
Action
FAD codes
Pathway have treated this as a fixed unique outlet identifier, however
the FAD code can change as a result of conversions or organisational
change. .
Pathway have hard coded the FAD codes into the system and changes
will necessitate a site visit by Pathway. A solution has been proposed
through joint working between Pathway and POCL, however this is
not scaleable and will result in costs of £5-7m if POCL goes through
an organisational change. (these costs are indicative and are yet to be
negotiated with Pathway). .
It was agreed that: . - DSmith
the possibility of using Data Management and assigning movable
codes to FAD codes, so that changes in office category can be
implemented through the changes in the new codes would be
investigated
e the extent to which FAD codes are embedded in other systems must
be investigated
© new systems must not have embedded codes _ 7
the operational disruption resulting from changes to FAD codes
must be considered. :
EMU
Peter Dent gave an update on the work done'so far on EMU, potential
dates for implementation and resulting timescales impact for POCL.
It was noted that dates used for planning purposes by POCL must be
common across the Group.
Time estimates show that there will be approximately 36 months
between the UK joining the EMU and the end of the conversion from
sterling to EMU, which gives POCL 30 months to prepare. However
there is a possibility that POCL must be ready to accept Euro from the
date that is introduced whether the UK is in or not.
Possible dates:
On the assumption that there is an election in Nov 2001- April 2002,
with a referendum before that, the UK would be joining the EMU in
the 3“ quarter of 2002 with the Euro currency being introduced in
February 2004.
Peter is working with clients to understand whether they have any dual
currency requirements, at this stage the dual currency requirements
seem to be minimal. There is a possibility that our agents have dual
currency requirements, or that dual currency is necessary for the HR
systems. .
It was agreed that Peter Dent should investigate whether and when we P Dent
need to be able to pay employees in Euros.
The service offering under the following scenarios needs to be
decided: .
(a) if UK is out, (b) if UK is in but the Euro has not been introduced
yet, (c) if the UK is in and the Euro is introduced.
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8.7 POCL is leading on EMU in the Group and Peter has sent an outline
plan to the TSSG.
8.8 It was noted that one way of resourcing the EMU technical project is
to switch the staff from the Year 2K team once that project in
+ complete.
8.9 An initial estimate for the EMU work business is £85m.