POL00028562 - Letter from John Bennett, Managing Director of ICL Pathway, to Dave Smith, Post Office Network Unit, re End-to-End Review of Reference Data Management

Evidence on official site

POL00028562
POL00028562

Se ~ ~ & NOV 1999 ‘ Use

Dave Smith

Post Office Network Unit
Gavrelle House

2-14 Bunhill Row
London

ECIA 1AA

4 November 1999

Peer Dwr,

RE: END-TO-END REVIEW OF REFERENCE DATA MANAGEMENT. iCL

As you know on 27 October the Pathway representatives notified the Delivery
Meeting that Pathway had become very concemed as to the practicality of the end-to-
end Reference Data systems and processes. ICL Pathway has since conducted an
urgent management level review and has concluded that significant changes are
necessary if national roll-out is to be undertaken safely.

We have accordingly withdrawn all versions of the Interface Agreement for
Operational Business Change - Product, which is the principal document that defines
Reference Data operations. This document was the subject of rejected CCN496a.
ICL Pathway now considers that the provisions envisaged within that document
would not be adequate to prevent the release of authorised but defective data.

We are seeking POCL's co-operation in contributing to an urgent end-to-end
workshop to review Reference Data management. This workshop should start next
week and target to complete by the end of ‘November. Ideally it should use the Terms
of Reference already available and will need to make recommendations aimed in
particular at preventing the propagation of Reference Data errors in authorised POCL
releases to the live estate.

We have experienced one large-scale problem of this kind which has served to
highlight the issue. Although we hold POCL responsible for generating the error we
view this as a joint problem. It is clear that at national roll-out volumes any such
errors would create a major integrity issue for the POCL business.

In the meantime ICL Pathway is putting in hand additional defensive measures within
its own boundaries to protect the live system from Reference Data errors. The details
and implications on service will be communicated to you staff very shortly. ICL

- Pathway seeks an assurance that at the same time POCL will take what steps it can to
improve the original quality of candidate Reference Data.

JH Bennett
look forward to your urgent support for this course of action. Managing Director
' GRO} : ICL Pathway
lecparaeznr yl 1 . Forest Road
‘SC3OHN BENNETT Feltham
Middlesex TWI3 7EJ

Tel +-44.(O)181.730 4101,

CC: DM iller, J Dicks, A Oppenheim, K Baines

KP99nov541.doc