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* CASG(97)3rd
CASG97/13 to 17
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COUNTER AUTOMATION STEERING GROUP
COUNTER Ay — EE
Present:
APOLOGIES
MINUTES OF
PREVIOUS
MEETING
MATTERS ARISING
CASG(97)4
Horizon: High Level
Time-table (CASG97/9)
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HORIZON: HIGH
LEVEL TIME-TABLE
CASG(97)6
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23 JULY 1997
John Roberts (Chai )
ohn Roberts (Chairman, L —p
Jerry Cope planet _
Mena Rego “Ate kn Tadd Aye
Paul Rich n
Stuart Sweetman.
Scott Childes (notes)
Richard Close and Peter Crahan were unable to attend
CASG97/13,
The Committee APPROVED the minutes of its meeting of 2
May 1997
CASG97/14
The Committee noted the paper and in particular that
Pathway had yet to reply to Peter Crahan’s letter seeking
confirmation of their previous verbal acceptance of blame for
the latest series of programme delays. To enable programme
planning to continue without prejudice to contractual
arrangements and the possibility of any future legal action, a
letter drafted by the Programme lawyers acting on behalf of BA
and POCL, had been sent to Pathway
CASG97/I5 -
The Committee noted that
following an internal audit of Pathway programme plans by ICL
the Benefit Card Payment Service release had been deferred
from the end of June to October 1997. Whilst the PDA felt
this date was achievable there were still some risks around it and
they were recommending a number of check points along the
way and the production of a contingency plan that could be
evoked if there were early warning signs;
additionally, the release date for Automated Payment and
Electronic Point of Sale Services (EPOSS) had been deferred
until March 1998. However, the PDA was recommending a
more detailed review of supporting plans before agreeing to this
proposed date change;
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(ii) this release still incorporated a major link to CAPS and given
the delay already experienced it was important that POCL had
contingency plans in place which would allow AP/EPOSS to
proceed separately if necessary
noted in discussion that
(iv) ICL had taken steps to reassure POCL about their ability to
deliver the programme and had drafted in additional senior
resource to work on technical issues. A number of interim
project milestones had also been created against which progress
could be monitored;
(vy) it was recognised that having completed the programme of
installation much of the equipment would be technically
outdated. It was also possible that during roll-out technological
advances would make an alternative methodology more
~ attractive; this would be a difficult management issue. Given the
delays with roll-out the opportunity for a strategic review of the
programme was being exploited; it was, however, important to
deliver a stable working system and not be diverted by promises
of what technological advances might do;
(vi) notwithstanding the work ICL had carried out on improving,
project control, it was probably an opportune moment for John
Roberts, in his capacity as Chief Executive, to meet the Chief
Executive of ICL, to reassure himself, on behalf of the Post
Office Board, that ICL could actually deliver all that was being
promised. A presentation by ICL would hopefully provide this
reassurance and give both parties the opportunity to
demonstrate the commercial importance and significance of
Horizon. The commercial aspect which ‘united’ POCL and
Pathway was not an issue for the BA who actually had the
means to pursue different options, without infringing contract
obligations. Given this it was important that the meeting with
Pathway was not perceived by them or the BA as being in any
way conspiratorial;
(vii) courier would be used to communicate the re-prioritisation of
the programme and why this had been necessary. Similar
material would be published in the ‘Subpostmaster’
Invited Paul Rich to prepare a letter on behalf of John Roberts,
inviting the Chief Executive of ICL to a meeting at which he
should present ICL’s perception of current and future
programme issues. Although John Roberts would take advice on
the timing of such a meeting, it was likely to be sometime in
September.
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HORIZON: LESSONS
LEARNT TO DATE
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CASG97/16
The Committee noted that
ona recent visit to Counters South West Region John Roberts
had been encouraged by the level of enthusiasm for Horizon,
however, he had also formed the clear impression that
communication of emerging issues could be improved, and was
concerned that both the positive and negative lessons that had to
date emerged, were being acted upon
noted in discussion that
whilst a number of established processes were in place they
tended to be poorly integrated. However, a significant
improvement in management of the overall implementation
process was expected to be achieved as a result of the recent
decision to bring responsibility for national implementation back
into POCL and the appointment of a National Implementation
Manager within POCL to improve focus/control. Some process
improvements had already been agreed with Pathway but would
not be tested till the next phase of Live Trial; .
with regard to communications POCL faced two main
obstacles: a great reluctance on the part of DSS to make any
announcements whatsoever due to political sensitivity, and the
number of contractual and policy issues which needed
clarification before the business could provide soundly based
information/advice. The pilot exercise would provide a useful
insight into the issues that were likely to emerge and having
encountered and overcome these they would not be expected to
reoccur. Whilst the scale of Horizon, combined with the work
needed to deal effectively with the migration of POCL systems
to the new technology, was acknowledged as being both «
technically and intellectually challenging, it had to be
remembered that without first having successfully implemented
Horizon, there would be no need to migrate other operations;
the business appreciated that the focus of its activities had to be
on successful implementation, however, as offices were rolled
out there would be an increasing need for the migration of other
processes and work in this area was therefore underway;
resourcing the implementation task force remained a key issue
with the business possibly having to seek assistance from
external agencies and utilise suitable surplus staff from the other
businesses;
In Strictest Confidence
(vi)
DATE OF NEXT
MEETING
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market research carried out in pilot offices had been very
encouraging with the majority of staff happy with the
installation process and the operation of equipment
CASG97/17
The Committee noted that the next meeting was scheduled for
15 September 1997, at 2pm.
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