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To: Paul Ridq
From: MinBurdett ST 7 -US7a
Date: 6" May 1997
Subject: (Pathway’sRe-Plan Proposal
Before she went on holiday, Mena asked me to keep you informed of any issues you
should be aware of relating to Pathway’s re-plan proposal in advance of the PDA
Board. My brief from Mena was to look at the impact on POCL’s projects (Interim
TIP, Reference Data and HAPS). (Others in POCL are looking at client take-on and
the business case, and PDA will review the training implementation and impact on the
Regions.)
1, Status of Re-Plan Proposal. When TSpol Oke to Gael’ Stewart-this morning,
e expecting a a written proposal, from Pathway containing.their+ lan.
pe recei play today, and she will copy it to POCL
yA are not.in.a.position-to do-any-impact
ill not have a considered response ready in time
when received. Uni
analysis infer that PI
for the’ Board.
My comments are based on the assumptions contained within the presentation
Pathway gave on Thursday which can be summarised as “slip milestones by 6
weeks, keeping future activities the same duration as previously planned”.
2. ‘congo: 4Testing. CABED#; ;managed-by-the'Interim-TIP project; is thé only
system which interfaces with Pathway_in Congo 4. The Direct Interface
wa Testing (DIT) Regression which should have started on 18" April, has not
4 started yet, but as we already have ABED interfacing with Pathway for the 10
IGL offices, it-is not.envisaged.that.this:is.a major issue.
The main concern that POCL has is that it-is-not-clear-whether-the-right: tests—7
(ain place ( face (either as part of DIT or in the subsequent Model Office) to ensure
the integrity of the new Benefit accounting, settlement and reconciliation
process>There i is.a workshop on this tomorrow, arid we hope then to be ina
position to say whether this is an issue.
That said, provided t the BES functionality delivered by Patt Pathway frou itself
ality delivered b
i JSC in Model Office, my guess is that:Congo4-replan-is-probably feasible—”
Up ee
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3. Congo 5. Crhave much léss confidence in the replan‘on_Congo:5-where’ for the
first time we see Pathway’s! EPOSS. and.APS linking-with-Interim-TIP/
Reference Data and HAPS.-There are a number of reasons for this pessimism:
« — (Assuring thatthe new Accounting, Settlement and) Reconciliation’ tiomends
Uto.end process works...This-assurance-is-a POGLmust. have” and yet it
is not clear how POCL is going to know before the go-ahead is given Groth ‘
that the new process will work. Mena and I raised this issue with Peter Mia
* ca I Crahan on Thursday, and the issue is now starting to be addressed. To
do the testing properly could significantly increase the time currently tee
. lanned for test preparation and test execution wets
. Pre-test deliverables. /There is a catalogue of things that should be in
place before integration testing with POCL goes ahead. Taken.
individually, they are not serious, but.taken.together-they-indicate that
we-(PDA,-POCL and Pathway).are.not ready. /To give you a flavour,
the catalogue includes: agreement to Interim TIP/Pathway interface
spec; cash account format agreement; detail of how transactions will be
undertaken using BES help desk (workaround agreed for Congo 4);
Reference Data testing environment to be used (ability to regress);
finalise Reference Data test strategy; setting up physical links between
Pathway and Interim TIP/HAPS; incomplete HAPS DIT specification;
etc.
. Is:Patiiway ready-with Meir Congo 5 systems?—We dont Know; but the
project managers are seeing very little evidence that they are and some
ial HAPS file seit
indications that ey are not. The la iter inc! inclid
Ga
‘Pathway anable/unwiling to send another over the following 2 weeks;
slippage on dates for starting Congo 5 DIT (should have been 1* April)
with all 3 POCL systems and still unable to commit to a date
4, Other Activities Falling Behind. There are other areas which need to be
addressed, but which do not impact directly on progressing Congo 4 and
Congo 5. If we are having a full review of plans and progress, it would be
helpful to include:
* (Tihadequate information about ‘roll-out: One of the key determinants of
a successful roll-out will be the timely and accurate provision of
information relating to offices which will be/have been automated.
The current flow of information is far from ideal, and experience
suggests thatthe ambitious target. .0f.300.outlets.per-week-will be
compromised by by the inadequacies.) We also need to be clear about
POCL’s right of access to Pathway held data
. (@erception of inadequate. progress on service hitinagement-There is a
perception in POCL that Service Management is not sufficiently
advanced for this stage of the Programme. There is a lack of
knowledge in POCL about what is going on in this area.
I hope this helps. You will no doubt call if you need clarification.
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