The importance of a good project management strategy is becoming more apparent, as is the role of the key project stakeholders in driving forward change.

Over the last month there have been some complex and technically challenging meetings between Telent, and our chosen vendors, Oracle and Cognito. Integrating different systems is never straightforward as there are always small, hidden issues that never arise until a project of this type comes along. We chose to work beside Oracle and Cognito from the very early stages of the project, as we realised that good relationships with each partner are critical when looking at long-term development strategies, and in resolving issues.

Telent system engineers have a good working relationship with the system developers from both Oracle and Cognito – this is critical because these people are the main focus at this stage in the project. They provide valuable knowledge on systems and methods of working, and ensure that each phase of development is documented, checked and then checked again before proceeding on to the next stage. This approach ensures that each piece of data is assigned to the correct system, which will ultimately lead to a successful solution.

The work being carried out in the background by these systems engineers is often done without any real progress being seen at the 'coalface'. The impression most people have is that once the systems configuration has been decided, it is simply a case of plug and play – but believe me, the complex systems work performed by these engineers is a vital piece of the jigsaw. During this phase, the lines of communication to the end users must be open, to avoid losing project focus and credibility. It can be too easy for people to see the initial 'Big Bang' of the project launch, then see nothing else for the next four to six weeks. We deliver news of the project via an internal intranet page, outlining the current project milestones and any other pertinent information.

There is nothing more frustrating than the loss of a service. Whether that is your broadband at home or the inability to use your local cash machine, service loss has an impact on day-to-day lives and can become a real inconvenience. Suppliers reduce this risk by building redundancy and separacy into systems to ensure service is maintained – and field mobility is no exception. The more a mobility solution is developed, the more reliant your business becomes on it. This reliance is the key driver in delivering a 365x24x7 solution, and was our main driver for consciously building redundancy into our investment and pricing model for this project – going without it seemed like a false economy. Support options like this must be carefully considered to ensure the best fit for your needs and should include everything from the mobile field device to the servers and racks they sit in, to ensure complete protection of your service.

Testing, testing...
As part of the initial field trials, this month saw the deployment of the first test device to an engineer, the purpose of which was to test the build and capability of the equipment. The engineer’s vehicle was fitted with SatNav technology and, to comply with new government legislation, a hands-free kit. This change in legislation has had an impact on how the device will be used and also the way in which the system feeds the information to the engineer. We did not want the engineer to be reliant on pressing any buttons or inputting detail once en route to a task – this would be dealt with either prior to or post travel. I’ll let you know of the progress of this initial ‘road test’ next month.

The next phase of the project will focus on the technical testing of the solution, along with user acceptance tests. These items plus training requirements should make the next few weeks a busy period as the project nears Phase 1 completion. SM