Step Two - Specification and model office
Specification
Phase one will involve a series of meetings and workshops between the project team and the preferred supplier. The objective will be to go through all the requirements for the core system in the ITT and in particular the Model Office requirements and all the relevant responses in the supplier's tender and agree how best to meet the requirements with the chosen platform.
This step is important because in a competitive procurement there is a limit to how much detail you can get into. At this step you have to agree the screens and the detailed metadata requirements. You have to agree the final classification scheme/file plan and load the relevant class data into the system and you need to agree the folders which will need to be set up to support the Model Office tests and the user trials.
You also need to agree the detailed timetable for the Model Office phase and the exact services that you will need and the dates when users will be invited to use the solution and provide their feedback.
The preferred supplier will have their own methodology which they will want to follow and provided this includes all the tests and checks you want to make you are advised to follow this approach.
Key milestones which both parties should agree on and document in the project plan should include;
Dates for workshops and meetings
Date for draft specification
Date for agreed specification
Date for solution to be ready for supplier testing in their own environment
Date for model office solution to be brought on site
Date for user training sessions
Date for user groups to trial model office and provide feedback
Date for formal acceptance test.
Model office
Once agreed it is the responsibility of the institution to make available the space required to set up the Model Office. If the institution is purchasing the hardware specified by the supplier then the two sides need to agree the logistics of this. Usually the hardware will be purchased by the institution and then shipped to the supplier to configure the software and test it at their premises. Then the hardware will be shipped to the institution and set up in the model office area.
It is important for the team to be assured that the solution is ready to be brought on site and used for training and user demonstrations. If it is not then the first user experiences could be negative and this will not help your communications and change plan. So it is advisable that the team inspect the solution at the supplier site to ensure that it is "ready for work". This will not be a detailed test but just a run through to demonstrate that the solution is stable and capable of meeting the core functions.
It is vital that the team and the designated users are trained on the system before they are asked to participate in formal testing.
The specification should detail the procedures and scripts that will be used for the test. It will specify the responsibilities of the institution to provide sample documents; agree metadata etc. to ensure that all the core functions are tested. It is also important that the specification includes the key criteria that will determine whether or not the test is acceptable. If for any reason certain key functions cannot be tested at the Model Office stage then these should be noted and agreement reached that they will be tested prior to the commencement of the live running of the pilot.
It is also important that a schedule is agreed with the user group and the supplier when users will use the system to familiarise themselves with the system and set up their documents and folders on the system with the aid of the project team, records staff and the supplier. This is a key part of the change management plan to demonstrate to opinion formers in each Department that the system can meet their requirements.
There should be an agreed way of documenting the informal feedback from users at this stage in the form of comments and requests for changes to screens and aspects of the user interface etc.
It is also important to agree what will happen to the Model Office once the test has been passed. There are several options. One is that it can be expanded to become the training module. A second one is that it can be expanded and used in the pilot. The third is that it is taken back and used by the supplier for further customisation and development and testing purposes.
At the end of the Model Office the plan should allow for a series of feedback sessions and both parties should agree what changes are needed to the core system specification and document these.
