how to project manage a system implementation

How to project manage a system

implementation

Simon Puryer

Managing director

i-Realise

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i-Realise was established in 1992 and we specialise in supporting HR and Payroll teams in preparing for and

managing new system implementations, compliance with changing legislation and achieving Payroll efficiently.

How To Project Manage a System Implementation

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Introductions

Who’s who?

– In-House

– Outsourced

– Hybrid model

– Project in train

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A recent comment from one of our clients…

“We know how to manage projects. What we can’t do is land them with the

business.”

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This session is in three parts

1. Payroll Implementation Phases

2. Supplier Management

3. Running the Project Environment

We’ll also consider the role of Business Readiness throughout the project life-cycle

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What is a Project?

• How is a project different to ‘business as usual’?

• How will it change the way you work?

“A project is a temporary organisation that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business outcomes, according to an agreed Business Case”

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Successful Project Implementation

What does success look like?

How do you keep control?

• Met the project objectives in the business case • Achieved time, cost and quality success criteria • Stakeholders happy with outcome and engaged in

delivering the benefits

• Clear project definition and success criteria • Right governance in place • Agreed baseline plan and resources • Control of time, cost and quality • Good stakeholder management and communication

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Payroll Implementation Phases

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Pre-work: selecting your system supplier

• Prior to project kick-off you will need to select the Payroll system supplier

• This will involve:

– Initial RFIs and RFPs

– Evaluating suppliers against high level requirements in terms of system offering and service offering

– Short listing

– References

– Final selection

– Contract signing

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Design Principles

Ensure a programme-wide impact analysis is carried out for any

scope / implementation

decisions.

Process pay in a consistent way at all sites i.e. the

method for processing the same allowance

should be the same (even if the value is different). This is not a change to

T&C’s just a process change.

Define ways to remove the

complexity caused by individuals or

handfuls of employees who

have different/specific

terms of pay – i.e. bring them in line

with others.

Each employee should have a

single identifier which is used

across all systems. Ensure consistent

definition of locations and cost centres across all

integrated systems.

Map all processes end-to-end –

including Sites, HRS and Central

Payroll – to appropriate level of

detail.

Analyse detail of all complexity issues to ensure robust

solutions are developed in future

processes.

A definition of success


What are your “critical few”?

The ability to manage salary sacrifice

The ability to manage highly variable pay

The ability to offset senior exec share options

All Payroll systems

Your Payroll system


BACS Pensions

Tax & Revenue

Traditional application areas and interfaces

Payslips Reports P60s, P45s etc

GL outputs Finance Reports

Any variable data Overtime Premiums Allowances

Employee master data Static Pay

One off payments e.g. bonus

Payroll

External

Finance

HR T&A

Employee

Pensions


Conceptual Flow Diagrams

Branch HR

HRS

Absences Attendance

HRMS

Starters, Leavers, T&Cs

Starters, Leavers, Transfers Amendments T&Cs

Branch Managers

Branch Colleagues

Payroll

Saturday nights - Starters, Leavers, T&Cs

Monday nights – Variable pay & absences

Payroll

Differences in payroll

Dummy payrolls

Manual updates

Daily Uploads for QP, Absence

Extracts

Weekly Uploads for QP, Absence, Holidays, Variable Pay

Final payroll

Uploads

Financials

GL Extracts

Pensioner starters & Pension contributions

Pensions

Payroll data Employee details

Payslips

Starters, Leavers, Transfers Amendments T&Cs

Tax & NI


Project Kick Off

• Critical to set the tone

• Need to consider

– Approach

– Timelines

– Who is doing what?

• Internal

• Supplier

• 3rd parties – needs to take account of all application areas

• Project governance –

– How do the supplier and internal project teams interact?

– What are the standards?

– Who’s reporting what and when and to whom?

– Where are the quality gates and what are the inputs/outputs?


Key phases of a payroll project

Analysis

Design

Build/

Deliver

Test

Handover


Don’t forget support!

Analysis

Design

Build/

Deliver

Test

Handover

Support


…or Business Readiness

Analysis

Design

Build/

Deliver

Test

Handover

Support

Change Management & Communication


What is “Business Readiness”?

?

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Process and Business Readiness Roadmap

BAU and other upstream/downstream projects/activities

Short term improvements

Process simplification

These will have been identified during business case explorations

Establish Business Readiness Team

Define new ways of working and roles, ‘day in the life’/’4 weeks in the life’, develop & deliver communication/engagement plan, training material, define business support model

Behavioural Change in Branch, HR and Payroll teams Remember – ‘rubbish in, rubbish out’

Hypercare & handover into ‘run’

Example: T&A accuracy

Example: e-payslip layout, calculations, access

Feed in any lessons learned from previous projects

Example: BAU support model, SLAs, supplier mgt

Example: Ad hoc comms

Train end:end process actors/system users

Establish community of champions, SPOCs, working groups, testers

Stakeholder mapping with ‘man marking’ – ALL parties

Example: pensions, BIK, TUs, suppliers, audit, HMRC etc

Pilots and process walkthroughs

Example: test out ways of working, roles, system, training

Analysis Design Build Test Handover BAU

Example: Simplify some T&Cs

Example: posters, roadshows, targeted ad hoc


Relative Timescales

Analysis

Design

Build/

Deliver

Test

Handover & Support

60%

40%

4-12 weeks


Analysis = “As-Is”

• Ensures you’ve adequately captured the current Operating Model

• Needs to include systems, processes, people and data including reports

• Often overlooked and sometimes you’ll need to convince people of its value

• The beginning of a document that ensures everything you do today is considered

– Keep

– Change

– Replace


Design = “To-Be”

• What will the Operating Model look like?

• Needs to consider the same elements as the “As-Is”

• Not difficult to sell the importance of this phase but the devil is in the detail

• Have you considered all scenarios?

• Do your “To-Be” systems, processes and organisational architecture align?

• System configuration and business rules

• The value of agreeing Design Principles

• Ensure everything is traceable!


Key deliverables at each phase

Analysis

Design

Build/

Deliver

• Full project scope, deliverables and timescales – first project plan and stakeholder map

• “As-Is” business and systems landscape including policies, processes and business rules

• “To-Be” processes • System and interface

requirements and specs

• Organisational change and structures

• Data models • Business Impact

Assessment • Initial communication

and stakeholder management

• Test strategy • System config

• Business process down to activity and task level

• Build systems and interfaces and unit test (supplier)

• Training plan and materials for testers and end users

• Test plan


Key deliverables at each phase

Test

Handover

• Entry and exit criteria for each phase: • System Testing • Integration

Testing • UAT • Parallel Run

• Go-Live approval

• Training delivered to users appropriate knowledge transfer complete

• Org change and processes ratified, tested and signed off

• Hypercare and support model approach, period and model agreed


Payroll Testing – it takes longer than you think!

Pre-testing •Should

happen before you hit testing

System testing

• Level of “bespoking”

• Level of system changes?

Integration Testing

• How many interfaces?

• How much data?

UAT

• How many users?

• How may processes?

Parallel Run

•2-3 runs


Payroll Testing – it takes longer than you think!

Pre-testing •Should

happen before you hit testing

System testing

• Level of “bespoking”

• Level of system changes?

Integration Testing

• How many interfaces?

• How much data?

UAT

• How many users?

• How may processes?

Parallel Run

•2-3 runs

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Quality Gate Quality

Gate


What is the Parallel Run?

• It is achievable in one run but may need to happen at least twice, possibly three times depending on complexity and size

• Comparison of outputs from actual payroll and the new system

• Ensures accuracy of payroll of all payments for all employees before go live

• Doesn’t need to be a ‘big bang’ – can be run by different payroll frequencies/employee groups

• Parallel run doesn’t test process


Pre-testing

System testing

Integration Testing

UAT

Parallel Run

Aim for a single testing team drawn from all relevant parties Requirements should be identified early including resource and training

i-Realise lessons learned: Payroll Testing

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Appoint an experienced Test Director

Develop a Testing Strategy

Strategy Content • Roles and responsibilities (ie Test Director, Test

Manager) • Test phases and objectives • Systemic approach – test environment etc • Testing tool/system and high level testing process

Ensure that the test tool is accessible by all parties and all test file and extracts can be accessed via the tool

Define user testing access and process and agree with all parties

Agree testing environments and data for training early on with ALL parties


And finally… Go live

Pre-testing

System testing

Integration Testing

UAT

Parallel Run

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Quality Gate

Go Live


Key Go-Live Considerations

• Support model

• Processes signed off

• Organisational structural change is complete

• Training is complete


You’ve gone live, handed over, you’re done?

• The nature of payroll projects mean the project team do not disband immediately after go-live

• Users may not have seen the processes during parallel run

• Hypercare (depending on project size) can last for several months

• Needs to be included in project costs – needs to be in your business case

• Could be across several suppliers

• Roles retained:

– Technical skills for systems

– Training and communications

– Payroll expertise (usually 3rd party)

Wrong

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Supplier Management


Supplier Management

• How you manage your supplier depends on the model you’re using and the approach

In house Out source Changing supplier

SLAs are critical. They need to be unambiguous and have clear success

criteria.

Customisation costs need to be fully understood. What, if any, development can

be done you? What’s the process for changes?

Is there any level of Retained Organisation?

You have two suppliers to deal with including one who may not be about to stop

getting your money – consider how to manage this risk.

If moving from an in house model then process traceability is key. Everything

that is being done today must be accounted for.

Don’t assume the two suppliers will operate in a similar way.

Role of supplier in hypercare is going to be significant. Ensure this is factored in.

Do you want to minimise business change? Can the new supplier accommodate your

existing processes?


i-Realise experience

• Suppliers all have different strengths and weaknesses

• Don’t assume that they can do things – find out and find out early!

• The sales team and the implementation team are often not aligned

• Requirements will probably be ambiguous – be prepared to invest time clarifying them

• Ensure they are involved with your process mapping and understand the output

• If you’re moving from one supplier to another then service and co-operation from current supplier may suffer!


i-Realise Experience

Understand your supplier’s on-boarding approach

• What are they expecting from you?

• What format do they expect it in?

• When do you need to submit it?

• What’s the review process?

• What will they be providing to you?

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Running the Project Environment


Project Planning

• Why do it?

• Where do you start?

– What are outputs/outcomes

– Tasks to deliver them

– Key milestones and dependencies

– Resources needed

• Can then start to estimate resource costs and identify other costs to include

• Include governance meeting cycle and change management activities


Keeping control of a project

• Three dimensions of a project

time, cost and quality controlled by:

– PM

– Sponsor

– Business Owner

– Steering Group

• Clear definition of all at start to monitor and identify deviations

• May change along the way, but OK so long as formalised and communicated

• Risk identification and mitigation plans

• Issue identification and resolution plans

• Action log so have central control of actions arising in meetings and status

Time

Quality Cost


What does “quality” mean?

• Quality is the features and characteristics of something that impact on its ability to show that it meets expectations or satisfies stated needs.

• A key success factor of any project is that it delivers what the stakeholders expect and find acceptable.

• Such expectations need to be captured and maintained throughout the project.

• Probably most relevant during solution selection, testing and service management

• Project Definition will have include high level success criteria, more detail will evolve in other outputs such as testing strategy


Who owns the plan?

SUPPLIER CLIENT

Milestones Dependencies


So what makes the difference?

“We know how to manage projects.

What we can’t do is land them with the business.”


Clearly defined roles and project governance Task management including tracking and reporting The right understanding of “quality” for you Control of risks and issues Budget management

Early & continuous engagement with all relevant users Good supplier management with clear success criteria

Design to-be processes and roles as well as system Right resources, scope and enough time for UAT

Training in new system and ways of working Formal transition into BAU via Hypercare phase

Managing vs Landing

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Any questions?

how to project manage a system implementation

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