WHERE CAN I ADD VALUE?

I can help you evaluate and manage your IT enabled transformation programs to maximize the benefit and ensure sustainability. The transformation programs may include one or more of the following:

• Replacing manual process by a new IT solution

• Replacing an existing IT solution with a new one

• Outsourcing – including offshoring business processes and/or IT services to low cost destinations

• Automaton
  

  • Traditional IT based – for business process and testing

  • Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – for business processes

The strategic objective of your program could be purely business related (e.g. getting a new solution implemented ahead of competitors) or it could be driven by regulatory changes (e.g. program to meet a regulatory change in future or program to remediate the customers because of instruction from the regulator). As a consultant specialising in project/program management and business analysis (in Insurance & Banking) I shall help you execute the full project life cycle from inception to implementation and BAU handover. Based on the customer requirement and bandwidth I can also act as a BA and perform requirement analysis, process design, high level design, data analysis, gap analysis and test scenario design, UAT support and Production support

Any large IT transformation project is a complex affair involving multiple locations, resources, numerous items of hardware and software, and of course, the financials. Usually the reputed vendor firms are expert at preparing well structured transition project plans, however from customer’s point of view it still makes sense to have independent review and assistance in ensuring that the projects are geared towards realizing the promised end benefit for the customer. If the customer is not careful in ensuring effective management then often the promised benefits either do not materialize or they come with a baggage of n number of failed implementations, despair and cost overruns. The IT industry is rife with such examples. From a transition point of view customer must ensure that following things have been given the attention they deserve:

• Has the supplier understood the basic business requirement and come up with a well-structured project plan with costs? Reputed suppliers will do this but nonetheless this must be the first step in ensuring that your IT solutions are in right hands

• Hidden costs – the supplier will include the costs directly related to their work however the customer must account for business change costs that often go with IT enabled transformation. These costs typically include those related to training, impact on job functions, communication, involvement of key stakeholders and other customer resources etc. Also the customer must consider the full lifecycle costs to compare different options.

• Success criteria – how do you define if the implementation/transition was successful? How do you determine the baseline and KPIs for measuring success?

• Risk of failure – What is the risk to business because of delayed or incorrect solution delivery? Has the supplier agreed to penalty costs? How will customer ensure continuity of their business?

• Quality Assurance – Do you have a robust quality policy (e.g. ISO 9001 or CMMI level 5 etc)? If yes how will you ensure that supplier is delivering as per your quality expectations? Many offshore transitions fail after a while because of resource turnover at the supplier side. The supplier may retain their resources by offering them progression and job rotation but while doing this there may be a risk to your project. How do you ensure that the supplier does not transfer their risk to you?

WHAT ARE MY CREDENTIALS?

I have a rich and diverse experience over 23 years of working in IT industry, mainly catering to Financial Services/FinTech. . I have worked directly with reputed names such as Santander, KPMG, CSC, Unisys, NTT Data, Lloyds Banking Group, Wipro, Aviva, Tata Consultancy Services, Ernst and Young, Network Rail and Metropolitan Police in countries including the UK, the USA and India.

I started my career as a software developer and have programming experience in Unisys EAE, Java, COBOL, VB.NET, Excel VBA, SQL and Python.

I have managed projects covering broad range of technologies (Legacy (Unisys EAE, COBOL), Unix, Oracle, PB, Java, C#, .NET, WMB, SSDT, SSRS, Cloud, BI (Tableau).

I am customer focussed and driven by the desire to exceed the customer expectations by constantly thriving for excellence. My commitment to continuous personal development is evident as I sought to become an expert in consulting by opting to do a full time MBA from globally reputed Warwick Business School, which awarded me prestigious WBS scholarship.

MAIN SKILLS

KEY ACHIVEMENTS

• Delivered 3 and half year-long complex Banking Remediation project, mandated by strict Regulatory (FCA) deadline and covering multi-million Pounds Redress Provision (circa £20m) on time, helping the client (a major bank) avoid regulatory fine and any reputational damage.

• Delivered multiple projects under Payment Simplification Program, over 2.5 years, using onshore-offshore delivery model, managing the direct budget of c1.5 m and indirect budget of c6m and team size up to 30, enabling the client (a major bank) meet their strategic objective for their Payment estate.

• Delivered consistent offshore outcome-based Production support and service using ITIL principles over 2.5 years to a major UK Insurance provider, enabling the client to realize the benefit of outsourcing the development and support of their customized implementation of Unisure Product

• Delivered transition over 4 years from high cost onshore resource-based model to low cost offshore outcome-based model (achieved 70% offshoring) of development, support and testing services for the client (a major IT Vendor), covering their Wholesale banking and Mortgage products. Managed offshore based SOW of c1.5m and team size of 60.

BENEFITS OF ENGAGING BTECH

• Quality – Both the project/program management and business analysis activities will follow the industry best practice. Wherever possible Agile/DevOps methodology will be adopted

• Value for money – expert independent advice and assistance at reasonable cost from someone who has been there and seen how IT enabled transformations work (or do not work) from grass root level to CXO level

• Flexibility – In uncertain economic times it is even more important to have someone who need not be engaged full time and does not burden you with the costs associated with full time employment.