Wireline Magazine Autumn 2020 Issue 49

www.vetasi.com

Transitions

Written by Jonathan Heward, Engagement Manager, Vetasi UK

H ave you ever thought what it is that drives people to go sky- diving or practice freestyle mountaineering? I guess it’s much the same as for those who engage in transitions: it’s either in your blood or it’s not! Whilst there are many aspects of our working lives which require absolute commitment, there are few where the consequences of getting it wrong can be quite as catastrophic. Transitions are not for the faint-hearted or those that haven’t fully assessed the risks and taken appropriate steps to mitigate against them. Put yourself in the hands of someone without the necessary skills and the impact can be huge. In 2017 the Forties Pipeline was divested to the INEOS group, and they faced a unique set of challenges ahead of them in terms of the transition. These challenges did not just arrive in the form of a licence to operate, but in the form of the Information technology systems, engineering policies, contractors, and the staff that were to be employed on TUPE. There were stringent conditions to meet the required timelines. Vetasi were engaged to migrate the legacy Maximo system and its interfaces for finance, scheduling and inspection from the customised, Maximo system into the INEOS infrastructure in order to give a seamless, fast start into production. With only four months of hands-on time available, we used our experience and the lessons below as the bedrock of the project. History – You should know your data and why it is there, what is it measuring, and is it legally required. A process may work, but if your data is incorrect the process fails. Data is key. You should know if processes work in the current system, or is the business using work arounds daily. Vision - You should have a clear understanding of where your business

requirements and processes need to end up. If you are divesting from similar systems, try not to change the system greatly as users do not like change. You can simplify processes wherever possible, but do not make the system look completely different. Following this rule limits the implementation time, testing time and ultimately training time, you can then begin working on deltas rather than complete processes. Business/Collaboration– Theproject team need to be dedicated to the project and have a clear vision of what the project goals are. There must be designated decision makers from the business, we would advocate that there is no more than one, per month of the project, and you must have one product owner who can ultimately decide. Third party consultancies must know each other and what they are trying to achieve. Data – Data is the most important aspect of the project, it underpins the processes that are built. Early access to the data is vital so it can be mapped and understood. This is especially true for dissimilar systems. Do not underestimate the importance of data, nor the effort to migrate it. Testing – The business should own testing and ultimately the sign off. Test the data first and fix anomalies at source. If the data is incorrect the process fails at step one. Test all aspects of the system positively and negatively. Do not just test what you can see as many hidden attributes drive functionality. Once the test scripts have been followed, encourage the users to test “off piste”, and hope that it is not a powder day. The experience has taught us that the importance of people with experience from both the business, and our company, coupled with the lessons above are key to a successful project execution. This is true if you have short duration, or if you have the luxury of time.

James Fair, Managing Director, Vetasi UK says; "Ensuring a

shorter transition period is pivotal in making money on acquired assets”