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Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of:

Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of:. UK Business Development Team. 1. Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of:. UK Business Development Team. 2. Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of:. UK Business Development Team. 3. Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of:.

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Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of:

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  1. Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of: UK Business Development Team 1

  2. Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of: UK Business Development Team 2

  3. Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of: UK Business Development Team 3

  4. Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of: UK Business Development Team 4

  5. Invitation to The Belfry!!! Images of: Ryder Cup 2002 UK Business Development Team 5

  6. Case Study: It’s a jungle out there! Sub Titled:Are you trying to make a monkey out of me? UK Business Development Team 6

  7. Case Study: It’s a jungle out there! Alan Knox Business Development Manager, Volvo IT(the one on the left with the grey hair) UK Business Development Team

  8. Case History • About Volvo IT and Nationwide • The Voyager application – a product outline • Drivers for change • The decision making process • Where are we now? UK Business Development Team

  9. Volvo IT – What we do • Applications & Technical Infrastructure Solutions • Dealer Management Systems • IT Architecture Design Services • iSeries Technical/Apps Support Services • Network Design & Installation Services • Network Security Services • Thin Client Solutions • Application Integration Services • Voice & Data Communication Solutions • Training & Consultancy Services • IT Managed Services • Outsourcing • Data Centre Managed Services • Implementation Services • Network LAN/WAN • Software as a Service (SaaS) • Remote Managed Services • Hardware & Software Purchasing • Desktop Managed Services • Customer Service Desk • Business Applications Hosting • Web Hosting UK Business Development Team

  10. China Korea USA Turkey Mexico India Malaysia Brazil Australia South Africa Volvo IT – Where we operate Offshore centres Sweden United Kingdom Poland Belgium France UK Business Development Team

  11. Volvo IT - Growth 1998/2007 1998 2007 Sales £million , worldwide 208 557 Employees 2,100 5,000Contractors 700 1,900 Locations 12 > 35 UK Business Development Team

  12. Nationwide Accident Repair Services • HQ based in Witney (Oxfordshire) with call centres in Hertford and Northwich, run a network of 72 wholly owned bodyshops + 32 approved repairers in UK • A PLC with revenue for the first half of 2008 of £88.3m (up 16% on same period in 2007) and profits of £4.2m, employ 2200+ people, highly acquisitive • Run the largest vehicle bodyshop chain and the fifth largest repair call centre operation in the UK - call centres book ‘FNOL’ and log hundreds of customer calls each week, repair centres manage their repair workflow using ‘Voyager’ • NARS requirements for their user system are constantly evolving as they acquire new companies, adapt their competitive strategy and forge alliances with major customers • Long term customer of Volvo IT – we act as their outsourced IT department UK Business Development Team

  13. Voyager technical history • ‘Voyager’ is NARS main ‘line of business’ system, their entire operation depends on it, used in 70+ sites • Initially developed by Pacific Associates through the ‘90s on an IBM AS/400 server with DB/2 database. Application logic is written in RPG/400 and RPG IV with extensive use of SQL. The user interface is 5250 only. • System handed over to Nationwide in 1998, they continued to develop the system in house until 2003. • Since 2003 has been developed and supported by Volvo IT, we also provide all user training including training for new starters. • Reasonably large application with approx 1m lines of code in 1200 programs and an estimated 500 screens – is functionally rich with user enhancements being made on an ongoing basis. UK Business Development Team

  14. The case for system modernisation • Voyager was considered a legacy application but, in 2008, NARS brought system modernisation to the top of their priority list. • NARS needed to introduce • Commonality and consistency with other ‘desktop’ applications • Use of standard techniques such as ‘drag and drop’, wizards, help • The ability to display useful information, rather than just ‘data’ • Exploiting and sharing of information with other applications • Volvo IT needed to make the Voyager application logic more modular • Reducing complexity and thereby faster turnaround on changes • Enabling changes to code without affecting other areas • Improving software performance • Enabling improvement of core user areas such as order entry UK Business Development Team

  15. More customer’s requirements • Voyager has an old fashioned look and feel (the user interface was particularly outdated), new staff required dedicated training, workflow had changed since the system was introduced but was difficult to make changes, customer had ‘interconnectivity’ requirements • Upgrade/modernise the existing system used in 72+ sites • Develop a system which could be adapted to future requirements from Nationwide users • Ensure that the system could cope with growth as Nationwide acquires new sites • Develop a system which could meet future system integration requirements of Nationwide’s customers - the major insurance companies and fleet owners UK Business Development Team

  16. Volvo IT’s issue • Selecting application modernisation tools on behalf of NARS in order to develop and update their body shop management system, particularly its ‘FNOL’ front-end • The challenge: managing the tool selection process for a large, multi-faceted modernisation project and selecting the best development solution for both Volvo IT and the customer • Voyager runs all of the bodyshop day to day functions: job-bookings, work scheduling, stock control of parts, invoicing etc. Any change has major operational implications. • As NARS strives to lower costs to its insurance customers, Volvo IT is under pressure to remain price-competitive UK Business Development Team

  17. The Challenge…………. • The challenge was to meet the needs of: • end user: wants an easy to use system, familiar software environment • IT department: has technology drivers, cost and manpower constraints, future-proofing issues • the PLC: has commercial business requirements • Some key considerations: tool functionality, pricing structures, flexibility to meet all current application demands, likelihood of meeting future development requirements, acceptance in the industry/developer availability, financial stability of supplier, on-going support etc. • Need to ensure that the application development experience and skills gained by Volvo IT could be reused in the future UK Business Development Team

  18. Voyager: current system screen capture UK Business Development Team

  19. What were the choices? • The practicalities… • Review tools on the market: RAMP from LANSA, IBM WDHT and WebSphere, ASNA Monarch, JWalk/LegaSuite from Seagull Software, WebSmart from BCD Software, NewLook from Look Software (LANSA) • Take industry soundings, look at long term product plans of suppliers • Start discussions with likely suppliers about current products • Doing business together: • Longevity: is the supplier going to be around for a while? • Cultural fit with supplier: can we work together? UK Business Development Team

  20. Tools on the market • Screen scraping/refacing option (e.g. ‘NewLook’) • Advantages: quick method of adding a GUI to a green screen system, easy to learn the skill-sets, no source code required, no major system retesting required • Disadvantages: licensing is generally user based and is for screen design only - not application upgrading • Web facing/host access transformation option (IBM) • Advantages: screen scraping plus ability to add functionality, have more integration etc. • Disadvantages: needs a powerful iSeries and Java skills are required UK Business Development Team

  21. Creating a new GUI - some further options • Code conversion option (ASNA) • Advantages: once converted, source code can be changed in any way at any time and no third party software tools are required after code conversion • Disadvantages: expense, requirement to retest the system in full • ‘Framework-style’ products (LANSA) • Advantages: quick initial screen conversion, Outlook style interface, good basis for writing new systems – high level application generator that deals with all the plumbing • Disadvantages: a proprietary language is used which means reliance on one supplier – but risk somewhat mitigated by support for common languages like RPG, C++, HTML and XML UK Business Development Team

  22. Creating a new GUI - some further options • System rewrite (using Java, Microsoft .NET etc) • Advantages: can be completely rewritten to fulfil all new requirements, open choice of development environments so could choose an inexpensive set of development tools • Disadvantages: much slower, difficult to replicate existing system without original development records, extensive retesting time required UK Business Development Team

  23. The final choice: LANSA or IBM? • The IBM technologies we supposedly couldn’t do without: Java WebSphere WDSC WDSC AE WSAD WSAD for iSeries Rational Developer EGL AD/Cycle SAA San Francisco Visual Age CUA Domino OS/2 Warp UK Business Development Team

  24. Start with a Prototype • Demonstrate the vision to stakeholders, so that they are committed from the outset • Validate the business, process and technical assumptions • Extrapolate from real metrics in order to more accurately size the total development effort • Test round-trip performance to establish acceptable service levels and reveal bottlenecks • Measure load to more accurately size the hardware and network infrastructure requirements • Identify any changes in systems or working practices that the bodyshops should be making in parallel with the system’s evolution • Limit the initial commercial investment and risk UK Business Development Team

  25. LANSA Proof of Concept (2 days) UK Business Development Team

  26. LANSA Proof of Concept (2 days) UK Business Development Team

  27. Outcomes Development stages were defined: - Development of navigation trees, agree screen designs, creation of search functions, rewriting of any functionality which could not be easily reproduced, system testing, training, roll-out Tools were chosen: RAMP from LANSA Developer Licences and Production License for P10 LANSA Integrator for B2B connectivity Services were ordered: RAMP Training Expert Mentoring UK Business Development Team

  28. The decision making process • What LANSA’s application development tools offered: • Improvement of core application areas • Ability to display more useful information more quickly • Reduction in complexity and faster turnaround on changes • Exploiting and sharing information with other applications • Improved software performance • Commonality and consistency with other desktop applications • Proven customer references • Sensible pricing structure • Able staff, willing to help and with a long term perspective UK Business Development Team

  29. Where are we now? • Nationwide approved the LANSA solution • We are half-way through an FNOL modernisation project; GUI project to follow for main Voyager system; ‘WebNOL’ also under construction • LANSA tools provide a good combination of 5250 refacing and new programming tools which has ensured speed of development • Gives us a cost-effective tool for easily adding functionality to existing systems in the future, whether the customer needs small changes or major redevelopment • Will also cope well with writing brand new applications, when required • The supplier is responsive and professional • a solution provider with service delivery, not just a product vendor UK Business Development Team

  30. New FNOL screen capture UK Business Development Team

  31. New FNOL screen capture UK Business Development Team

  32. New FNOL screen capture UK Business Development Team 32

  33. LANSA tools – specific benefits • Has reduced the work involved in the application modernisation project for Nationwide and Voyager/FNOL • Allows interaction with web services – such as postcode validation, vehicle look-ups etc. • Provides a quicker, more efficient way of interacting with e-mail • Allows for integration with third parties i.e. with the external software systems of Nationwide’s business partners • Has powerful XML capabilities without requiring expert knowledge • Integration with IBM MQ Series – a tool used by a number of insurance companies and other software companies in the insurance industry UK Business Development Team

  34. Summary • We promised to answer the question ‘do you regret the decision?’ • So far, so good • Development is on track • Due to go live end of March 2009 with FNOL (total of 700+ days of development) • Next development will probably be further enhancements to FNOL • Next will be more Integration with Insurance companies using Integrator, or • Complete GUIsation of Voyager using RAMP • Limited only by the restraints of the ‘recession’ rather than the toolset! UK Business Development Team

  35. Case Study: It’s a jungle out there! But we didn’t choose a banana!! UK Business Development Team 35

  36. Case Study: It’s a jungle out there! Nobody made a monkey out of us!! UK Business Development Team 36

  37. It wasn’t just about one partner’s dream UK Business Development Team 37

  38. It was a team effort!! UK Business Development Team 38

  39. The end result is sweet success!!! UK Business Development Team 39

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