Project Services. Bid with confidence, minimise risks and get the job done

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1 Project Services Bid with confidence, minimise risks and get the job done Produce more informed bids Prepare for the unexpected Deliver complex projects Meet challenging deadlines

2 Sharpen your competitive edge Generating new business to drive growth is one of the best ways to prosper in a competitive market. But what if you find yourself unable to bid for a lucrative new contract because you don t have the right project management resources when you need them? Worse still, what if, after making a commitment to deliver a project on time, you encounter logistical problems that your team doesn t have enough spare capacity or experience to solve in the given timeframe? Project Services a core capability within our wider Service Based Solutions portfolio can provide the answer. Regardless of size, complexity or UK location*, once engaged, our Project Services experts are here to help you bid with confidence, plan more effectively and deliver your project on time and to the highest possible standard. How Project Services can help you Get vital access to industry knowledge, planning skills and resource Our experts know what works and what doesn t and, by drawing on experience of working across a range of industry sectors, they are able to identify potential issues in advance, mitigate risks and help you deal with unforeseen issues. Their primary goal is to smooth your project delivery by helping you avoid significant delays and headaches. Transform multiple orders into a programme of work Rather than handling a series of orders as individual requirements, Project Services can take multiple orders, transform them into a programme of work and manage that programme through to completion. This is ideal for larger projects that are geographically concentrated (such as a new housing development or a shopping centre) or where an individual customer has requirements at multiple related sites across the country (for example banks, retail chains, distribution companies). Enjoy a single point of contact Every project is allocated a dedicated project manager or co-ordinator. You can choose for them to either take end-to-end accountability or to work alongside your existing team to provide an overflow capability. Each project manager is backed by a team of specialists who have unrivalled knowledge of our systems and processes. Identify external delays early Using our experience, we can tell you up front what the delaying factors in your orders are likely to be and help prevent unexpected contractual issues between you and your customers. As well as dealing with any wayleaves we need for our circuits and equipment as per normal, we can provide advice and support on issues with landlords and local authorities. For instance, it can sometimes take three months or longer to get permission to close down a road to install new line plant. We can make you aware of the ramifications in advance, allowing you to better manage the expectations of your customers and thus agree more realistic contractual terms. We are also constantly improving relationships with public bodies, such as the Highways Authority. By sharing knowledge with them and explaining typical processes and critical paths we are better able to smooth the way for all projects that need their permission to proceed. This helps to ensure any required digging can be done in the shortest possible timescales. *Project Services is not available in the Isle of Man or Hull 2 Project Services

3 Beyond business as usual Our business-as-usual processes are designed to automate the ordering and delivery of high volume products for straightforward delivery scenarios. They meet the core requirements identified by industry for each of the products we supply. However, if your orders or projects are complex, you may need more than business-as-usual is designed to provide. This is where Project Services has a role to play. Minimise fulfilment process delays Winning a bid is one thing. But your name will be mud if you don t deliver your project on time. A single delay could make all the difference between profit and loss not to mention the chance to win repeat business. Here are some examples of the process delays that can occur and how we can help: Driving order progression When you place an order, a number of automated messages pass backwards and forwards as it progresses through our systems. If we don t receive a response to one of these messages, your order is effectively stalled. This doesn t happen when Project Services is in the driving seat, because we check order progress on a regular basis on your behalf. If we re waiting for a response, we ll call you to elicit one, allowing your orders to progress to the next stage with the minimum of delay. Managing access and sign off Time can be wasted if an engineer visits a site and can t gain access because no-one s around to let them in. The same applies if the person who needs to sign off the work isn t available. Here again, we can minimise delays by contacting the relevant people on site and establishing their availability, so the job can get done. Gaining security clearance Many sites require notice of a week or more before an engineer visit. They may also want the name of the engineer in advance. Some sites require specific security clearance as well as the engineer s identity card. We can facilitate all these arrangements across multiple orders to avoid delay. Handle unforeseen issues more efficiently In some cases issues that may put a project in jeopardy simply cannot be predicted. It s at times like these that experience counts for everything. We expect the unexpected and relish opportunities to take on a new challenge and put our adaptability to the test. At the time our projects were in full flow, we had the Icelandic volcanic eruption. This delayed the shipping of important network components. The Openreach guys helped us understand all of our requirements and priorities and enabled stores to be diverted to where they were most needed. Malcolm Janes, Easynet, Head of UK Project Management Benefit from powerful reporting A weekly progress report is provided as standard and, if you require more frequent reports, we can tailor our service to meet your needs. For instance, we can provide daily reports on how many circuits have been delivered, how many remain to be delivered, what stage each circuit is at, what the next actions are and when they re scheduled to take place. Armed with this information you can keep customers up to date and be confident yourself that everything is on track. By providing us with more accurate, timely information, Project Services eliminated uncertainty and saved us no end of time. They also helped us share issues, work together to solve them and create an excellent, collaborative working environment. Robert Gathergood, Sky Network Services, Head of LLU Implementation Project Services 3

4 Understanding the labyrinth of sector-specific issues We ve developed a thorough understanding of working environments and practices across major market sectors. Using this knowledge we can help you avoid issues and delays that could otherwise put things in jeopardy. Education Time is often of the essence in this sector. Work typically needs to avoid term time and other critical dates to minimise the impact of noise and other disruptions. There are security considerations too, school staff need to be on site to check the engineer s identity card as well as give them access to school buildings. All of this is manageable, but getting it wrong can spell trouble when it comes to job planning, circuit routing, engineer access and work sign-offs. Health This is yet another sensitive sector where noise and disruptions are not welcome. Unlike schools though, hospitals do not have the luxury of being closed during non-term times and evenings. They are 24/7 operations where staff work on rotas and where access to certain areas is heavily restricted due to data and medical considerations. All of this can pose significant access and sign-off issues. Many also demand up front health and safety method statements and detailed risk assessments too. Mobile Engineers typically require keys to get into base stations but these are not always easy to get hold of. Access to sites is heavily protected for good reason and more than one visit to complete the work may be needed. Because of the location of many mobile base station sites, wayleaves are often required from landowners, landlords and even tenants themselves (in the case of roof access). Again, although manageable, experience counts for a lot. Get it wrong or plan poorly and it could add weeks or months especially if access refusal ends up resulting in legal proceedings. 4 Project Services

5 We deliver a lot of large projects each year to different organisations. These have gone a lot more smoothly where we have used Project Services. And the fact that they have done such a great job with Digital Switchover means we will definitely use them again in the future. Paul Shields, BT Wholesale, Senior Project Manager Retail The variety of retail premises in the UK means that, once again, issues can vary from one location to another. Security procedures tend to be dictated by the nature of the business being undertaken and we often need to rely on the customer to tell us exactly where they want the Network Terminating Equipment installed. Different types of retail premises also have different operating hours that may need to be taken into consideration to ensure the right people are on site and that work is not too disruptive. Time is money for these organisations and any work that interrupts, or is feared to interrupt their ability to trade can generate local issues and individual resistance even when people know we are coming. Defence MoD work is usually required at very short notice with an equally fast turnaround expected. There are unique installation processes to follow which, if not properly understood, can drive extended lead times. Not only do engineers need to be security cleared, but they must also work to the exacting expectations of on-site contractors who rarely welcome different ways of tackling challenges. The need to be able to manage all of these demands and co-ordinate with on-site personnel on the day is essential to deliver a successful contract and win repeat business. Non-served premises Non-served premises present their own unique set of challenges. For example, circuit provisions to traffic light control boxes and portakabins on construction sites. Finance One of the greatest issues here is that we often don t know the extent of the barriers we face until we arrive on site. A straight swap from one circuit to another, for example, may look simple but there may be more than one comms room and existing circuits might not be labelled. Having a best practice approach is vital. Financial institutions are host to sensitive data and some locations (such as those hosting ATMs) require special on-site procedures that can vary from one organisation to another. Access restrictions may require names of engineers in advance and timing often needs to be aligned to the availability of security personnel. Careful co-ordination and double-checking of information is essential but time consuming. Provisioning to traffic lights means securing Local Authority permission to dig at potentially busy road junctions. This can take up to three months, and once secured there may only be a limited window in which to undertake the work. A construction site meanwhile can be nothing more than a wasteland at first glance. Although grid references for a portakabin location may be provided, once on site these may be inappropriate or subject to change. Such issues can cause unexpected delays. The more circuit orders, products, and complexity involved in a contract, the greater the challenge. When you choose Project Services though, whichever sector you re supplying to, our experts will ensure that as much as possible is planned for. Where planning can t be done in advance they will draw on their experience and put best practice workarounds into action. Project Services 5

6 End-to-end service ensures maximum impact Showing that you ve considered all the risks in a project at the bid stage, and have taken steps to mitigate them (or have a plan to do so) can make all the difference between winning and losing vital new business. Involving us up front is a great way to achieve this. It also allows us to help quantify any additional costs or lead time impacts on your behalf. Not only does this provide your customers with extra certainty that they re choosing the right supplier, but it also helps you to avoid nasty surprises, and can even reduce the risk of penalty payments brought about by unexpected delays. As a contract progresses, Project Services can go on to detect and tackle many potential delays before they have a chance to affect the delivery timescales you ve promised your customers. These could include delays during the order process and even issues common to particular market sectors. The provision of valuable reporting throughout completes the package from us ensuring you always know exactly how things are progressing. What Project Services can t offer We ll only take on a Project Services contract if we believe we can add value beyond the businessas-usual processes that we operate. That means Project Services can t: be used to reduce the Openreach contractual lead times for circuit delivery or to fast track defined order processes. It can however provide access to knowledge, experience and expertise to help co-ordinate multiple orders and minimise unnecessary and sometimes unforeseen delays place orders on your behalf. However, other aspects of our Service Based Solutions portfolio can provide more managed solutions should you be interested assist if there s not enough space or power at an exchange. In both these instances, the normal business-as-usual processes apply. Early birds or fire fighters your choice Before you even take on a contract, our Project Services experts can help you identify and mitigate potential risks. Involving us at the planning stage, rather than using us to fix problems once they become evident, will ensure the most efficient use of your time and budget, and could also add a level of granularity that helps to win the bid. Either way, utilising our expertise will leave you free to concentrate on other priorities and minimise the need to invest in recruiting and training people within your own organisation. 6 Project Services

7 Customers who choose to completely outsource project management requirements need to know that the supplier they choose will take full accountability, especially when the outcome is highly visible to their own customers. The excellent reputation we have built from doing exactly this, end-to-end, for a number of major and complex programmes of work continues to attract repeat and additional business. Derek Hewins, Openreach, Head of Major Programmes Our team has experience of managing massive network rollout programmes where bespoke processes, access issues, security clearance hurdles and all manner of unforeseen issues present constant challenges. Bill Jones, Openreach, SBS Project Services General Manager Without Openreach help we wouldn t be able to deliver what we had promised our customer. They look after all our orders and provide a joined up picture on a regular basis. We always know where we are with the project and can therefore deal with any problems as they arise. Graham Keeble, MLL Telecom, Head of Project Delivery It costs nothing to talk to us and if we can t add value, we won t take on the work. Project Services 7

8 Project Services helps you complete your projects on time and to the highest possible standard. For more information speak to your sales and relationship manager or visit Openreach is the BT Group business that installs, services, supports and maintains the first mile of wiring, fibres and connections which links tens of millions of homes in Britain to their Communications Providers networks. The telecommunications services described in this publication are subject to availability and may be modified from time to time. Services and equipment are provided subject to British Telecommunications plc s respective standard conditions of contract. Nothing in this publication forms any part of any contract. BT and the BT logo are trademarks of British Telecommunications plc. British Telecommunications plc Registered office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ Registered in England No: Produced by Openreach Designed by Westhill.co.uk PHME 81495