Summary example of our work for this client
Management of a £5 Million European Network Mgt project from inception to live operation (on time and budget).
More detail about our work for this client
Live Connections has provided a range of services for this European provider of Specialised Mobile Radio (SMR) services including Programme/Project Management, System Strategy and Business Analysis.
Dolphin was formed in 1997 to build and operate integrated digital voice and data mobile radio networks across Europe using TETRA technology. To support rapid network deployment and country launches there was intense pressure to evaluate, purchase and implement IT infrastructure, Business and Operations Support Systems. Live Connections worked on strategy, evaluation, purchase and deployment of systems and ran parallel projects across different areas of the business:
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Operations Support Systems: Programme Management controlling internal and external resources to develop and implement Dolphin’s pan-European Network Management System (NetExpert from OSI/Agilent) across the UK, France, Germany and Belgium as well a liaising with Dolphin Operations users of the system. This system provided centralised 24x7 management of diverse pan-European networks and elements (e.g. Nokia, Motorola, Comverse) from a single UK Centre. Live Connections managed the full £5M investment from inception to live operation. We developed the strategy, specified requirements, planned the architecture, selected the supplier and negotiated the contract. We then managed internal and supplier teams to successfully implement the system and this required control of several parallel projects. The system went live in the UK on time and budget followed later by France, Germany and Belgium. Live Connections then managed the ongoing system development and maintenance.
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Business Support Systems: Live Connections conducted Business Analysis and Strategy proposal for the ‘euro’. We specified requirements for changes to business support systems, financial accounting systems and working procedures.
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IT Infrastructure: Live Connections evaluated and conducted user trials of a Document Management System (Documentum) and rejected the system as far too complex, costly and unusable for Dolphin’s requirements.
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Business Support Systems: Live Connections was tasked to conduct emergency re-design of service provisioning in the Customer Care & Billing system working closely with the supplier Price Waterhouse Coopers and Dolphin Customer Agents. The system comprised ‘Vantive’ for Customer Care, ‘Geneva’ for Billing and ‘Tertio’ for Provisioning/Mediation. Users were rejecting the new system due to inadequacies with Vantive task flows. Live Connections controlled the ‘political situation’ with users and agreed changes that were successfully implemented. We then produced procedures for future releases of the CC&B so all departments were aware of what information to provide during the development cycle.
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IT Infrastructure: Live Connections undertook due diligence and selected a supplier (Opentext Corp.) for Dolphin’s European intranet and e-business applications. We then managed the supplier and project team to implement a successful B2B demonstrator project. This involved arranging an Operability trial with 30 users across the IT, Engineering and Operations departments.
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IT Infrastructure: Live Connections mapped out the strategy and architecture to harmonise data (IP/Cisco & ATM/IBM) and voice network management across Europe as part of work on the GPRS infrastructure. We won Dolphin business approval and then produced the RFQ and related Project Plan.
For more information on Dolphin visit their website at www.dolphin-telecom.co.uk