Libra is 'not rocket science', says director
- Posted:
- 15:51 20 Sep 2004
Three attempts since 1989 have failed - but a team of
100 people are now leading a fourth effort to deliver a successful
national case management system for magistrates courts.
This fourth project has hit a setback, according to leaked
documents written by Paul Atwell, director of Libra. Atwell told
Computer Weekly last week that he was disappointed by the latest
problems, but he is confident that the new system will be
workable.
"It is not rocket science but we have to get to get it right and we
are working hard on that. It is a bit disappointing that we have
not been a little sharper on getting it delivered but we recognise
the issues, we know what we need to do and we are attacking that
now," he said.
Staff in magistrates' courts have expressed concern that the
project is too big and complicated to be delivered successfully.
This is compounded, they say, by the project's focus on IT rather
than trying first to simplify and unify the diverse business
processes in about 380 magistrates' courts.
The software from STL Technologies is designed to adapt to the
different ways of working in courts. When Atwell was asked if this
flexibility would make the software horrendously complex, he
replied, "Not necessarily. The complexity is mainly around the
business implementation of it."
To reduce risks of failure, the software will be split into six
releases and its scope has been reduced.
When Atwell joined the project in March 2003, he found a team of
fewer than 30 people managing the project. Now he has a team of
about 100.
"We have a whole different structure and a lot more rigour in the
organisation. My assistant directors are civil servants now and
there are no contractors with immediate line management
responsibility in my organisation. There were a lot before."
Atwell's team identified bugs in the code and weaknesses in the
performance of the system two-and-a-half months before the
contractual delivery date of the software in mid September.
This early discovery has given him added confidence in the team's
ability to remain on top of the problems. And consultancy Accenture
is supporting the plans as systems integrator. The supplier was
given a contract in 2003 to roll out STL's software into
magistrates courts.
"I have a good system integrator that agrees to the achievability
of [the project] and I am pretty optimistic we have not missed too
many tricks," Atwell said.
Staff in court offices around the country have spent about a year
preparing to go live. Of the 42 Magistrates' Court Committees that
manage courts, 39 have advanced plans to switch to STL's national
system. "There is a lot of investment and confidence that it will
be delivered," said Atwell.
Some staff are concerned that the time allowed for testing and
roll-out will be reduced to recover time which was lost when the
software was found in July 2004 to be unfit for purpose. There is
also concern that when the new system is introduced there will not
be a period of parallel running with the old.
To this Atwell said the system will be piloted at a small court,
probably in South West England, where it will have to pass
integration and user acceptance tests before being rolled out
across England and Wales.
It also has to pass an independent Gateway review, conducted by the
Office of Government Commerce. The review assesses whether the new
system is ready to go live.
"We should not be putting something that is unworkable
operationally into any site," Atwell said. Once the system is
accepted, it will be rolled out to courts and though there will be
no parallel running, he said, courts will be able to fall back on
existing systems in an emergency.
Atwell's confidence has been boosted by the results of the user
trials. "I have had users in front of the user acceptance test
environment with smiles on their faces, lavishing praise on the
system."
When asked if he is absolutely confident that the uncertainties
will not stop Libra going live as planned Atwell replied, "There is
a concern about that. If I said there was not a concern you would
laugh at me."
But he denied his team was being over-optimistic. "Our planning is
second to none. We are on top of what we are doing. We can handle
the way things are progressing."
What is the Libra project?
The Libra project provides web-enabled case management software to electronically manage the complex judicial process for about 380 magistrates' courts in England and Wales.
In these areas, magistrates' courts consider 95% of the criminal cases prosecuted. Libra is designed to make it easier to:
- Schedule court hearings
- Process the results of cases
- Handle all case-related documentation
- Manage fines accounts and fees
- Track enforcement action.
Also, through a series of interfaces, Libra is due to link the courts to the other main criminal justice agencies, including the Police, Crown Prosecution Service and Probation Service, enabling case-related information to be shared electronically.
No competition on bids for project and supplier negotiates deal twice >>
