Being a global bank with over a hundred thousand employees in over 50 countries, our client’s human resources (HR) processes were fragmented and differed from country to country. This resulted in process and financial inefficiencies and it was almost impossible to create reports that effectively illustrated a global HR picture.

• To address this the bank developed a global HR programme to deliver a consistent approach, with the aim of driving efficiency, improving the service to users, standardising reporting and ultimately providing a global view. The programme impacted all HR systems and also involved other teams such as finance and IT.
• As multiple vendors and internal teams were involved in delivering testing across multiple test phases, there was a requirement
  to ensure consistency in testing standards, practices and governance as well as ensuring that no gaps occurred in the hand-offs between suppliers.
• A consolidated project plan was required to coordinate multiple test phases running in parallel.

• The bank engaged P2 Consulting to provide a Test Management Office (TMO). The TMO overlaid the multiple testing suppliers and internal teams to bring consistency to the testing standards and practices and to introduce a governance structure across all teams and throughout the test phases. This included defining and implementing reporting, risks and issue management, as well as change impact analysis and on-boarding offshore resources.
• One of our first actions was to bring an array of suppliers to the table and walk them through the test strategy. This ensured that each test phase had clear ownership, as well as enhancing the test strategy and planning. We then defined and implemented standard reporting and test governance procedures. Working with the suppliers to ensure that dependencies between teams and test phases were clearly defined, the TMO also produced a consolidated testing project plan so the impact of any slippage could easily be identified.
• The TMO team developed a reputation as being the dependable party for resolving high impact issues. The team facilitated deep dive workshops to drive forward resolution and ensure that key stakeholders were represented and aware of the decisions.

Creating the TMO brought the client the following benefits:

• Consistency: the P2 approach ensured consistency across all test activities;
• Collaboration: bringing all parties together meant we could ensure the TMO was a collaborative effort and was adopted by all stakeholders;
• Transparency: greater transparency of achievements, deliverables, risks and issues meant the client could have an eagle’s eye
  view into the quality of the system being developed; and
• Confidence: the client’s senior leadership team could rest easy knowing that the TMO monitored and assessed vendor deliverables and ensured they met targets.