Closure Report
Project Background
The current eOPAS system, supplied by a third party , is only compatible with Internet Explorer, which is scheduled to be removed from support as of 25th June 2022. The supplier has advised that there are no plans to make the main application eOPAS work in any other browsers at this time, but have provided an upgraded version which will run with Microsoft Edge when configured in IE mode.
In addition, the upgrade from the current version of 6.1 to 6.8 will introduce improved user functionality.
scope
The main areas of activity will be preparation of the required environments, completion of UAT and deployment of the the upgraded version of the eOPAS system, which will be compatible with Microsoft Edge(includes confirming browser configuration settings to enable IE mode on Microsoft Edge)
Project Summary
The project was had three short phases
Test Environment set up - we had some initial issues setting this up, but the issues were resolved and the Test environment was available for testing by the 18th March.
Completion of UAT and SIT - this progressed at a slower pace due to number of challenges that combined to make this phase longer than planned
The Project Business Lead(Emma) could not log into the test system and time was spent exploring alternative options, until the issue was resolved.
The IE desktop config approach changed and it took longer as the config had to be rolled out centrally.
The original plans for SIT resources changed, and there needed to be an alternative resource option secured.
During this phase it was also identified that there was no test system for Mjog. The business decision was to test post deployment(the risk of Mjog not working as expected with eOPAS was not a material risk for the business).
Additionally, holidays(not previously known) and leave of some key individuals had an impact on the various tasks
Deployment
The deployment date was later than planned, mainly due to the business decision around availability of key individuals. The deployment completed on 31st May and no significant issues were reported after checking on the day, and have been reported since. The only item that remained to be completed was the Mjog live test (There was a decision on 12 May that this could be tested post deployment(very low risk). Whilst a successful of the MJog interface was successfully completed by the business lead on 20/07/22, there was the requirement to re-install the previous version of MJog to overcome connectivity issues.
The deployment checklist was only partially completed by the time of deployment(31st May), but retrospectively.
Any related jira tickets are resolved and closed
Objectives and Deliverables
| No. | Description | Priority | Objective/Deliverable Met | Comment |
| O1 | To enable continued use of eOPAS using Microsoft Edge | |||
| D1.1 | Implementation of an upgrade version(v6.8) of the eOPAS system compatible with Microsoft Edge | M | yes | |
| D1.2 | Deployment approved | M | yes | |
| O2 | Ensuring a smooth transition for the users as part of the system upgrade | |||
| D2.1 | Test Strategy Defined | M | yes | |
| D2.2 | Testing complete | M | Yes | this included successful P&M interface testing |
| O3 | Production of updated technical documentation | |||
| D3.1 | Updated Technical Documentation | M | Yes | Yes apart from broader P&M Documentation. Noted in the outstanding issues section |
Analysis of Resource Usage:
Staff Usage Estimate: 25 days
Staff Usage Actual: 28 days
Explanation for Variance
The project will end 3-4 days overbudget. This is mainly due to the various issues encountered and resolved. The constant re-planning in response to the issues that were encountered avoided having more of an overspend.
Outcome
In addition to the objectives and deliverables listed above, a additional benefit is that the User Acceptance test scenarios are recorded in Testrail for future use.
Key Learning Points
The key learning point has been availability of key individuals and having a clear view of planned or likely leave at the outset, and as the timelines changed, checking back on the planned or likely leave.
The single point of failure concept of having only one admin user of the system, would suggest having a minimum of at least two(depending on Team size, if bigger team in the future, more than two).
Where normal upgrades are being applied, those testing the system should be excluded from normal day to day duties for a fixed period of time(1 week)to solely focus on testing. This would greatly reduce both the overall project time and associated costs.
Consider a different approach to delivery, where version upgrades are effectively scheduled in the plan(this can be discussed later, but one of the early suggestions options of Production Team running future upgrades would need to explored and agreed if that was at all even a possibility)
Availability of key business lead at deployment. On this occasion there was a decision to deploy without the key business lead being available, but for any future deployments, the best option would to plan to have the key business lead available.
Outstanding Issues
None