International Project Management Day (IPM Day)

November 3, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

Today, International Project Management Day, is a day to celebrate and acknowledge
the achievements of project managers and their teams around the world. We would like to recognise and thank all our clients, past and present, for continuing to select our consultants to support them to deliver, often on a global scale, complex, IT enabled business transformation projects and programmes.

Read more about our project / programme delivery work here…

 

Successful Completion of A Twelve Month SAP HANA BI Financial Reporting Recovery Programme

April 26, 2016 by · Leave a Comment 

Snell Consultancy is pleased to announce the successful completion of a twelve month recovery IT programme for one of it’s clients, a major Global FMCG Company headquartered in the UK. The programme had already been running for a year and it was beset by multiple delivery issues including poor governance, loose requirements, late delivery record, escalating costs and a demoralised programme team. It was based on SAP Business Warehouse (BW) and  HANA Business Intelligence (BI) management reporting technologies.

Snell Consultancy Director Ivan Snell was appointed as Programme Director by our client’s CIO and the Group Financial Controller. Ivan led a forty-five day recovery plan which he delivered to the programme Steering Committee which was chaired by the FMCG company’s CFO. The recovery plan involved locking down the programme scope, implementing quality standards and quality gates, putting in place programme controls, conducting a review of the incumbent team’s capabilities and defining a twenty-seven week programme reset plan to deliver a final release of software. The programme reset plan was approved by the programme Steering Committee. The final software release technical and business ‘go live’ was achieved on time, the first time a ‘go live’ had been achieved on time in the history of the programme, and it was delivered without any emergency code fixes being needed and to budget. After a short programme Hypercare support phase the programme was closed at the final quality gate. The Snell Consultancy also provided two Snell Associate Consultants in the roles of Senior Test Manager and Global Reporting work stream Project Manager to support with the delivery of the programme reset plan.

Ivan Snell commented: “with organisations such as this particular client, where the software development delivery model is relatively immature, it is extremely difficult to provide assurance and predictability of delivery to senior stakeholders. This programme was also especially challenging due to the previously high turnover of individuals leading the programme. Winning the trust and respect of the incumbent programme team was really important to get the programme moving forward in the right direction. I am very proud of the short time it took for the Snell Consultancy to turn the programme around and put it back on a trajectory of success.”

Read more about the IT programme recovery at the global FMCG plc

Read more about The Snell Consultancy

Read more about the recommendations from the FMCG plc CIO and Group Financial Controller

 

 

Snell Consultancy Director Completes Helicopter Private Pilots Licence

April 7, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

Today, Snell Consultancy Director, Ivan Snell, passed the final practical exam of his helicopter Private Pilots licence with the Phoenix Helicopter Academy at the famous Goodwood Aerodrome in Sussex, UK.

ThFullSizeRender3is was the last stage of an intensive seven month long course which included passing nine theoretical exams at ground school, a medical and the practical exam today with Ivan’s examiner Tim Price. After being awarded his completion certificate by Paul Andrews, Chief Instructor, at Phoenix Helicopter Academy, Ivan said: “to be able to fly helicopters has been one of my life time ambitions – it requires an unbelievable level of of eye-hand coordination. Helicopters are generally dynamically unstable, meaning that you can not stop concentrating for a second. Its all about the good airmanship principles of aviate, navigate and communciate – in that order! It is such a privilege to be able to fly. I have thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience and the guys at Phoenix have been amazingly patient with me as I have progressed over the last seven to eight months. I cant wait to get my official licence from the CAA and start taking friends, colleagues and clients flying!”

Read more about Phoenix Helicopters

Watch a video of Ivan’s first solo flight on 25th November 2014:-

[youtube]https://youtu.be/V37UHl1j1O8[/youtube]

Successful Delivery of an Independent IT Project Review for a UK Based SAP Consultancy and its’ Client, a Global FMCG Company

February 1, 2015 by · Leave a Comment 

Snell Consultancy is pleased to announce the successful completion of a brief independent IT project delivery review of a SAP Business Warehouse (BW) / Hana Business Intelligence (BI) management reporting project for a UK based SAP consultancy and its’ client, a major Global FMCG Company headquartered in the UK.

Snell Consultancy Director Ivan Snell managed the short review which involved interviewing all the project team members staffed from the SAP consultancy firm, the client team and a Big Five consultancy firm that was responsible for the overall delivery of the project. A number of key senior project stakeholders from the client were also interviewed and critical project control documentation was reviewed. He said: “this was a particularly challenging assignment due to small amount of time allowed to the Snell Consultancy to ascertain the main causes for the failing project delivery. As is often the case all parties were guilty but no one was to blame so great sensitivity was needed to present a balanced set of candidate recommendations to get the project back on track. I am delighted to say to all the recommendations were signed off and they have been implemented, the last I heard was the project was back on track”.

Read more about the independent SAP BW /Hana BI Reporting project review

Read more about the Snell Consultancy

Read more about the recommendation received from the client Global ERP Programme Director

Snell Consultancy Director Confirmed Finalist for the UK Interim Manager of the Year Award

July 24, 2014 by · Leave a Comment 

IvanSnell--backgroundIt is with great pleasure that the Snell Consultancy, the Technology, Innovation & Programme Management consultancy,  would like to announce that its founding Director, Ivan Snell, has been confirmed today as a finalist for the prestigious UK Interim Manager of the Year Award to be held in London on the 25th of September 2014. Victoria Onions, from Boyden Interim Management who sponsor the award said “I would like to congratulate all the finalists on getting to this stage. We have had an outstanding response to this prestigious award, thus making it challenging for us to narrow down from 7,000 Interim Managers to the most exceptional candidates”. Ivan Snell has been nominated for his role as Interim Programme Director at BG Group. He commented “I am delighted to have made the final for this highly respected industry award. This achievement is testament to my superb team at the Snell Consultancy and also to our flexible resourcing model providing highly experienced IT professionals for both consultant and interim management roles. I am very much looking forward to attending the final in September”.

Read more about Ivan Snell

Read more ore about Boyden global executive search & interim management

 

 

Triathlonguard Windsor Olympic Triathlon Successfully Completed and Over £2,500 Raised for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund

June 18, 2014 by · Leave a Comment 

2014-06-15 WindsorSnell Consultancy Director, Ivan Snell, completed the Triathlonguard Windsor Olympic traithlon held at Windsor , on the 15th June 2014. He successfully completed the race, made up of a 1,500m swim in the Thames, 40 km bike ride and 10km run in  two hours and forty six minutes. This marked the end of a three month training plan that has seen Ivan compete in four other warm up triathlons at Hampton Court, Ringwood, the New Forest, Steyning, Brighton and, most recently, Blenheim Castle.

Speaking after the race Ivan said: “The swim in the Thames was really concerning me given the strength of the current which we had to swim upstream into. I watched several of the earlier heats and in every one of them at least one competitor did not make it across the current to the far bank and they had to be fished out by a rescue canoeist”. He continued, “in the event my open watering training paid off and, once we started, I swam full pelt for the other bank to get out of the downstream current. After the swim the cycle was fast with few hills, and the run was enjoyable with three laps around the centre of Windsor, apart from the uphill part to the castle which was getting to become tiresome by the third lap. Many, many thanks to all my sponsors who have raised a total of over £2,500 over the last three months which is really fantastic and has made all the effort worthwhile!”

Ivan Snell has been raising money for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund by racing in the Olympic distance (1,500 swim/40k cycle/10k run) Triathlonguard Windsor triathlon on 15th June 2014. For more information on Snell Consultancy charity fund raising please go here. For the opportunity to sponsor Ivan please visit his JustGiving charity fund raising page here.

On Track – Steyning Triathlon Completed and £350 Raised for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund

May 8, 2014 by · Leave a Comment 

Lezyne Steyning Triathlon 2014 by SussexSportPhotography.comSnell Consultancy Director, Ivan Snell, completed his third `warm up’ triathlon, the Raw Energy Pursuits Steyning Standard Triathlon, held at the beautiful West Sussex village of Steyning, on the 4th May 2014. He successfully completed the race, made up of a 800m swim, 35 km bike ride and 8km run in  two hours and seventeen minutes. This was the penultimate event in a three month training plan to prepare Ivan for the olympic distance at the Windsor olympic triathlon on Sunday 15rd June 2014.

Speaking after the race Ivan said: “I still struggle with the 4:30 am wake ups. It is a real motivation to get off the debutant swimmer start position which are normally at 06:00 am for these sorts of events. However, the weather was beautiful, there was a fantastic atmosphere and I am slowing extending the distances ready for the Olympic event in June”. He continued, “my fund raising is a bit behind plan but I am sure folks will support me with reaching my target of £2,500 in sponsorship for the Pancreatic Cancer Research fund – there is still plenty of time to go before the event!”

 

Ivan Snell is raising money for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund by racing in the Olympic distance (1,500 swim/40k cycle/10k run) HumanRace Windsor triathlon on 15th June 2014. He is racing in a number of shorter distance `super sprint’ triathlons this summer as training for the big event. For more information on Snell Consultancy charity fund raising please go here. For the opportunity to sponsor Ivan please visit his JustGiving charity fund raising page here.

Ivan Snell Achieves a PB Time at the Thames Turbo Triathlon #1 and, So Far, Over £200 Raised for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund

April 21, 2014 by · Leave a Comment 

IvanSnell  71dSnell Consultancy director, Ivan Snell, beat his previous triathlon `super sprint’ time today by nearly three and a half minutes. The triathlon race took place at the Hampton Outdoor Pool, Hampton, UK. Speaking after the race (426m swim,  21.1km bike and 5km run) Ivan said: “ I am really pleased with my result today. Working in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, last year did not give me much of a chance to train seriously as triathlon events are far and few between in Rio. The Thames Turbo events are so well run, it makes it a real pleasure to take part. There is always such a great atmosphere, even with the 7am start on a Easter bank holiday!”

 

Race

Finish

Swim

Cycle

Run

Overall Pos’

Cat’ Pos’

21-Apr-14 Thames Turbo Sprint Race #1

01:23:30

00:10:37

00:43:32

00:25:30

213 / 337

21 / 31

09-April-12 Thames Turbo Sprint Race #1

01:26:55

00:11:07

00:45:31

00:24:04

302 / 506

50 / 92

 

Ivan Snell is raising money for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund by racing in the Olympic distance (1,500 swim/40k cycle/10k run) HumanRace Windsor triathlon on 15th June 2014. He is racing in a number of shorter distance `super sprint’ triathlons this summer as training for the big event. For more information on Snell Consultancy charity fund raising please go here. For the opportunity to sponsor Ivan please visit his JustGiving charity fund raising page here.

TeamSnell Successfully Completes the RORC Rolex 2013 Fastnet,the World’s Greatest Offshore Race

September 4, 2013 by · Leave a Comment 

FastnetLogo2013At 14:42 pm on Thursday 15th of August 2013 TeamSnell Racing, sailing its Beneteau 40.7, Parallel Blue, crossed the finish line of the 2013 RORC Rolex Fastnet Race, arguably some would say the ‘worlds greatest offshore yacht race’ (Daily Telegraph, 13 August 2013), off the iconic Plymouth lighthouse located on the Plymouth breakwater. In doing so, TeamSnell Racing completed 608 nautical miles in 4 days, 1 hour and 32 minutes and the yacht race which the organisers, the Royal Offshore Racing Club (RORC), describe as a ‘challenge second to none’.

The Fastnet yacht race starts off the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes taking yachts – this year a record breaking number close to 350 – out of the Solent along the South of England to Lands End before they must cross the Celtic (Irish) Sea which can throw up some of the worst storm conditions anywhere in the world as it did in the 1979 Fastnet tragedy claiming the lives of 18 (15 yachtsmen and 3 rescuers). Once the yachts round the Fastnet Rock it is a race back to the finish at Plymouth.

Ever since the inaugural race in 1925 the challenge of the course remains strong for each yachtsman. Physically, emotionally and mentally exerting, the competitors race day and night, usually rotating active and resting crew through a watch system, living aboard in cramped, damp accommodation.

SRf 118From 1925 to 2013 the Fastnet continues to call to yachtsmen around the world including Ivan Snell and TeamSnell Racing. “it is the ultimate test of endurance and the ensuing sense of accomplishment which enticed me back this year” said Snell Consultancy Director and the TeamSnell Racing skipper after the race in the RORC Fastnet Race village.

This year was particularly challenging for TeamSnell and navigator Richard ‘Dickie’ Clarke due to the inclusion for the first time of ‘Traffic Separation Schemes’ (TSS) which all the fleet had to navigate their way around. Richard did a great job navigating TeamSnell safely around Lands End and past the Sicily Isles without infringing the adjacent TSS area which would have meant an extremely costly ten hour penalty for TeamSnell. Unfortunately not even he was able to organise for an arrival at the majestic Fastnet Rock in daylight and the team sailed around at 2 am on Wednesday morning in the dark and extremely poor visibility.

IMG_1841Ivan Snell continued ‘it has been an amazing year campaign for our international Anglo-Canadian-Dutch crew. We achieved everything which we set out to achieve with a mid-fleet result, 187th out of 287 yachts that finished, no breakages or damage to our yacht or crew loss or injury. You have to remember this was all achieved with a scratch crew that had never sailed together before the first training week end in April this year and also, all of whom had very different levels of offshore racing experience and abilities. It is a credit to everyone that took part, they should all be extremely proud of what they have individually and collectively achieved’. Ivan concluded ‘our successful campaign this year is also testament, in at least a small part, to the rigorous planning, strong leadership and can do attitude of the TeamSnell Racing sponsors, The Snell Consultancy. These are some of the fundamental skills that are also needed for our high quality, IT project delivery to our international client base’.

 Read more about the RORC Rolex Fastnet 2013

 Read more about the Snell Consultancy corporate sailing

TeamSnell Completes Myth of Malham race and Successfully Qualifies for the RORC Rolex 2013 Fastnet in August 2013

June 23, 2013 by · Leave a Comment 

FastnetLogo2013

At 08:57 am  on Monday 27th May TeamSnell crossed the Myth of Malham race finish line off Hurst Castle at the entrance to the approaches to the Western Solent. This gave TeamSnell its final two hundred nautical miles, completed in one day and twenty-three hours, towards a total of three hundred nautical miles that TeamSnell has to achieve in offshore races this summer to qualify for the RORC Rolex Fastnet 2013 race in August this year.

Organised by RORC, in association with the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS), the Myth of Trophy race started on Saturday 25th May from the RYS line taking the fleet of one hundred and twenty yachts two hundred and thirty nautical miles West along the south coast, round the Eddystone Rock lighthouse, Plymouth, before returning to the Solent.

Initially TeamSnell, racing its’ Beneteau First 40.7 yacht Parallel Blue, had a good start and kept pace with the other thirty yachts in its’ IRC Class II. A tactical error unfortunately saw TeamSnell sail ten nautical miles further offshore during Saturday night than the rest of the fleet. Everyone was becalmed over night for six hours and once a sea breeze kicked in the majority of Class II, whom had stayed inshore, benefited from the more direct rhumb line to Eddystone Rock lighthouse.

SONY DSC

During the return leg back to the Solent, TeamSnell were without electronics due to a faulty battery calling on navigator Richard Clarke’s old school navigational skills to navigate Parallel Blue to the finish line. Without instruments and the yacht’s chart plotter TeamSnell made good boat speed downwind back to Hurst Castle flying its no.3 kite in twenty to twenty-five knots of breeze.

Skipper Ivan Snell commented after the race: “the campaign has gone really well. Better than I thought actually. We have qualified with one training week end and only two RORC races”. ”This has really reduced the pressure now. TeamSnell can look forward to our final preparation for the Fastnet which will be a few races around the cans in the Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes week in August without the concern of having to enter another qualifying race to gain the necessary miles” he concluded.

 Read more about the RORC Rolex Fastnet 2013

 Read more about the Snell Consultancy corporate sailing

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