Successful Completion of A Twelve Month SAP HANA BI Financial Reporting Recovery Programme
April 26, 2016 by Ivan Snell
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 Ivan Snell
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.
Th
is 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 Ivan Snell
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 Ivan Snell
It 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 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 Ivan Snell
Snell 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.