Migration of Large Network Infrastructure for a Leading American Telecoms Company
Reviewing and completing a complex handback plan and then project managing its execution
Our client provides communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to business, consumers, and government entities. They serve small and medium businesses, global enterprises, public sector, and wholesale customers across multiple geographies.
The client was required to complete and execute a handback plan for a major company which provides critical energy infrastructure to millions of people across the UK and US. This company had previously been outsourcing the management of its network infrastructure to our client, but were planning to bring this back inhouse following the fulfilment of its previous contract.
Specialist support was required to update the handback plan and agree with the end client on its terms, before ultimately executing this plan. Cambridge Management Consulting was engaged to project and programme manage the fulfilment of these contractual obligations across multiple regions, stakeholders, and workstreams.
Download the Full Case Study
Contact Form - Project Management of a Network Migration
The
Challenge
This engagement was comprised of two stages. The first stage was to support the client with its commercial and contract management to formally update and agree on a handback plan with the end client. As the contract was imminently reaching the end of its term, this was a time-bound critical contractual obligation, and it was important that the plan was current and formally agreed upon to ensure that there was no impact to crucial service delivery caused by the ultimate network migration.
The second stage involved the execution of the handback plan itself between the two parties. This ran for 18 months (plus a further 6-month readiness planning period). The delivery comprised a global, complex programme plan with multiple stakeholders and nine major workstreams delivered using an agile methodology.
Given the project’s complexity and the criticality of the end client’s services, executing both stages of this challenge required an acute and robust understanding of the contract and agreement of its obligations. This involved reviewing historical issues to understand risk, finalising the scope and delivery timeline, and defining the governance structure to ensure that progress during and beyond the contract scope remained intact and consistent.
Our
Solution
Contract Review
Cambridge MC recommended an Agile approach to programme management delivery for both elements of the engagement. We reviewed the current status of the handback documentation and built a new and refreshed handback plan in iterative steps, annex by annex, sharing drafts for approval at regular intervals as the commercial, technical, and legal aspects evolved.
In order to eliminate potential risks and issues early, we shared a draft of the handback plan halfway through the initial phase of this engagement to encourage review and feedback. This allowed for a more tailored refinement and richer data analysis to be included in the final document, as well as the avoidance of surprises or issues occurring in the final stages. This meant that the documents were ultimately approved quickly and directly when it came to formal approval.
The Handback
The programme management of the handback execution continued these same principles of collaboration and transparency, crucial qualities for service transitions and migrations of this nature in order to ensure a seamless transition to minimise service impact. Due to the volume and complexity of the network infrastructure to be migrated, it was also important to maintain flexibility and adaptability throughout the sprint cycles, as there were numerous deliverables all independently reliant on a combination of the client’s due diligence and support on device history and status, as well as the end client’s readiness to accept and test them.
Throughout this process, we ensured that collaboration and open communication were at the heart of the entire project lifecycle, setting guarantees that everyone was continually briefed and comfortable with the direction, pace and end goal, and that any risks and issues were addressed and resolved early.
TheTeam
The programme management team engaged on this project was led by Kirsten Watson, Partner – Contract Management at Cambridge Management Consulting. With nearly three decades of experience managing major contracts across a variety of market sectors, Kirsten is an expert in programme and project management, risk management, client and stakeholder management, collaboration, and relationship management.
Kirsten has a proven track record designing comprehensive plans and workstreams with robust governance and transparent communication in order to ensure alignment between clients and stakeholders towards an agreed goal.
Outcomes & Results
1
700 Sites
Cambridge Management Consulting successfully supported the client with the migration of over 700 sites in the UK and US, comprising thousands of network devices, to its end client’s network operating centre.
2
Knowledge Transfer
We completed a comprehensive knowledge transfer across operational and security environments, assisting the end client to quickly build understanding and develop its own processes and procedures.
3
Intellectual Property Rights
We ensured that the protection and ringfencing of intellectual property Rights was handled sensitively so that the end client was provided with a working network knowledge and expertise without compromising our client’s product and offering.
4
Project Management of HR Functions
We also oversaw the project management of all HR aspects throughout the handback, ensuring that the necessary briefing and engagement of key parties was fulfilled with respect to employment laws and obligations for employees impacted by the transition.
5
End-Client Utilised Our Project Manager
Due to the team’s meticulous attention to detail across all work packages and comprehensive tracking, the end client chose to stand-down its third-party consultants and co-utilised Kirsten as the overall Programme Director.
Get in touch with our Project Management Experts
Case Studies
Our team has had the privilege of partnering with a diverse array of clients, from burgeoning startups to FTSE 100
companies. Each case study reflects our commitment to delivering tailored solutions that drive real business results.
A little bit about Cambridge MC
Cambridge Management Consulting is a specialist consultancy drawing on an extensive global network of over 200 senior executives in 22 countries.
Our purpose is to help our clients have a better impact on the world.
Industry Insights
