End-of-life systems
Overcoming system deactivation: a successful transformation of the Costain Pension Scheme's administration service
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Background
Our client, the Costain Pension Scheme, had been administered in-house since inception. Pressures mounted for the Trustees when their system provider announced that their platform would be deactivated in six months time and the Pensions Manager announced their retirement after 30 years of service. Urgent action was needed to ensure the administration service kept delivering for members.
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Challenge
Our challenge was to:
- rapidly move administration before a hard deadline when systems would be turned off
- thoroughly transfer knowledge before the pensions manager left
- retain the very high standards of service and member care delivered by the in-house team
- consolidate services from the in-house admin team and an outsourced payroll provider.
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Approach
We delivered a secure administration transition that focused on the essential day one operational needs. We delivered the transition using an agile methodology, based on completing workstreams in sprints, so that materials could be quickly reviewed and signed-off. Early stages focused on knowledge build and delivering operational readiness. To take the burden off the in-house team, we handled knowledge transfer through a series of workshops and self-managed testing.
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Results
The serviced successfully moved to Trafalgar House on the 1st February 2018 with absolutely no interruption to member service. High-levels of automation were delivered to the member service team and the trustees experienced improved services levels from day-one of operational delivery.
- Administration moved, as planned, within the five-month window
- Members experienced no interruption to service or quality
- Full automation was delivered across all retirement, transfer and death calculations
- Pensioner payroll services moved later, at the start of the next tax year
- We securely delivered a pension increase cycle at the same time as the first live payroll
- Both in-house team members were retained and transferred (TUPE) to us with the service
- A data improvement strategy was agreed that started to be delivered post-live
- The part-complete GMP reconciliation was transferred and finalised within three months.
One of our main objectives for this move was around a smooth and timely transition process and that was something Trafalgar House were able to clearly demonstrate. Our inhouse team have always provided exemplary support for members and we were keen to ensure this remained through the handover and for the life of the scheme. We all believe Trafalgar House offer a modern and innovative approach to the administration function and we look forward to working with them.
Chair of Trustees, Costain Pension Scheme