TalkTalk
Matt Hoskisson, Chartered Manager Graduate
Positive results of the degree apprenticeship project
Meet Matt Hoskisson, a Chartered Manager graduate whose final year project saved his company both time and money.
Implementing change
My Synoptic Business Project, completed in my last year of study on the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship, aimed to improve the operational supportability – and by extension, cost effectiveness - of new software created by TalkTalk. It did all of this by trialling a process of embedding operational staff within the delivery sprints to both ensure operational needs were being included and to build operational knowledge and support tools in readiness to go live.
It was the first piece of software TalkTalk launched that went live with all operational runbooks in place on day one, alongside a suite of monitoring tools to ensure any problems were identified early enough to avoid.
The project completed on-time and 10% below budget. It led to fewer orders needing manual support to progress, a reduction in average resolution time and performance improvements.
As a result, the project is on track to deliver significant cost savings and will pay back the project investment within the year.
It also result in the creation of the permanent new ‘Application Technical Authority’ (ATA) roles, used to bridge between ops and dev in all projects. These roles combine elements of project management and technical engagement work.
My project has been used as an example of how to activate successful software projects.
Many of the artifacts showcased in my project are now used as templates for other activations. Additionally, the project has helped define the activities and processes associated with the new ATA role.
How degree apprenticeship provide the tools needed to succeed
Each unit I studied provided knowledge and techniques that were critical to the successful implementation of the project, and gave me the tools, structure, and opportunity to be able to initiate, lead and deliver positive change for TalkTalk.
Operations and Technology Management and Strategic Management units directly helped identify the gap that this project set out to address, whilst the Finance and Accounting for Managers unit gave me the tools to create metrics that made the case compelling to non-technical approvers. The Sales and Marketing units helped with my communication and stakeholder strategies, whilst Managing and Leading helped quickly identify problems occurring during the team formation stage. Finally, the Sustainability and Innovation units challenged me to consider how sustainable this approach was, regardless of outcomes and helped move us to a better long term approach.