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Case Studies
New Zealand Football Inc "Origin IT was appointed as the IT supplier to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup [the Event] in early 2008 after an extensive RFP process. Due to the nature of the Event being the inaugural one for FIFA as well as only the second Football World Cup to be held in New Zealand since the equivalent Men’s tournament in 1999, it was a learning process for both Origin IT and us as the Local Organizing Committee [LOC] as we worked towards the requirements as presented to us by FIFA. The process basically involved two distinct phases as there had to be a NZ wide LOC system put in place for staff, volunteers, etc – and the tournament IT at stadiums, hotels and other venues. Origin IT were selected over the other 3 RFP responders mainly because of their willingness to get to the core of the operational requirements during initial discussions. This was handicapped to some extent as the LOC could only pass on information that it itself gained from FIFA and all tournament requirements were not forthcoming as we had hoped. We felt Origin IT were the best at grasping the enormity of the entire project, understanding our budgetary constraints, while also showing a passion for being involved in a tournament such as this. Because of the relatively short time frame of the LOC being in existence [the core management team was in place for 13 months] and the Event being operational for no more than 35 days around the actual tournament dates of 28 Oct-16 Nov 2008, Origin IT recommended and built a Hosted system for the LOC using Terminal Services. This enabled Origin IT to maintain within there own complex a secure and stable platform from which we could operate, whether it was one of the 5 office locations through NZ or from anywhere else in NZ via mobile connectivity. There were some teething problems as the system came on line and staff got used to some of the constraints that TS holds, but these were worked through with staff and rectified as quickly as possible. Some of these problems were due to speed of the Telecom lines and the expected traffic and usage of the remote sites. Not having a starting point with which to gather information about historical usage was one of the main reasons for this, but once investigated fully the system became much more user friendly for all parties. Origin IT did an excellent job of coordinating relevant parties like Telecom, Cabling sub-contractors, hardware providers & lease companies into the fold. A dedicated Project Manager [Russell Thornley] was in place throughout the entire project, along with there Helpdesk operation. Also the account management [by Mark Cooke] was of the highest standard and all staff was always willing to pitch in and help where required. This was especially evident in the lead up to the Event as some requirements seemed to be changing on a daily basis and it took a significant amount of co-ordination to bring it all together on time. Origin IT did an excellent job given some of the constraints and we would recommend them for future projects such as this. They are very thorough in their initial investigations, detailed and technically competent in their execution of requirements, and professional with ongoing support and management of the business. Kind Regards
Simon Thorne |
