Communicating and Delivering 21CN Migration
Mike Cook joined BT from Telewest as head of the new 21CN Customer Migration team. Here he talks to the Consult21 Bulletin about his thoughts on his new role within BT, Consult21 and working closely with industry.
What is your role in BT Wholesale?
I have a dual role:
To ensure delivery of the transfer engineering methods, systems and processes for mass migration to 21CN
To create a safe customer centric environment through industry consultation for migration to start.
I also co-chair the Consult21 working group which consists of members of BT and industry working together to agree the framework in which 21CN migration activity will be delivered.
What does 21CN mean to you?
21CN is all about transitional change. 21CN was actually the main reason I moved to BT two years ago to be involved in such a unique programme. This has never been done before in our industry and is being watched by the world. 21CN is ‘the’ show in town!
What is the biggest challenge of your role?
It has to be to achieve effective and synchronous communication for BT and the industry. Communication is essential and will underpin this programme. It will be the deciding factor in the success of the programme overall.
What does 21CN mean for BT’s future?
Overall it’s about the future customer experience we will deliver. It will revolutionise and underpin the way we do business. It will allow us to standardise our applications and products for end users and will allow us, over time, to deliver future technology.
How do you work with the Consult21 team and the industry?
In my role of co-chairing the C21 migration working group, I have responsibility to gain agreement to the rollout schedule and sequence of events around the migration to 21CN across the UK. I am also responsible for gaining agreement of the service assurance framework, working for consensus and sign off across the industry. BT won’t commence migration until the framework achieves the milestone of being ‘green to go’ – it’s as simple as that. Crucial to my role is providing a level of guarantee around the customer experience for transformation.
What are the 21CN key milestones for 2006?
There are many but overall I would say:
Easter to Summer – extensive testing and trialling of services, features and equipment
July – start migration of CP interconnect circuits onto NGS – this is a pre-requisite to mass migration
October – we will have a completed service assurance framework for industry
November – we have lift-off as this is when we plan to start Pathfinder migration in Cardiff.
What are your personal milestones for 2006?
It is important to me that we get the balance of knowledge at optimum level across BT and industry so that people are safe in the knowledge that transformation to 21CN will be a good experience for them. It’s crucial that we continue to provide an excellent service experience for our customers. I want people within the industry to understand that my role has continuum into next years, beyond the start of migration in 2006. I’ll be continuing at the heart of 21CN Command and Control centre as the migration evolves. I’m here for the journey!