Articles

Department of Labour - Implementing IGMS

Details

Better Business Cases

The situation

The delivery of immigration services is characterised by a largely physical business model that is centred on branch offices, paper applications forms and manual processing. All of which is provisioned on a global basis. Faced with increased operating costs, aging technology, increased demand for services and changing customer expectations, Immigration New Zealand  recognised that an alternate service delivery model was required.

Immigration New Zealand received Cabinet approval and funding to proceed with the Immigration Global Management System (IGMS) subject to setting out the final costs and benefits for approval by the Responsible Minister. Encompass Consulting was retained to lead the analysis and develop the Implementation Plan for consideration by the Minister of Immigration.

Our approach

Encompass had already completed the Detailed Business Case and was well positioned to prepare the Implementation Plan, which was one of the first to be developed under the NZ Treasury Better Business Case Framework.

The analysis for the Implementation Plan focused more heavily on the contractual arrangements for the recommended option and a finalisation of costs and benefits for the approved option. Encompass Consulting worked with the various groups within the Department of Labour, in particular those leading the procurement activities, to validate and assess the information for the Implementation Plan.

A key observation during the development of the Implementation Plan is the need to ensure effective management of stakeholder expectations in terms of any changes to costs. The Department had been fortunate to have completed a Request for Proposal (RFP) during the detailed business case stage, however the final stage involved assessment of the Best and Final Offers (BAFO’s) from the preferred suppliers. The implications for costs from the BAFO process, while relatively minor, required the Department to work closely with stakeholders to ensure the changes were adequately covered off.

The result

The Implementation Plan was completed shortly after the Detailed Business Case and approved by the Responsible Minister. The Department is now well underway with the first stage of implementing the Immigration Global Management System. The Department was also asked by the NZ Treasury National Infrastructure Unit to present to their Community of Practice on their Implementation Plan experiences, and this was delivered by our Principal Consultant.