Case Studies

Photo of Neil Williams

This page includes some outline case studies from my project portfolio. These represent career highlights rather than a complete biography . 
Further information is available on request. Please don't hesitate to contact me.


Career Highlights

Origo, Edinburgh (from Sep 07) 
Business analysis, Project management. Neil is gathering, analysing, preparing and communicating detailed decision-support information around a proposal for a new secure email service for the UK financial services industry. His deliverables will include a Vision Document, a Feasibility Study Report, a Business Case and Business Requirements.
Scottish Enterprise (Glasgow, Feb 07 - Aug 07)
Neil was the business analyst within a highly skilled team who were tasked with introducing a data warehouse and business intelligence portal (managed service) to Scottish Enterprise. Neil’s principle responsibilities were to develop an operating model, manage the requirements process and prepare several sections of an ITT.

Tasks undertaken by Neil included the usual requirements engineering expected of a business analyst (i.e. requirements planning, management, elicitation, documentation and communication).

Additionally, the project required Neil to carry out a considerable amount of strategy and enterprise analysis. In particular this senior level work involved creating the business architecture, determining project scope, preparing a business case, conducting high level risk assessments and preparing a decision package.

Techniques applied by Neil in this project included brainstorming, idea reduction, document analysis, interview, observation, prototyping, reverse engineering, behavioral modeling, use case modeling, and process/flow modeling.

This project utilized and extended Neil’s fundamental competencies, for example:  (written and oral) communication, leadership, problem solving, business knowledge and IT expertise.
The Improvement Service (Broxburn, Oct 06 - Jan 07)
Neil performed a high level scoping study for the National CRM Project. The work was carried out on behalf of the Improvement Service - a partnership between the Scottish Executive, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE).

The assignment was a structured piece of management consultancy around a project which could deliver several £M in benefits. The key objective was to inform the development of a proposal to National Shared Services Board. This was achieved through developing a business case plus gathering, analysing and documenting requirements (mostly business and some functional) to support systems procurement going forward.

The products delivered were a Requirements Specification and a Business Case (including an analysis of feasibility and available options). These highly detailed documents were produced within a relatively short time frame. Working under immense pressure, Neil successfully collaborated with senior stakeholders from more than a dozen councils in workshops, interviews and board meetings. He undertook desk research, analysis, strategic planning and management reporting. He has made several presentations and advised the Councils on the opportunities, risks and issues going forwards.
Royal Bank of Scotland (Edinburgh, Sep-Oct 06)
Neil prepared a business requirements specification for a Executive Information System to be used by senior managers and directors in the retail banking arm of RBS. The business intelligence system is an extension of the bank's SAS powered retail credit risk management data warehouse.
This work involved stakeholder interviews, workshops, analysis and desk top publishing. Neil produced tender and requirements documentation within a short time frame. He worked relatively autonomously and under significant pressure. He gathered, analysed and documented business and functional requirements through interviews, workshops and prototyping. Neil wrapped up the assignment by delivering detailed risk and issue logs which could be used by the design and build team.
West Lothian Council (Livingston, Feb 06 - Jun 06)
Neil carried out a strategic level options analysis for the Head of Customer Services for the UK Council of the Year 2006. The remit was to evaluate the Council's existing, Internet based, customer service technology and bench mark it against current best of breed systems.

The work had visibility all the way up to the Chief Executive of the Council. It involved examining the business case for local government customer services, eliciting end user requirements, modelling business processes, analysing corporate models, evaluating 3rd party suppliers and making a variety of strategic recommendations.

This project allowed Neil to exercise his process decomposition and modelling abilities as well as use his interviewing, workshop facilitation and communication skills. The final product was an options paper which made recommendations for both strategic and tactical change.
Scottish Executive (Edinburgh, Nov 05 - Mar 06)
Neil was the project quality manager for the development of the Landlords Registration System (http://www.landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk). His key responsibility was to ensure that the system was fit for use. He did this through directing, controlling and coordinating quality assurance, training and testing activity.

His day to day work involved managing risks and issues; managing change: costing and analysing business impact; directing and controlling project staff; liaison with the customer and 3rd party sub-contractors; reporting to line management; estimating, User Acceptance Testing (UAT); design and delivery of end user training.

This challenging role has helped extend Neil's solid expertise in business modelling, project management, web applications, UML, use cases, and software testing.
Resolution Asset Management (Glasgow, Nov 05 - Mar 06)
Project managed the development of a swap modelling system. Key responsibilities included managing risks and issues, managing change (cost and business impact), directing and controlling project staff, coordinating UAT, reporting to line management, estimating and planning.
Neil took over, at the midway point, from the manager who started up the project. He began with an initial quality review of the project documentation and built a rapport with the team members, the senior supplier and customer. Moving forwards he successfully continued to engage and maintain strong relationships with parties on the supply and client sides
Through successfully completing this assignment, Neil was able to extend his knowledge and experience of PRINCE 2 and the financial services market.
Atos Origin (Dundee - Jul 05 to Dec 05)
Worked a technical architect and business analyst in a team developing a service oriented architecture (Microsoft .Net) for Customer First's National Infrastructure project.
Neil was responsible for the development framework, quality assurance, overseeing all project documentation, and championing the adoption of software engineering industry best practices such as Use Cases, UML, PRINCE 2, change control and configuration management.
This proof of concept project has helped to inform the specification and design of the next generation of eGovernment customer services infrastructure. Therefore, it has contributed significantly to the Modernising Government Agenda in Scotland.
Diagnostic Potentials (Glasgow - Jun 03 to Jun 05)
Neil was responsible for the hands on management of the software development for a system which diagnoses Alzheimer's disease. This work included client liaison, requirements management, working to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines for the design of medical devices, risk management, test management, performance testing and writing test documentation. 
As a fixed price contract, the project required careful upfront planning and estimating. Management control was achieved using a suitably tailored PRINCE 2 approach. Furthermore, quality was ensured by carefully following the Unified Process and the QA framework defined by the FDA.
Scottish FA (Glasgow - Nov 02 to Sep 05)
Neil was a consultant to the FootballCentral.org project from its inception. The website provides information and resources to Scotland’s football communities and assists in the delivery of Scottish Football’s Youth Action Plan.
Neil was involved in strategic aspects (e.g. development of the vision, mission and brand identity) and has carried out a variety of tactical work packages (e.g. business analysis, requirements gathering, procurement, quality assurance, and testing). 
His involvement started by carrying out a scoping study for sportscotland and the Scottish Executive. This work involved interviews, workshops and desk research in order to crystallise a high level vision and build a business case.  Following delivery of the final report, which had visibility up to the First Minister, a decision was made to proceed with the development of a large scale community portal for grass roots football in Scotland. 
In the following months, Neil was able to win on-going business with the Scottish FA. This included  requirements work (e.g. interviews, workshops), procurement management and web usability testing. During the design and build phase, the SFA retained Neil's services and utilised his expertise in quality assurance, test management and web technology  
Fashionfile.com (London - Dec 99 to Jan 01)
Neil's first assignment was a short "due diligence" exercise that he completed at the bequest of a Venture Capital firm. The initial analysis played an important part in securing several £M funding. This initiation work involved producing highly detailed documentation within a short timeframe. Together with a marketing expert, Neil authored a "PID" which included information, recommendations and opinions on pertinent technical, economic and marketing topics. Specifically, the document outlined the risks, issues, solution architecture, vision, mission and expected ROI for Fashionfile.com.
Moving forward, Neil was hired to carry out ongoing business analysis, lead the web application development team, manage the IT service and coordinate testing (performance, stress and user acceptance). Under Neil's direction, the development team adopted the Unified Process and rapidly developed a robust and scalable web application architecture. The business analysis part required close liaison with key stakeholders (from web content editors up to the CEO). Techniques used included process decomposition, visual modelling, use cases, interviews and workshops.
Volkswagen (Germany - Jan 99 to Oct 99)
Neil was the lead software architect in the multi-disciplinary team (25-30 people) who developed the VW multimedia/Internet concept car for the Millennium. The project had visibility all the way up to the CEO of VW. Neil was involved in various presentations and meetings with senior stakeholders.Since 1998, I have run a successful consulting business and have been involved in several related ventures. I am based in Scotland but I have experience of doing business in London and Germany.