Delays stall schools payroll project

Shift from Datacom to Talent 2 delayed for further testing

The transition to the Ministry of Education’s new payroll system has been delayed.

The new system, run by Australian company Talent 2, was due to be operational in the South Island by the middle of this year, and in the North Island toward the end of the year.

The payroll service covers around 81,000 teaching and non-teaching staff every two weeks. It is one of the largest payrolls in Australasia.

Kevin Wilson, principal advisor to the deputy secretary of schooling, says delays in the project mean that implementation dates are being reviewed.

“The key reason for this is to allow sufficient time for testing to take place,” he says.

“The ministry continues to work closely with Talent 2 to ensure delays are kept to a minimum and it is working with its existing service provider, Datacom, to ensure there is no disruption to the current service.”

The contract with Talent 2 was signed in August 2008.

Datacom has provided the current payroll system since 1996, developing a bespoke system when it took over the ministry’s in-house service.

Wilson says the ministry expects the cost of the project to remain within the funding envelope allocated by the government.

“Testing has always been part of the transition project plan,” he says.

“The original plan anticipated a certain amount of development time for customisation, configuration and other activities. A significant testing phase was also planned.

“These phases of the project are taking longer than anticipated, due to the complexity of the education service payroll.”