Joyce to sort out Novopay
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Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce given oversight of payroll system in cabinet reshuffle
By Computerworld staff | Auckland | Tuesday, 22 January, 2013 | 17 Comments
Responsibility for sorting out problems with the Novopay teachers’ pay system has been transferred to Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, as part of the Cabinet reshuffle announced by the prime minister today.
The troubled computer system has cast a pall over the portfolio of Education Minister Hekia Parata, and there had been calls from the teaching profession for her to take a more direct role in sorting it out. She has now been relieved of the responsibility.
“I share the concerns of teachers and principals at continuing problems in the operation of Novopay, and fixing this as quickly as possible is a priority,” Prime Minister John Key says in the announcement.
“A fresh set of eyes is needed and I have asked Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce to take on this responsibility.”
The change will be achieved through a transfer of responsibility to Joyce under section 7 of the Constitution Act, which allows any member of the Executive Council to take on “any function, duty, or power exercisable by or conferred on any Minister of the Crown”.
“Getting Novopay working as it should may take some time, given what appear to be the systemic issues involved,” Key says. “I can assure teachers that we want to get Novopay sorted as soon as possible.”
Comments
Leanne
As CIO of the Ministry of Education what are you personally doing towards resolving this disaster. Who signed off on the go live? Was any User Acceptance testing completed at all?
Posted by Anonymous at 13:56:05 on January 25, 2013
Posted by Anonymous at 13:56:05 on January 25, 2013
Paying for all these failures - with more to come?
Perhaps we need a 'Government failed IT Project Tax'? Let's say $200 per annum per citizen to pay for it on an annual basis? - that should cover it? - Yeah right?
Posted by Anonymous at 8:14:10 on January 25, 2013
Posted by Anonymous at 8:14:10 on January 25, 2013
joycy to the rescue?...
let's hope his eyes are better!
maybe take a cane on your next visit to Australia?
Posted by Anonymous at 8:26:08 on January 24, 2013
maybe take a cane on your next visit to Australia?
Posted by Anonymous at 8:26:08 on January 24, 2013
No Pay... er... NovoPay
Re. Lot's of questions still not answered?
..."I still do not know why Novopay was chosen, e.g. on what basis, rationale and by whom?..."
====================================
Answer:
It has been reported as having been chosen by the former Labour Government and signed off by the then PM., Helen Clark in 2007. It was initially delayed for 2 years due to problems, then another 2 years.....finally, the Ministry of Education decided to 'bite the bullet' and launch it during August 2012 despite knowing it was still flawed.
Posted by daMystery1 at 11:46:53 on January 23, 2013
..."I still do not know why Novopay was chosen, e.g. on what basis, rationale and by whom?..."
====================================
Answer:
It has been reported as having been chosen by the former Labour Government and signed off by the then PM., Helen Clark in 2007. It was initially delayed for 2 years due to problems, then another 2 years.....finally, the Ministry of Education decided to 'bite the bullet' and launch it during August 2012 despite knowing it was still flawed.
Posted by daMystery1 at 11:46:53 on January 23, 2013
No Pay... er... NovoPay
I doubt a PM makes a decision. The only thing they sign for is the funds.
Posted by Oliver at 10:53:21 on January 29, 2013
Posted by Oliver at 10:53:21 on January 29, 2013
Lot's of questions still not answered?
Highlights the need for full transparancy in Government IT - before, rather than after the fact.
IT investment plans and decisions etc should be made available to the 'Public Crowd' of Citizens before implementation with a full explanation of the options considered and the rationale for going with one or other.
If nothing else this information should be made more accessable to the computer press, IT profession and others.
I Still do not know why Novopay was chosen, e.g. on what basis, rationale and by whom?
Was outsourcing of the Payroll operation to a bureau ever considered?
What lessons need to be learnt from this experience in terms of other ongoing and future procurements and how will those lessons be shared?
What Governance procedures supported this procurement and implementation and why have they failed?
Why the gap between what was promised and what was actually delivered?
By all means get it working ASAP; but also try to understand why it did not work in the first place and stop it happening again and again?
Posted by Anonymous at 8:53:19 on January 23, 2013
IT investment plans and decisions etc should be made available to the 'Public Crowd' of Citizens before implementation with a full explanation of the options considered and the rationale for going with one or other.
If nothing else this information should be made more accessable to the computer press, IT profession and others.
I Still do not know why Novopay was chosen, e.g. on what basis, rationale and by whom?
Was outsourcing of the Payroll operation to a bureau ever considered?
What lessons need to be learnt from this experience in terms of other ongoing and future procurements and how will those lessons be shared?
What Governance procedures supported this procurement and implementation and why have they failed?
Why the gap between what was promised and what was actually delivered?
By all means get it working ASAP; but also try to understand why it did not work in the first place and stop it happening again and again?
Posted by Anonymous at 8:53:19 on January 23, 2013
Lot's of questions still not answered?
The previous system had been outsourced for over 20 years to Datacom using their Datapay system.
Due to changes in education over that time (e.g. Tomorrows schools) the system changed and grew to a point where it was far more bespoke than ever intended and perhaps cost more to maintain. This is why I believe the tender was let.
However, as is with most bespoke systems developed over such a timeframe, it met all the needs of the teacher community using it, so any new system, especially one that what "off the shelf" was always going to be on a hiding to nothing.
I disagree with IT investment plans being available to a crowd of citizens, does a crowd of citizens have such insight into building of major infrastructure for govt owned assets - NO.
The problem here as was with Incis and any other failed projects (not just IT) is around poor governance. Unfortunately both these IT projects smack of this.
Posted by henareho at 15:46:38 on January 24, 2013
Due to changes in education over that time (e.g. Tomorrows schools) the system changed and grew to a point where it was far more bespoke than ever intended and perhaps cost more to maintain. This is why I believe the tender was let.
However, as is with most bespoke systems developed over such a timeframe, it met all the needs of the teacher community using it, so any new system, especially one that what "off the shelf" was always going to be on a hiding to nothing.
I disagree with IT investment plans being available to a crowd of citizens, does a crowd of citizens have such insight into building of major infrastructure for govt owned assets - NO.
The problem here as was with Incis and any other failed projects (not just IT) is around poor governance. Unfortunately both these IT projects smack of this.
Posted by henareho at 15:46:38 on January 24, 2013
Joyce
As CIO of the Ministry of Education I support and welcome Mr Joyce in his new role.
Posted by Leanne Gibson at 15:34:52 on January 22, 2013
Posted by Leanne Gibson at 15:34:52 on January 22, 2013
Joyce
When did responsibility equal accountability in Government IT? ACC, MSD, Education .......
Posted by Anonymous at 10:38:10 on January 24, 2013
Posted by Anonymous at 10:38:10 on January 24, 2013
Joyce - Gibson
Yes - Ms Gibson it is better to say something now - than leave e-mails unanswered regarding queries. For the record to jog her memory from the novopay website- in early Sept 2012
"Hello everyone,
My name is Leanne Gibson and I am the Senior Manager at the Ministry responsible for implementing Novopay.
...............
I received numerous complaints about the draft SUE report provided on Thursday. I can confirm that the Novopay team has spent the weekend remedying those errors. The only remaining issues with the SUE report are as follows:
In the Units Paid column:
Mileage:
# Travel does not show as kilometres but as either H (hours) or D (days) but the mileage entered is shown correctly
# We realise that in some instances schools were advised incorrectly to enter a dollar amount to be paid rather than the kilometres travelled.
# We apologise for this incorrect information. Please check that your employee has been paid the correct amount.
# If they have been paid incorrectly you can submit a NOVO31 form with the supporting documentation.
Day Relief:
# H (hours) are showing as D (days)
# Please be assured that the amount paid calculates correctly and is shown in the far right column
# You are not required to do anything, this will be remedied in future releases""
She needs to remember that Joyce,Key & McCully created the RWC2011 Auckland fiasco.
But her comments are similar to those posted on the website - only 2 issues For Novopay in Sept 2012
Posted by TESTER NZ at 21:23:23 on January 23, 2013
"Hello everyone,
My name is Leanne Gibson and I am the Senior Manager at the Ministry responsible for implementing Novopay.
...............
I received numerous complaints about the draft SUE report provided on Thursday. I can confirm that the Novopay team has spent the weekend remedying those errors. The only remaining issues with the SUE report are as follows:
In the Units Paid column:
Mileage:
# Travel does not show as kilometres but as either H (hours) or D (days) but the mileage entered is shown correctly
# We realise that in some instances schools were advised incorrectly to enter a dollar amount to be paid rather than the kilometres travelled.
# We apologise for this incorrect information. Please check that your employee has been paid the correct amount.
# If they have been paid incorrectly you can submit a NOVO31 form with the supporting documentation.
Day Relief:
# H (hours) are showing as D (days)
# Please be assured that the amount paid calculates correctly and is shown in the far right column
# You are not required to do anything, this will be remedied in future releases""
She needs to remember that Joyce,Key & McCully created the RWC2011 Auckland fiasco.
But her comments are similar to those posted on the website - only 2 issues For Novopay in Sept 2012
Posted by TESTER NZ at 21:23:23 on January 23, 2013
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