Scottish Water (2022-02 – 2022-06)
Scottish Water – UK Utility Industry – In February 2022, Mark was assigned into a dual management role for managing both the client (and suppliers) and a Capgemini SoW for delivery. This involved moving the client from an aged, legacy document management application on tin (EQS) to an Azure cloud product called Enablon.
This work totalled £0.5M as of June 2022 (for the Capgemini delivery side). The migration involved 2 key areas of effort; a) through many client/supplier workshops, designing/setting up/configuring the receiving Cloud product (Enablon) with the appropriate business functions/capability to best replicate the current legacy application (EQS), b) linking with the client suppliers of the old and new products to look at what would be required for a significant extract-transform-load (ETL) of categorized legacy/living documents to the new Azure Cloud based product.
The project followed a waterfall, gated approach from discovery through to design and build and required all appropriate artefacts to be available for sign-off to get to the next gated phase.
Achievements summarised:
1) The project was successfully progressed through design up to the Build gate
2) Successfully managed a team both client and Capgemini-side to deliver the design phase of the project
3) Deliverables tracking and Waterfall planning using Microsoft MS Project
4) Provided project status input to the monthly steerco with the client using appropriate PowerPoint slides
5) Provided project reports at regular intervals on project status, along with RAID logs and walked through with client weekly
6) Provided input to the related WOs as part of the project delivery
Environment Agency (2020-02 – 2021-11)
Role: Engagement Manager (EM) for Defra – Environment Agency (EA)
From February 2020, working on an Environment Agency sponsored Agile proof-of-concept (POC) project to move 3 Defra elected Apps (with MS Access, Oracle and SQL 2008 DBs), to the Cloud (Hybrid) (Microsoft Azure and Dynamics365 Power Platform). The migration to the cloud was based on 3 primary app patterns namely; re-host, re-platform and re-factor. This project spanned approximately 3 months and started in early February 2020 with a budget of £375k. The project was a pre-cursor and effort indicator for the larger piece of migration work to move 114 EA estate apps to the cloud.
This is a very complex app estate with many touchpoints and different technology stacks. The Capgemini EM is responsible for the project planning, control, organisation, stakeholder communication, aligning with current GDPR directives and status reporting against delivery of Capgemini services to the client. The EM is also the first escalation point for the project team and the client.
UPDATE: This POC project progressed to a £13.5m programme to migrate all 114 Apps to the Cloud (Azure, AWS) and has been active since May 2020. I managed the £2.4m Refactor and Apps Analysis project waves, putting a number of Power Platform Apps live
Achievements summarised:
1) The project was successfully delivered and helped secure a much larger piece of cloud migration work to move 114 EA apps to the cloud over 3 years
2) Successfully managed an Agile team of 10 resources to deliver the 3 Apps to the cloud with supporting documentation
3) Deliverables tracking and Agile planning using Microsoft MS Teams (see below)
4) Provided project status input to the fortnightly steerco with the client to illustrate (using Excel spreadsheet pivot tables) a breakdown of the entire EA app estate and complexity
5) Provided project reports at regular intervals on project status, along with RAID logs and walked through with client weekly
6) Provided input to the related WOs as part of the project delivery
MuleSoft (2018-10 – 2019-06)
Role: MuleSoft Delivery Manager (a Salesforce company)
Since October 2018, augmented into MuleSoft as a Delivery Manager managing a number of accounts (in UK Utility, Accounting, GOV.uk & Recruitment Industries ) across the UK, for the delivery of the Anypoint middleware platform. The Delivery Manager manages 5 accounts worth between £100K and £200K in the MuleSoft Professional Services division.
The Delivery Manager role is much like a Programme Manager role and typically links with the client’s Project /Programme Manager roles to ensure that any project plans align to the MuleSoft Outcome Based Delivery (OBD) framework to achieve the agreed business outcomes. Projects are typically set-up as Agile deliveries.
Achievements summarised:
1) Completed fast ramp up of MuleSoft product training and became an expert in the MuleSoft Outcome Based Delivery methodology (OBD) for Agile delivery – augment contract extended 3 times
2) Successfully managed a UK MuleSoft portfolio of accounts – including time management, prioritization, setting customer expectations
3) Engagement Planning conducted successfully including technical understanding, strategic mindset, translating MuleSoft vision (API-Led) into tangible project plans
4) Engagement Execution – identified and mitigated risk, raised status reports and fielded the RAIDs log on daily calls as part of Agile ceremonies
5) Learned MuleSoft Services team internal processes as they relate to booking and revenue recognition, staffing and resourcing, partner engagement and engagement kick-off and closure
6) Owned and managed billable accounts in a solo capacity; taking on a leadership role in staffing accounts for extensions and subsequent SOWs
7) Continued to enhance and feedback to expand on the MuleSoft Outcome Based Delivery methodology
8) Worked with Services leadership to help build out the MuleSoft practice and track costs
9) Became a key stakeholder in MuleSoft accounts renewal and add-on process through continuous collaboration with Engagement Managers, Customer Success and Account Executives
JLR (2017-10 – 2018-09)
Role: Engagement Project Manager for Jaguar LandRover (JLR)
From Oct 2017 to Oct 2018, assigned as the Engagement Manager (EM) to manage 3 parallel Agile delivery projects at a large car manufacturing company with a client-side Product Owner assigned for the traditional Agile Scrum delivery model. The Capgemini EM is responsible for the project planning, control, organisation, stakeholder communication, aligning with current GDPR directives and status reporting against delivery of Capgemini services to the client along with project financial tracking and forecasts. The EM is also the first escalation point for the project team and the client.
The first project was a £430k Digital Readiness (DR) Capgemini middleware project to both performance test and then upgrade the product stacks (TIBCO (CIS) data virtualisation and WSO2 middleware) for a previously delivered, Google Cloud based Information Fabric (iFAB) Enterprise Integration platform.
The second £1m Agile project managed, Customer Portal (CP), delivered a number of new, asynchronous APIs to the middleware, iFAB layer to provide customers with both online personalised account access to their car service history and warranty data as well as enabling social media gateways and customer profile management.
The third £300k project managed introduced a further set of new APIs to the iFAB middleware to compliment those delivered by the CP project above. This delivery was to provide a first phase New Car On-Line Sales (NCOS) aspect to the firm’s on-line digital real estate.
Achievements summarised:
1) All 3 Agile projects successfully delivered based on the plan and SoW
2) Full stakeholder management across all 3 projects including on-site visits to both JLR and other software suppliers
3) Full project tracking, financial forecasting and status reporting and linking with the client’s Product Owner
4) Engagement Execution – identified and mitigated risk, raised status reports and fielded the RAIDs log on daily calls as part of Agile ceremonies
5) Provided Agile coaching to the development team in both story writing and sprint planning
6) Provided cut-over plans for go-live and managed the team outside of hours to ensure optimum deployment delivery
7) Conducted staff management and appraisals as part of delivering out of our Capgemini Agile Delivery Centre (ADC) in Aston
Serco (Home Affairs) (2017-05 – 2017-07)
Role: Senior Project Manager for Serco (for LRG delivery)
In May 2017, assigned to a £650K telephony project. This was to set-up a CCaaS call centre campaign for Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) with the first client use of a new, automated, programmatic dialler solution requiring integration with the client’s own Azure deployed, CRM application and multiple supplier interfaces for data transfer. The Senior PM role required the management and tracking of the project budget for IT&S (IT Shared Services), risks, issues, plan, supplier management, workshop and checkpoint hosting and status reports and also acting as the IT&S interface, working with the LRG Business Team.
Achievements summarised:
1) The project was successful delivered by Serco to LRG with the first client use of a new, automated, programmatic dialler solution
2) Full stakeholder management across all the project IT departments and linking with appropriate business stakeholders
3) Full project tracking, financial forecasting and status reporting and linking with both the client’s IT, business and financial stakeholders
4) Engagement Execution (Waterfall) – identified and mitigated risk, raised status reports and fielded the RAIDs log on bi-weekly calls as part of remote and on-site meetings in the UK (North West)
5) Provided a cut-over plan for go-live and managed the team to ensure optimum deployment delivery for the first set of users
Heathrow Airport Ltd (2017-01 – 2017-04)
Role: Senior Project Lead for Heathrow
In January 2017, assigned to a client-side, portfolio management role (SPL – Senior Project Lead), tracking project budgets and corresponding supplier deliverables. This SPL role focussed on two projects of £1.3M, tracking through 8 Gates with Gate 3 being the solution designs and costs for a Go/No-Go for continuing with software development. This client is steeped in heavy governance with a number of strict Gates for project delivery for which the SPL role monitors and tracks supplier delivery ensuring timelines are met and that airline’s money set aside after board agreement is not exceeded without prior agreement and good reason.
Achievements summarised:
1) The projects were successfully delivered to Heathrow with the SPL role overlooking Capgemini PMs and other linked suppliers
2) Complete supplier management and tracking through 8 Gates with Gate 3 being the solution designs and costs for a Go/No-Go for continuing with software development
3) Reporting to the Business PM and the Programme Lead with updates to stakeholders at various steering boards (supported PPT project packs summarising current position/ spend/ risk)
4) Owned and submitted financial spreadsheets monthly
5) Provided project reports at regular intervals on project status, along with RAID logs
6) Managed all the related POs, CRs and SoW approval as part of project deliveries
Royal Mail (2016-05 – 2016-11)
Role: Engagement Manager for Royal Mail Group
In May 2016, assigned as a PM on a successful, award winning £4.3M (100+ Capgemini staff) migration project to migrate interfaces between a legacy Enterprise Integration Platform (or Business Integration Gateway – BIG) within an old Data Centre (provider) to the strategic BIG in the new Data Centre (new provider). There were 1100+ interfaces in total, that integrate various internal applications and external trading customers.
The majority of the integrations were through file transmission using UNIX shell scripts and about 150 interfaces process through IBM ESB middleware. The customer’s vision was to both migrate all interfaces and upgrade some of the outdated middleware to new product / to a stable version of the product before peak trading and the change freeze by October 2016 end. At the beginning of the engagement, the exact scale of the migration was not really understood but was thought to run to around 700 interfaces. In fact, the number was actually closer to 1200. The team needed to migrate from the legacy BIG to the Strategic BIG platform (different service providers) and, at the same time, test and implement 50+ transformed GXS interfaces.
Achievements summarised:
1) The project was successfully delivered and won the project of the year award for 2016 at Capgemini and earned Mark a PM recognition award
2) Successfully overlooked managed the production of the commercial model, forecast modelling, full org charts of 100+ staff
3) Deliverables tracking, EM Portal reporting and planning
4) Owned and submitted financial spreadsheets monthly as part of project reviews
5) Provided project reports at regular intervals on project status, along with RAID logs
6) Managed all the related POs, CRs and SoW approval as part of project deliveries
Betfred (2014-12 – 2016-01)
Role: Senior Project Manager at Betfred
From late 2014, assigned to the delivery of multiple projects for both online and mobile (iOS, Android and Windows) using the Agile SCRUM framework for a large gambling and casinos company. Project deliveries covered payment gateways and methods, sports book for football and horse racing amongst others and the online virtual (computer generated) gaming components. Delivery teams were UK and EU based.
Achievements summarised:
1) Taking responsibility for leading the delivery of multiple projects for Betfred online and mobile. This includes Agile application code development and management, integration and migration and involves the responsibility for the delivery of business change and transformation
2) Responsibility for each project budget (weekly effort burn rates and tracking using MS Excel) and ensuring delivery against financial forecasts set
3) Managing the monthly release cycle of internet based software to the online real estate for both .COM and .mobi including iOS, Android and Windows native apps
4) Seeing through emergency system change requests (SCR’s) for the above relating to the latest gambling regulations plus industry compliance issues and directives and compromised financial trading online
5) Ensuring the project is managed in accordance with the company project management methodology, with regard to planning, control, status reporting, documentation, quality, change control, risk analysis and management
6) Ensuring appropriate and timely project reporting and escalation (within the company and to the supplier)
7) The definition of each element of the project plan (MS Project, MS Excel). The scheduling and management of all project activities, including the overall and detailed delivery schedules, project milestones and dependencies, acceptance criteria, quality criteria, commercial arrangements and financial parameters and management of sub-contractors / partners
All Capgemini MyPath feedback since 2016
a) I have been at Capgemini for 8.5 years and all feedback on projects I have been allocated to (direct and augmented) has been very positive (including very good MyPath feedback attachments since 2016). This includes feedback from Capgemini Delivery Managers also.
b) The above was also echoed out by Andy McDonough and Peter Brownrigg recently for the £5m Welsh Government Childcare bid. This involved numerous trips to Cardiff and many hours overtime. I was both the Bid Manager and Engagement Manager on this bid.
All feedback below:
General Feedback Engagement Manager: Engagement Manager: EM SoW Support on Centrica for Digital & Service Contract Platform
Feedback Provider Hadleigh James Smith
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 01.02.2022 To 18.03.2022
Delivery Manager for Centrica Account
Feedback
Engagement Manager providing temporary support to the Capgemini account team. This was for two of three engagements I oversee and manage as Delivery Manager.
As Engagement Manager Mark provided temporary support to the Capgemini account team to own and work through a number of third party/sub-con contracts which provided external specialised resources to Centrica. Because of IR35 and the legalisation and risk associated with this for Capgemini, Mark had to write the contracts by taking advice from legal in order to describe the services being provided, while doing it in a way that navigated the various hurdles IR35 introduces. Mark owned this from start to finish, without any prior Centrica knowledge, working closely with legal, and provided constant updates to keep all of us up-to-date. Without his help we would have struggled to complete the task, and secure the resources in a timely fashion.
General Feedback Engagement Manager: Engagement Manager: EM KT during Apps Mod and People Development for Team
Feedback Provider Ajay Odedra
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 03.01.2022 To 18.03.2022
Technical Lead for Refactor Power Platform Wave
Feedback
A large part of why the Refactor wave was able to successfully deliver the way that it did was because of Mark’s leadership and his ability to empower each of us to take on challenging assignments whilst somehow making inherently heavy tasks and situations feel light and manageable.
He has a natural ability to engage with people and made the most difficult situations enjoyable by giving us something to look forward to whenever we spoke to him as well as obviously having all the necessary skills and experience to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously.
He is the main reason I was able to succeed at DEFRA in the way I have and I have continued to reach out to him after moving on to my current assignment when dealing with challenging resource situations with my team.
The opportunities he gave me to learn and develop skills in Power Platform and Azure cloud migration are instrumental to me in my current role, so I thank you Mark for this and all the support you’ve given me along the way. I look forward to working together again in the future.
General Feedback Engagement Manager: Engagement Manager: SW BMS Project
Feedback Provider Andrew Allan
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 02.05.2022 To 31.05.2022
Engagement/ Project Manager for Scottish Water BMS Project
Feedback
Mark provided me with the start I needed on the project with a thorough hand over. Even though Mark had to leave the project 1 week earlier than planned, he had provided me enough information for me to be able to hit the ground running. Without his initial support I would not also have been able to get up to speed quickly having just joined Capgemini. Mark is an asset to Capgemini, and his stakeholder management and governance skills should be something that will carry him forward for whatever engagement he will be assigned in the future.
Assignment Appraisal: Engagement Manager: SW BMS Project
Feedback Provider Sandeep Choudhary
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 01.03.2022 To 03.06.2022
Programme Manager for Scottish Water BMS Project
Feedback
Mark had a relatively short stint of ~3 months on the Scottish Water account. He took over from Richard Morgan as the EM on the BMS project. He had to unfortunately go on emergency medical leave and couldn’t work longer on the engagement. During the time he was on the project, he built good rapport with the client Programme manager and client sponsor. He worked closely with the team, client and third-party to shape the project and future project phase.
He is an experienced EM and was quick at picking up client processes and was already well versed with Capgemini processes. He ensured timely updates of E-Monitoring, monthly timesheets for invoicing and m-reviews.
I wish him all the best for future endeavours.
Key Strengths:
– Knowledge and experience of Capgemini tools and processes
– Experienced EM, having managed wide spectrum of engagement
– Good communication and stakeholder management
General Feedback Engagement Manager: Engagement Manager: SW BMS Project
Feedback Provider Sara Benmoussa
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 03.03.2022 To 03.06.2022
Business Analyst for Scottish Water BMS Project
Feedback
Mark has been a great Engagement Manager, and I was lucky to have been able to work with him for a few months:
– He took time to get be onboard with technical/IT words/context that he is an expert on
– He challenged and supported my work in front of the client, which made me grow
– He was a great person to have in my team, as he is always supportive, positive and optimistic about the work that needs to be done
General Feedback Engagement Manager: EA AppModToCloud Refactor Apps Analysis Assignment Appraisal
Feedback Provider Michael Anthony Tonge
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 09.10.2020 To 01.11.2021
Programme Manager for Apps Mod Programme
Feedback
Mark is one of my wave leads on the Apps Mod programme. Mark has been involved with this programme since its beginning and has played a pivotal role in its success to date. Mark is a highly competent EM, with many years’ experience in project delivery. This has been evident throughout his time on the programme, he conscientious, diligent, considerate and hardworking and believes in delivering to the very best of his ability. Marks attention to detail is impressive, he ensures his stick religiously to the reporting cadence set for the programme. All his artefacts are maintained to the highest standard and always delivered on time.
Mark also looks for ways to consistently improve the processes he and other team members need to follow or delivery. A great example of this, was Mark spending some considerable time and effort converting a strawman XLS plan the team had developed into a full-blown MSP plan. The way Mark approached this was exemplary, he thought through the usage of this output and ensured it was easily customisable by any one of the other waves in the programme. Another example was the template for the PoaP used by all the waves leads, plus many other ideas he has brought to the programme.
The client is delighted with Mark’s engagement and value he brings to the delivery engagement. He has built a strong trusted working relationship with his client counterpart. Mark is also well respected across the wider programme for his knowledge and expertise he brings to the programme. I personally value his judgement, knowledge and expertise and furthermore, I know that if I ask Mark to complete a task or action, it will be done as requested and by the time I’ve asked.
Despite the view that application re-engineering is harder than an application lift and shift, Mark has managed to deploy two applications in to live service ahead any of application migration. This is an amazing achievement by Mark and his team.
Mark has also provide support to the programme leadership, standing in for either myself or my wave delivery led when called upon.
Mark has also grown his knowledge of cloud technologies over this last year – particularly in the MS PowerPlatform, as well as native cloud too. Despite Mark having a more software oriented background, he has immersed himself in the world of infrastructure, as his Refactor wave has a number of application lift and shifts to complete. This has expanded Mark’s knowledge of the world of cloud beyond his more natural leaning of SDLC.
That said, I think Mark preference still lies in the world of SDLC and feels this is a more natural fit for his skills. I feel Mark will value this exposure as it can only be a really asset to him as the modern world is morphing to a devops delivery model.
Mark has had an outstanding year and has delivered real value to the client and the programme. I’ve enjoyed working with Mark this year it’s been a real pleasure.
Competencies-Key Strengths Demonstrated
- Innovation and Capability Growth
- People Leadership
- Service & Delivery
- Vendor Management
- Risk Management
Competencies-Areas for Development
This is not really a call for Mark to develop specific skills, as I know he is well armed and prepared. I think Mark has lots of potential beyond the role he is currently performing. I’m sure with his skills and ability, Mark can be successful in a more senior delivery role. This is clearly a decision for Mark to make, but for me I would encourage him to take that next step; if that factors in his career plan.
General Feedback Engagement Manager: Engagement Manager: EA App Mod to Cloud Refactor Wave : Lead FC
Feedback Provider Kieran Holmes
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 19.10.2020 To 01.11.2021
Feedback
Mark is the Engagement Manager for the Refactor Wave of the App Modernisation Programme, where I am the Functional Lead. It has been a pleasure to work with Mark over the last 18 months. Mark brings a down to earth, level headed approach to everything he is involved in and has led the refactor wave to deliver the first production deployment for the Apps Mod Programme and more since then.
Mark is calm and collected, often proving a voice of reason during project challenges. Finding innovative ways to navigate risk and blockers in a way that is well received by both his team and the client – a skill that few can master and a great mitigator to even internal challenges.
Mark is an excellent judge of character and has built a fantastic culture within our team, reminding me of just how important it is to understand those you are working with, especially considering our waves unique circumstance in which we have worked entirely remotely and not actually met one another – Mark has orchestrated a bond within the team that few have and I have no doubt that this harmony has been a major contributor to the success of our wave.
Mark has a natural confidence in his ability to deliver his role and responsibilities, which no doubt contributes to the reason why the client gets on so well with Mark. I believe we are able to be as productive as our wave is, as a result of the ‘no-ego’, ‘say it as it is’ approach that Mark brings to client engagements, putting the client at ease by refraining from any technical jargon while still demonstrating confidence in delivery capability.
Mark has a fantastic sense of humour and humility and often has the team laughing on stand-ups. Sometimes the Capgemini core value of Fun is a difficult one to imagine and even more difficult to implement naturally, but Mark manages this and in doing so, makes working in his wave a genuine pleasure rather than a chore.
I and the other members of refactor have a great respect for Mark and have often discussed how aside from any project challenges there may be from time to time, culturally this is one of the best project teams we have been a part of while at Capgemini.
Thank you Mark for giving me the opportunity to grow within the account over the last 18 months and for supporting me in delivery. I hope to get the chance to work together again in future.
General Feedback Engagement Manager: Engagement Manager: EA App Mod to Cloud Refactor Wave
Feedback Provider Ajay Arjan Odedra
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 19.10.2020 To 01.11.2021
Feedback
Mark is my engagement manager on the refactor wave. Mark is by far the best engagement manager/project manager I’ve worked with at Capgemini. He is proactive, detail oriented, focussed on targets and yet always approachable and supportive. He is the main reason why the Refactor wave has been as successful as it has in the Apps Modernisation programme.
As a wave, we have successfully refactored and delivered two legacy applications as Power Apps, with a third in UAT and more than a dozen other applications in progress which are being migrated to Azure and AWS platforms. These applications utilise technologies ranging from Oracle, Linux, spatial information databases and even a firebird database to name a few in additional to the usual Microsoft stack. Being able to continue working with Mark is the reason why I have remained on the apps modernisation programme long after my work on the Power platform has been completed.
General Feedback Engagement Manager: EA AppModToCloud Refactor Apps Analysis Feedback
Feedback Provider Ajay Arjan Odedra
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 01.01.2021 To 14.06.2021
Feedback
Mark is my engagement manager on the Refactor wave of the Apps Modernisation programme
Mark is an excellent project/engagement manager, he empowers people to take on responsibility and gives them the freedom needed to get a job done without being pushy or micro-managing. He is proactive, detail oriented, focussed on targets and yet always approachable, and supportive. I am happy to work with him and would do so again the future.
General Feedback Engagement Manager: EA AppModToCloud Refactor Apps Analysis Feedback
Feedback Provider Christopher Samuel Harris
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 01.01.2021 To 14.06.2021
Project Manager – Architect
Feedback
Mark makes an outstanding Project Manager and should be labelled as an exemplar to Capgemini.
As a project manager Mark represents his value. Despite not giving himself credit, Mark takes a level of technical ownership for his work and ensure he understands the solution despite this being outside of his responsibility, Mark has been my first instance of a project manager that has taken such a depth of knowledge so he can ‘hold his own’ in a technical sense and understand the breadth of a solution. As a result, Mark is realistic, honest and has a great level of trust with the client, when issues arise Mark raises these early and explains the problem, in an approach that is appreciated by both client Project Managers alongside client technical leads. I’ve worked for a number of Project Managers throughout my career, often of which I wonder what value they actually add and what tangible work they do aside from creating meeting invites and excel spreadsheets. Mark is one of very few that represents his value to the client, his managers and the staff that work under him.
As a people manager, Mark understands both his staff and the client, as someone who personally enjoys the ‘hands-on’ work, Mark catered to my needs and took a step back within his management approach, placing a level of trust within his team that enables them to perform at their peak and restricting overburdened and overcomplex processes that we all face in our day to day. I’ve worked with numerous people alongside Mark and they all respect him and feel he operates as almost a ‘tailored’ enabler, ensuring his team operate in a manner of which they are most comfortable in order to get the best results for the wider team and of course, the client.
To say I would be happy to have Mark as a project manager in the future is an understatement, thus far he’s been the most respectable, understandable, articulate and trusting Project Manager I have met and somehow seems to cater for everyone’s needs despite an increasingly heavily workload.
General Feedback Engagement Manager: EA AppModToCloud Refactor Apps Analysis Assignment Appraisal
Feedback Provider Sampat Mishra
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 01.01.2021 To 14.06.2021
Feedback
I work with Mark as a fellow Project Manager on the Defra Apps Mod to the Cloud Programme
Mark has a leadership position on Defra Apps Mod program Wave and is successfully managing the projects with significant challenging priorities. He has created a unified vision for team collaboration and work well with the solution delivery teams and is in alignment with overall Agile programme objectives. Mark has supported other waves with sprint planning , Strawman approach and provided templates for reuse.
Mark is working with client PM to develop and gain approval of the Work Order (WO) thus ensuring mitigation of any commercial risk to Capgemini.
His planning, risk and issue management are first class, calling out early the impact that slipping dependencies may have.
Mark has a very calm professional approach offering a thought through reasoned argument to any areas of concern.
He is doing an excellent job in managing his projects, and I am looking forwards to working with him as his projects enter the build and migration phases.
General Feedback Engagement Manager: EA AppModToCloud Refactor Apps Analysis Assignment Appraisal
Feedback Provider Lisa Jane Sutton
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 01.01.2021 To 14.06.2021
Feedback
Mark is the Wave Lead (Project Manager) for the Refactor Wave (project), I am the Test Manager working with him to scope and support the delivery of the testing activity being undertaken by the assigned Tester.
I am also the Service Manager for Integration and Testing on the Defra/EA Account, and in this am one of the receiving service teams to take on some aspects of the support of the applications in scope of this wave once Live.
I joined the programme, and therefore Marks project, when it was already in flight. The Tester was already part of the team, the testing activities were already established and ongoing. Mark very quickly made me feel part of the team and brought me up to speed on the status of the project. From that point on Mark has been very collaborative and has ensured that he has kept me in the loop on key decisions, updates and any other matters that may affect the testing activities.
He has been receptive to the addition of some testing activities that were not previously in scope, namely Operational Acceptance Testing, and we have worked together in both my role as Test Manager and T&I service Manager to get this signed off for the 2 applications delivered into live so far. Additionally, the possibility of the inclusion of Performance Testing on an application with a sizeable user base.
Mark has been very approachable, is easy to work with, has injected humour into some of the less interesting tasks, has been open to new approaches and taking on board suggestions for plugging occasional gaps in knowledge due to complexities of the account. It is also clear that he is keen to ensure he does a quality job in quite challenging timescales. As someone with no knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics/ Power Apps and Power Platform, Mark was key in ensuring I grasped the right understanding of the risks of software development in this environment, and furthermore in sharing same with my service team.
Thank you for your support and I look forward to working with you over the course of the programme, which is about to move in to its busiest period.
General Feedback Engagement Manager: EA AppModToCloud Refactor Apps Analysis Assignment Appraisal
Feedback Provider Michael Anthony Tonge
Employee Mark Aaron Whitfield
Validity Period 01.01.2021 To 11.06.2021
Programme Manager for Apps Mod Programme
Feedback
Mark is one of my wave leads on the Apps Mod programme. Mark’s professionalism shines through in everything he does day in day out across the programme. Mark prides himself in always delivering 100% and nothing less, his output is always of the highest standard and he strives to ensure that his team follow his lead. Mark’s team have led the way, delivering the first App in the cloud and is on target to also deliver the 2nd – which will be a truly amazing given these apps have been re-engineered. Well done Mark keep up the fantastic work.
EA App Mod to Cloud : Lead Functional Consultant:
EA AppModToCloud Refactor Apps Analysis Feedback
Feedback Provider : Kieran Holmes – Lead Functional Consultant
Validity Period : 19.02.2020 To 16.10.2020
Feedback
Mark and I have worked together since mid-March 2020, a total of around 8 months. Mark is the Engagement Manager for the Refactor Wave of the Apps Modernisation to The Cloud Programme. I am the Lead Functional Consultant, reporting directly to Mark.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Mark over the last 8 months and have been very impressed with his ability to lead a multi-skilled team.
Mark’s calm and collected manor has been crucial in steering our team to where we are today. Playing off the teams’ strengths and utilising the teams talents to the best of their ability, Mark has achieved a purposeful fit for each team member in our delivery efforts.
Mark isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and is very much involved on the ground with the project – a trait I believe has contributed significantly to Mark’s in-depth understanding of all corners of our delivery, as well as his strong relationship with our counterparts at DEFRA.
I have also been impressed with the speed in which Mark has picked up a technical understanding of the Microsoft Power Platform. A completely new technology, yet in such a short space of time, Mark is able to speak technically on the product, making communicating and understanding development efforts far easier.
Mark clearly instils confidence in our client, which is apparent on general calls and via email, not to mention the formal positive feedback received from both DEFRA Leadership and the business end-users in writing.
In short, Mark is an excellent Engagement Manager and a pleasure to work with. He is as light-hearted as he is professional, which is a quality that has made new and existing members of our team feel welcome and valued.
I look forward to continuing to work with Mark and thank him for his continued support to our team.
EA App Mod to Cloud : Engagement Manager:
EA AppModToCloud Refactor Apps Analysis Assignment Appraisal
Feedback Provider : Mike Tonge – Programme Manager
Validity Period : 19.02.2020 To 16.10.2020
Feedback
Mark’s engagement in the Apps Mod programme has expanded over this year for managing the Apps Mod PoC, to then leading the Refactor wave and recently also agreeing to take on additional responsibility to manage the Application Analysis wave. Upon completion of the Apps Mod PoC, I asked Mark to run with the delivery of the Apps Mod Refactor wave within the programme.
Mark took on the challenge with relish and set about building a young, vibrate team that he could energise to deliver a series of application redevelopments within a cloud native environment. The wave had a series of challenges ahead of it, lack of documentation, lack of business engagement, and difficulty gaining access to the pre-production environment for the existing application. Undeterred, Mark set his team to work and ensured he instilled a positive mindset within the team. The team are well organised and from my interaction with the team, Mark enjoys a great working relationship with the team.
The team have encountered multiple setbacks throughout the delivery based on late breaking information secured from the customer but, Mark has kept the team fully mobilised by operating an agile delivery approach and managing the scope closely with the customer PM.
This has resulted in highly positive feedback being secured from the customer about Mark’s overall approach and team’s engagement with them and the end users within the business.
It comes as no surprise that Mark has manged to secure this positive feedback from our customer. Mark is very approachable individual how take his responsibilities very seriously and takes great pride in ensuring he and his team delivers what is expected and to the highest possible standard. Mark is well respected by his own team and more widely by senior delivery team – Mark’s input is always well received.
As direct result of Mark’s success in the delivery of the Refactor wave, I requested Mark take control of the Application Analysis wave within the Apps Mod programme. Mark has turned this wave around and brought it back under control.
To sum up Mark has delivered a successful PoC – TCV £375K this year, which has led to the customer moving forward on the wider Apps Mod programme TCV £13 – 14m. Mark has also led the Refactor wave Phase 2 and 3 with a combined TCV £577K, plus Application Analysis wave TCV £298K. Mark has easily exceed expectations this year and I recommend he is awarded an assignment rating of 2.
Well done Mark and I look forward to our continued engagement in Apps Mod over the coming year.
Areas identified for improvement: None – keep up the good work.
EA App Mod to Cloud : Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Mike Tonge – Programme Manager
Validity Period : 19.02.2020 To 17.06.2020
Feedback
Mark joined the Apps Mod Programme team within the Defra account in Feb 2020; working alongside myself as programme lead. The programme at this stage was a small-scale Proof of Concept (PoC) to prove Capgemini’s credentials as a partner that can deliver cloud solutions. Defra have suffered several failures with various other suppliers in recent months and it was imperative we impressed. To this end Mark eye for detail, consistency and quality work has been a perfect match to this programme. Mark and I share common principles of delivering quality/timely work to our customer even if to cover over the failures in our organisation.
To this end the PoC was considered highly successful by Defra, which has resulted in an extension (c £1m) to the PoC. The extension is the preamble to the wider Application Modernisation programme for Environment Agency estate. The full programme will commence during Q3 and last 18-24 months and valued at c£13m.
Mark has played an instrumental role in this success. Mark is an absolute pleasure to work with and I know without doubt he will always deliver regardless of how difficult the challenge.
Mark has delivered on all the following objectives over the last few months:
a) To maintain both the plan and MS Teams area and to assign and track assigned resources are delivering to plan – Delivered
b) To update the RAIDs logs based on issues, risks and decisions made in this project phase – Delivered
c) To produce the client project status reports for the weekly client checkpoint meetings and to run the meeting for Capgemini – Delivered
d) To input to the fortnightly Steerco meeting PPT slide deck to be presented by the Capgemini Programme Manager – Delivered
e) To run and track the daily stand-up meetings for the Defra Apps Mod to Cloud PoC project – Delivered
f) To work with the Managing Solution Architect and Programme Manager to deliver the PoC project to completion in May – Delivered
Engagement Manager: WG Childcare Proposal Performance Feedback Request –
Delivery Manager for the Welsh Government Account
Feedback Provider : Peter Edward Brownrigg
Validity Period : 16.12.2019
Feedback
Mark did a terrific job for us managing the Childcare bid. Mark fitted in very well with the existing team and put in a huge effort to make sure that the bid that was submitted to the customer was of very high quality. We would be very happy to work with Mark again in the future on the Welsh Government Account.
Appreciate all your efforts Mark.
HMCTS CCD Bid Proposal Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Ian Van Eetvelt
Validity Period : 22.07.2019 To 02.08.2019
Feedback
Mark was a core bid team member on HMCTS – Reform Core Case Data and Case Tool.
As the bid EM lead, he took ownership of several aspects including resourcing, the IV, and responses to multiple questions.
Mark was always enthusiastic, engaged and involved. Contributing to all aspects of the bid as required and happy to help with additional tasks. He could be relied on to get the job done and stayed with the bid throughout (i.e. remained focus and on task)
Mark is comfortable working an IV and this is a welcome skill on the team. Occasionally maybe the IV became more of the focus than was required but this is a relatively minor point.
I valued Mark’s input and sense of team and would be happy to work with him again.
NLC DPB 3.1 Bid Proposal Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Ashley Paul Brown
Validity Period : 12.06.2019 To 05.07.2019
Feedback
Mark was a proficient engagement manager while working on the NLC bid. Bids are often stressful, challenging and complex, Mark approached it professionally and was organised. Mark added value throughout the bid streams, in particular in his area to develop the project plan and estimation model quickly. Mark was able to take on feedback and was able to reflect this in the plan at speed.
I look forward to working with Mark on future bids soon!
DVSA FTTS 2020 Bid Proposal Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Dale Richardson
Validity Period : 08.10.2018 To 16.10.2018
Relationship : Mark was the Delivery Lead on the DVLA FTTS (Theory test) Bid
Feedback
Mark led the response from a delivery management perspective worked closely with the other team members to developed a response that was well structured and showed Capgemini in a good light.
So impressed was I by Mark’s approach to tackling the response and his natural ways of working that I was keen for him to lead the delivery of the project should we have been fortunate enough to win.
Thanks for your help Mark.
DR, CP & NCOS Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Dominic O’Neill Corrigan
Validity Period : 09.10.2017 To 28.05.2018
Relationship : Mark is the EM for the Customer Portal and New Car On-line Sales integration projects at JLR. I am the DM for the account.
Feedback
Mark has done a very good job juggling changing priorities and managing client expectations in a very fluid environment. The Customer Portal integration work is particularly tricky as the overall project is very late and there is a lot of pressure on integration as we quite often become the critical path. Mark has dealt with this well. He has a calm, rational approach and is very thorough. This means he is always on top of the information about the project which helps in moments when the client is stressed. I appreciate Mark’s attention to detail and reliability. I look forward to working with him in the future.
Customer Portal (CP) Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Luke Peter Sampson
Validity Period : 12.02.2018 To 25.07.2018
Relationship : Mark is the Engagement Manager on the projects for which I am the lead integration developer.
Feedback
Mark joined the project towards the end of the development phase to oversee the transition of Customer Portal from development into go-live and then early life support, however due to changing requirements and unmet dependencies, the project was extended. Throughout this time, Mark has shown remarkable levels of calmness and remained level-headed at all times. In my opinion, this is one of the most important traits of an EM as his attitude will naturally cascade to the project team.
Mark isn’t at all overbearing and does not micromanage. He shows a willingness to trust members of his project team, but is always on hand to provide support as and when it’s required. I find Mark to be a trustworthy individual and I have no issues with raising concerns with him. He is very easy to talk to and seems to instinctively balance professionalism and light-heartedness.
Since joining the project he has quickly won the trust of the senior client stakeholders. From what I have seen, he is very accommodating of the customer’s needs, but he remains pragmatic and isn’t afraid to push back if they have unreasonable expectations or requirements.
Mark has been a pleasure to work with over the past 6 months and I would be delighted to work with him again in future engagements.
FCO CEM Project: EM Cover: Individual Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Christopher Gravestock
Validity Period : 11.09.2017 To 29.09.2017
Relationship : Account manager/Bid Manager
Feedback
Mark performed as interim bid manager/solution owner on the FCO CRM bid this year. He carried out the task effectively and with enthusiasm and commitment. Mark produced contract/solution documents quickly and to a good standard, and engaged well with the client. I would be pleased to work with Mark again.
General Feedback Serco SMI Project Manager: Mid-Project Performance Feedback Request for mid-year
Feedback Provider : Mark Lambert
Validity Period : 15.05.2017 To 09.06.2017
Relationship : Capgemini EM on Serco Account guiding / advising Mark in support high profile, fast track Serco DWP SMI Bid win deployment
Feedback
Mark commenced on the Serco Account in Early May 17th as Engagement Manager having been body shopped in to perform the role of a Serco Senior PM dealing with the recent Serco Bid win from the DWP for a new Government initiative concerning mortgage loans interest changes. This involves delivering a new Call Centre solution to a few hundred call centre staff located at Bolton by late July 17.
Mark is clearly an experienced professional and has quickly been able to take the reins and structure the project, resources and finances so it will be successful where previously none of this was in place prior to his arrival. In doing so he has had to understand Serco governance, Project management and finance protocols as well as quickly developing his Serco people network.
The Senior client Stuart Staveley has been impressed by his ability to get to grips and run with this and his matter of fact approach and ability to understand the detail and not just the immediate surface elements. Mark presents well has excellent communication skills and takes the lead in meetings, everything you would expect from an experienced EM.
General Feedback HAL Senior Project Lead for VIP&SCV: Individual Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Aravind Balachandran
Validity Period : 16.01.2017 To 16.03.2017
Relationship : Portfolio Manager
Feedback
I appreciate that this has not been an easy account to deal with not least due to funding uncertainty and organisational difficulties. The fact that the Customer has expressed the desire to retain you is a good indication that they appreciate you have done a good job and I certainly appreciate your efforts to date.
I think it has been good to have you come in and be pretty self-sufficient and willing to work closely client side to learn and help deal with quite a number of issues that were left in a poor state before your arrival. I’ve found your updates and communications to be really timely and clear. I know that there are other EM opportunities within Heathrow, so please do not discount those, but whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck and look forward to working with you again later in the year perhaps.
Appraisal RMG BIG Interface Migration / SKINNY / GXS
Assignment Manager : Phillip Andrew Gray
Validity Period : 13.05.2016 To 30.11.2016
Employee Comments Against Objectives
Objectives discussed during my on-boarding to RMG BIG in May and either completed or in process. Happy with objectives set and current tasks allocated.
Overall Assessment (Manager)
*Manager Comments Against Objectives
Mark has been a complete asset to the Capgemini work on BIG during this period in so many ways. He has supported and covered for the PMs and PMO across all 3 Projects (Interface Migration, Skinny Migration and GXS) through this immensely busy time when all projects have delivered successfully.
As well as taking the delivery reins to cover PM absences, he has been fundamental to the delivery, financial and commercial control of BIG.
He has variously crafted and managed delivery plans, resource profiles, commercial schedules and delivery trackers.
He has also ensured appropriate project management controls are in place like risks, issues and organisation charts.
Given Mark is relatively new into Capgemini I would hope he himself has benefited from getting to grips with the Capgemini tools and processes like EM Portal, M Packs, IQAs & M Reviews etc
Mark has shown incredible flexibility, versatility and commitment throughout, often working long hours to ensure deadlines are met and progress is maintained. He has always picked up new activities readily and seen then through, often incorporating many iterations and tweaks.
Thanks Mark.
Competencies-Key Strengths Demonstrated
Flexibility, versatility and commitment. Hard working
Willingness to take on new activities and see them through.
An evolving grasp of Capgemini project delivery, financial and commercial controls.
Competencies-Areas for Development
No weaknesses noted but Mark should continue to work through the range of Capgemini EM learning modules which I know he has already made good inroads into.
General Feedback RMG BIG IM Project : Individual Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Manish Parikh
Validity Period : 16.05.2016 To 16.09.2016
Relationship : Programme Manager
Feedback
RMG BIG Programme had 3 projects running in parallel i.e. Interface migration (IM), GXS & Skinny. IM being the largest £4.5m Rightshore project to migrate interfaces from the CSC hosted legacy platform to the ATOS hosted Strategic BIG. Started with an aggressive aspiration of completing the migration by the end of October (ahead of the Christmas change freeze period) in order to save RMG the £3m per month they pay to CSC.
Part of the programme leadership team, Mark was the General project manager cutting across all 3 projects. He was expected to fill the management gaps across the projects seeping in due to fast paced execution. He was primarily focused on Interface migration that had peak team size crossing 100 in a span of couple of months with 40% Rightshore leverage.
Mark demonstrated excellent abilities for keeping the things together under immense pressure, switching context and being able to work proactively across an entire gamut of activities happening in parallel be it financials tracking, IV’s, M-Reviews, staffing , Deliverables tracking, slide decks, providing cover in absence of other PM’s to name a few. A complete ownership and great personal sacrifice, Mark worked very long hours overall, weekends including few overnights
All three projects are delivered successfully on or before Oct end. An incredible achievement by the entire team and Mark should take huge credit for this success
Thanks a lot for all the great work Mark and well done.
General Feedback RMG S&C Project : Individual Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Myles Geoffrey Cliffe
Validity Period : 03.05.2016 To 13.05.2016
Relationship : Service Manager
Feedback
At very short notice Mark assisted with part of a the red team managing the RMG stamps and collectables performance issues.
This included the coordination of meetings / minutes and following up on focus areas across the various project and service teams.
Marks demonstrated his ability and a good communicator and pick up and manage various complex positions within the ELS projects.
His success within this role allowed transparency and continuity within the streams to continue while members of the team were on leave.
Feedback VWG Bid : Individual Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : Brian James Toohey
Validity Period : 06.04.2016 To 14.04.2016
I was the solution owner for a bid into Volkswagen for the provision of development and support for new IBM middleware. The initial response was for dev and support services but there was a follow up bid for the ‘Best View of the Customer’ project based on middleware and ETL.
Mark worked on the BVoC bid Wed 6 April to Fri 15 April. He replaced our EM who was assigned to emergency work at RMG – there was little or no handover. Mark’s primary role was to pull together the IV and High Level Plan
Feedback
Considering that Mark is relatively new to Capgemini – he picked up the task very quickly and ran with it, with minimum help. The task was made harder by having to bring in high level estimates and activities from a number of different areas including the new iGate people and I&D as well as AD&I (Portal and MS) and testing (BTS).
Mark also worked a Sunday to extract and list our Assumptions and do the first draft of the High Level Plan. This greatly helped us to keep to our tight bid timescales.
General Feedback NATS OI Project : Individual Performance Feedback Request
Feedback Provider : DG
Validity Period : 11.01.2016 To 24.03.2016
Relationship : DM for this engagement
Feedback
Mark managed a difficult project in a professional manner, when brand new into Capgemini. He got the basics right from day 1. He handled the feedback from the client well and was clear in his communication to senior management.
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