As Industry Trials gain momentum and the One Touch Switch (OTS) rapidly approaches, it's imperative that we, as an industry, ensure full operational preparedness for its implementation. To that end, we have taken two important steps.
First, this week, we welcomed over 50 colleagues from across the industry to kick off a series of operational information sharing sessions. These sessions delve into critical topics such as incident and change management, invoicing and payments, and system monitoring and surveillance. Our goal is to bolster our collective readiness for the One Touch Switch. Book your place on the session of your choice here.
Secondly, this week, we have opened applications to join the One Touch Switch Operations Forum. See bulletin 53 for more information.
The Forum will collaboratively observe and assess the operation of all aspects of the OTS process, including the OTS Industry Process, the TOTSCo Hub, CP internal processes, and CP to CP interactions. The group will also make recommendations to improve the practical operation of the OTS.
In terms of testing, although we're observing a rise in the volume of messages sent through the hub, the number of participants has reached a plateau. We currently have 4 organisations in simulator testing, 23 in integration testing and 4 in industry trials with 3 CPs due to join ‘staff trials’ shortly.
As I've previously noted, our experiences from simulator and integration testing show certain challenges arise when connecting to the first time to a new environment, and we are seeing that this extends into the production environment. As a result of these challenges and as you will see from next week’s industry trials report (published every Monday), we have extended technical trials by two weeks. I am pleased to say this adjustment won’t impact on the rest of the trials program.
However, it does underscore the importance of starting your testing journey as soon as possible to meet the planned OTS go-live date of 12 September. For those not involved in the industry trials, we will soon provide you with additional details and a timetable for production implementation testing to ensure readiness for OTS.
Lastly, next week at Connected North, two of our directors/former directors will be participating in an OTS round table discussion at 2:10pm, so please don't miss out on this opportunity to participate. Additionally, on Thursday, 25 April, we will be hosting the next Stakeholder Forum. If you would like to attend, please let us know, and we will be happy to send you an invite.
That’s all from me this week. Have a great weekend.
Paul
