Comet consult for success with Chip & PIN
Comet group plc is recognised as one of the UK’s leading multiple electrical retailers, with over 245 stores nationwide. Comet stores fall into two formats – their larger format stores, which are known as ‘Destination Stores’ of which there are 51 and the remainder of their portfolio which is made up of smaller format stores. Comet also operates its customer support infrastructure, which includes after-sales service, and home delivery.
Comet is engaged in a major project to implement Chip & PIN across its entire store network. Although Comet usually retains project governance in house, given the scale and importance of the project, they recognised that they needed support and decided to search for an outsourced solution.
Debbie O’Shea, Business Solutions Controller, Comet plc explains: “In terms of the overall scale of projects that we manage within IS in any one year, Chip & PIN is certainly significant. Whilst we have contacts with other IT departments in the retail space, people are quite closed as to what they were doing and it is difficult to get a clear insight.”
“Other than at a superficial level, we did not have sufficient in-house expertise on Chip & PIN. We knew that retailers without the relevant knowledge and expertise had fallen behind in terms of planning and implementation. The fact that the project represented a significant capital investment prompted us to go where that expertise existed.
“We appointed Paul Mason Consulting (PMC) Ltd., to facilitate the process and help us engage with the partners we wanted to use in the project. They helped us decide to what extent should we be doing things ourselves and to what extent we should outsource to strategic partners. We were already aware of PMC in the Chip & PIN space, they also came highly recommended in terms of retail understanding and Chip & PIN experience.
The requirement for retailers to be Chip & PIN compliant is well documented. As of January 2005, the acquiring banks will place the onus in terms of fraudulent transaction on the weakest link in the transaction chain. That responsibility for dealing with fraudulent transactions/retail fraud will fall on the retailer.
O’Shea continues: “In terms of business exposure, we had to protect ourselves from the possibility of fraud. Adopting an accredited solution guarantees that you have implemented the necessary checks to ensure successful cost avoidance but also proves compliance in the relationship with your acquirers.”
Ensuring success from a position of strength
Comet wanted to be absolutely certain that it had covered all the issues both in terms of asking the right questions and verifying the answers they received. Potentially, the project would involve dealing with multiple vendors so Comet had to be certain that it was dealing from a position of strength.
Comet was also mindful of its existing EPOS infrastructure. The impact of the Chip & PIN solution was covered by a Technical Architecture document written by PMC, which contained detailed information on the protocols and languages to be used and how the Chip & PIN solution would integrate with Comet’s existing systems.
O’ Shea confirms: “We wanted to make certain that we were making the right decisions for each element of the project based on the correct criteria. That is vital in a project with multiple vendors. We have a well-established list of partners that provide our retail IT solutions, however we pursue a due diligence process by asking a select number of companies to tender.
“PMC was able to help us with the tendering process, helping us construct the briefing document, define the process in terms of examining and evaluating the market, reviewing potential suppliers, and assimilating the information coming back to us.”
Comet asked two vendors to quote for the project governance, implementation and rollout. PMC assisted in constructing the briefing document and compared the responses. This included asking for clarification or more detail, evaluating responses to Comet’s questions, ensuring that the vendors understood all requirements and checking implementation estimates.
Where necessary, PMC then challenged the vendors proposals, timeframes, costs and to check on their levels of consistency and understanding. That meant Comet could then review the respective tenders and be certain that they were making the right decision.
Comet also worked with PMC to facilitate the review sessions. O’Shea states: “PMC managed the process for us, allowing us to tap into a knowledge base accumulated through considerable involvement with all areas of Chip & PIN. They also worked closely with our technical team, advising where necessary.”
“One critical advantage that PMC brought to the process was their significant technical knowledge - something we did not have in-house. Chip & PIN vendors are presenting new technology, the devices themselves and how they talk to each other. PMC knew the right questions to ask the individual vendors to ensure that the choices we were making would give us a workable solution.”
The project began in June 2003. Comet intends to rollout its Chip & PIN solution across its store network during out April 2004 and is aiming for a go-live date in-store during August 2004.
PMC also assisted with the selection of the PIN pad itself. Comet’s technical team organised workshops with the individual vendors, asking them to demonstrate their PIN pads. Comet evaluated their in-store appeal, in terms look and feel, and how they conformed to the disability act. PMC used their technical knowledge to question the connections between different devices and how they would talk to each other. From O’Shea’s perspective: “PMC asked the technical questions that enabled us to be sure that the solution would work and different devices operate together.”
Training the trainer to ensure in-store success
O’Shea continues: “We asked PMC to help our development team plan the training around Chip & PIN. Currently, when our customers go to the till there is a defined way of taking their money. It is vital to analyse the effect that Chip & PIN will have on that process – and how it will impact on our staff and customers. There will be new equipment and new processes. We consider issues such as what happens if the customer has forgotten their PIN number or if they ask one of our staff to enter their number.
“Every time we make a change to our systems we have to be mindful that we plan and implement the training required. PMC is working alongside our training and development people to instigate a ‘train the trainer’ programme, which will then be extended across the store network.”
Once we had reached the point where we had a preferred supplier for project governance, partners for hardware, middleware, software and implementation, PMC remained in the background helping with the negotiations and reviewing documents received from the vendors. They account-managed the project for us, kept us on track and importantly kept all the vendors to the deadline.
O’Shea concludes: “This is a major project for Comet and the implication of failure could not be contemplated. Where I have an opportunity in the future, I would definitely use PMC again. They really added value – without them we would have missed many key issues. I think we all have to own up when we don’t know the answers and work with someone that does. They delivered everything they said they would and managed everything for us taking away problems and dealing with them before they arose.”
For further information please contact enquiries@paulmasonconsulting.co.uk |
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Unless it’s a 24x7 problem many retailers consider it acceptable - Huw Thomas, COO, PMC
“If staff are grumpy because they can’t use the system effectively, and customers are unhappy because they can’t checkout at the tills effectively and quickly, unless it’s a 24x7 problem many retailers simply consider that acceptable. However, when a system failure means the retailer has to shut up shop then the problem becomes business-critical. If the store is full the retailer could be faced with charging every customer a token amount for what they have in their basket.” Huw Thomas, COO, PMC
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