The team that included Managers and Subject Matter Experts from Adsatis and ebusinessware, and Financial Data Analysts from ebusinessware, was entrusted by Reuters to take on this prestigious initiative of launching a new service.

By joining hands together on a deadline-sensitive project, this team scripted a commendable success story by consistently meeting strings of steep deadlines, and more importantly, showcases what collective effort, high motivation and hard work can achieve when blended with strong emphasis on project management, process leadership, disciplined approach, and training.


The Beginning…

With just 25 resources at disposal to begin with, a looming deadline consisting of a span of mere seven months and to achieve a staggering target of 75,000 entities spread over 143 countries worldwide, for once it looked like an uphill task. In addition to this, a quick review revealed project’s subtle complexities such as language differentiation, varied geographical locations and timings, evolving specifications and rule documents arriving in stages, and in certain paid websites, acquiring subscriptions. Not to mention, very specific infrastructural and technical needs, if not available on time, could have derailed the smooth functioning of the project.

Under the aegis of Sudhir Dhingra, along with Gaurav Malik and Ananda Ward, Brijesh Sharma, Nidhi Kumar, Manoj Mendiratta, Vaibhav Munjal, Sachendra Tyagi, Karanjit Singh and Apnav Agarwal, a formidable team was constituted to work out the most efficient and feasible solution to bring the project to its logical conclusion.


How the Challenges Were Met…

It was quite evident that the existing manpower was not sufficient enough to meet the assigned target. Hence, a massive recruitment drive was launched to pump in fresh blood with the help of HR department. As a result, the headcount was raised to 100 within a span of just one month (yes, just one month). The HR team was, as usual, very prompt and forthcoming in facilitating the hiring process, working seven days a week. The initial number of people who were contacted for this purpose was well over 1,000. That group was ultimately short-listed via written and verbal test and interviews into what was considered by the panel to be the dream team to take this project forward.

Next big challenge was to appropriately train the new associates to enable them to be productive on the live project at the earliest. Manoj and Nidhi, with their immense expertise and experience in this domain, were entrusted to impart the required training. Under their tutelage, the bunch of raw talent was converted into finely crafted and well-organized resources well set to hit the road.


LessonOnDemand Came Handy...

Our flagship Knowledge Management System, LessonOnDemand, part of ebusinessware Institute of Applied Software Engineering (EIASE), was loaded with the required training courses. The effort involved the team of Creative Designers, Authors, and Technical Writers who worked closely with the project management team and authored the course content, flash movies, and tests altogether.


”Humongous”, the very definition of this terminology was exhibited in this project…

The humongous volume of work posed yet another challenge of how to extract maximum output in a 24-hr work cycle. After doing a Work Hour vs. Manpower Analysis, it was decided to distribute the workforce into three shifts (6 am – 3 pm, 9 am – 6 pm & 4 pm – 1 am) to obtain optimum productivity. However, it was soon ascertained that more efforts were needed to meet the daunting target of 75,000 entities. As a result, the HR department, in order to encourage the Financial Data Analysts to work on Saturdays and Sundays, initiated a Weekend Working Plan (WWP). They also announced a “Certificate of Excellence” award scheme to compliment outstanding performers.

The Reuters Financial Data Analysts Team used the CDIM application, a proprietary suite. The application was customized from time to time to suit the complex requirements of the project. The team was also often called at a short notice to update and implement changes at the backend. To start with, there was just a single server catering to the huge data requests that eventually resulted in data overloading and slowing the work process. This obstacle was overcome by deploying an additional server. Overall, the CDIM application was robust, efficient and flexible to deliver all the functionalities required for the project. The contributions of Brijesh Sharma and his SWAT development team were of immense value, ensuring all technical exigencies were met in time and with ease. Shrikant Dixit also gave his valuable support in the role of a Technology Head.

Working in shifts and the Weekend Working Plan meant that the other departments such as Help Desk and Administration also had to stretch their routine work timings to provide necessary support and logistics. It was a tough call for the Admin department to arrange the cabs for the three shifts and weekends, but they pulled it through by their meticulous planning, ensuring that transport was available even at odd hours.


And the Journey Began…

As the work commenced, problems of diverse nature were encountered more than occasionally. One of the major problems faced by the team was the availability of information in languages other than English for certain entities. This was tackled by using online language translator tools and in-house multi-lingual personnel. In some cases, information could only be extracted by subscribing to certain paid websites, where at times the mode of payment was a cheque rather than a credit card. Then there were issues of duplicate records and special characters, which slowed the quick processing of entities. All these issues were gradually resolved with regular interactions with the client.

The Rule documents of different countries did not come in a single dispatch, but kept arriving gradually over a period of time. This caused some slackness in the momentum of the processing of related entities. Moreover, new rules were asked to be implemented by the client midway of the project, which led to huge amount of rework. Full credit goes to the Financial Data Analysts, Admins, Quality Analysts and Project Leads who showed tremendous patience and perseverance in handling the project in these trying and demanding circumstances.

During this period, Manoj visited the client site to gather more inputs and learn new practices, which once implemented helped the project greatly to reduce error rates. Apnav and Sachendra went to US to understand the project requirements and were guided by Gaurav during their intense, long sessions lasting nights. These overseas visits enabled better monitoring and coordination in the progress of the project.

Ananda Ward, a Subject Matter Expert, played a very crucial role for the project. Sitting in UK, Ananda was actively involved in framing rules, getting the rules approved from Reuters, discussing the issues with the client and guiding the team accordingly. When Ananda had to be “out of work” for one week, Steve Shute stepped in to fill in the gap.

Sudhir Dhingra, with his huge reservoir of knowledge and experience in the financial domain, guided the team in all aspects of the project and made himself available at all times in this gruesome shift-oriented project. His guidance ensured the team met the steep deadline with the required quality.

Adsatis management, in London, played a pivotal role as a conduit between the project team and Reuters. All issues and project queries between the team and client were routed through Adsatis. They were always quick to respond to the demands of the situation and facilitate a proper coordination in the running of the whole project mechanism.


And the Rewarding Times…

Nothing in life is more rewarding than achieving the goal after a hard day’s labour. After seven months of relentless work, high measure of commitment and a well-coordinated teamwork, the Reuters Financial Data Analysts Team achieved the target of 75,000 entities within the stipulated deadline. The timely delivery not just gained us the client’s satisfaction, but also enhanced Adsatis’ and ebusinessware’s credibility to deliver solutions within strict deadlines without compromising on quality.

Hats off to the entire Reuters Financial Data Analysts Team! Your achievement is commendable and your tireless efforts have inspired the entire organization to strive for excellence. This success story has greatly redeemed the prestige of Adsatis and ebusinessware in the Financial Market. We extend out heartfelt felicitations to the whole team.


Recuperation…

This phase of the project is wrapping up but the preparations for the next ongoing phase(s) are in full swing.

In the meantime, Ananda and her family is getting ready to greet her baby who will be born soon.

On the other hand, Sudhir is on complete bed rest recuperating from his recurring spinal ailment that was at its height during the project but couldn’t take Sudhir’s focus off the project.

Hundreds of us from Adsatis and ebusinessware wish both of them best of luck and look forward to getting together to celebrate.