During the sales phase and/or the Preparation And Design phase a Ramp-Up Schedule has been made in which the resources needed to start the Services Run on Service Commencement date are planned to come into the Service Run teams. These resources can originate from either Capgemini or from external sources. The teams that will deliver the Service Run can either be dedicated or multi-client.

In the Ramp-Up Schedule, a distinction is made between resources that will participate in the different work streams of the transition engagement and the resources needed to be there at Service Commencement only. It is clear what type and level of resource is needed and when.

In this activity the deviations of the plan are identified and corrective measures are planned and executed.

This identification of deviations is done from three perspectives:

          Knowledge Acquisition perspective

At regular intervals the planned ramp-up as noted down in the Ramp-Up Schedule has to be compared with the actual ramp-up regarding acquired knowledge and experience. Most important question to ask is: Do the resources join the teams in time to acquire the right level of knowledge to start the Service Run at the planned Service Commencement date(s)? In case the ramp-up is not progressing as planned the Staffing Strategy and Staffing Gap Plan are used to determine the next steps. In case of too fast ramp-up, measures are taken to slow down, in case the ramp-up is too slow additional actions may be needed, including escalation or additional recruitment. It may be possible that other work streams in the transition, like the Knowledge Exchange work stream, needs to plan additional activities or need to re-plan due to the difference between the planned and actual ramp-up of the resources. The Ramp-Up Schedule is updated and adapted as needed.

Resource Pyramid perspective

At regular intervals the planned ramp-up as per the Ramp-Up Schedule has to be compared with the actual pyramid of the ramped up resources. Most important question to ask: Will the actual ramp-up lead to the planned pyramid, the right mix of senior, medium and junior resources at the Service Commencement date(s)? The actual ramp-up can easily lead to the wrong pyramid of resources at Service Commencement. This can especially be the case where we are hiring from the marketplace or when we take over resources from the Client, the incumbent or service related third parties. The pyramid can be wrong at the start of the Service Run in both ways, either too many senior resources or too many junior resources. Actions can be taken to correct this, for instance aiming for more senior or more junior resources in the rest of the recruiting process. Often it may however not be possible to avoid this situation. As long as the Service Commencement date will not be influenced this can be a situation with which we will need to live. It may however lead to a handover of actions to execute during Service Run to get the pyramid corrected as soon as we are allowed to and can safely do this. The Ramp-Up Schedule is updated and adapted as needed.

Cost perspective

At regular intervals the planned ramp-up as per the Ramp-Up Schedule has to be compared with the actual costs of the ramped up resources. Most important question to ask: Will the actual ramp-up lead to the planned level of costs at Service Commencement date(s). If resources join the teams earlier than planned or more senior resources join than planned, this not only causes an overrun on the transition engagement budget. As transition costs and revenues are in most countries financially spread across the whole duration of the Service Run contract this can also be a Service Run issue which should be avoided as much as possible. The Ramp-Up Schedule is updated and adapted as needed.

If the resources planned are already working in (multi-client) teams that will execute the service for this Client, the Ramp-Up Schedule might only focus on who is going to be trained before each Service Commencement date. The Knowledge Exchange Recipients will gain the knowledge during the transition period and will spread this knowledge under their colleagues as needed. This might be either before or after Service Commencement date. The chance that this ramp-up does not proceed as planned is low.

If the resources planned are already working in Capgemini in other teams or even in other business units, these resources need to be freed up from their existing work to join the teams needed to serve this particular Client. This move is also planned in the Ramp-Up Schedule. The chance that this ramp-up does not proceed as planned is medium. If the move is not executed according to the plan, escalation within Capgemini might help to get it back on track.

If resources are planned to be hired from outside Capgemini the Ramp-Up Schedule depends heavily on our ability to recruit the right level and amount of resources in the planned timeframe. This is often the case at our Right shore locations where an additional outsourcing contract will often directly lead to a necessary expansion of the work force. The chance that this recruiting process does not deliver the right type and amount of resources in the required timeframe is high. Using additional channels for recruiting might help. Keeping close contact between the transition team and the recruiting managers might help to see in time where other solutions might be needed to get the team in place in time.

If resources are to be taken over from the Client, the incumbents and/or service related third parties, the Ramp-Up Schedule is often directly linked to the waves in which the services moves under Capgemini’s responsibility. In some countries Capgemini has a legal obligation to offer the Client’s, incumbent’s or third party’s resources the opportunity to join Capgemini as their work moves to Capgemini. Taking over individual resources might be a Delivery Manager’s job just like hiring resources from the market place. Taking over of large groups of resources due to a legal obligation has to be done by the Capgemini HR department as a subproject under the Service Engagement Staff work stream. Unfortunately also taking over resources this way does not guarantee that the teams are complete and in place in time. The law can force Capgemini to offer the current resources a job at Capgemini, the individual persons however decide whether they want to do this or not. Even signing the employment contract offered by Capgemini does not guarantee that they will indeed come to work for Capgemini. As this unfortunately becomes clear at the moment of Service Commencement, additional measures like spreading the knowledge over the whole team, even the knowledge of the persons that are planned to join Capgemini, might mitigate this risk. The execution of spreading the knowledge is often done by the Knowledge Exchange work stream as an integral part of the knowledge exchange.