1. Progress Report on the Elimination of NC(V) Certificate Backlog
Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training
3 February 2016

2. ORIGINAL PROJECT OBJECTIVES
NC(V) Certification Backlog Elimination Project
ORIGINAL PROJECT OBJECTIVES

3. Original Backlog Elimination Approach
Empower Examinations Centers to ensure Data Integrity for Enrollment and Exam Data
Create a staging portal to provide capacity to for data integrity, visibility of performance
Work towards straight through processing of certificates and a common business rule base
Registration Process
Examination Center Portal
Enrollment Data
Examination Centers
Umalusi
Certification Candidates
Examination Process
Exam
Marks
API Portal
Certification Process
Rules & Validation Services
Certification
Errors & Confirmations
Registration
Errors & Confirmations
Move all manual operational activities for NC (V) data and processing into the Exam system
SITA
Maintenance & Support Team
Data Admin Process
DHET
Examinations & Assessments
Clearly define SOPs, work towards straight through processing

4. Subject Matter Expertise
Project Approach: Target Alignment of NC (V) Certificate Processing Activity
Subject Matter Expertise
Business Process & Governance
Examination System Software
Examination Center Staff
DHET Staff
Umalusi Staff
SITA Staff
Legislation
Directives
Standard Operating Procedures
Best Practices
Rules
Validations
Processing Logic
Exam and Reference Data

5. NC(V) Certification Backlog Elimination Project
SUMMARY OF PROGRESS

6. Summary of Project Performance
We were not successful in meeting our primary project objective of Eliminating the NC(V) Certificate Backlog
We request that the project target date be reset to 22 June
We are now clear on what is required to ensure that we meet the project objectives and have implemented changes to ensure that we meet the objectives

7. Backlog Reduction as of 29 Jan 2016
Aug 2015
Jan 2016
Progress
129,453
Candidates Affected
102,926
Candidates Affected
26,527
Candidates Serviced
20%
236,818
Certificates Outstanding
181,973
Certificates Outstanding
39,869
Certificates Produced
21%

8. Interpretation of the Certificate Backlog Numbers
There has been Positive Movement in the Certificate Backlog Numbers
39,869 Certificates have been produced from the backlog
15,059 Certificates to be “un-blocked” from centres with payment in arrears this week
We have discovered additional backlogged certificates since starting the project, which brings our net reduction of backlog down to 21%

9. Next Planned Waves of Backlog Reductions
15,059
Payment of Arrears Fee Facilitated by SITA on 29 Jan 2016.
Certificates to be processed this week.
59,965
All Level 2 Certificates to be processed
Certificates to be processed by 10 March
64,969
All Level 3 Certificates to be processed
Certificates to be processed by 29 April

10. RECAP OF PROJECT ACTIVITY
NC(V) Certification Backlog Elimination Project
RECAP OF PROJECT ACTIVITY

11. Activity Since the 12 August Update
Project Accomplishments
Captured and Aligned Umalusi and DHET in their view of the NC (V) Certification Business Process
Increase SITA Technical Resource Capacity to keep up with DHET demands.
Implemented capacity for Exam Centers and 3rd Party vendors of college management systems to submit data to DHET in real time rather than “batch”
Implemented capacity to “stage” data and do data integrity checks before submitting data to DHET
Implemented capacity for DHET, Exam Centers and Umalusi to use a common rule base for certificate processing

12. Activity Since the 12 August Update
Project Impacts
Underestimation of the state of the Consolidation Function
Resource Contention
Capacity Shortage
Holiday Season
Results Processing
SITA’s Application Lifecycle Challenges
Application Testing Immaturity
Software Change Management Immaturity
Inter-Organization Wait States

13. Activity Since the 12 August Update
Corrective Actions
Flattened the Program Governance Structure
Additional Project Resources Applied (DHET & SITA)
Implementation of QA Testing
Further Integration into SITA
Change of Approach of Backlog from Newest to Oldest to Oldest to Newest

14. Activity Since the 12 August Update
Remaining Work
Processing of Level 2, 3 & 4 Backlog: Error & Rejection Investigation
Debugging of the Consolidation Function
Rollout of the Keep Backlog at 0 Capacity
Testing and QA of the Portal processing
Production Deployment
Turnover of all NC(V) Deliverables to SITA Resources
Technical Team Enablement
Formal Handover
Final Submission of Documentation

15. NC(V) Certification Backlog Elimination Project
WAY FORWARD

16. High Level Flight Plan February March April May June Old Backlog
(21, 254)
Level 3
(15, 671)
Level 4
(23, 944)
Old Backlog
New Backlog
Level 2
(35, 497)
Level 3
(44, 736)
Level 4
(29, 697)
Current Backlog
Level 2
(3, 250)
Level 3
(4, 534)
Level 4
(3, 394)

17. Proposed Project Schedule

18. Thank You