Earlier this month, RICS’ Director of Programme Management & Technology visited 6pm offices in Malta to discuss off-shoring pieces of work to Malta. “We have now earned the right to be there”, commented Ivan Bartolo, Director of 6pm. 6pm have been working with RICS for over a year delivering Agile mentoring and more recently, resourcing into RICS. The organisation is now comfortable enough to dip their toe in the offshoring market. Some development work as well as a support and maintenance contract is expected to kick off before the end of the year.
RICS had typically steered clear of offshoring due to the cultural issues and barriers that typically cause problems. “Due to the fact that the Maltese and English cultures are very closely aligned and because of strong associations between the countries over the years these hurdles did not present themselves in the development work already carried out with 6pm and I am now comfortable to offshore certain projects or elements of to Malta. This comfort factor is something I have not experienced with other Consultancies before this! ” commented Howells, RICS’ Director of Programme Management and Technology.
In late 2007, RICS attended one of 6pm’s Agile Executive Sessions and immediately bought-in to the Agile Framework and its pragmatic approach. The course instantly struck a chord with the challenges and issues that RICS were facing and clearly highlighted how the Agile Toolbox would strengthen the way that they delivered projects. 6pm was brought in to deliver Agile Mentoring and over the last year the Agile methodology quickly became the ‘RICS approach to delivery’ and this new ‘way of thinking’ has been implemented and embraced across various areas of the business at RICS including IT, Information Management, Application Development, as well as an overall Programme Management.
During the course of the Agile mentoring being carried out by 6pm, RICS changed their approach to the governance and regulation of surveyors. This essentially changed what RICS were trying to regulate and who they were regulating and essentially the way that RICS operated in certain areas. RICS needed to act quickly but was faced with a lack of resource availability. RICS were looking for a flexible partner that they could ‘switch on and off ‘as and when the need arose. “A couple of organisations came forward and said that they could help but always failed to deliver! We then engaged 6pm, and they delivered! ”, Says Howells. “It did not take long to get the 6pm people up to speed with the environment, and the learning curve was relatively short. In my opinion, this had to do with the quality of the 6pm resources. 6pm provided us with a perfect balance between price, accountability, and the flexibility to ‘turn on and off’”
The project was delivered onsite in Coventry and was closed successfully on time and to budget.
6pm are now working with RICS to develop an Agile Project Manager Portal that will provide RICS with a customisable Knowledge Base and Resource Centre that will enable them to sustain their ‘new approach to delivery’. Besides exploring the potential for outsourcing development work to 6pm offices in Malta, RICS are also looking into offsite support and maintenance and testing.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is an International organisation, it is the mark of property professionalism worldwide. It covers all aspects of property, construction and associated environmental issues. RICS has 86,000 chartered members (FRICS and MRICS) and 55,000 members in other categories of membership (TechRICS, trainees and students) globally. It represents, regulates and promotes the work of these property professionals throughout 146 countries. RICS is governed by a Royal Charter approved by Parliament which requires it to act in the public interest. It is also a professional regulatory body approved by the UK Government.
6pm Limited is an established IT Solutions Company offering services ranging from Business Intelligence and Information Management, to Resourcing, Testing and Support and Maintenance. The company’s “Can do” attitude and pragmatic approach enables them to engage with reputable, blue-chip organisations such as Capgemini, BT, the NHS, Shanks Waste Mangement and RICS amongst others. 6pm Ltd and 6pm Management Consultancy (UK) Ltd are wholly owned subsidiaries of 6pm Holdings p.l.c.
For further information on 6pm visit www.6pmmalta.com / www.6pmuk.com
