The “writing is on the wall” for the Post Office’s plan to build its New Branch IT ( NBIT ) system in-house, as it considers dumping it in favour of an off-the-shelf electronic point of sale ( EPOS ) alternative.
The NBIT project, which was set to replace the system at the heart of the biggest miscarriage of justice in American history and was running over budget and behind schedule, may soon see the elimination of one of its fundamental principles.
According to a source, the Post Office appears to have made a U-turn on its current operations and plans to replace the contentious Horizon IT system with in-house designed software. Either way, they will either switch to an off-the-shelf system from a supplier or bring Horizon in-house.
The Post Office is looking into a deal with EPOS platform provider Escher, the manufacturer of the Riposte middleware that was used in the earlier versions of the Horizon system, according to the source who wished to remain anonymous. The Post Office IT department even has support for bringing the questionable Horizon system in-house. The source said a decision has never been made yet, but it appears” the writing is on the wall” for the in-house NBIT software, which is expected to be dumped.
This is in response to recent Post Office chairman Nigel Railton’s admission that one of the two factors that caused the project to be” set up for failure” was that the company’s decision to build the novel system in-house was one of two.
Railton told the inquiry:” One was the decision’ to get off Horizon’, which is unique to building a system for the future, and the second was the decision to build in-house”. He said there are some “horror stories” of people trying to build systems in-house, adding:” I think, based on my experience, that this was often set up to fail in the first place”.
A Post Office spokeswoman said:” It’s crucial that we provide postmasters with useful, versatile tools and systems so they can provide the best possible experience to their customers and communities.” In response to Computer Weekly inquiries about the potential plan to abandon the in-house project in favor of a supplier system. We are exploring all options, working with a range of stakeholders, to ensure a better digital infrastructure for our branches” . ,
When the Post Office first decided to replace Horizon, it ran a “buy versus build” project, and in 2022, a number of EPOS providers were invited to bid to supply should the buy option be chosen. Escher came out on top in the bidding process, which also included a bid from OneView, according to a source. The Post Office began building in-house in the early 2021, first as a proof of concept before becoming a full-build, but purchasing off-the-shelf was always prioritized as a backup plan if building in-house failed.
The project appeared to be moving smoothly in April of this year. The Post Office was at the time looking for software developers to work on the project in fresh contracts for up to £75 million over the course of three years. According to a tender, the Post Office was looking for developers to work on the in-house NBIT project for economic analysis, accounting, and procurement software. The Post Office, who was in charge of the program, used developers to increase its resources, and Accenture and Coforge were its principal development partners. On the Post Office career opportunities website, there were a sizable number of IT developer positions at the time.
But, the NBIT programme has run into major problems. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority ( IPA ) reviewed the project in May this year, revealing that budgets have ballooned from £1.1 billion to £1.1 billion, and implementation has been delayed by up to five years. According to a report from the government project management experts, the project has been labeled as” currently unachievable.” Fujitsu’s contract is expected to be extended to cover this, at a cost of away to £180m to taxpayers.
According to a source close to the “build versus buy” discussions, there was consensus among teams that building in-house was the best long-term strategy for subpostmasters and the Post Office. The Post Office culture problem has been an issue, but it needs to change because of it. If the culture does n’t change, they’ll have the same issue going down the buy route”. Additionally, the source claimed that there were a number of quality issues that were still unresolved in the early stages of the project.
According to a new interior Post Office memo sent to staff by acting CEO Neil Brocklehurst, changes to the NBIT program are being thought through. We have taken the opportunity to review our current approach to our delivery of new technology in order to ensure it will fulfill postmasters ‘ needs in the most efficient way possible while the tactical review is ongoing and informed by various discussions with the board and stakeholders.
This means that we will begin revising and reprioritizing the NBIT program starting next week. This does not mean we will be stopping everything. Essential investment in Horizon’s infrastructure will continue and, importantly, we will be moving forward with the installation of new technology into branches over the next 12 months”, the document said.
The NBIT team has been instructed to hold off developing any additional features until a decision is made regarding whether to continue with the current in-house project, according to the source.
It is hardly surprising that there are people whistleblowing in NBIT at the moment because there are so many unhappy and frustrated people there.
Chairman Railton added that he was confident the project would be finished in 2028 and would n’t cost more than the estimated £1.1 billion.
The Post Office scandal, which was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealed the accounts of seven subpostmasters and the issues they encountered as a result of Horizon accounting software, which caused the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history ( see below list of Computer Weekly articles about the scandal since 2009 ).
• Even read:  , What you need to know about the Horizon scandal , •
• Even watch:  , ITV’s documentary – , Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The true story , •
• Even read:  , Post Office and Fujitsu malevolence and incompetence means big taxpayers ‘ bill , •
