planIT relaunch date uncertain

NorwichUnion is no longer specifying an implementation date for its troubled planIT financial planing software, says group director distribution Allan Griffiths.

planIT software, using Windows, was withdrawn in February this year after advisers reported numerous problems with the functionality. Most reverted back to their tried and trusted FPI software, which is DOS-based.

Griffiths says the core system for Navigator is now stabilised and Norwich is now working on the next version of planIT.

“The development of planIT has now been taken over by our own technology team and we are no longer using PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC),” he says.

PwC was involved in the software upgrade for Navigator, called Project Greenfields, from inception four years ago.

Griffiths says Norwich has now identified the problem areas for planIT, which is being benchmarked against its competitors and FPI.

“One of our faults in the past has been announcing an implementation date and then not delivering,” says Griffiths.

“I will not commit to an implementation date until planIT is completely working and it has been signed off by the Norwich executive team.”

Norwich has recently held a dealer workshop in Queensland, which was attended by approximately 230 advisers.

The company admitted to the problems with planIT at the event and took in the advisers’ wish list for the software, says Griffiths.

“I want planIT two to be an ‘in the market’ software when it is relaunched. We will leave FPI in the market until everybody using planIT is satisfied, and I expect that to be sometime in the middle of next year,” Griffiths says.

Project Greenfield was scheduled to have been operational last year and Norwich has now spent in excess of $40 million on the Navigator upgrade, after an initial time frame and budget of three years and $30 million.