As the minister has mentioned, I worked in banking for almost 10 years. We went through a similar journey as has been described here, where in fact we consolidated 22 data centres down to two. We did the same sort of thing around the telecommunications front, where we reduced the number of networks substantially and built up a global network. We did do a lot of the telephony conversion from old-style telephony to voice over IP. We also consolidated seven different network schemes into one enterprise network scheme.
All of that took place over a period of nine years. I'm not suggesting that there weren't some bumps and grinds along the way, but by and large we did it within the timeframes that we set out. The way we approached it—and I think this is the cornerstone of other experiences that have gone forward—was to make sure you don't turn these into megaprojects. You break them down into manageable chunks. You make sure that there's a clear understanding of what things need to be accomplished and what the benefits of that accomplishment are as well, so that you harvest the savings as you proceed.
Obviously there has to be significant oversight and governance associated with it. There is a fair amount of approaches and methodologies around the transparency of all the project management techniques, and you need to bring the right balance of capital experience and determination to the forefront.
This type of work is doable.