Toll Transitions builds IT for Defence relocations

Drawing the line

Maloney said Toll Transitions had spent the past 18 months increasing the capability of the rules engine to handle more complicated relocation projects - up to a point.

"We started off with the very simple Melbourne-Sydney or existing route type work and calculating that, and we're taking it up into the more and more complex moves," he said.

However, Toll drew the line at relocations with "massive complexity". Although the rules engine could handle it with the right programming, Maloney did not see value in making the investment.

"Complexity comes in when we get, say, an ADF [Australian Defence Force] member relocating from Hobart to Far North Queensland, and we do get these [types of jobs] occasionally.

"He wants to take his car on the ferry, and drop that off in Sydney, but his family's going to fly from Hobart to Sydney, so they're not going with the car.

"Then they're all getting together and flying up to North Queensland and then there's some ferry work required to get him to one of islands out in Far North Queensland.

"Calculating a travel allowance requirement for something like that is quite onerous, and we've not programmed all of that complexity into [Oracle Policy Automation] at this point in time for two reasons.

"One, it's fairly rare that you get that type of massive complexity, and two, the people that are doing that appreciate a more 'travel agent style' personalised interaction of how we're going to manage this, because they realise the complexity of doing it as well."

Future application

Maloney acknowledeged that Oracle Policy Automation could end up in wider use than on the Defence contract, potentially managing relocation rules for some of Toll Transitions' other 300-plus customers.

"It's part of our strategy moving forward," he said.

Oracle Policy Automation is also finding internal uses within Toll Transitions.

"We're creating documents and business rules on-the-fly to meet different customer requirements, and the intention is to leverage [Oracle Policy Automation] quite extensively, not just from an external customer point of view, but from an internal point of view as well."

Toll Transitions' has about 10 in-house IT staff and personnel support from an outsourcer.

The firm is in the midst of implementing its second consecutive five-year strategic plan for IT.