A national environmental and water quality testing provider engaged Fragile to Agile to help shape its strategic direction ahead of a new regulatory funding cycle. With multiple improvement initiatives under consideration and finite funding available, the organisation needed a clearer view of its priorities and a stronger architectural foundation to guide investment decisions with confidence.
What Prompted Change?
Approaching a new regulatory funding period, the organisation faced increasing pressure to justify investment decisions while continuing to meet service expectations and regulatory obligations. Existing planning artefacts and decision frameworks made it difficult to assess the cumulative impact of proposed initiatives or to clearly demonstrate how investment choices aligned with strategic priorities.
With growth ambitions competing against finite funding, there was a clear need for greater structure, transparency, and confidence in how change was planned, prioritised, and funded. This highlighted the importance of establishing stronger architectural foundations to support long-term planning and evidence-based decision-making.
Strategy in Action
Fragile to Agile worked closely with leaders and teams across the organisation to establish a shared understanding of priorities, challenges, and desired outcomes. A series of structured workshops, spanning executive leadership through to operational teams, helped clarify business intent and validate the issues the organisation needed to address over the next regulatory period.
This insight informed the development of a clear business capability model, supported by standardisation and operating model artefacts, providing a practical view of how the organisation functions and where improvement efforts should be focused. In parallel, the current technology landscape was documented to create transparency around existing systems, dependencies, and constraints.
Building on this foundation, a target state conceptual architecture and capability heatmap were defined, highlighting priority areas for uplift. These artefacts were then used to develop a detailed, four-year technology investment roadmap, outlining initiatives, sequencing, risks, dependencies, cost considerations, and resourcing requirements to guide confident, evidence-based investment decisions.
Delivering Meaningful Impact
The establishment of a clear Business Capability Model and current state view created immediate value, identifying rationalisation and cost-saving opportunities that were acted on early and continued to deliver benefit over time. These insights provided Council with a stronger financial and operational footing while maintaining focus on longer-term digital goals.
Key platform selections and implementations, including a new leisure management system, delivered tangible service improvements for the community, enabling cross-facility access and more flexible, secure operations. In parallel, the introduction of an integration platform and enterprise architecture tool provided Council with lasting capability to manage complexity, improve data flow, and maintain an authoritative view of its technology environment.
The ongoing use of capability-based planning, digital density assessments, and architecture governance has enabled more informed prioritisation and decision-making. Together, these foundations continue to guide investment choices, solution design, and strategic planning, ensuring that Council’s digital initiatives remain aligned with community needs and future growth.
