A large Australian local government authority engaged Fragile to Agile to address a growing digital challenge: fragmented ICT systems, shaped by past council mergers, were limiting the organisation’s ability to support rapid population growth and deliver modern, connected services to the community. With significant investment required and ambitions to become a leading digital council, there was a clear need for stronger architectural discipline, improved delivery flexibility, and access to advanced IM&T skills to support long-term planning and execution.
What Prompted Change?
Rapid population growth and increasing community expectations were placing new demands on Council’s ability to plan, deliver, and operate services. At the same time, a history of council mergers had resulted in a fragmented ICT landscape, with duplicated systems, inconsistent data, and limited integration across business areas.
As the organisation looked to invest in technology to support its long-term growth strategy and digital ambitions, it became clear that continuing with a traditional, siloed delivery model would increase risk and reduce value. Council recognised the need for a more flexible approach to IM&T delivery, supported by stronger architectural capability and access to specialist skills, to ensure future investments were well-governed, coordinated, and aligned to community outcomes.
Strategy in Action
Fragile to Agile was engaged to provide Enterprise and Solution Architecture services under a long-term partnership model, giving Council access to architectural capability as needed over time. During the initial phase of the engagement, work focused on establishing a strong architectural foundation, including the development of a Business Capability Model and a clear view of the current ICT landscape. By overlaying existing systems against Council capabilities, this work identified opportunities for rationalisation and cost savings, while improving visibility of technology dependencies and gaps.
In parallel, Fragile to Agile supported several critical technology decisions, assisting with the selection of key platforms including a leisure management system, an enterprise architecture tool, and an integration platform. Reference architectures, design principles, and governance bodies were also established to provide consistency and discipline for future investment and delivery.
As the engagement progressed, Fragile to Agile refreshed and extended the initial artefacts, populated the enterprise architecture tool, and conducted digital density assessments across people, process, data, and technology. These insights enabled Council to identify priority focus areas for capability uplift and take a more structured, evidence-based approach to planning future digital investment.
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.
