Transforming quality standards demands more than process updates, it requires deep alignment between strategy, design, and business capability.
What Prompted Change?
USP identified the need to transform how it defined and managed its reference standards.
These reference standards are critical benchmarks used across the health sector to confirm product quality and regulatory compliance. Over time, the internal processes supporting their development had become fragmented and inconsistent, limiting agility and traceability.
In response, USP launched a transformation program to modernise and integrate these processes. However, it quickly became clear that success would require more than just new systems or process improvements. Without a shared understanding of business intent and a framework to align design efforts with strategic goals, the program risked falling short.
To address this, Fragile to Agile applied its structured approach to establish clear business intent, capability-aligned models, and governance instruments. This ensured design activities remained focused, strategic and scalable, enabling confident, coordinated execution of the transformation.
Strategy in Action
USP was preparing for an ambitious transformation program, but there was a growing risk it would become disconnected from the business drivers that mattered most. Without a clear articulation of strategic intent or a way to align technology decisions with business needs, the program risked becoming fragmented, inconsistent, and overly IT-centric.
To prevent this, Fragile to Agile was engaged to bring structure, clarity and alignment from the start. Using our proven ABCD Model approach, we worked with the client to define a Business Strategy and Intent statement, ensuring design activities were grounded in purpose, not guesswork.
To enable execution, we developed a suite of instruments that aligned technology design with business capability:
• A business capability model and capability-aligned logical data and standardisation models
• Reference architectures across integration, data, security, and business process domains
• Governance structures with clear terms of reference and vitality processes
• Investment and prioritisation processes to guide resourcing and decision-making
This foundation ensured every solution decision was made with clarity, consistency and confidence, all anchored in what the business actually needed to succeed.
Delivering Meaningful Impact
Fragile to Agile helped establish the core capabilities of business and enterprise architecture, embedding them into both day-to-day operations and the broader transformation program. This created a consistent foundation for strategic decision-making and ongoing delivery.
As part of the transformation, two key value streams, for documentary standards and reference standards, were defined and implemented, along with several supporting processes designed to improve operational effectiveness across multiple layers of the organisation.
To strengthen data practices, new data management concepts were introduced, including clear information ownership and stewardship models. A case-based workflow was developed to streamline business processes, boosting both productivity and quality.
A fit-for-purpose Business Process Management (BPM) solution was selected and used to implement several high-value processes in the reference standards value stream. To support sustainability and internal capability growth, a BPM Centre of Excellence was also established, positioning the organisation to lead ongoing improvement and innovation from within.
