Case Study /
Tasman District Council

Capability uplift: Building a world-class QA foundation for digital transformation

SECTOR / INDUSTRY

Public Sector

CAPABILITIES FEATURED

Quality Assurance & Testing
Capability uplift

CASE STUDY PDF

OVERVIEW

As a unitary authority with regional and district responsibilities, Tasman District Council (TDC) oversees critical public services and infrastructure. To support the Council’s 10-year Digital Transformation Programme, it partnered with Assurity Consulting to strengthen its Quality Assurance and testing capability.

With essential business software due for replacement, TDC needed specialist support to manage risk and complexity. Assurity worked alongside the Council’s business analyst and technology teams to establish practical QA processes, support testing through key phases, and build the capability to operate with greater confidence and self-sufficiency.

KEY OUTCOMES

Resolved hundreds of issues before go-live, shifting from reactive fixes to proactive quality assurance.
Established a robust QA framework that enables TDC’s teams to operate with greater self-sufficiency.
Built confidence ahead of go-live, with a re-energised team better prepared to launch new systems smoothly.

ABOUT THE CLIENT

Tasman District Council provides local government services, infrastructure and community support across one of New Zealand’s most geographically diverse regions. With more than 350 employees, the Council combines the structure and responsibilities of a large organisation with a close-knit, community-focused culture. Its work touches the lives of people across the district every day, helping local communities access the services, places and support they need to thrive.

THE CHALLENGE

As it prepared to migrate a decades-old on-premises system to the cloud, Tasman District Council (TDC) faced a significant hurdle. The existing system, a bespoke ‘operating system’ covering everything from property management to rates and finance, had been in place for 35 years.

“It’s essentially at the centre of everything we do,” explains Val Aull, Practice Lead – Business Improvement at TDC. “But support was becoming a nightmare. Technical debt was substantial, and past upgrades had caused real and lasting headaches.”

As the Council prepared to roll out a new CRM and cloud business systems, the team identified a critical risk: a capability gap. While the technology was being modernised, the internal processes were not.

Andy Weaver, Value Stream Business Analyst at TDC, admits the team needed a shift in mindset. “We had some internal capability, but much like our old systems, this was stuck in the past. We knew that without a rigorous approach to software testing and in-depth business analysis, the project was at risk.”

OUR SOLUTION

TDC approached the market with a Request for Proposal, looking for a partner who could do more than just deliver a service. Assurity Consulting won the tender specifically because of its focus on knowledge transfer and capability uplift.

“When Assurity came in, we could immediately see the fit. They didn’t just bring quality assurance skills; they established a connection with our team to co-design a strategy focused on our priorities.”

Valerie Aull – Practice Lead – Business Improvement, Tasman District Council

Assurity’s approach was two-fold:

1. Building the framework

Assurity developed the software testing tools, templates, and processes from the ground up.
This included User Acceptance Testing (UAT),
System Integration Testing (SIT), and Test Automation. This ensured that when larger projects are ready for execution, the Council has a robust foundation in place.

2. Coaching and mentoring (The uplift)

Crucially, Assurity worked side-by-side with TDC’s business analysts and technology teams to embed these practices. Using mind maps, workshops, and personal instruction, they contextualised the value of testing for the internal team.

“Approachability makes a real difference. Assurity took a practical approach to capability uplift. As someone previously adjacent to testing, I have personally come to appreciate its strategic value. Our team now has a fresh appreciation for the role of testing across every stage of delivery,” notes Andy.

RESULTS

The investment in capability uplift has delivered immediate, quantifiable returns. With the successful update to the cloud projects and the CRM rollout now imminent, the difference in the Business Analysis team is evident.

“It’s night and day,” confirms Valerie. “There’s a lot at stake with projects like this, and we want to get it right the first time. After the work delivered by Assurity, the team is re-energised, more confident, and more capable.”

The most telling evidence of the BA team’s improvement is in the preparation for the new software. By integrating testing early in the process, the team has shifted from reactive firefighting to proactive quality assurance.

“Thanks to the comprehensive testing coverage and skills introduced by Assurity, we are now spotting and resolving literally hundreds of issues in the test environment before they can ever reach the public. That fundamentally changes how we approach an upcoming rollout.”

Looking ahead to the CRM launch, Andy contrasts their new level of preparation with previous legacy upgrades:

“We are moving away from three months of post-launch hurt to anticipating a problem-free go-live. Avoiding that pain is exceptionally valuable, and I can’t stop singing Assurity’s praises as a result.”

Andy Weaver – Business Analyst,
Tasman District Council

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