70% of the Work Could Be Standardised. The Process Treated It All as Complex.
A commercial engagement with a 500-person B2B2C cloud software company.
Client
A 500-person B2B2C cloud software company. Great product, happy customers, growing internationally. But internally, nothing had changed since they were half the size. Previous consultants had tried. Nothing stuck.
Situation
- • Every deal - simple or complex - went through the same heavyweight process
- • Partners and customers couldn't self-serve. Everything required manual handling
- • Standard orders that should have taken hours were taking weeks
- • Teams worked in silos with limited visibility of what was coming downstream
- • Internal tooling was bespoke and fragile
- • Previous consultants had looked at pieces of this and left. Nothing changed
Assessment and Delivery
Mapped everything end to end
End-to-end process mapping from first sales conversation through to delivery and support. For many teams, it was the first time they had seen how their work connected to the bigger picture.
Found the split
70% of the business could be standardised - no custom components, no special development work. But it was all flowing through the same heavyweight process as the complex 30%.
Redesigned into two lanes
A fast lane for the 70% that could be standardised, designed for self-service. A modified lane for the 30% that genuinely needed hands-on involvement. Built an interactive prototype that staff, partners and customers could click through and react to.
Built it
With no formal authority over any team, assembled a small group and started building. By the end of six months, the automation of a standard build was working and demonstrable.
Surfaced hidden value
The full picture revealed licensing and cost recovery opportunities that had been invisible when each team only saw their own piece. Also pioneered AI adoption internally, demonstrating practical integration pathways to the engineering leadership team.
What Was Delivered
Standard deployments redesigned from weeks of manual handling to self-service provisioning.
End-to-end process maps
Full picture of how work flows through the business - still being referenced today.
Working automation
Standard build provisioning rebuilt for self-service. Demonstrable and live.
Self-service portal prototype
Interactive, clickable, built for real feedback.
Cost recovery opportunities
Licensing and revenue opportunities surfaced from the full-picture view.
AI integration pathways
Practical demonstrations for the engineering leadership team.
Specification and roadmap
Documented plan the company is still following.
"You've achieved more in a few weeks than has been done in years."