Navigating complex integrations and controls

The programme set an ambitious target: to deliver new business capability within a year -
starting with new policies, then renewals by early 2024, however, progress had stalled.
Ineffective testing, weak governance, and vendor misalignment meant the team could not
advance to UAT or go live. Avocado was engaged to provide expert-led test leadership, robust governance, and hands-on testing capability to get delivery back on track.

About our client

Our client is a leading Australian general insurer who generates multi-billion-dollar annual
revenue and holds a S&P A rating. They offer a broad range of general insurance products
and underwrite a portfolio of trusted partner brands across retail, direct, pet, and seniors’
segments. Known for innovation and strong partnerships, it is recognised as an agile,
customer-focused insurer with substantial financial strength.

In 2022, the insurer acquired a major bank’s insurance business, triggering migration of
policies onto Duck Creek – a policy administration platform. This program is the first phase
of a multi-stage migration of other products which must also migrate to the duck creek
platform.

The challenge

Our approach

• The review uncovered critical obstacles in the insurers testing landscape that were stalling delivery:
• Multiple vendors operating in silos with unclear accountability
• Large backlog of open defects managed via email—no structured defect management
• Thousands of regression scripts executed, yet critical functions still failing
• No test governance, stage gates, or meaningful reporting
•  Significant reporting issues  the Duck Creek platform, as implemented, could not handle basic user load 

To get the programme back on track, Avocado restructured delivery - embedding robust governance, formal defect management, and clear accountabilities - while providing experienced leadership to stabilise execution.

Given the performance issues, a Duck Creek platform upgrade was essential. The timeline was rephased to accommodate this complex, unplanned upgrade without compromising quality.

The Solution – from review to rescue

In partnership with our client, Avocado reframed the engagement - embedding experienced leaders to stabilise and restructure delivery. Key components of the engagement included:  

• Governance and structure: Introduced stage-gated test governance, defect management processes, and ADO boards for real-time visibility.
• Vendor accountability: Reassigned responsibilities to simplify ownership — became accountable end-to-end for system testing, with Avocado providing governance and delivery leadership.
• Stakeholder trust: Rebuilt relationships with the acquired business, ensuring collaboration and transparency.
• Performance and reliability: Leveraged JMeter for load testing and Dynatrace for deep diagnostics, identifying root causes of system bottlenecks. Performance findings triggered an upgrade of the Duck Creek platform, necessitating new builds across the full stack of environments to meet the required performance targets.
• Culture and Maturity: Uplifted the insurers testing maturity, embedding professional practices, reporting disciplines, and knowledge transfer to internal teams.

The Outcome – A smooth go-live and a scalable platform 

The project achieved a successful go-live in August 2025. Key results included:

• Zero emergency production fixes during hypercare.
• Performance uplift- system benchmarked at 1000 concurrent users (vs ~250 peak), making Hollard’s Duck Creek implementation the fastest in the industry, giving a competitive advantage to our client over other DuckCreek users
• Benchmark Delivery – Our client is now seen as a model Duck Creek rollout, attracting industry recognition and competitive envy.
• Future-Ready Platform - roadmap established for future migrations across other products.

The Avocado Difference - derisk delivery, fast

What sets Avocado apart is how we blend strong governance, data-driven clarity, and vendor leadership to de-risk delivery - fast. Avocado didn’t just fix the insurers problems; we embedded lasting capability - governance, ways of working, and performance expertise that endure beyond go-live. With end-to-end expertise, we scaled from test leadership into hands-on performance engineering when it mattered. Overall, success was founded in:

• Governance that accelerates delivery: We design pragmatic reporting and quality gates that keep work flowing and embed quality at every stage.
• Decisions powered by evidence: We instrument clear metrics and shared dashboards so alignment and accountability are driven by data, not opinions.
• Vendor leadership that removes blockers: We align incentives, simplify ownership, and provide firm, fair leadership to prevent delays and confusion.
• Shift-left performance assurance: We invest early in performance testing and platform tuning to de-risk go-live and avoid costly post-release issues.
• Maturity uplift that lasts: We embed ways of working, decision-making rhythms, and monitoring practices to build sustainable, long-term capability.
  

Conclusion

What began as a programme in crisis became an industry-leading success. By embedding strong governance, clear accountability, and deep performance engineering, Avocado not only stabilised the insurers rollout but set a new benchmark for Duck Creek delivery in Australia. We also uplifted team maturity - embedding ways of working that created an enduring, self-sustaining capability. Leveraging our domain expertise, we collaborated effectively with a major bank to navigate complex integrations and controls. Today, our client and Avocado continue to partner on future migrations, with Avocado recognised as both a delivery specialist and a trusted strategic adviser.

Related

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