How Avocado turned around delivery on a critical project
Case Study
About Our Client
Overview
Our client operates one of the largest government technology networks in Australia. As part of a multi-year programme to uplift operational resilience, they committed to a new service delivery model built on proven tools and processes. At the centre of this uplift was a ServiceNow implementation designed to centralise service workflows and improve visibility across operations.
The Challenge
Several years into the ServiceNow rollout, delivery had stalled. The final stages of implementation had become a pressure point: critical deadlines were slipping, regulatory oversight was increasing, and an external QA partner required audit-ready evidence the internal team struggled to produce.
The original delivery partner had exited, leaving gaps in governance, reporting, and test leadership. Requirements and acceptance criteria were unclear, the defect backlog was growing, and multiple ServiceNow modules still needed to progress through several releases – but decision bottlenecks and fragmented communication kept blocking momentum. Avocado was engaged to stabilise delivery, restore stakeholder confidence, and complete the ServiceNow implementation under critical timelines.
The solution
Avocado stepped in as a late-stage rescue partner with two imperatives: create clarity where ambiguity had taken hold and restore cadence so decisions and releases could flow.
Avocado aligned the client, regulator, QA partner, and development teams around a single source of truth – covering scope, risk, readiness and defects. We translated expectations into testable acceptance criteria, set critical-item priorities, and sequenced changes so the right work landed in the right order across the remaining releases – with quality never compromised.
Client
Large government-contracted technology provider
Sector
Public sector / Critical infrastructure
Engagement:
- Test leadership
- Business analysis
- Independent governance
- Stakeholder communication and assurance
- Comprehensive testing (E2E, UAT, test automation)
- Defect and release coordination
- Lifecycle support and BAU integration
- Project management
The Approach
1) Reset governance and reporting
- Replaced ad-hoc conversations with regular forums, clear roles, and defined escalation paths.
- Introduced executive-ready status reporting (scope, risks, readiness, defects) to ground decisions in a single, trusted picture.
2) Make the work testable (system first, then integration, then UAT)
- Avocado Test Managers and BAs baselined acceptance criteria for the remaining ServiceNow scope with Definition of Ready/Done, traceability, and evidence mapped to third-party QA expectations.
- System Testing (primary Avocado responsibility): verified functional requirements end-to-end within each ServiceNow module.
- Integration Testing: executed cross-module and external touchpoint checks to ensure end-to-end service workflows behaved as designed before handover to UAT.
- Ran formal review sessions on test design and results walkthroughs with the client; only after meeting exit criteria did we move the work into UAT.
3) Automation to protect cadence (strong automation component)
- Established/expanded a regression automation pack targeting high-risk and high-frequency flows to reduce cycle time and increase repeatability.
- Used automation for evidence capture (repeatable screenshots/logs), defect re-test, and smoke/regression on each release drop.
- Integrated automated checks into the team’s build/deploy cadence where feasible, improving early signal and freeing manual effort for exploratory and integration scenarios.
4) Burn down the “defect hump”
- Centralised defect triage, ownership, and priority rules; added ageing and SLA tracking so nothing lingered.
- Tight pairing with developers to land fixes fast on critical-path items, keeping the releases moving.
The Outcome
Confidence returned as the programme moved from uncertainty to control. Stakeholders had a shared view of scope, readiness, and risk; decisions accelerated because there was a single, trusted picture of the truth. Testing artefacts and traceability stood up to scrutiny from the third-party QA, while tighter governance and prioritisation helped the development teams deliver the changes that mattered most.
Most importantly, the ServiceNow implementation progressed towards completion within the remaining timeline – supporting the client’s broader shift to a more resilient, service-driven model. Senior stakeholders were clear: Avocado’s combination of leadership, technical discipline and hands-on delivery was critical in getting the project back on track.
