Experience That Goes Beyond Technology Advice
A useful case study should help a business leader understand what happened, the decisions involved and what changed as a result.
The examples on this page draw on my experience across software engineering, technology management, project delivery, governance and executive leadership.
Some reflect consulting assignments, while others relate to responsibilities I held in earlier roles before establishing White Internet Consulting. They are examples of my professional experience, not a claim that every project was delivered through the consultancy.
The work covers different types of technology challenges, from reviewing a proposed software investment and coordinating a business system migration to addressing database performance and considering cloud recovery requirements.
Not every outcome can be measured as a percentage or financial saving. In some situations, the value comes from understanding risks, improving oversight, establishing clearer responsibilities or making a better-informed decision.
My approach is to understand the business requirements, consider the people involved and examine the available evidence before recommending action.
You can learn more about my experience and professional background on my Iain White biography page.
Featured Case Studies
SaaS Product and Statement of Work Review
Business Challenge
Committing to software development without sufficient clarity around the proposed product, scope of work and delivery approach can expose a business to unnecessary cost and delivery risk.
Before significant development expenditure is approved, leadership needs to understand what is being proposed, whether expectations are sufficiently clear and where the major risks sit.
My Involvement
I reviewed the SaaS product and Statement of Work from an independent technology perspective, considering the proposed work in the context of the intended product and delivery requirements.
Approach
The focus was not simply on the technology.
I looked at the proposed work from the perspective of what the business was committing to, whether the scope provided sufficient clarity for delivery and where further questions or decisions were required before proceeding.
Outcome
The review provided greater independent scrutiny of the proposed software development before further commitment was made.
Business Lesson
A Statement of Work should give the business enough clarity to understand what it is buying, what is expected to be delivered and where significant uncertainty remains.
Related services:
For organisations evaluating a similar software development commitment, independent Technology Due Diligence can help clarify the risks, while Technology Strategy can help establish priorities before development begins.
MYOB to Microsoft Dynamics Business Central Migration
Business Challenge
Replacing an established business system affects far more than software.
Data, financial processes, reporting, integrations, users and day-to-day operations can all be affected. A poorly managed migration can therefore become an operational problem rather than simply a technology problem.
My Involvement
I provided technology leadership around the migration from MYOB to Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, working across the technology and business requirements involved in the change.
Approach
The work required coordination between technology, business requirements and the people who depended on the system.
The emphasis was on managing the change as a business systems project rather than treating the implementation as an isolated technical exercise.
Outcome
Microsoft Dynamics Business Central was rolled out as the organisation’s business system.
Business Lesson
A major system migration needs ownership, stakeholder involvement and attention to how the business actually operates. Selecting the software is only part of the job.
Related services:
Similar business system changes may benefit from experienced Project Delivery oversight, alongside Technology Leadership support to clarify responsibilities and coordinate important decisions.
400% Database Performance Improvement
Business Challenge
Poor system performance can quickly become a business problem.
The obvious response can be to purchase more infrastructure or increase hosting capacity. That may add cost without addressing the underlying cause.
My Involvement
I investigated the database performance problem to understand what was actually causing the poor performance rather than assuming additional infrastructure was the answer.
Approach
The focus was on identifying the underlying performance constraints and addressing those directly.
This required technical analysis, but the objective was straightforward: improve the performance of the existing system without automatically solving the problem by spending more on infrastructure.
Outcome
The work produced a measured 400% database performance improvement.
Business Lesson
When a system is performing poorly, understand the cause before spending money on additional infrastructure. More capacity does not necessarily fix the underlying problem.
Related services:
When an organisation is uncertain about the causes of poor system performance, an independent Technology Review can help establish what needs attention. Broader Technology Strategy support may be appropriate where investment priorities or future system requirements also need consideration.
Cloud Migration with Terraform and Recovery Planning
Business Challenge
Moving important systems to cloud infrastructure creates opportunities for greater flexibility and resilience, but it also introduces decisions around configuration, recovery and operational risk.
A successful migration therefore needs to consider what happens after the system has moved, including how it can be recovered when something goes wrong.
My Involvement
I worked on the cloud migration, including the use of Terraform for infrastructure management and recovery planning.
Approach
The work considered repeatability, resilience and recovery alongside the immediate migration.
That meant treating the project as an operational risk and continuity issue as well as an infrastructure change.
Outcome
The migration established cloud infrastructure together with a more structured approach to infrastructure management and recovery planning.
Business Lesson
A cloud migration should not finish when the system starts running in its new environment. Recovery and ongoing management need to be considered as part of the original decision.
Related services:
For organisations considering a similar infrastructure change, Technology Strategy can help evaluate the options and risks, while Project Delivery can provide oversight during planning and implementation.
Additional Technology Case Studies
Protecting Access to NHS Medical Records
Healthcare technology needs to balance access to information with patient confidentiality.
My healthcare experience has included work involving access to NHS medical records and the controls required around sensitive patient information.
The challenge illustrates an important principle that remains relevant to healthcare organisations today: information needs to be available to the people who genuinely require it without creating unnecessary access to confidential information.
Business Lesson: Technology decisions involving sensitive information need to consider people, access and governance alongside the system itself.
Ministry of Defence Audit Support at British Aerospace
Working in an aerospace and defence environment exposed me to technology operating within demanding governance and audit requirements.
My experience at British Aerospace included supporting Ministry of Defence audit requirements.
Business Lesson: Where technology supports regulated or high-risk operations, governance and evidence are part of the technology responsibility, not administrative extras.
Microsoft 365 Backup Using AWS and Veeam
Using a cloud service does not automatically remove the need to think about backup and recovery.
I worked on a Microsoft 365 backup solution using AWS and Veeam to strengthen the organisation’s ability to protect and recover important business information.
Business Lesson: Understand what your technology provider protects, what remains your responsibility and how you would recover important information if it were lost.
Improving Project Visibility with Jira
As organisations grow, coordinating work across multiple projects and teams can become increasingly difficult.
I implemented Jira across multiple projects and teams to provide a more consistent way to manage and understand work.
The value was not the tool itself. The important part was improving visibility and creating a clearer way for teams to coordinate delivery.
Business Lesson: A project management system is useful when it improves decision-making and visibility. Simply introducing another tool does not achieve that.
PCI Compliance in FinTech
Technology in financial services operates within significant security and compliance requirements.
My FinTech experience has included work involving PCI compliance, where technology decisions needed to support both delivery requirements and the controls expected when handling payment information.
Business Lesson: Compliance works best when it is considered as part of how technology is designed and operated rather than something checked at the end.
Improving Technology Service Management with Zendesk and ITIL
Technology problems affect the people trying to do their jobs.
I have used Zendesk together with ITIL service-management practices to improve how technology issues were recorded, managed and resolved.
The purpose was not simply to introduce a ticketing system. It was to create better visibility of technology support and a more structured approach to dealing with operational issues.
Business Lesson: Good technology support needs a clear process for understanding problems, prioritising them and making sure they are actually resolved.
Common Technology Challenges I Have Helped Address
Across these and other projects, the technology itself varies considerably, but many of the underlying business problems are familiar.
They include software and technology projects that need greater delivery visibility, unclear requirements, technology investment decisions, supplier and development team issues, ageing or underperforming systems, security and compliance concerns, technology leadership gaps, major business system migrations and operational resilience.
The common starting point is understanding what is actually happening before deciding what technology, investment or organisational change should come next.
If one of these situations sounds familiar, you can also explore the Technology Problems I help businesses address.
Experience Across Industries
My experience spans organisations where technology plays very different roles, from technology businesses where software is the product through to organisations where systems support critical business operations.
This includes experience across Software & SaaS, Financial Services & FinTech, Healthcare & Medical, Construction & Property, Engineering, Manufacturing & Resources, Government & Public Sector, Retail & eCommerce, and Travel, Tourism & Hospitality.
Working across different sectors has reinforced something I consider fundamental to good technology consulting: understand the business and its people before deciding what the technology needs to do.
Explore IndustriesWhat Clients and Colleagues Say
Case studies demonstrate the technology challenges I have worked on and how I approached them.
However, the quality of a consulting relationship also depends on communication, reliability, judgement and the ability to work effectively with people across the business.
You can read feedback about my professional approach from clients, colleagues and technology professionals on my Testimonials page.
Together, the case studies and testimonials provide a broader picture of my experience and what it is like to work with me.