On-Prem to Cloud Infrastructure

Case Study

Author: Jason Lee | 7 minute read

Executive Summary

A healthcare technology company was 18 months into a critical platform modernization when the project stalled. Originally scoped for 12 months and $8M, it was now projected to take another 18 months and $6M more with no clear path to production. The Board lost confidence, and the engineering team was demoralized. New Wave Associates was brought in to rescue the program, re-establish credibility, and deliver business value incrementally while completing the technical transformation.

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The Opportunity

The platform modernization was strategically critical - the legacy system couldn't support regulatory requirements and was limiting new product development. But after 18 months of investment, the program had no production releases and mounting technical debt.

Key issues threatening the program:

  • Attempt to rebuild everything before releasing anything - no incremental value
  • Technical architecture decisions made in isolation from business requirements
  • No clear definition of "done" or acceptance criteria for milestones
  • Engineering team underwater - working nights and weekends with no progress
  • Leadership had lost trust - considering canceling the entire program

The Approach

New Wave Associates took a pragmatic approach focused on restoring trust through delivery:

  • Rapid Assessment (Weeks 1-2): Conducted technical and project health assessment, interviewed engineering team and business stakeholders, analyzed work completed vs. remaining scope, and identified quick wins to demonstrate progress.
  • Re-sequencing (Weeks 3-4): Broke monolithic plan into releasable increments, prioritized work that enabled business value now vs. later, identified parallel workstreams to maintain legacy system, and reset timeline with realistic milestones.
  • Execution Discipline (Weeks 5-24): Implemented weekly milestone tracking with clear success criteria, established technical steering committee for architecture decisions, launched first production release at Week 12, and maintained bi-weekly business value releases thereafter.
  • Team Recovery (Ongoing): Right-sized the team with targeted expertise, implemented sustainable pace to prevent burnout, celebrated wins to rebuild morale, and coached technical leads on pragmatic decision-making.

The Outcome

The program went from crisis to credibility within 6 months:

  • First production release delivered in Week 12 - first tangible progress in 18 months
  • 6 additional releases over next 12 months, each delivering business value
  • Core platform migration completed in 10 months vs. original 18-month revised estimate
  • Engineering team engagement scores improved from 42nd to 78th percentile
  • Board confidence restored - approved additional investment in new capabilities

The company now has a modern platform foundation that supports regulatory compliance and faster product innovation, delivered through a proven incremental approach that maintains team sustainability.

Meet The Team

Jason Lee

Is your platform modernization stuck? Let's discuss how to get back on track.