Department of Environment and Science
This case study looks at the implementation of a new system in Microsoft’s Power Platform to replace a legacy application the department used to track the declaration and management of nature refuges and special wildlife reserves in Queensland that cover more than 4.47 million ha. Each of these must go through a rigorous evaluation process involving co-ordination across multiple departments, all managed in the system before being declared by legislation.
The challenge
The department needed to replace their legacy Nature Refuge Business Centre system which was written using SQL Server (on prem) and .Net.
The approach
Requirements
Development of a requirements document to fully capture the mandatory legislative and business processes. This document was structured to separate the requirements for the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) from other lower priority requirements. An MVP approach ensured the project delivered mandatory components early while allowing space for improvements later.
Design
The project next produced a design document, with high-level interface screens and navigation workshopped with the client. This enabled the team to meet departmental design guidelines and fit with known data and business requirements. It also described the data model, inherited from the old system but enhanced with new requirements and refined by removing old/unused tables.
Enhancement
After the deployment of the MVP and other components in the first phase, DES decided to engage in a second round of development. This used the backlog developed in the first phase along with detailed feedback from users of the live product. This phase involved several sprints, developing the highest priority tasks in each sprint and feeding all new information into the next sprints depending on the ongoing experience.
The outcome
The new system badged as the Private Protected Area Business Centre provides better functionality and is significantly easier to use than the old system, reducing the workload for staff with a number of quality-of-life improvements.