As the primary systems supporting social care, occupational health, and maternity services, the digital infrastructure underpinning local government services must be robust, reliable, and capable of evolving alongside service and user needs.
For years, the majority of Welsh local authorities and health boards operated on a legacy IT system that was no longer meeting operational requirements. With over 16,000 users, of which around 5,000 are active at any one time, alongside increasing demands for compliance, shifting policy changes and an ever-growing caseload, it was clear that continued reliance on outdated systems would inhibit service delivery and compromise data integrity.
Across 18 out of 22 separate local authorities and four different regional health boards, each with their own priorities, protocols and data management challenges, where do you start? That’s where ICT Revolutions step in.
The Challenge: from monolithic to modular.
The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) recognised that the complexity and scale of the existing system posed a major obstacle to transformation. One of the biggest challenges was the monolithic architecture of the current system, making it difficult to isolate and manage data for each organisation. This structural limitation created significant barriers to modernisation and introduced risk in terms of information governance and operational flexibility. Before any significant changes could be put in place, they needed to understand what they were facing. With no local resources available to manage the intricate and high-risk data migration, WLGA turned to ICT Revolutions for an expert-led data discovery.
ICT Revolutions has planned a comprehensive data discovery phase, designed to understand the unique needs, data structures, and governance requirements of each service user. This will involve a detailed assessment of the data held by each local authority, the challenges they face, what needs to be migrated, and which elements need to be stored historically. And most importantly, the focus will be on ensuring that this is all completed safely, efficiently and accurately, without disruption.
Sounds easy enough, right?
Before any large-scale transformation could proceed, a stronger understanding of the current landscape was essential. Years of ad hoc fixes and accumulating technical debt had eroded trust across many local authorities, thus making it all the more important to bring in an independent, expert partner who could offer a full-scale data discovery exercise to establish a clear, unbiased path forward.
From there, ICT developed a templated migration strategy that could be tailored to individual organisations while ensuring consistency and compliance across the board. We worked closely with the teams on the ground, getting to grips with the current infrastructure, identifying risks, and laying the groundwork for a clear migration pathway.
Data Migration Next: Now, For the Tricky Part.
With the discovery phase almost completed, ICT Revolutions has been commissioned to continue supporting the programme, providing strategic input and technical expertise to move the work into its next phase: full data migration and supporting the wider digital transformation initiative. To prepare for this complex phase, ICT Revolutions has been working closely with a subset of local authorities to finalise technical and governance details. This focused engagement is designed to ensure that the proposed approach is robust, scalable and ready for the wider implementation across all participating organisations. The scale of the project involves 22 distinct organisations, each with its own governance requirements, operational risks and infrastructure configurations. The work requires careful coordination, clarity of process and consistent communication.
Some of the key challenges addressed to date include:
- Mapping a diverse and fragmented infrastructure to inform a viable migration pathway.
- Multiple servers with varying setups that require a flexible yet unified migration approach for a streamlined result.
- Supporting authorities with limited internal IT capacity, ensuring that the solution is externally deliverable.
- Reviewing data quality and legacy record issues, including standardising and archiving historical records to maintain integrity and usability.
- Drafting shared protocols and best practices to provide consistency across all 22 organisations, so that they can follow them confidently.
To address all of these challenges and prepare for the next stage of delivery, ICT Revolutions, working in partnership with Welsh local authorities and their subject matter experts, has developed a server migration strategy. This strategy is designed to support the movement of data across multiple servers through a single, streamlined migration framework, adaptable to the varying technical landscapes of each organisation. This migration strategy forms the foundation of the programme’s phased implementation. Alongside this, we will create a set of protocols and best-practice guidelines to not only facilitate current migrations but also to provide a replicable and sustainable framework for future transitions across the sector. In short, this collaborative work ensures the programme is underpinned by the right tools, the right expertise and includes a delivery model informed by operational realities on the ground.
Not just a service provider. We are also a strategic partner.
Recognising the long-term needs of the system, ICT Revolutions went beyond immediate project delivery. We provided a future-proofing strategy, including technical support and training for users, ensuring smooth adoption of the new systems. There is a future-proof archive strategy, consolidating historical data into accessible, compliant repositories. One of the reasons we were brought back in to support the rollout was our ability to act as more than just a technical supplier. ICT Revolutions is an impartial, independent role, balancing local needs with national goals. By providing a ‘critical friend’ perspective, we helped ensure the solutions being chosen were truly fit-for-purpose, vendors were held to account, thus ensuring that the investment in the new systems delivered genuine value. As we continue to support the programme, we’re helping to implement a future-proof archive strategy, removing any bottlenecks, improving data integrity and enabling local authorities to adopt modern systems with confidence. By sharing best practices and acting as a neutral arbiter, ICT Revolutions has helped turn a monumental challenge into a manageable, phased transformation. Work is ongoing, but the collaboration has already helped local authorities across Wales to take ownership of their digital futures, backed by the experience, clear objectivity, and strategic insight of ICT Revolutions.
Ready to Modernise Your Systems with Confidence?
Whether you're facing complex data migrations, legacy system challenges, or multi-organisation coordination, ICT Revolutions provides the strategic clarity and technical expertise to deliver lasting solutions.
Get in touch to discuss how we can support your digital transformation or email our sales team: jim.sullivan@ictrevolutions.com