Case studies

Five Unit4 engagements, with the number in the title

No organisation is named here. Client work is described at sector level on this site, and detailed engagement material stays confidential unless sharing has been authorised. References and sample deliverables can be discussed during a scoping call, subject to confidentiality and permission to share.

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The five engagements

Each engagement below is set out in the same five parts: the sector and scale, the problem, the role held, the artefact produced, and the result.

Not sure which of these is closest to your estate? Start with the free configuration health check. Twelve questions, scored on the page.

01

Proving a payroll against an estate of over 2,500 employees before anyone was paid

Sector and scale
An international organisation. An estate of over 2,500 employees across multiple pay groups.
The problem
A new payroll had to be proved correct before any live payment was made, across multiple pay groups, with no tolerance for a first-run error.
The role
Designed and ran the parallel-run and acceptance approach personally, and covered interim project management.
The artefact
A parallel-run comparison of new-system output against legacy calculation for every pay group, a maintained defect register with resolution rates reported to the project board, and a completion evidence pack carrying a quantified residual-risk statement.
The result
Calculation parity demonstrated before the first live run, with the residual risk quantified rather than reported as a status colour.
Read the method behind this Why Unit4 payroll defects survive go-live Unit4 X-Ray
02

A policing data migration validated across 50+ data categories

Sector and scale
Policing. An operational database migrated into a new system.
The problem
Operational data had to move into a new system without loss, duplication or silent transformation, on a fixed programme timetable.
The role
Held test management control and wrote and ran the migration validation approach across every data category, leading and mentoring a three-person test team.
The artefact
A category-by-category validation and reconciliation strategy, source-to-target field mapping, and daily progress dashboards tracking defect discovery rate, fix rate and residual risk for board reporting.
The result
The migration met the client's requirements and timescales, with integrity validated category by category and board-level visibility of defect discovery and fix rates throughout.
Read the method behind this What to ask before a Unit4 cloud upgrade Embedded advisory and delivery
03

A support backlog cut by 50 per cent in a higher-education Unit4 team

Sector and scale
Higher education. A central Unit4 support function.
The problem
A support backlog the internal team could not clear and could not independently prevent, with service levels being missed.
The role
Took the backlog down while upskilling the team that inherited it.
The artefact
A defect tracking and resolution routine running through the service desk, regression packs for the Unit4 integrations, acceptance scenarios and criteria for a financial workflow redesign, and the knowledge transfer material that let the team run the routine afterwards.
The result
The backlog halved, full compliance with the agreed service levels reached across the team's tickets, and the capability to hold it there left inside the team.
Read the method behind this Configuration debt in a mature Unit4 estate Unit4 X-Ray
04

A payroll review forecast to free 500 administrative hours a year

Sector and scale
Local government. A council payroll running multiple pay entities, including a schools payroll.
The problem
A payroll operation carrying manual effort nobody had mapped end to end, with a cloud migration approaching and no current written picture of how the payroll actually worked.
The role
Ran the independent review embedded with the internal team, mapped the workflows from user interviews, specified the fixes and sequenced them.
The artefact
An operating review with a phased remediation roadmap and consultancy estimates, new standard operating procedures, the training curriculum behind the move to self-service time, attendance and travel claim entry, and parallel payroll testing across two consecutive cycles comparing smart client and web client output.
The result
The move to self-service entry that the review and its procedures enabled was forecast to save 500 administrative hours a year. Calculation parity between the old and new clients was proven across two payroll cycles before go-live, and in one web migration workshop four defects were identified, root-caused and resolved within the same session.
Read the method behind this Twelve checks on your Unit4 configuration The free health check
05

An upgrade acceptance programme across 16 HR and payroll process areas

Sector and scale
Local government. An HR and payroll estate on a major-version upgrade.
The problem
A major-version upgrade that had to be accepted across the whole HR and payroll process set, not sampled, with acceptance evidence the organisation could put in front of its own board.
The role
Test manager for the upgrade: built the acceptance strategy and the reusable master script library, ran the phased execution and managed the defect lifecycle through to closure.
The artefact
An acceptance strategy, master payroll and HR script libraries, and a phased execution and defect record across every process area, from position administration, applicant, starter, induction and probation through absence, occupational health, leaver and contractual change, and on to loans, deductions, pensions and court orders.
The result
All 16 process areas accepted on evidence rather than spot checks, with defect status reported on a dated cadence and a data-driven recommendation put to the project board.
Read the method behind this Go or no-go evidence for a payroll cutover Unit4 X-Ray
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Why no organisation is named

Client work is described at sector level on this site. Detailed engagement material stays confidential unless sharing has been authorised.

Senior public sector stakeholders are often not in a position to feature publicly as a reference, so the sector, the scale and the artefact are published and nothing else is. Every figure on this page is a rounded floor, a category count, a percentage, a labelled forecast or a process-area count. None of them is a headcount, a record count or a cost.

References and sample deliverables can be discussed during a scoping call, subject to confidentiality and permission to share. The practice and the sole-practitioner model behind this work are set out on the about page, and the five ways to engage are on services.

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Start with a 30-minute call

The call is with Mircea Rogojan-Rush, who founded the practice and delivers every engagement. It runs for thirty minutes.

You leave it with a view on whether the model fits your situation, and with the one route out of the five that matches what you described.

Book a 30-minute call

Commissioning is subject to your organisation's procurement rules and delegated authority.