Replace the system.Don't interrupt the service.
A ministry cannot go offline for a migration weekend. Pensions still pay, borders still open, cards still get issued. DNH plans transformation around that constraint instead of pretending it away.
They fail because the new system was designed around the org chart instead of the citizen's journey. Because nobody budgeted for data cleansing and the legacy database turned out to hold 10–30% duplicate records. Because the change was announced before the front-line staff were trained. Because the vendor's “knowledge transfer” was a slide deck.
None of those are engineering problems. All of them sink engineering programmes.
Service redesign
We map the citizen's real journey — including the queue, the missing document, the trip back home for a photocopy — and design the target service from that, not from the existing forms.
Architecture and platform
Sovereign, hybrid or cloud. API-first, with an integration layer that lets legacy systems keep running while they're decommissioned one by one. Event-driven where it matters, boring where it doesn't.
Data migration and quality
Profiling, deduplication, golden-record definition, and a reconciliation report your auditor can read. This workstream starts first and finishes last.
Integration and interoperability
Connecting registries, ministries and third parties without building a hundred bilateral point-to-point links. Standards-based, consent-aware, logged.
Security and compliance
Threat modelling, zero-trust access, key management, audit trails, and alignment with UAE PDPL, GDPR and national frameworks. Built in from architecture, not bolted on before audit.
Change and capability transfer
Role-based training, on-site support alongside your staff through the first weeks of go-live, and a certified internal team who can run the system after we leave.
- 01
Discovery and baseline
2–4 weeksWhat exists, what it costs to run, what's actually broken, and what the data looks like underneath. Deliverable: baseline report and prioritised problem list.
- 02
Target design
6–12 weeksTarget operating model, solution architecture, migration strategy, security architecture, cost model, benefits case. Deliverable: a design your procurement committee can act on.
- 03
Build and integrate
phasedIncrements of 6–10 weeks, each ending in something demonstrable in a real environment. No big-bang.
- 04
Parallel run
4–12 weeksOld and new systems both live, output reconciled daily. Cutover happens only when the reconciliation report is clean for 10 consecutive working days.
- 05
Cutover and hypercare
4–8 weeksStaged by region, service or volume — never everything at once. Hypercare is intensive on-site support right after go-live, held until ticket volume flattens.
- 06
Operate and hand back
Managed service with a defined transition to your team, on a date written in the contract.
Can you work inside our existing procurement framework?
Usually. We've delivered as prime contractor, as a subcontractor to a systems integrator, and as an independent assurance partner on someone else's programme. Tell us the framework and we'll tell you honestly whether we fit.
Will our data leave the country?
Not unless you decide it should. Sovereign, on-premise and in-country cloud deployments are the default across our government work.
What happens if the programme is paused?
Our phasing is designed so that a pause leaves you with a working increment rather than a half-built system. Every gate has a defined “stop here safely” state.
Do you build bespoke, or configure a platform?
Whichever fits. Where a proven product covers the requirement, configuring it is faster, cheaper and lower-risk than building. Where it doesn't, we build. The design stage tells you which, with the costs of each set out.
How do you price?
Fixed price for Discovery and Design. Milestone-based for Build. Per-transaction or per-seat for Operate. We'll show you the full-life cost, not just the capital line.
Most of our work starts with a two-hour conversation and a whiteboard. Bring the problem, not the specification — we'll help you write that part.