Real problems. Practical solutions.
Every business we work with has a different story. Here's how we've helped professional services firms untangle messy workflows and build systems that actually fit.
Modernising legacy systems without the rewrite
An established financial services platform was stuck with ageing technology. They needed to update their platform, and were told they needed to start from scratch. We found a better way.
When your dev team is building everything except the MVP
Two non-technical founders watched their budget drain while their offshore team built features nobody asked for. They needed someone to translate between the tech and the business.
When the Olympics can't wait for your overnight downtime
A major broadcaster's ad management system needed hours of downtime every night. With the Olympics approaching and time zones working against them, that window disappeared.
OFX: Modernising a legacy platform without the risk
The problem
OFX's core platform had served them well for years, but the codebase was ageing and hard to maintain. The business needed a modern interface to stay competitive, but starting from scratch would mean months of development, huge risk, and potential disruption to customers. The internal team believed a full rebuild was the only option — too difficult to do it any other way.
What we did
We took a different approach. Instead of rebuilding everything, we created a proof of concept that extracted the core business logic from the existing system and wrapped it with a fresh, modern interface. The old platform kept running underneath — stable and tested — while customers experienced a completely new front end. No disruption, no migration headaches, just a clean separation that gave OFX the best of both worlds.
The outcome
- Modern user interface deployed without touching the proven backend
- Zero impact on existing platform stability or customer experience
- Faster time to market compared to a full rebuild
- Significant cost savings by avoiding a complete system rewrite
- Foundation in place for ongoing, incremental modernisation
Liam was contracted to solve a difficult problem for OFX. He went where nobody had gone before and unlocked a systems capability for OFX that we thought was impossible. We definitely hope to hire Liam again in the future. Thanks Liam for all your help!
Villey: Getting a start-up back on track
The problem
Villey's two founders had a clear vision for their product, but no technical background. They'd hired an offshore development team to build it, and things were spiralling. Scope kept expanding, bugs were piling up, communication was breaking down, and the budget was running dry. Worst of all, they still didn't have a working product to show users. The dev team was building everything — except the minimum viable product they actually needed.
What we did
We stepped in as the bridge between the founders and their development team. Changing teams mid-project would have been too disruptive, so we kept the existing developers but changed how decisions were made. We helped the founders get crystal clear on their MVP — what absolutely had to be there for launch — and then made sure the dev team stuck to it. That meant asking uncomfortable questions: "Is this really needed for the MVP?" "Can this wait for version two?" "Can we launch without this feature?" Sometimes the answer was simply: "Let's ship it and see what users tell us."
The outcome
- Development team refocused on core MVP features only
- Product successfully launched to market
- Founders gained confidence in technical decision-making
- Working relationship with offshore team rebuilt and improved
- Budget brought back under control with clear priorities
Liam Elliott is a highly accomplished Solution Architect with extensive experience in the technology industry. His pivotal role in refining our MVP for the Villey app was invaluable... Amidst persistent technology deadlines and challenges, Liam played a crucial role in advancing our project. Liam's leadership style is exemplary, marked by a strong sense of decisiveness and a keen understanding of team dynamics. He navigates complexities with confidence and empathy, making informed decisions that guided the Villey app project towards significant milestones. Personally, I am grateful for Liam's expertise and support. In a field where technical proficiency and emotional intelligence are often rare to find together, Liam excels. His commitment to excellence and his positive impact on the Villey app are commendable. I confidently recommend Liam for any organisation seeking a skilled Solution Architect who can drive innovation and deliver results with professionalism and integrity.
Nine: Olympics-ready ad systems under pressure
The problem
Nine's ad sales systems were struggling under the weight of complex integrations. Their optimization process — the one that matched ads to broadcast slots and maximized revenue — took hours to run and locked critical databases while it worked. That meant a nightly maintenance window where nobody could touch the system. With the Olympics coming and a significant time zone difference, that overnight window simply wouldn't exist. The process had to run faster, or ad sales would grind to a halt during one of the biggest broadcasting events of the year.
What we did
We embedded a technical lead with their integration team to untangle the mess. First, we mapped out the entire workflow — every system call, every database lock, every bottleneck. Then we got practical. Some fixes were technical: streamlining workflows, reducing unnecessary calls, optimizing database queries. Others were pragmatic business decisions: temporarily boosting processing power for the Olympics period, narrowing the scope of what needed optimizing each night. Not every solution needed to be permanent — it just needed to work when it mattered most.
The outcome
- Nightly optimization time cut from several hours to under 60 minutes
- System ran flawlessly throughout the entire Olympics broadcast period
- Ad sales team could operate without worrying about system downtime
- Documented workflows and technical debt for long-term improvements
- Internal team gained clarity on how their systems actually worked
Companies we've worked with
