Timetabling Transformation & Procurement Programme

CASE STUDY - HIGH PROFILE UK UNIVERSITY

The Requirement

a high profile UK university engaged Maxica to lead the replacement of a mission-critical timetabling and room booking platform. The existing solution had been in place for more than 20 years and no longer aligned with the university’s digital ambitions, operational needs or expected user experience.

The university needed a clear business case, robust requirements baseline and structured procurement process to identify a future-ready solution. The new platform needed to support complex academic scheduling, room booking, timetable delivery, reporting, integrations and student-facing services.

The Challenge

This was not a simple software replacement. The programme needed to balance operational continuity with strategic transformation across a highly complex academic environment.

Legacy and continuity: Replacing a platform that had supported critical university operations for more than 20 years while maintaining business continuity.

Scale: Supporting the needs of approximately 18,700 students and 1,800 staff across multiple campuses, teaching models and operational teams.

Requirements complexity: Defining and validating more than 200 functional, technical, operational, security and compliance requirements to support procurement and implementation.

Process complexity: Documenting and analysing 96 business processes while aligning stakeholders across academic schools, professional services and technology teams.

Governance: Managing a formal public-sector procurement process, including supplier evaluation, integration planning, data governance and implementation readiness.

Our Approach

Maxica established a structured programme framework to ensure the university could make informed decisions while reducing delivery risk.

Programme Governance: Established governance structures, reporting mechanisms, decision-making forums, risk management and stakeholder engagement.

Requirements & Discovery: Conducted stakeholder workshops, defined business, functional, technical and non-functional requirements, and developed current-state and future-state process insight.

Market Evaluation & Procurement: Developed procurement documentation and evaluation criteria, managed supplier engagement, and supported objective vendor selection.

Architecture & Readiness: Defined integration requirements, established data governance foundations and developed implementation readiness plans.

Our Solution

Maxica deployed a multi-disciplinary solution delivery team comprising Project Management, Business Analysis, Enterprise Architecture and Executive Oversight to lead the programme from business case development through procurement and implementation readiness.

Business case development: Created the strategic case and roadmap for replacing a mission-critical timetabling and room booking platform.

Requirements baseline: Built a comprehensive requirements baseline to support supplier evaluation, solution selection and future implementation activity.

Business process analysis: Documented and analysed 96 business processes to establish a clear view of current operations and future-state needs.

Programme controls: Established governance, reporting, risk management and delivery controls to support effective decision-making.

ITT process: Designed and managed a competitive Invitation to Tender process, resulting in a structured supplier evaluation and shortlist.

Data governance: Developed data governance foundations, integration discovery activity and implementation readiness artefacts to reduce delivery risk.

Benefits

Reduced programme risk: Comprehensive discovery and requirements definition reduced implementation uncertainty and vendor selection risk.

Stronger procurement outcomes: A structured and evidence-based ITT process enabled objective supplier evaluation against the university’s operational and technical requirements.

Improved implementation readiness: Early focus on governance, data, integrations and business processes prepared the university for the next phase of delivery.

Better stakeholder alignment: Cross-university engagement created a shared understanding of priorities, constraints and future operating needs.

Strategic transformation foundation: The university now has a clear route to replacing a critical legacy platform while improving student and staff experience.

Why it Worked

The engagement worked because Maxica combined strategic programme leadership with hands-on delivery capability across business analysis, architecture, procurement and governance.

Rather than treating the project as a narrow software selection exercise, Maxica addressed the wider transformation conditions needed for success: clear requirements, effective stakeholder engagement, robust data foundations, integration visibility and implementation readiness.

This gave the university greater control over supplier selection and created a stronger foundation for the future delivery phase.

Learn More

Replacing a mission-critical platform requires more than selecting software. It demands clear governance, robust requirements, stakeholder alignment and implementation readiness.

Maxica helps organisations reduce transformation risk by combining programme leadership, business analysis, architecture and delivery assurance to drive successful outcomes.

Call us on +44 333 700 2014

Email us on hello@maxica.com