Goodstart Early Learning - a real-life digital transformation fairy tale
70,000 children + 16,000 staff + 650+ centres + burning bridge deadline
A whole-of-business transformation on time and on budget
No, this isn't a fairy tale. It's the real life story of the award-winning digital transformation of Australia's largest early childcare provider.
Goodstart needed a platform to better enable our staff and to provide families with a better experience... we needed partners to collaborate, not vendors to transact.
Then
Goodstart Early Learning was faced with an end-of-life deadline and functionality gaps in the current solution. Goodstart needed to select and migrate to a new platform to manage its whole of business - bookings, billing, management, and administration for the families and the centres – but more importantly, a plan to guide the staff and families through the monumental change, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How?
We pivoted to match the new undertaking with the right skills, advice, and a challenger partnering model: contracting for outcomes. We invested for time and budget outcomes, confident in the highly-skilled teams deliberately formed over the years, able to break down complex transformation into actionable pieces.
Integral lead:
- program management
- the evaluation and selection process (3 months from Discovery to Pilot)
- implementation
- integration
- data migration
- testing
- training development and approach
- change management program
We ensured the transformation and adoption was delivered on time and within budget scope, with iterative change programs and metrics to understand, improve, and report on progress and success.
Now
- 67% of families scored 8-10 out of 10 for satisfaction
- Live integration to Goodstart internal applications
- Centre operations have been significantly simplified
- Successful implementation and adoption of Xap - a platform revolutionising Childcare Management Software
The close collaboration and extensive change and training management made the people successful, which is the most crucial element of a successful digital transformation.
From Amanda, a Centre Manager:
- [the new solution] saves administration time; [she] loves the email ability of being able to bulk email parents and seeing who has opened it
- In real time see why a payment hasn’t gone through
- No more chasing parents for confirming absences
- Accuracy of information on every child and family; information has increased 100% with parents having the ability to keep the centre informed of important changes of their details
Who?
Australia’s largest early learning provider, not-for-profit Goodstart Early Learning operates 650+ centres around the country, aiming to give Australia’s children the best possible start in life.
