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Protecting the services Australians Rely on with Reliable Data

Case Study Data and AI Defence ERP Technology Government by COSOL Marketing /

At a glance

  • Enabled Australia's first and largest SAP S/4HANA migration
  • Built a single source of truth across 180+ data quality KPIs
  • Balanced compliance, operations, and service continuity for critical programs
  • Reduced migration risk and improved audit and reporting confidence
How a Commonwealth Government Department built a trusted data foundation with COSOL to enable Australia’s first and largest S/4HANA migration.

Overview

A significant Commonwealth Government Department underpins essential services for millions of Australians. Its systems and data support critical national programs that touch nearly every household. The reliability of these services depends on the quality of the data behind them.

But decades of legacy systems left data fragmented, inconsistent, and unreliable. Manual processes slowed decision-making. Errors risked wasting taxpayer dollars. In a sector defined by strict compliance and citizen trust, unreliable data threatened not just systems but frontline services.

As the Department prepared to migrate to SAP S/4HANA - the first and largest agency in government to take on this challenge - it needed more than a technology upgrade. It needed reliable data to protect the services Australians depend on every day. The Department chose COSOL for its proven track record in complex system migrations – including with a large Defence organisation - to make sure the foundation was right from the start.

3 Australian women from 3 different generations

The Challenge

As one would expect for an organisation that has existed for over 100 years and interacts with millions of Australians, the Department faced one of the largest, most complex data transformations attempted in Australian government:
62 million
records spanning HR, finance, and procurement

180+

KPIs created to measure data health
Multiple legacy platforms with duplicated processes and manual reporting
A “brownfield” migration, where new and old systems would overlap, increasing risk
Pressure to maintain strict compliance while continuing daily operations
Mission-critical national programs had to remain always-on during migration.
Goal: Enhance the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of data before and during the transition from SAP ECC6.0 to SAP S/4HANA - without disrupting services millions rely on.

The Solution

COSOL, known for its deep data and SAP migration expertise, was selected to lead the Department’s Data Quality Improvement (DQI) program and built a reliable data foundation.
Reliable Data
  • Delivered detailed health scores across 180+ KPIs.
  • Identified gaps and designed targeted remediation.
  • Created a data health dashboard that gave all stakeholders a single source of truth to track quality in real time - a new approach for the Department.
Reliable Technology
  • Applied COSOL’s proprietary Data Migration Engine and Data Integration Engine (previously RPConnect) to validate and track improvements, forming the backbone for extraction, transformation, and migration.
  • Incorporated AI-infused Data Quality Assessment and Data Lifecycle Integrity and Migration to provide evidence-based, automated monitoring.
Reliable Advice
  • Our asset management and data specialists designed five pioneering master data strategies, and multiple tools including:
    1. Data Retention Strategy
    2. Data Quality Management Strategy
    3. Data Conversion and Migration Strategy
    4. Customer–Vendor Integration and Business Partner Enablement
    5. Master Data Management Strategy
  • These strategies were not in place before; COSOL co-created them with the Department, ensuring the approach was fit-for-purpose rather than a generic (and often unreliable) plug and play.
  • Developed plans that balanced compliance, operational efficiency, and service delivery priorities.
  • Balanced technical migration needs with regulatory and service delivery priorities.
Reliable Partners
  • Worked shoulder to shoulder with the Department’s program team.
  • Ensured that the transition to S/4HANA was not just technically possible but strategically aligned with the Department’s mission.
  • Provided training and remain engaged to maintain the data quality dashboard and guide remediation as the system continues to evolve.
This wasn’t just a data clean-up. It was the foundation for one of Australia’s most critical system transformations, because it safeguards critical public services.

The Impact

The program gave the Department confidence that its systems and data could be trusted to support the essential services Australians depend on. With COSOL’s support, reliable data has shifted from a hidden risk to a strategic strength, making sure millions of Australians can continue to rely on the services they depend on every day.

With reliable data now treated as a strategic asset, this Commonwealth Department is positioned to:

  • Deliver better experiences for employees and citizens
  • Reduce risk across financial and compliance processes
  • Transition to SAP S/4HANA on a stable, proven foundation
  • Maintain best-practice governance through ongoing monitoring and advice

Key Business Outcomes

  • ✓ Reduced financial risk to migration program by remediating errors

  • ✓ Strengthened ability to meet legislative and audit requirements

  • ✓ Foundation set to streamline workflows and automation to reduce manual effort

  • ✓ Improved accuracy, completeness, and reliability across 180+ KPIs

  • ✓ Introduced real-time visibility through a single data health dashboard.

  • ✓ Delivered a deeper understanding of data

About COSOL

COSOL is built on one belief: in asset-centric industries, reliability is everything. We’re a trusted, data-led asset management partner for organisations around the world who can’t afford to fail. And known for our deep expertise, dependable delivery, and ability to keep critical assets performing at their best. 

The company recently celebrated 25 years in business, are Australian-owned and operated, and  recognised as reliable partners by their clients across the globe.