Technology Consulting · Programme management

Complex programmes. Delivered on time. Under pressure.

Large-scale ICT delivery, multi-vendor coordination and readiness testing for programmes where failure is not an option.

ForProgrammes with many vendors and a fixed date
StartGovernance in place within 30 days
You leave withA programme that is rehearsed before it goes live
Works withYour PMO and vendors, not instead of them
Programme management

Programme management, defined

Programme management runs several related projects as one, with one owner, one plan and one set of rules, so many teams and vendors reach a fixed date together.

Project
Delivers one output, such as a new system or a fitted room, to a scope, budget and date.
Programme
Joins several projects and vendors under one owner, so together they deliver the result.
PMO
The office that runs the plan, risks, reporting and standards for the programme day to day.
Portfolio
All the programmes and projects an organisation runs, ranked and funded as one set.
A project delivers a thing. A programme delivers the result the business wants, across several projects at once.
The challenge

Where complex programmes break down

The higher the stakes, the less room there is for failure. Most programmes do not fail on technology: they fail on coordination, ownership and readiness nobody tested.

01

Too many vendors, no owner

No single point of accountability, so the first incident shows gaps that nobody wants to own.

02

Readiness not tested

Systems go live without stress tests. If nothing has been rehearsed under pressure, the live day becomes the test.

03

Drift and missed milestones

Requirements change, decision rights are unclear and reports hide more than they show.

Governance

Who decides what

One chart, agreed in the first weeks, that says who decides what and where every issue goes.

Sponsor and steering groupScope, budget and the go or no-go decision
Design authorityTechnical choices and standards
Programme director and PMOPlan, risks, dependencies and reporting. This is our role.
Vendor forumEvery supplier, every week
Workstreams
Vendors
Sites
Operations teams
On the live day: the command centreOne incident lead and one line of escalation to the sponsor
Issues travel up the chart until someone with the right to decide takes them; decisions travel back down the same way.
What we do

Ways we join your programme

We can lead from the start, step in when things slip, or check the work at key gates. The shape follows your programme.

We lead ↔ We check
Interim programme leadership
  • You need a lead or a PMO
  • Usually 6 to 18 months
Programme recovery
  • Dates or scope have slipped
  • Usually 6 to 12 weeks
Site readiness audits
  • Many sites to one standard
  • Site by site
Independent assurance
  • A second view for the sponsor
  • At each key gate
Programme starting → Programme under way
Pick the box that matches where your programme is and what you need from us. Many clients combine two.
Use cases

Where structure pays off first

Our way of working helps most where many parties, a fixed date and live services meet.

Venues and events

Fixed-date openings

Openings, tournaments and ceremonies where the date cannot move and every system must work.

Venues and events

Multi-venue operations

Several sites run from one command structure, with the same procedures in each.

Public sector

National readiness programmes

Many agencies and sites prepared to one standard, with progress visible to leadership.

Public sector

Large multi-supplier contracts

Contracts with several suppliers, where roles and service levels must be clear from the start.

Buildings and facilities

New building handovers

Building systems, networks and security tested together before the first occupants arrive.

Buildings and facilities

Smart building roll-outs

Sensors and control systems across a portfolio brought onto one building system.

Enterprise IT

Core system migrations

Core systems moved without a gap in service, rehearsed in full before the cut-over.

Enterprise IT

Data centre and network moves

Infrastructure moved or rebuilt with tested rollback plans and one person in charge on the night.

How we do it

Taking a programme to its live day

Four phases that take a programme from its structure to live operations, with clear ownership at every stage.

  1. 1Programme architectureScope, governance, PMO and accountability set from day one: who owns what, who decides and how issues escalate.Clear owners and decisions
  2. Plan agreed
  3. 2Vendor coordinationClear roles, service levels and escalation rules, with regular vendor forums and dependency tracking.Vendors working as one team
  4. Vendors aligned
  5. 3Readiness exercisesSimulations and stress tests across every system, including failure scenarios, before anything goes live.Gaps found in rehearsal, not on the day
  6. Go or no-go
  7. 4Live operationsMajor incident management and command centre operations, bridging technical teams and executives.Calm, clear command when it counts
Four phases with a decision gate between each. A gate passes on evidence, such as a signed plan or a clean rehearsal.
Readiness

Ready to go live: the gates

We rehearse. Each exercise tests more of the real day than the one before, and the list of open gaps must be closed before the go or no-go decision.

  1. 1Component testsEach system works on its own.
  2. 2System testsEach vendor's part works end to end.
  3. 3Cross-vendor testsThe parts work together, handover by handover.
  4. 4Failure scenariosWe break things on purpose and check the response.
  5. 5Full dress rehearsalThe live day, run in full with the real teams.

Go or no-go is decided on what the rehearsals showed, not on opinion.

Readiness exercises, from a single component to a full dress rehearsal of the live day.
What you get

Structures that outlast the engagement

Frameworks, plans and procedures your organisation keeps using after we step back.

A programme governance framework and PMOWho owns what, who decides and how issues rise, set before the work starts.
A vendor management model with roles, service levels and escalationOne way of working for every supplier, with clear duties and response times.
A readiness exercise plan and its resultsFull rehearsals, failures included, and a written record of what they showed.
A risk register and contingency playbooksEvery known risk with its owner, and a plan ready for when it happens.
A live operations command structureThe room, the roles and the rhythm that run the programme on the day.
Incident protocols and a post-event reviewHow incidents are handled live, and what the review afterwards teaches.
The stack

Methods and tools we work with

Recognised methods, fitted to your programme rather than applied by the book.

Delivery methods

PRINCE2MSPAgile deliveryHybrid plansStage gates

Governance

PMORACISteering committeesRisk and issue logsChange control

Service operations

ITILMajor incident managementCommand centre runbooksService levelsEscalation matrices

Readiness and tracking

Readiness exercisesTabletop simulationsFailure scenario testsAudit checklistsProgress dashboards
Why Sandruci

Tested where failure was not an option

Our team ran ICT for a world-scale tournament watched across the globe. That is where this way of working was built.

World-scale delivery

Eight stadiums and more than a thousand staff and vendors coordinated at once, against a date that could not move.

One point of escalation

We have been the major incident lead reporting to the CTO for every critical service, so we know how command should feel.

Rehearsal as a discipline

Readiness exercises across 30+ sites and two command centres, with planning cut from three days to under a minute.

Impact

Delivered at scale

8

stadiums on one command platform

14

venues on one building system

3 days → 1 min

crowd forecasting for operations planning

Related services

Where to go next

Questions

Often asked

What is the difference between programme management and project management?

A project delivers one output to a scope, budget and date. A programme coordinates several projects and vendors so that together they deliver a business result.

What does a programme manager do?

Owns the plan across every project, the dependencies between them, the risks, the reporting to the sponsor and the decisions that unblock teams.

Do we need a PMO?

Usually yes once several teams or vendors report separately. A PMO keeps one plan, one risk log and one way of reporting.

How do you manage many vendors on one programme?

One set of roles, service levels and escalation rules for every supplier, a weekly vendor forum, and one person accountable.

What is independent assurance?

A review by people outside the delivery team at key gates, reported to the sponsor, so problems surface while they are still easy to fix.

What is a go or no-go review?

The decision before a live date, based on what rehearsals and tests showed. It names what must be fixed first if the answer is no.

Can you join a programme already under way?

Yes. We start with a quick review of scope, risks and governance, then lead, recover or assure from there.

Do you replace our vendors or our PMO?

No. We work with the vendors and the PMO you have, and give them one point of accountability.

Turn ambition into results.

Tell us where you want to be. We will show you the fastest way to get there, with the right mix of strategy, technology and AI.