Case Study: Timaru District Council

Bringing clarity, prioritisation and visibility to 68 technology projects across council

68 projects brought into one portfolio
SLT aligned on priorities
Reduced duplication and rework
Clear IT work plan established

The Client

Timaru District Council serves the South Canterbury region with a population of approximately 50,000 residents. The district spans a mix of urban, rural and coastal communities, and the economy is strongly focused on the primary industries, especially agriculture and food production.

Justin Bagust (known as ‘JB’), Chief Information Officer (CIO) leads the council’s technology function. His role has evolved over time from primarily technical delivery into a more strategic leadership role. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive, he now works closely with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and councillors to ensure technology decisions support council priorities and deliver meaningful outcomes for the community.

Their Challenge

Timaru District Council needed a better way to manage and communicate its growing portfolio of technology projects.

With a newly established PMO and increased scrutiny from senior leadership and councillors, there was a clear expectation for greater visibility, clearer reporting and stronger accountability across all areas of council - including IT.

For the IT function, this highlighted challenges with their current approach:

Limited visibility of all projects across the organisation
Difficulty explaining priorities and trade-offs to SLT and councillors
A growing number of initiatives without a consistent prioritisation framework
Inconsistent engagement from business units, with some projects starting without IT involvement
The risk of duplication, inefficiencies and ad hoc decision-making.

JB knew he needed support to develop an approach that was ‘right-sized’ and would improve governance, visibility and prioritisation, but without creating a heavy, process-driven model that would slow delivery.

How Edge Helped

Edge worked with JB and the Senior Leadership Team to create a practical, fit-for-purpose way of managing technology initiatives.

Starting with a series of workshops, Edge helped leaders step back and see the full picture — bringing visibility to 68 active technology projects and highlighting how they interconnected across the organisation.

From there, Edge helped design and embed a new way of working, including:

A single, visible portfolio of all technology projects
A clear prioritisation approach aligned to council objectives
A governance framework tailored specifically for IT
Structured reporting for SLT and councillors
Practical tools built within existing Microsoft platforms
Ongoing support to ensure the approach was adopted and used

The result was a framework that was structured, but not heavy — improving visibility and control without slowing progress.

The Results: Achieving Business Outcomes

The result was a more aligned, visible and controlled approach, with less friction, clearer priorities and greater confidence.

With a shared view of all projects and agreed priorities, the council was able to reduce the frustration of trying to get multiple groups on the same page.

Key outcomes included:

Clear visibility across 68 technology projects, with a shared understanding across SLT and councillors
Stronger alignment on priorities, improving confidence in decision-making
Less ad hoc work, allowing the IT team to stay focused on core priorities
Earlier engagement from business units, with teams bringing problems to IT before committing to solutions
Reduced duplication and rework, avoiding situations where effort is wasted on initiatives that are not fit for purpose
A clear framework for prioritisation, making trade-offs easier to assess and manage.

What was previously difficult to communicate is now clear, structured and easier to discuss at a leadership level, and there is greater confidence that the team is working on the right things.

The approach has also become part of how the council operates. When asked for a clear IT work plan, JB already had it, built directly from the structure developed with Edge.

“We received good value for money.
The work has helped us get greater visibility and a better understanding of the complexities involved.”
Justin Bagust (JB), Chief Information Officer, Timaru District Council

The work also removed a lot of the day-to-day ‘noise’ and distractions that can pull teams away from priority initiatives. JB says the IT team can now focus more consistently on delivering the projects that matter most for the council and its community.