the challenge.
At the core of the client’s need were deeper operational and technical issues:
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a stranded environment
Following the acquisition, much of the original technical team had departed. Documentation was thin, systems knowledge was siloed and teams were operating reactively.
Leadership felt dependent on costly external contractors but without the visibility or control typically expected from an internal team.
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fragmented legacy systems & technical debt
The Order Management System (OMS), the engine that routes orders to labs, suffered from persistent “database session leaks” and memory issues, causing outages during peak ordering hours. Other platforms, including the electronic medical record and booking platforms were built on unstable legacy code, making even routine updates high-risk and difficult to deploy.
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the cost of manual, fragile delivery
A lack of automation significantly slowed delivery. Deployments were entirely manual and error-prone, lacking a modern CI/CD pipeline in place. This guarded technical culture turned every release into a bottleneck, requiring multiple engineers to complete routine releases and leaving the client without a scalable roadmap.
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severe consequences of inaction
The technical instability threatened the uptime required for daily clinical operations. This jeopardized the client’s relationships with major global partners, as duplicate orders and integration failures strained delivery.
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rising costs and limited ownership
The contractor-heavy model also created financial pressure. Rates were high, onboarding was slow, and knowledge often left when contracts ended.
The business needed to localize expertise in Montreal, not just to reduce costs, but to build lasting ownership.
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a planning gap
Beyond engineering, there was limited financial and operational transparency. Hiring decisions, budgets and delivery capacity were harder to forecast, making it difficult for leadership to plan confidently.
The client didn’t just need more developers. They needed structure, predictability, and most importantly, strategic partnership.
the solution.
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a managed resource program
While the engagement began with the mandate for a few permanent hires, Randstad Digital’s conversations with leadership surfaced a bigger need: Isolated hires would not meaningfully resolve the client’s underlying technical debt. In its place, we proposed a Managed Resource Program. A model that provided a cross-functional team, as well as:
- A unified rate structure.
- Coordinated delivery.
- Shared accountability.
- Flexibility to scale as priorities changed.
We embedded a seven-person, cross-functional pod directly into the client’s internal teams. Roles spanned architecture, development, DevOps, program management and delivery leadership, providing both execution and operational discipline.
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strategic talent strategy
The client initially requested highly specialized “all-in-one” profiles, with a highly specific blend of expertise in React Native, Java and Azure. Randstad Digital recommended separating responsibilities into focused roles, proposing that we have a dedicated React Native Developer and a Java Architect supported by a DevOps specialist, which accelerated the hiring timeline and ensured specialized depth for long-term stability.
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stabilize first, then modernize
The first focus was risk reduction. Our Java/Azure Architect delivered the project’s first major breakthrough by resolving a long-standing database resource leak that had plagued the OMS for months and caused memory overutilization.
With stability improving, attention shifted to modernization:
- CI/CD pipelines introduced.
- Infrastructure as Code implemented.
- Deployments automated.
- Environments standardized.
These changes reduced friction and improved reliability.
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elevated governance & technology partnership
A defining feature of the MRP was proactive governance. We established a robust governance layer, which included bi-weekly strategic sessions between our Technical Director and the client’s leadership team. This cadence allowed leadership to make faster decisions, approve hires sooner and avoid delays that previously slowed onboarding and delivery.
Over time, Randstad Digital was recognized as a peer-level technology partner.
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preparing for what’s next: AI-enabled delivery
With foundations in place, the team began incorporating AI tools into daily workflows. AI-assisted coding, automated testing support and planning tools were introduced to streamline development and reduce repetitive work. The goal was measurable productivity and quality gains, integrated directly into the delivery process.
the results.
The engagement established a stable, locally owned delivery hub, replacing chronic instability with a high-velocity, ownership-driven engineering culture, resulting in:
zero-interruption transition.
- Proactive budget management and temporary workarounds ensured continuity.
- New scope secured without service disruption.
- Uninterrupted service for thousands of clinics globally.
operational stability & performance.
- Resolved critical OMS failures.
- Achieved 99.5%+ uptime.
- Protected daily operations for 3,000+ clinics.
measurable velocity & delivery quality.
- Manual deployments replaced with CI/CD.
- Reduced User Story cycle time from 12-14 days to fit within 10-day sprints.
- More predictable release cadence supported by automation and AI-assisted workflows.
cost-efficiency and budget surplus.
- Transitioned from high-cost contractors to a local Montreal team.
- Improved rate transparency.
- Fewer onboarding gaps and delivery delays.
- Greater control over budgets and staffing.
- Year-end budget surplus thanks to proactive financial reporting.
stronger partnership and future-ready culture.
- Embedded team operating as an extension of the client organization.
- Modern DevOps practices.
- AI-supported workflows.
- Sustainable, in-house capability.
looking for a strategic MRP and technology partner? let’s talk.