The client
We can't name this client — their sector's confidentiality rules are part of the story. The named engagements elsewhere in this library show the same pattern; this one shows it under the strictest conditions we work in.
A major Canadian utilities operator running IBM Maximo in one of the most heavily regulated environments in the industry — where every system that touches operational data must satisfy security infrastructure, compliance oversight, and audit visibility requirements before it runs at all.
The challenge
Most test-automation platforms assume they can run in the vendor's cloud and reach into the client's systems. Here, that assumption fails at the first security review. The client needed the benefits of a managed SaaS platform without surrendering data control: critical components had to remain inside their own perimeter, visible to their own security infrastructure, while the platform's cloud capabilities did the heavy lifting where policy allowed.
Between the client's procurement processes, legal negotiations and security compliance requirements, any one gate could have stalled the programme for months.
What we did
- A hybrid architecture, designed for their perimeter — critical components deployed on-premises under the client's security visibility; SaaS components where compliance allowed. Architecture agreed with the client's security team before deployment, not negotiated after.
- Three-way delivery — MaxTAF, the client's team and their delivery partner worked as one technical group through the sector's security and regulatory requirements.
- On the date — kicked off in January against a mid-June delivery target; delivered on schedule, with no material impact to the deadline, despite the procurement/legal/security gauntlet.
Onboarding that stuck
Deployment is not adoption. Following go-live, MaxTAF's product owner led hands-on onboarding for roughly 15 client staff across multiple departments:
- Tailored to the audience — training shaped to each business area and competency level, not one generic course.
- Hands-on, not hand-outs — direct support for real test-script development in each department.
- At the client's pace — delivery methods and tempo adapted to how each team actually learns.
The result
The engagement has outgrown its original scope: the client is now expanding MaxTAF to support a major Enterprise Asset Management overhaul — a comprehensive IT-process modernisation and systems-upgrade programme. The platform brought in to de-risk testing became part of the infrastructure for the transformation itself.
Regulated environments don't lower the bar for automation — they raise it. This engagement showed the platform clearing that bar: deployed inside the perimeter, delivered on the date, adopted by the teams who use it.
Facing the same constraints? MaxTAF deploys where your security policy requires — including fully inside your network. Talk to us about your environment →