The situation
We were engaged to take over a legacy Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and public-facing job board used by a client specialising in public sector recruitment, including local authorities, schools, and other government-funded organisations. The platform had previously been outsourced to an offshore development team and was unstable, poorly documented, and not fit for purpose. Frequent downtime, poor performance, and inconsistent data handling meant the system was not reliably usable, creating significant operational and reputational risk for public sector organisations reliant on the service.
The objective
Our objective was to stabilise and modernise the platform to ensure reliable delivery of critical recruitment services. This included restoring usability, improving performance, addressing technical debt, and strengthening security in line with ISO 27001-aligned controls, GDPR requirements, and public sector digital service expectations.
How we delivered
The project was led by a Lead Systems Analyst and Lead Developer, supported by Senior Systems Administrators, ensuring both application and infrastructure expertise. We initiated a structured discovery phase, conducting a full technical and security audit to identify system vulnerabilities, architectural weaknesses, and performance bottlenecks.
Delivery followed an Agile Scrum methodology, with 2-week sprints, enabling iterative stabilisation and continuous stakeholder feedback.
Initial efforts focused on making the system operational: resolving critical defects, restoring core functionality, implementing centralised monitoring and alerting to proactively manage incidents and improve service reliability. In parallel, we applied our security-first development practices, introducing enhanced access controls, secure coding practices, input validation, and improved authentication mechanisms.
We then refactored the ATS into modular, testable services and redesigned the job board to improve performance, resilience, and maintainability. This reduced system dependencies and enabled secure, standards-based integration with third-party systems commonly used across the public sector.
The solution was deployed on secure, ISO 27001-aligned UK-hosted infrastructure, ensuring GDPR compliance. Comprehensive documentation was produced to support auditability and long-term maintainability.
The outcome
The platform was transformed from an unusable system into a secure, highly available, and maintainable digital service supporting critical public sector recruitment. The system is now reliable for both hiring organisations and applicants, removing previous operational risks and restoring confidence in the platform.
System availability increased to >99.9%, ensuring consistent access to critical recruitment services for public sector users.
The implementation of ISO 27001-aligned controls strengthened data protection and risk management, providing assurance to public sector clients. System stability and performance improved significantly, enabling consistent service delivery and scalability under increased demand.
This ensured continuity of recruitment services and enabled the client to grow their user base with confidence.
Following the successful recovery, we have continued to provide ongoing development, support, and infrastructure management for the platform, ensuring it evolves in line with user needs and regulatory expectations.
The longevity of the engagement (over 12 years) demonstrates sustained service quality, client trust, and long-term value for money delivered through the modernised platform.