A digital transformation is evolving how The Shepherd Centre give deaf children a voice

About The Shepherd Centre

The Shepherd Centre is a world-leading, child-safe NDIS service provider and specialist in helping children with hearing loss learn to listen and speak. We have helped thousands of children reach their full potential for over 50 years.

Our child-safe programs meet the needs of your child at all ages and stages; from our world-leading early intervention system for babies and toddlers, supporting kids transition to school and our mentoring program, “Hear for You”, which supports teenagers. Read More About The Shepherd Centre

Technology Challenges

There are over 34 million children worldwide with hearing loss. In Australia, we have benefitted from essential hearing screening for all newborns, quick fitting of hearing devices or cochlear implants and early intervention. Despite this, there are still 1 in 2 children not receiving specialist support. Without an integrated approach and early intervention these children can fall behind their peers developmentally.

``The Shepherd Centre has grown rapidly over the past 10 years, however their digital support systems had not evolved during this time. With increased volume and complexity of business along with increasing demands in the digital space, The Shepherd Centre needed to undergo a digital transformation.``

Alyshia Hansen

Director Information & Analysis, The Shepherd Centre

This included moving from older style technologies to modern cloud-based solutions which would grow with the business. Without the in-house expertise in this area, we needed to consult industry specialists to help create a roadmap for the way forward, complete with detailed costings and risk analysis. The Shepherd Centre engaged A1 Technologies to complete this work.

The Solution

The Shepherd Centre’s strategic vision required a plan to define the digital transformation including defining a plan via a detailed report, cost estimates, and a roadmap which is expected to be delivered over multiple years. A1 reviewed the requirements for The Shepherd Centre, identified operational process improvements and the validity of any technologies to be used. The consulting engagement also identified risks and estimated workload overhead for internal stakeholders. Even when internal stakeholders were not directly responsible for delivery there was a clear requirement for SME decision making, pilot phases, user acceptance testing and various other factors that would add overhead to internal teams.

During the engagement the A1 team explored the existing business processes used; it was estimated that an operational improvement of 10-15% could be achieved from The Shepherd Centre’s Clinical team alone through automation and removing manual overhead improving TCO and offsetting delivery costs. Each department was reviewed in detail and a series of work packages where defined, which included risks and an overview of work. The work packages where then presented in multiple logical phases in a Roadmap to allow The Shepherd Centre to see high level costs and a timeline for each milestone.

Work packages included:

Review of vision and goals
Analysis of current pain points
Analysis of current business processes and systems
Identify opportunities to improve business processes and systems
Identify solutions that align with the business strategy
Defining internal staffing requirements and overhead
Risk Analysis
Define a Roadmap of work packages, timeline, phases and costs

``We worked with The Shepherd Centre to define a design principal and the order of the digital transformation roadmap to align with the organisational strategic vision. This set a clear goal and direction for all parties involved and ensured each subsequent phase rolled out was funded with improvements from the previous phase.``

Clinton Shiels

Head of Solutions, A1 Technologies

The Benefits

The resulting strategy roadmap from A1 Technologies has helped The Shepherd Centre to develop a clear business and technology vision for the next 3 to 4 years. It has also helped multiple departments within The Shepherd Centre prioritise objectives and allocate resources effectively.

The Digital Transformation of TSC, inclusive of the building of the new Hearhub platform, will be the cornerstone in our strategy to ensure more children get the help they need.

``The skills and people from A1 Technologies were instrumental in mapping our path to digitally transform ourselves whilst also developing HearHub, an online product for other practitioners working with children with hearing loss. Sharing our values also meant that working together was a real match to our organisation. Our journey will enable us to reach more children with better services, and A1 Technologies has played key roles in it.``

Lee Clarke

Director of IT, The Shepherd Centre

“The Not-for-profit sector is A1’s largest customer segment, and that is by design. We love helping good people do good things, and The Shepherd Centre embodies this to its core. Passionate, intelligent, and dedicated people trying to make a positive impact in other people's lives. We look forward to working with The Shepherd Centre for many years to come”

Rob Rattray

Sales Director, A1 Technologies

Need Help With Your Technology Roadmap?

Want a technical solution that will grow with your business, alongside expert advice when you need it? We can help plan, design, build, and manage robust and secure solutions, just like we did for The Shepherd Centre. Get in touch today, we are here to help.