Overview
Chorus, New Zealand’s leading telecommunications infrastructure provider, needed a future-proof digital platform to support its Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) rollout and unify operations across sales, customer service, field services, and network management. As Business Technology Manager, with supporting roles as Senior Implementation Specialist, Business Implementation Specialist, and Process Enhancement Specialist, I led the full lifecycle implementation of Salesforce Classic and its migration to Salesforce Lightning. By establishing a Salesforce Platform Team, pioneering agile delivery at scale, and integrating advanced Salesforce modules with critical internal and external systems, I delivered a scalable, data-driven ecosystem that empowered Chorus to serve 1.4 million fibre-connected premises nationwide.
Roles and Contributions
As Business Technology Manager, I owned the strategic vision and execution of the Salesforce transformation. My leadership spanned:
- Salesforce Classic & Lightning Implementation
- Directed the rollout of Salesforce Classic as the foundational CRM, consolidating legacy systems into a single source of truth.
- Led the enterprise-wide migration to Salesforce Lightning, leveraging:
- Sales Cloud & CPQ – for sales automation and quote-to-order efficiency
- Service Cloud – for customer and field service operations
- Community Cloud – for partner and technician portals
- Marketing Cloud – for targeted customer communications
- Tableau – for real-time operational and performance analytics
- MuleSoft – for API-led connectivity
- DataLoader – for high-volume data migration and cleansing
- Establishment of the Salesforce Platform Team
- Founded and led a cross-functional Salesforce Platform Team to govern and deliver a continuous pipeline of enhancements across sales, account management, customer service, field services, network operations (Network Protection, Damages, Managed Migrations), property developments, quality assurance, billing, social media, and marketing.
- Pioneered Agile at Scale: As the first team at Chorus to adopt SAFe-inspired agile delivery, I introduced Programme Increments (PIs), Sprints, and Epics, enabling predictable, iterative value delivery. This model later influenced Chorus’s organisation-wide shift to agile practices.
- Enterprise & Partner System Integrations
- Architected MuleSoft-powered API integrations for real-time data synchronisation, including:
- Amazon S3 – secure storage and retrieval of large-scale documents, audit logs, and media assets
- NetMAP by General Electric (GSS) – geospatial network mapping for field planning and damage response
- Conga – automated contract and proposal generation
- NZ Companies Office Register – real-time business entity validation
- Core Logic – accurate address intelligence for service qualification
- NZ Post Postal File – standardised addressing for customer communications
- Genesys Cloud – unified contact centre and omnichannel customer service
- Customer Order Manager & Location Manager – end-to-end order and site management
- Website Integration – seamless customer self-service and lead capture
- Enabled direct partner integrations with Ventia NZ, Downer Group NZ, Broadspectrum, and B4UDIG for real-time field collaboration.
- Architected MuleSoft-powered API integrations for real-time data synchronisation, including:
- Portals and Mobile Innovation
- Delivered Community Cloud portals for Retail Service Providers and Field Service users, enabling self-service order tracking, service requests, and network status updates.
- Led development of a custom mobile app for Field Service Members, allowing real-time submission of quality audit results directly from site—eliminating paper-based delays and improving data accuracy by an estimated 20%.
- Process Optimisation and Change Leadership
- Automated key workflows using Service Cloud, Sales Cloud & CPQ, reducing service provisioning and quote-to-cash cycles by an estimated 15%.
- Designed and delivered change management programmes, including role-based training and adoption playbooks, achieving an estimated 95% Lightning adoption within six months.
- Used Tableau dashboards to provide leadership with real-time KPIs on sales performance, customer health, and field productivity.
Challenges Addressed
The transition presented two core challenges:
- Dual Salesforce Stack Operations: I managed parallel Classic and Lightning environments during migration, ensuring zero disruption to live sales, service, and field operations through phased cutovers, data synchronisation, and rollback protocols.
- Scaling Agile in a Waterfall Organisation: As the first team to implement agile with PIs and Epics, we trained over 80 team members, established cadence ceremonies, and demonstrated value delivery—paving the way for Chorus’s broader agile transformation.
Outcomes and Impact
Outcomes and Impact
- Operational Efficiency: Reduced end-to-end process cycle times by an estimated 15–20% across sales, service, and field operations.
- Customer Experience: Improved onboarding and issue resolution, contributing to an estimated 12% lift in customer satisfaction.
- Field Productivity: Mobile app and portals increased technician efficiency by ~20% and reduced audit rework by ~15%.
- Agile Maturity: Established a repeatable delivery framework using PIs, Sprints, and Epics, enabling continuous enhancement of the Salesforce platform.
- Strategic Enablement: The integrated ecosystem supported Chorus’s UFB rollout, connecting 1.4 million homes and businesses with reliable, data-driven operations.
Key Takeaways
As Business Technology Manager, I transformed Chorus’s operational backbone by leading the Salesforce Classic-to-Lightning migration, founding the Salesforce Platform Team, and pioneering agile delivery at scale. By integrating MuleSoft, NetMAP, Amazon S3, and partner systems—and delivering innovative portals and mobile tools—I enabled Chorus to operate with agility, precision, and customer focus. This case study demonstrates my proven ability to lead complex, enterprise-wide digital transformations in telecommunications—delivering measurable business value and building platforms that scale with national infrastructure goals.