A single major-incident process for a 30,000-staff transport agency
Building cross-agency major-incident management that holds up under pressure.
A formalised major-incident process that became a permanent capability - and was extended to govern P2 incidents.
After a significant IT-related disruption, a major transport agency realised its day-to-day incident process - which worked well for everyday tickets - collapsed under genuinely large incidents. With over 30,000 staff and hundreds of systems to support, the agency needed a single way of working that everyone could follow under pressure, even with competing operational priorities pulling in every direction.
It started with building out a major-incident communications model strawman - inputs and triggers, roles and responsibilities, communication guidelines, governance for both technical and management bridges. SMS drafted policy and process, simplified into one-page overviews per stakeholder. Senior management were briefed, and a rollout campaign including live simulations made sure every team knew its role before the next major event hit.
The major-incident process was successfully implemented and remains a stable, valuable capability inside the agency. IT leadership endorsed further investment in resourcing and centralisation of the function. A version of the same model was adopted for P2 incidents - adding controls at the next tier down and reducing the chance of those becoming majors in the first place.
“I always considered the work Kirk did with my organisation in the past was of excellent quality. Kirk's extensive Service Management knowledge, ability to listen, and ability to work with all types of individuals to ensure success are the things that make him successful. I respect the determination Kirk displayed to take a sceptical CIO on the journey - making the deployment of new release management process a success.”
“He had strengths in breaking down complex situations into small, easy-to-understand steps. This was an extremely challenging work environment... I commend Kirk on the results and the approach taken in the improvement of a better working environment.”
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