For more than 20 years I have sat at the junction of delivery deadlines and quality gates, leading release trains, scrum teams, and test practices across banking, utilities, and public-sector programmes. When speed rules the roadmap, it is easy to forget that every unfinished story, every flaky test, and every untested edge case becomes tomorrow’s production incident.

I have made it my mission to help teams build quality in early, automate with purpose, and release without regret

I have spent nearly two decades shepherding complex programmes across New Zealand's banking, energy, and government sectors from code-complete to confident go-live. In that time, I've worn every hat from Programme Test Manager to my current engagement as a Release Train Engineer for Fonterra.

Along the way, I have seen brilliant products stumble at the final hurdle because their quality narrative did not resonate with finance decision-makers.

Winning an RFP feels like crossing the finish-line – until the lawyers arrive. The excitement of a preferred-vendor announcement can quickly sour when contractual ambiguities stall momentum, inflate risk, or pit sponsors against procurement. A clear, outcomes-oriented SOW is the antidote. It transforms enthusiasm into executable commitments, providing every stakeholder with an agreed playbook for pilot success, smooth scale-out and measurable ROI.

Congratulations, the ink is dry – now the real work begins.

You have a signed Statement of Work, a green-lit budget, and sky-high expectations.

The next 90 days will determine whether your new Software Test Management and Release Engineering capability becomes a lighthouse success or another shelf-ware statistic.

Follow this day-by-day agenda, grounded in Afor’s proven delivery playbook, to convert contractual intent into measurable business value.