Defence Leverages Sovereign Platform Engineering for Procurement Workflows
Commercial tracking team empowered through emerging model-based technology, delivering maintainability, data integrity, and reusability to escape the legacy software cycle.
The Department of Defence’s (Defence) My Procurement System (MPS) project stands as a testament to innovation within the public sector and serves as an exemplar of how a government-focused ICT solution should be developed. Partnering with WorkingMouse, a sovereign small to medium enterprise, this project has not only modernised the department’s procurement processes but also established new mechanisms for the successful delivery of ICT projects within a blended environment of Australian public service, system integrators, and contractors. In 2017, Defence was managing its Non-Materiel Procurement (NMP) workflow and tasking through more than 13 disparate systems (Excel, Access, email accounts, etc.). WorkingMouse was engaged to consolidate these into a single application—the Commercial Tracker (CT). The success of CT led to the continuation of their engagement and the initiation of the My Procurement System (MPS). Driven by the NMP Branch’s willingness to innovate in the procurement digitalisation space and the lack of fit-for-purpose commercial off-the-shelf options, they collaborated with Defence to realise a user-led procurement platform aligned with Defence procurement processes and tied to federal government procurement policy. MPS went live in 2021, and the team continues to work with Defence to enhance the platform. MPS was mandated for use across Defence by July 2024 and has already managed more than $8 billion in procurement as of Q1-2024/2025.
The
tracker application (left) and the Application Models (right)
Context
In 2023, the team began modernising CT to realign it with MPS. Over the seven years since the initial development of CT, they have significantly enhanced their platform engineering capabilities, along with their expertise in people, processes, and tools. This case study demonstrates how these elements have formed a Federal Internal Development Platform that not only empowers the CT project with maintainability, data integrity, and improved project workflows for its stakeholders but is also reusable for Defence and other federal projects.
Tracker is a critical supplement to the My Procurement System (MPS), specifically managing material procurements for Defence. It supports procurement processes by tracking large-scale purchases and handling support requests, while ensuring security through ID generation and passcode management.
Initially built with older technology, Tracker became difficult to maintain, and its data integrity required improvement. The modernisation, driven by advancements in, the Model-based Platform Engineering Tool enhances the user experience, making the software more intuitive, visually appealing, and easier for new users to adopt.
The legacy tracker User Interface
Action
In any project, 3 key variables play a crucial role in determining its success: people, process, and tools. These elements must work in harmony, balance with the project’s constraints, to ensure the best outcomes for the product, stakeholders, and end users. The combination of empowered people, a hybrid agile process, and platform engineering tools not only drove the development of the solution but also provided the governance framework that ensured the project remained on track and aligned with Defence’s strategic goals.
The
team show the tracker models
1. People
The project team was structured using a Stream-aligned topology, comprising of Defence’s subject matter experts and WorkingMouse’s Cross-Functional Team (Project Manager, Designer, and Software Developer), supported by the Platform Engineering Team.
The Stream-aligned team was directly responsible for delivering features and enhancements based on Defence’s requirements. Empowered by the Platform Engineering Team, which provided the tools, frameworks, and platform-level support, the development team could focus on delivering value without being slowed by infrastructure concerns.
This structure allowed each group to bring their unique expertise, ensuring the solution was technically sound and aligned with Defence’s needs. Continuous feedback from Defence’s commercial tracking team guided the development process, keeping the project focused on user needs and facilitating quick decision-making.
2. Process
The modernisation of CT followed WorkingMouse’s Jidoka Process, known as “Automation with a Human Touch.” This methodology combines the flexibility of Agile frameworks with the structure of a traditional waterfall approach, all under a PRINCE2 project management framework. Inspired by the lean manufacturing principles of Jidoka, this process ensures a balanced integration of automation and human oversight.
A key feature of the Jidoka Process is its breadth-first approach, which prioritises developing each component within the context of the overall architecture. As components are built, they are continuously integrated into the Platform Engineering tools and models. This iterative development and integration cycle not only maintains project momentum but also ensures that the system becomes increasingly configurable and adaptable.
In the accompanying diagram, the breadth-first approach is illustrated through successive stages of development. Each stage, represented by different colors—purple, pink, and yellow—demonstrates how application coverage expands as components are built and referenced back into the model.
User interface model: Breadth-first application coverage.
By adopting this approach, the project effectively creates an Internal Development Platform, akin to a low-code solution. This platform not only enhances development quality but also ensures that the final product is scalable and adaptable to Defence’s evolving needs. Moreover, it maintains rigorous standards of maintainability and data integrity, crucial for long-term operational success.
3. Tools
The solution was delivered through a carefully orchestrated interaction between WorkingMouse’s Cross-Functional teams, the Platform
Engineering team, and the robust set of tools they employed. Hosted on WorkingMouse’s ISO27001 accredited Private Cloud, these tools ensured
a secure, efficient, and high-quality development process.
The Platform Engineering team empowered the WorkingMouse Cross-Functional team with a suite of tools necessary to create
the Application, Meta-Model, Models, and Pipelines. These tools were seamlessly integrated with tracker components, facilitating a smooth
and collaborative development process.
In the middle was GitLab, hosted securely within WorkingMouse’s Private Cloud. GitLab served as the central repository for both the application and its templates, acting as the single source of truth for all system knowledge. Within this environment, Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines were critical to the development process. These pipelines enabled the application to be released using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), ensuring that deployments were consistent, repeatable, and aligned with Defence’s quality requirements.
The Tracker toolset and team topology and solution architecture
A major focus was placed on improving data structures and ensuring the security of sensitive information. This involved cleaning up existing data and implementing new security features, such as ID generation and passcode management, to maintain secure and reliable communications within Defence’s procurement processes. The CI/CD pipelines also played a vital role in enforcing these security measures, running comprehensive tests to ensure the integrity and security of data before each release.
Teams could work alongside the Platform Engineering code within their local environments, allowing them to customise niche application components as needed. This flexibility was crucial for adapting the application to specific requirements while maintaining overall system coherence.
Once developed, the tracker application was deployed onto Defence’s Restricted Network. Here, the Commercial Tracker Team provided feedback on the models, allowing for iterative improvements in the application’s functionality. This feedback loop not only facilitated continuous refinement but also balanced continuous improvement and sustainability, ensuring that the system remained adaptable and scalable over time.
Results
The Commercial Tracker (CT) solution provided the Defence NMP branch with unprecedented transparency in their procurement activities across the commercial support team. One of the key achievements of this modernisation was the digitisation of the Endorsement to Proceed (ETP) form. For the first time, Defence was able to consolidate, aggregate, and fully understand the quantum of procurement from a dollar value perspective. This transformation has not only streamlined the procurement process but has fundamentally changed how Defence approaches procurement.
The positive impact of the overall solution has been acknowledged at senior levels within Defence. Described by the previous First Assistant Secretary (FAS) as “the smartest thing I have ever seen in government procurement,” the system has significantly improved strategic and operational management, reduced duplication of effort, and freed up the commercial support team to focus on more value-added contracting activities.
The CT system also drives process and policy reforms by ensuring users engage with the appropriate number of vendors during the procurement process in real-time. It has been designed to integrate seamlessly with the One ERP Defence SAP project through secure APIs, ensuring long-term compatibility and efficiency.
Empowerment and Sustainability
The Commercial Tracking Team has been empowered with a system that precisely meets their needs, providing robust data integrity while ensuring sustainability for all stakeholders. The solution effectively mitigates legacy system risks and achieves a balance between Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products and bespoke solutions through the models and Platform Engineering approach. This careful balance ensures that the system is not only adaptable to current needs but also scalable for future requirements.
Ethical Behaviour
Throughout the project, WorkingMouse maintained a strong ethical stance, guided by principles of fairness, honesty, and integrity. Security clearance and sovereignty of team members were strictly adhered to, ensuring full compliance with Defence requirements. As the project evolved and key departmental team members departed, the department relied on WorkingMouse to fulfil roles in Business Analysis, project management, and deployments. The trust placed in WorkingMouse by the Department of Defence was reciprocated with a commitment to transparency and ethical practices, underscoring the importance of these values in public sector projects.
Long-Term Sustainability
The sustainability of the project is evident in its long-term benefits to the department and the broader community. By optimising resource allocation and budget control, the system has had a positive economic impact, ensuring that taxpayer money is managed responsibly. The environmental benefits of digitising the procurement process, such as reduced paper use and a smaller carbon footprint, further demonstrate the project’s commitment to sustainability. Socially, the project bolsters public trust in the department’s ability to manage funds and sensitive information effectively. Moreover, this investment into sovereign technology and its accompanying skills is reusable across Defence and other Federal Departments, maximising the value of the investment and promoting the sustainability of sovereign capabilities.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Video Demonstration
The following video provides a short demonstration of how the platform engineering models are configured and how the pipelines are executed
to update the application. This visual evidence showcases the seamless integration of the models with the platform’s infrastructure,
illustrating the automated processes that ensure the application remains up-to-date and aligned with Defence’s evolving needs. Through this
demonstration, viewers can observe the practical application of the methodologies and tools discussed earlier, highlighting the efficiency
and precision of the platform engineering approach.
Appendix 2: Requirements
The tables below outline the functional and non-functional requirements addressed by the system. With a total of 56 requirements—35
functional and 21 non-functional—these tables provide a clear mapping of each requirement to the corresponding features implemented in the
system.
Functional
| 1. Error Handling | 1.1 Inform user when something goes wrong while fetching data for CRUD list |
| 1.2 Inform user when something goes wrong while logging in | |
| 1.3 Input validation | |
| 2. Login | 2.1 Log in using LDAP |
| 2.2 Log in using SSO | |
| 2.3 Login page | |
| 2.4 Log out | |
| 2.5 Persist logged-in user while session is active | |
| 2.6 Frontend session persistence | |
| 2.7 User Last login is populated | |
| 2.8 Archived users cannot log in | |
| 3. Search | 3.1 Search for anything |
| 3.2 Search pagination | |
| 3.3 Search results page | |
| 3.4 Search filters | |
| 3.5 Search combo box | |
| 3.6 Permission-based security rules for data retrieval | |
| 4. Tables | 4.1 Render data in tables |
| 4.2 Table pagination | |
| 4.3 Quick actions | |
| 4.4 Support uploading files in tables | |
| 5. Admin | 5.1 Allow administrators to change system configuration |
| 5.2 Support configurable workflow capabilities, including bulk uploads | |
| 5.3 Support configurable templates and forms | |
| 5.4 Allow viewing of audit trails and system interaction history | |
| 5.5 Allow adding, editing, and archiving users and roles | |
| 5.6 Support intuitive data entry and validation | |
| 6. Reporting & Integration | 6.1 Support report generation with custom data available to report software |
| 6.2 Support exporting reports in various formats (e.g., Excel, PDF) | |
| 6.3 Support easy data exchange with other systems via APIs | |
| 6.4 Provide details on standard integration paths and APIs | |
| 7. Communication | 7.1 Store email templates with variables |
| 7.2 Send emails within the application | |
| 7.3 Comments and replies between users | |
| 7.4 View and edit user profile |
Non-Functional
| 1. Security | 1.1 Allow single identity (username and password) for users |
| 1.2 Support Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) | |
| 1.3 Offer multi-factor authentication | |
| 1.4 Support identity federation (e.g., SAML 2.0, OIDC) | |
| 1.5 Restrict non-privileged accounts from making software changes | |
| 1.6 Provide data backups | |
| 1.7 Secure data sharing between approved applications | |
| 2. Usability | 2.1 Be technology-agnostic across common web browsers and operating environments |
| 2.2 Restrict access based on location | |
| 2.3 Provide an intuitive user interface with logical layout | |
| 2.4 Support the ability to create and edit new pages and forms through a near 1:1 visual representation | |
| 2.5 Instant feedback and notifications on user interactions that affect data | |
| 3. Compatibility | 3.1 Support a range of interoperability methods for integration with internal systems |
| 3.2 Implement APIs using REST or SOAP architectures aligned with Commonwealth API standards | |
| 4. Performance Efficiency | 4.1 Cater to varying bandwidth/connectivity levels |
| 4.2 Detail any specific Carriage/Perimeter/WAN/LAN prerequisites for the solution | |
| 5. Reliability | 5.1 Be configured for fault tolerance |
| 6. Knowledge | 6.1 Provide training materials and services |
| 7. Other | 7.1 Provide data migration support services to transition from the legacy system |
| 7.2 Provide support on data cleanup during migration | |
| 8. Testing | 8.1 100% automated test coverage |
