Are your IT systems driving your business forward—or holding you back?
We help growing organisations reduce waste, remove risk, and make automation and AI work — without disruption, hype, or expensive rebuilds.
If your business feels harder to run than it should… it’s usually the systems underneath.
If this sounds familiar, this is for you
Most organisations don’t have a “technology problem”.
They have fragmented systems, unclear ownership, and decisions made in isolation over time.
That usually shows up as:
- Manual work that never seems to go away
- Data you don’t fully trust
- Automation attempts that stall or fail
- Rising costs with no clear return
- Projects that deliver something… but not the outcome you needed
The result?
Good people working around broken processes — quietly absorbing the cost
This usually isn’t a technology gap
When things feel slow or costly, the instinct is often to add something new — a platform, an automation, or an AI capability.
- But more capability rarely fixes misalignment
- Systems no longer reflect how work actually gets done.
- Processes bend around tools instead of outcomes.
- Data exists, but confidence in it erodes.
These costs rarely show up clearly on a balance sheet.
But they do show up in margins, morale, and missed opportunities.
How Avalon Creative approaches the problem.
The work starts by slowing things down before speeding them up.
Understanding how the organisation really operates.
Identifying where effort, cost, and risk are being introduced.
Designing practical options that fit the organisation as it actually is.
- No platform bias.
- No generic frameworks.
- No transformation theatre.
Just clear thinking, practical options, and support where delivery makes sense.
A low-risk way to make progress
Steps
1. Understand the problem
We look at systems, processes, constraints, and commercial pressure.
2. Identify waste and risk
Where time, money, or effort is being lost.
3. Design practical options
No theory. Only what fits your organisation.
4. Enable delivery
Support automation and AI where it makes sense.
5. Lock in value
So improvements don’t fade after delivery.
Most problems fall into one of three patterns
Architecture
Too many systems. Fragile integrations. Change feels risky.
Automation
Manual work everywhere. Reconciliation, copying, checking
Selection
Unclear requirements. Vendor pressure. Fear of getting it wrong.
Practical insight, not transformation theatre
Most automation and AI initiatives fail for predictable reasons. We focus on where value is real, risk is hidden, and effort is being wasted — before tools or vendors enter the conversation.
Where this approach delivers value
Growing organisations
Manual processes and duplicated systems were limiting scale.
Outcome: reduced overhead and clearer operational flow.
Professional services firms
High effort, inconsistent data, and limited automation.
Outcome: streamlined workflows and better use of data.
Universities and complex institutions
Fragmented platforms and compliance pressure.
Outcome: clearer architecture and safer, more informed decisions.
Practical insight, not buzzwords
Most automation and AI initiatives fail for predictable reasons.
We write and advise on:
- Where automation genuinely saves money
- Why AI often under-delivers
- How architecture decisions quietly drive cost
- What to fix first when everything feels broken
If you value clear thinking over vendor promises, you’ll feel at home here.
The first step isn’t a proposal
It’s a conversation to understand whether there’s a real problem worth solving.
No pressure.
No sales script.
Just a structured discussion about what’s working, what isn’t, and what to do next.
Contact
0796 315 1495
markhickman@avaloncreativeltd.com
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Led the architectural design and system selection for a Central Government Department.
Guided the Procurement & Evaluation process to ensure platform alignment with long-term digital policy.
Designed a Hybrid Cloud Architecture (Azure + 3rd Party App) focusing on secure identity management and network segmentation.
Met the rigorous Government Security & GDPR standards required for sensitive policy and programme information.
Successfully transitioned the department from fragmented data silos to a unified, secure, and auditable knowledge ecosystem.
Specsavers Financial Modernization
Designed an enterprise-grade integration gateway for international multi-bank claims processing.
Orchestrated an Azure-based architecture for secure data ingestion into a central Financial Data Lake.
Successfully consolidated fragmented flows between internal systems, multiple banks, and the Capita ecosystem.
Replaced fragile point-to-point legacy interfaces with a standardized, auditable integration layer reducing operational and regulatory risk.
Engagement extended beyond original scope to provide Design Assurance and strategic alignment for the wider enterprise.
University of Birmingham Student Information System Digital Transformation
Led the architectural modernization for a leading Russell Group university.
Designed the transition from a monolithic legacy system to a modular, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).
Implemented API-led integration and cloud-based Business Process Management (BPM) to automate student lifecycles.
Secured board-level approval for a phased implementation roadmap that managed cost, risk, and technical dependencies.
Established a scalable, extensible platform that reduced technical debt and strengthened GDPR/Regulatory compliance.
JLR Global iPLM Transformation
Architected a digital backbone for a global automotive leader, governing £1 billion in capital tooling assets.
Delivered the programme’s highest value workstream, forecasting £6.7M in annual benefits.
Created a “digital thread” by integrating Dassault PLM with SAP ERP via IBM WebSphere ESB.
Redesigned enterprise-wide change management and sourcing (APWT) frameworks to ensure total traceability.
Digitised complex enterprise assets (e.g., colour management) and defined the migration strategy for global legacy data.
Aston Martin Quality Intelligence
Delivered a business-critical FMEA Analytics Platform for a global luxury automotive manufacturer.
Directly contributed to a 15% reduction in annual warranty costs through early fault detection.
Engineered a three-tier architecture featuring a Centralised Data Warehouse, bespoke ETL pipelines, and MDM controls.
The Innovation: Applied Advanced Data Mining to correlate manufacturing defects with specific suppliers and production batches.
Provided a single, trusted view of risk and cost exposure for Engineering, Finance, and Aftersales teams.
