QRA's Technology Transformation with Truis

The Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA), the lead agency for disaster recovery and resilience in Queensland, partnered with Truis to modernise its IT infrastructure.

With a clear intent to strengthen its technology environment, QRA selected Truis based on capability and track record. Through the panel process, Truis demonstrated the full range of technical and delivery strengths QRA was seeking.

This case study explores how Truis was chosen, the journey that followed, and the successful outcomes that ensued.

QRA is charged with managing and coordinating the Queensland Government’s program of infrastructure renewal and recovery within disaster-affected communities, with a focus on working with state and local government partners to deliver best practice administration of public reconstruction and resilience funds.

In this role, QRA works collaboratively with other agencies and key stakeholders to reduce risk and bolster disaster preparedness.

QRA identified an opportunity to uplift its IT infrastructure to further strengthen its ability to coordinate disaster recovery and resilience across Queensland, where reliability and continuity are critical. By modernising its operating systems, device management, and security controls, QRA proactively reduced risk and ensured staff could remain focused on supporting communities without disruption.

“One of the biggest pieces of feedback we got from the business was they didn't really notice much, which in a way is exactly what you want from a piece of work like this, because where it does cause impact to the business, it means you failed. So the fact that they barely noticed anything, it was very smooth. The whole project went really well,” Christopher Turner, ICT Manager at Queensland Reconstruction Authority, said.

Why Truis was chosen

Truis won this project through a tender and panel process, up against a number of other vendors.

Truis was selected for its ability to support QRA through this transition, allowing the organisation to remain focused on leading initiatives and activities to assist government, businesses and the wider community in mitigating risks and preparing for disasters.

Truis Business Manager Scott Garvin explained:

“I understand that they selected Truis because of several facts:
1. We were a local South East Queensland-based IT provider.
2. We provided a realistic timeframe in which to complete the work.
3. We provided a detailed response that clearly set out the steps involved in completing the work.
4. We had significant skills in migrations, which gave them confidence to work with us.”

“Truis demonstrated all the capabilities that we're after… Truis was very genuine. It was a professional engagement, but it also was fun as well."
Christopher Turner, ICT Manager at Queensland Reconstruction Authority, said.

The Challenge

QRA was operating in a technology environment that had reached a point of renewal, including Windows 10 devices at end‑of‑life. This prompted a focus on strengthening security and compliance.

QRA ICT Manager Christopher Turner noted this, saying “our security team had some concerns" before the upgrade. Operating systems at end‑of‑life require careful management, as they can increase exposure to vulnerabilities, patching gaps, and compliance concerns.

For an organisation handling sensitive government data, recovery funding, and cross‑agency coordination, this upgrade was a critical step.

The project was undertaken to further reduce operational and security risk, reinforce internal confidence, and ensure QRA continued to meet modern government cybersecurity expectations.

“Truis was excellent. They were really, really professional and very good through my lens. There were regular meetings, regular updates of actions and also an accountability flow through it as well,” Paula Joyce, ICT Support Team Leader at Queensland Reconstruction Authority, said.

The Solution

Truis delivered a tailored solution for QRA, including a Windows 10 to Windows 11 upgrade across 240 devices, alongside an MDM migration for QRA’s Apple fleet, covering 60 iPhones and 28 iPads.

Truis Project Manager Angelica Hollet said the Windows 11 upgrade was the primary focus of the engagement.

“It was planned out in a couple of phases. First, we had to do some discovery and planning. There was on-site travel required throughout this project as well, which the customer liked. And some Windows feature policy updates had to be done as well, some UAT and pilot phases that needed to take place.”

Truis Senior Systems Engineer Matt Jenkins explained that Truis’ role centred largely on configuration and rollout.

“We establish a policy. We assign that policy to a pilot group. And once the pilot group is successful, we then extend that to the rest of the fleet to be upgraded.

“It worked really well, us being in that position. We did do on-site visitation as well, just on the days when we went live with a large policy.

“We were just there to provide support capacity if it was required. It would have been helpful if anything had broken. They could have had immediate access to our knowledge, but it didn't, thankfully.”

The MDM migration followed a similarly structured, phased approach, including discovery and planning, environment setup and testing, migration and validation, and user acceptance testing (UAT).

During the project, QRA identified an additional opportunity and engaged Truis for a new initiative.

“In amongst that project, there was another opportunity that they reached out to us for, which created a new project called the Security Hardening. And that was to do with BitLocker,” Angelica Hollet said.

Matt Jenkins explained that BitLocker was deployed across all Windows 11 devices.

“It means that all of their devices are now encrypted, and it backs up the recovery key into the Intune portal. So, if they ever need to refer back to that, they can. That actually took a lot less time than they had anticipated, which was a good win for them.”

The outcome

The project strengthened QRA’s security posture and operational stability, with modern operating systems, active patching, and device encryption now in place to further reduce risk exposure.

Matt Jenkins said, “staying up to date with the latest patches and versions of software reduces their at‑risk footprint, and having the devices encrypted means that if it’s stolen, they can’t just take the hard drive out, plug it into a dock and get access to it.”

As a result, QRA’s operations are more resilient and secure, with noticeable improvements.

“Well, everyone's got an up-to-date operating system on their device and we're patching again. So, from an internal point of view, our security team is now satisfied. And the move to Intune for our mobile device fleet, there's been no impact whatsoever,” Christopher Turner said.

Beyond the technical outcomes, the way the engagement was delivered reinforced trust and partnership, with Truis working seamlessly alongside QRA.

“It was like working amongst other staff that are here, not a customer’s staff,” Truis engineer Matt Jenkins said.

“I aimed to ensure QRA always had clear visibility of the project’s progress and felt confident that any enquiries would be addressed promptly. QRA also valued our on-site support when required, as well as the expertise demonstrated by our engineers throughout the project. Overall, we had a strong team contributing to the success of this engagement,” Truis Project Manager Angelica Hollet explained.

Engineer Matt Jenkins agreed, stating:

“We kind of brought them on the journey most of the time, whenever changes were needed.”

This collaborative, low‑disruption approach ensured QRA could strengthen its IT foundations while remaining focused on its core mission of disaster recovery and resilience for Queensland communities.

Customer Feedback

From the outset, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting not only a successful technical outcome but a genuinely collaborative experience. Despite having never worked together before, the project quickly became one of trust and partnership, with Truis integrating seamlessly into QRA’s team and building strong relationships through openness, accountability, and a shared focus on outcomes.

“I'd definitely recommend Truis. We've already recommended Truis for ongoing work within our own internal procurement process. If anyone asked me who is a good vendor to do this type of work with, we would definitely put your name forward,” Christopher Turner said.

“You came in under budget too. That's actually a big plus.”

“It was a great experience,” Paula Joyce added.

Truis Project Manager Angelica Hollet echoed these sentiments.

“It was just a really good project with really nice people, so we were lucky in that front.”

Conclusion

Through this engagement, Truis helped QRA modernise its IT foundations in a way that was secure, reliable, and deliberately low‑impact on the business, exactly what was needed for an organisation whose focus must remain on disaster recovery and resilience for Queensland communities.

With up‑to‑date operating systems, improved device management, and strengthened security controls now in place, QRA has reduced risk, reinforced confidence, and positioned its technology environment to better support its critical mandate.

Just as importantly, the project marked the beginning of a strong, trusted relationship. Despite having never worked together before, Truis and QRA quickly established a collaborative partnership built on transparency, accountability, and people‑first delivery. The result was not only a successful technical outcome but a foundation for ongoing collaboration.