Stratos Program Management

Programme leadership for enterprise transformation, IT outsourcing and vendor transition

An independent programme management practice based in Auckland, New Zealand, led by Russell Charman.

Scale and results

  • Multi-workstream programmes Complex, highly interdependent programmes of work, held together by strong governance and delivery discipline from mobilisation to operational handover.
  • Millions saved a year Migrations that have saved millions of dollars a year through labour savings, licence savings and vendor downscaling.
  • Enterprise-wide identity migrations Moving identity platforms across an enterprise application estate: interdependent change that touches every application and every user.
  • 10,000+ people Change management at organisational scale, taking frontline teams through new ways of working.
  • 230+ stores Technology change landed across a large store network, working closely with operational teams where operations and technology meet.
  • 30+ stores to fulfilment centres Crisis response during the COVID-19 lockdowns: stores converted to online fulfilment, with the core response team led across three retail brands.

What Stratos does

Stratos takes on enterprise programmes that are commercially significant, highly interdependent and already under delivery pressure: IT outsourcing and vendor transitions, operating model change, platform migrations and enterprise SaaS implementations.

Clients get structure, governance and execution discipline from mobilisation through to a stable handover, including management of implementation partners and outsourced providers to agreed scope, plan and quality.

Enterprise programme management

Outsourcing and vendor transitions, operating model change, platform migrations and enterprise SaaS, from mobilisation to stable handover.

Partner management

Implementation partners and outsourced providers, including global technology vendors, held to agreed scope, plan and quality.

AI enablement

Organisations are finding it hard to extract real value from agentic AI. Stratos brings the governance frameworks and delivery discipline to move it from experiment into production, and to scale it.

Russell Charman

Led by Russell Charman

Russell is a senior leader whose career spans some of New Zealand’s largest telecommunications and retail businesses. He brings deep experience from both sides: running commercial business units and leading enterprise projects and programmes. Programmes are run to commercial outcomes, not just milestones.

His strengths sit in:

  • Governance
  • Risk management
  • Planning
  • Delivery execution
  • Leading high-performance teams

“Technology doesn’t deliver projects. People do, and leading them well is what makes the difference.”

Russell

Recommendations

“Russell consistently delivered complex change at scale with discipline and control. … Russell brings a steadiness to complex environments that builds confidence and enables teams to perform at their best.”

Marilise SmitChange Manager, worked with Russell at The Warehouse Group

“Thanks to Russell’s meticulous planning and hands-on approach, we were able to meet very aggressive timelines and exceed the expectations of key stakeholders. … Russell is not only a highly skilled project and delivery manager but also an engaging leader who brings out the best in people.”

Derek LeitchImplementation partner on an Enterprise Service Management programme

Read the full recommendations on LinkedIn

Get in touch

Engagements are on contract or interim terms.