A software practice · Est. 2006
Software built to last.
I'm Neil Brown. For twenty years, Australian mid-market businesses have run their operations on the line-of-business applications, ERP integrations, and data platforms this practice builds and sustains. Most engagements run into years, not months.
What I do
Five things, often combined.
Most client engagements cross two or three.
- 01
Custom platforms businesses run their operations on.
A flight-operations system sustained over a decade. An audio production studio's in-house ERP — 51,776 productions, 73,939 scripts, and 247 voice talents on the books. A plant-checkin mobile app with QR scanning for a plumbing contractor. Bespoke line-of-business applications, with stacks chosen to fit the problem — .NET 4.5 through .NET 9, Blazor WASM, React, SvelteKit, TypeScript PWAs, native mobile. Built to last; extended across the years.
- 02
Connecting what doesn't connect.
Nineteen vendor billing feeds reconciled into one monthly invoice for a managed-services client. Bi-directional ERP ↔ AlayaCare ↔ MDS sync for a multi-location aged-care operation. System integrations sit underneath: Xero, Stripe, Halo PSA, Microsoft Graph, Westpac ABA EFT, DEAR, WooCommerce, and a long tail of billing and compliance APIs.
- 03
Numbers your business can act on.
An HCM-to-Procura care-plan migration with row-by-row reconciliation. An Azure data platform feeding Power BI views for management reporting. Close to two thousand SQL scripts across client folders — ETL, migration, reconciliation, reporting — on SSIS, Azure SQL, and SQL Server end-to-end.
- 04
Modernisation when it earns its keep.
Older WinForms and WebForms systems still in production for clients who depend on them, with modern Blazor, Azure Functions, and microservices work next door. Sustaining .NET 4.5 alongside greenfield .NET 9 — legacy modernisation only when the business case is clear, not as a standing offer.
- 05
An ERP that fits the business, not the other way around.
Eight client suites running on Jiwa with the customisation that makes it fit — 124+ plugins, form injection, Crystal Reports embedded in stored procedures, REST API work, licensing. Most Jiwa engagements run alongside a client's in-house IT lead or services partner; the practice leads on the ERP surface. A genuine specialism, sustained across a decade-plus of sector-specific work.
Selected work
Three engagements from the current practice.
- 56,110 flights · 1,375 students · still shipping
A custom flight-ops platform, sustained for a decade.
A bespoke stack for a Tasmanian general aviation operator — flight training, charter, scheduled regional flights, wilderness scenic tourism — across a thirteen-aircraft mixed fleet and their own aerodrome near Hobart. 56,110 flights and 1,375 students later — still shipping new features.
Read the case study - 19 vendor feeds · verified to the cent
Nineteen billing feeds, one reconciled invoice.
A Tasmanian-owned managed IT services provider — two offices, around twenty-five staff, a book that runs from a state-level sporting franchise to a statewide aged-care group. Nineteen external vendor billing systems reconciled into a single Jiwa-driven monthly invoice. Halo PSA stays in sync. Verified to the cent.
Read the case study - 27 Jiwa plugins · three branches · still active
Matrix pricing across three branches.
A Tasmanian industrial-trade supplier of nearly four decades — industrial gases, PPE, workwear, and a long tail of trade categories — running three branches across Hobart, Launceston, and Burnie. Customer-specific pricing matrices, default-supplier automation, a gas-supplier data feed, and daily branch-level sales reporting. Still active.
Read the case study
How I work
Four principles, drawn from twenty years of doing it.
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Root cause over surface fix.
When something breaks in production, what matters is knowing what actually caused it — not papering it over with a null-check.
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Honest trade-offs.
I'll separate real concerns from “just confirming it was thought through”, and name my confidence level rather than hide it.
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Long engagements, in partnership.
The longest engagements are the ones where the code is still well known in year five — usually alongside a client-side IT lead, and with a small subcontractor bench when scope calls for it.
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AI-augmented, craft-led.
I build with AI, not on top of it. Clients get the productivity dividend whether or not they ever mention the word AI.
About, briefly
For twenty years, Australian mid-market businesses have leaned on this practice for the software at the core of their operations. Solo-led, delivered alongside the client-side IT lead or services partner. Based in Hobart.
In clients' words
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Proven Innovation have totally blown me away. We've designed some very customised systems for our production business. I can't say enough about the service, attention to detail, and skill. Amazing!
Abe Udy Abe's Audio -
Proven Innovation have a great ability to understand needs, design solutions and to listen to client requirements. They relish in a challenge, are solution and outcome focussed, and are responsive when there are improvements and/or maintenance needed.
Nic D'Alessandro Simsation -
Proven Innovation are unique in the IT industry, they can actually communicate and understand what a client wants! I would recommend Proven Innovation (and I frequently do) as an essential part of your IT solutions.
David Turrell CMA -
The product Proven Innovation has built for us is fantastic — but what I love about Proven Innovation is their attention to detail and their ever increasing ability to think ‘out of the box’!
Michelle Folder Manager Business Development, Hobart City Mission
Contact
Get in touch.
I reply within a business day. Tell me the shape of the problem, rough scope, and any timeline — I'll come back with a read on fit and the first steps.
Use the contact form