From scratch to scale: How SKAO achieved global contract excellence with Thinkproject

About the SKAO

The SKA Observatory (SKAO) is an intergovernmental organisation building the world’s largest radio telescope arrays in Australia and South Africa. Its global mission is to lead ultra-sensitive radio astronomy and transform our understanding of the Universe, while delivering benefits to society through global collaboration and innovation.

 

The challenges

Having only been established in 2021, the SKAO faced the challenge of building a contract management process entirely from the ground up. The team faced the dual challenge of adopting NEC4 principles and building scalable, digital workflows that could support global operations. They were confronted with:

  • No existing contract management system: There was no formal contract management tool to enforce consistency or transparency.
  • Cultural shift: Introducing NEC4 principles across a globally distributed team with varied experience levels.
  • Complexity & scale: Contracts ranged from major frameworks to small work orders, requiring a flexible, multi-user solution accessible across time zones.
  • Scalability: Supporting a growing ecosystem of 450+ contracts and 600+ users.

The solution

When the SKAO began searching for a solution, their priorities were clear: scalability, flexibility, NEC4 alignment, and ease of use.

After careful evaluation, the SKAO selected Thinkproject CONTRACTS as the best solution to support their contract management objectives. The decision was driven largely by the solution’s strong alignment with NEC4 standards and its adaptability to handle various contract types. This combination offered the perfect foundation for developing a consistent, global contract management approach.

The implementation was further strengthened by great customer support and onboarding. In the long-term, the platform can provide valuable visibility into contract performance and compliance, enabling data-driven oversight and continuous improvement.

In summary, the solution provides:

  • Alignment with NEC4 standards: seamless integration with NEC4 principles and ability to manage multiple contract types, including ECCs, SCs, work orders, and short forms.
  • Global accessibility: Secure, cloud-based access for all project participants.
  • Comprehensive support and onboarding: reliable customer service, with tailored training and onboarding ensuring successful adoption across teams.
  • Enhanced visibility and performance tracking: solid reporting, dashboards, and KPI tools to monitor contract performance, compliance, and continuous improvement.

Implementation began in 2021, with Thinkproject guiding the SKAO through structured onboarding and monthly training sessions.

“We’ve been using Thinkproject since 2021, and it’s been instrumental in shaping and standardising our contract management processes. We’re operating in a complex international environment with contractors all over the world, so we needed a tool that implemented best practice, and that could be easily rolled out across our distributed teams. Thinkproject has met those requirements and helped us to streamline our contract management processes.”

Katy McCaig, Project Risk & Contract Analyst, SKAO

 

Results

Since adopting Thinkproject CONTRACTS, the SKAO has built a scalable, transparent, and data-driven contract management framework that has measurably improved efficiency, transparency, and collaboration across global projects and teams.

  • 300+ contracts and work orders are successfully managed
  • 600+ active users across staff and contractors actively using structure workflow with full process coverage across quality, programs, risk, payments, change, and communication;
  • 76% mitigated and 53% of high-impact risks resolved due to proactive risk management
  • 30,000+ communications exchanged within the platform, maintaining a 76% on-time client response rate;
  • 99% of payment applications certified and 91% paid, ensuring fair and efficient commercial processes.
  • Structured, logged, and auditable interactions have led to faster decisions, improved project predictability, and a scalable governance model across 450+ contracts.

By combining NEC4 methodology with Thinkproject’s digital capabilities, the SKAO has created a future-ready contract management ecosystem that delivers efficiency, compliance, and transparency at global scale.

Learn more about Thinkproject CONTRACTS and how it supports commercial governance across complex infrastructure programmes.

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