One Platform. Two Champions. Measurable Growth.

RCR Infrastructure’s growth story began at a turning point.

After presenting the business to potential buyers, the leadership team faced a hard reality: the future was uncertain. With the company separating from its Australian parent and ownership unresolved, the stability of both the work and the people behind it was at stake. As reflection turned into resolve, one leader said, Why don’t we buy it ourselves?

What followed was a management buyout and a period of intense pressure. Staff were anxious, the market was tight, systems had to be replaced quickly, and decisions couldn’t wait. And in the middle of it all, someone had to take responsibility for holding things together while the rest of the team kept showing up for customers.

That someone was Lorene Maher.

Lorene took ownership of the biggest operational risk facing the business: rebuilding how work flowed through the company. She knew that if RCR Infrastructure was going to survive — and eventually grow — it needed more than good people and hard work. The business needed clarity. Consistency. And it needed a system that could support a small team through major change.

The decision to protect people first and rebuild the business from the inside out would become the foundation for everything that followed.

A Technician-First Culture, Led Like a Team

RCR Infrastructure operates at the intersection of complexity and reliability. Based in New Zealand, the company delivers essential electrical, HVAC, UPS, and generator services for customers who depend on uptime, accuracy, and trust. Over time, RCR Infrastructure expanded its capabilities through acquisitions and new service lines, supporting everything from critical infrastructure to large, multi-site commercial environments.

But the work itself is only part of the story.

Lorene brings a leadership mindset shaped by sport. With a background in competitive athletics, she views the business as a team—where success depends on preparation, trust, and giving technicians, the players on the field, what they need to perform and keep businesses and communities running. 

Our technicians are the players on the field. If we put the right people in the right roles, we’ll be successful.”

That philosophy shows up clearly in how Lorene hires and builds teams. Rather than focusing solely on trade backgrounds or job titles, she prioritizes transferable skills like communication, organization, and accountability—resulting in a highly diverse workforce representing more than 20 nationalities.

I’m a big believer in transferable skills. It doesn’t matter if you’re from the trades or not, your background brings value.”

For the leadership team, doing more at any cost was never their definition of sustainable growth — especially at a time when their people were already carrying uncertainty.

Core Challenges: When Growth Tests the System

As the business expanded across new service lines, acquired teams brought their own ways of working. Legacy systems were being retired while new expectations were being introduced — all while people were still finding their footing after the buyout.

What worked well in a smaller, tighter operation began to strain at scale.

Processes weren’t always consistent. Some teams adopted new ways of working quickly, while others hesitated. Questions went unasked. Small workarounds crept in. Individually, they seemed manageable. Collectively, they created friction.

Greater visibility raised the bar, but for people still learning new systems, that transparency could feel exposing. The hesitation wasn’t about effort—it was about confidence.

Communication added further complexity. With many team members using a second language at work, documentation didn’t always come easily, even when accuracy mattered most. Important context could be lost, not because the work wasn’t done well, but because it was difficult to articulate in writing.

Left unaddressed, these gaps would widen. Scaling without consistency risked introducing more noise instead of more clarity.

Turning Point: Owning the System to Protect the Team

The turning point for RCR Infrastructure came through a series of deliberate decisions rooted in one belief: if the system wasn’t working for the people, leadership had to own the fix.

Rather than delegating the problem, Lorene made a call that would shape everything that followed—she became the Simpro champion herself, taking ownership of the company’s operating platform.

At the time, the business was coming from Pronto Mobility, a system that made it difficult to standardize workflows. Layered on top of that were acquisitions like DataGuard and Tempest, each with different processes and expectations.

For months, Lorene learned the system end-to-end — building workflows, testing scenarios, and pressure-testing how the system would actually be used in the field.

Simpro is easy. Don’t tell people it can’t do things. It can."

As adoption grew, Lorene made a conscious decision not to hold ownership alone. An internal employee, Rachealynn, emerged as a second Simpro champion. Together, they launched a simple internal initiative that became a turning point: the Simpro Hotline Ring.

Twice a week, staff could drop into short, informal sessions to ask questions, troubleshoot issues, and pick up tips — without fear of slowing anyone down or asking the “wrong” question.

It created a safe space for learning. Engagement shot up immediately. People started getting answers in real time across SDF, Mobile, Maintenance Planner, and Premium features.”

With support in place, confidence followed. Teams began using the system consistently and without fear.

Outcomes + Clarity Gained: When Real-Time Truth Becomes the Operating Standard

With ownership established and support structures in place, the business began operating from a shared source of truth.

For Lorene, this was a natural extension of “extreme ownership,” a philosophy she tries to embody in her leadership. It’s an idea that leaders take ownership for everything critical to their goals, fostering accountability, clear communication, and decisive action within their teams. When people can see what’s happening in the business and their work processes in real time, they don't need to chase or second-guess decisions.

People want the truth. Simpro gives them that — live.”

Scheduling was one of the first areas where this clarity showed up. If work was in the system, it got scheduled. Ambiguity disappeared. Teams could see what was happening and what was coming next.

That visibility extended nationally, allowing leaders to spot issues early and respond before they became systemic.

Customers with complex assets gained real-time insight into performance, shifting conversations from reactive fixes to informed decisions.

AI-powered work notes removed a long-standing barrier for technicians working in a second language.

Our techs with English as a second language finally had confidence to write notes. AI made them sound like English professors.”

Underpinning all of it was a simple belief: systems should free people to do their best work — not constrain them.

Business Growth That Holds Up Anywhere

One of the biggest factors in our growth is the ease of Simpro and giving customers the truth in real time.”

The real test of any operating model is how it holds up when the pressure is on and the usual problem-solvers aren’t at their desks.

For RCR Infrastructure, that test came unexpectedly.

Lorene was out of the country at a business lunch when a technician rang. A job wasn’t visible. Context was missing. Work couldn’t move forward.

Instead of delays or emails, Lorene pulled out her phone.

In real time, she logged in, saw the job hadn’t been scheduled, clicked a button, scheduled it, then loaded the asset. Within minutes, the technician was back on track, with live scheduling and asset visibility restored.

It wasn’t meant to be a demonstration. It was simply how the business operated.

As it turned out, one of the people at the table had been dealing with six months of delayed reporting and fragmented visibility from their system. What they saw that afternoon was live, accurate insight into assets and work in progress — exactly what they needed.

Two weeks later, Lorene and a technician conducted a site visit at their request. By the time she returned to the office, an email was waiting: they’d landed a nationwide contract.

We won a nationwide HVAC and electrical contract because someone saw me fix a job on my phone. Seeing Simpro through fresh eyes reminded me how cool it really is.”

This is why RCR Infrastructure was recognized with the Simprosium award for Business Growth. The company didn’t scale by adding layers of complexity. It scaled by designing an operation that could respond anywhere, at any time. For RCR Infrastructure, that approach didn’t just change how the business ran. It changed what the business was capable of.

From sitting around over wine, not knowing our future, to winning national work — we’ve come a long way.”