When empowerment and urgency come together, anything is possible.
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Join four Agile leaders from CVS Health to learn how they banded together to form teams out of existing trains in order to tackle their monumental, and ever-evolving COVID response with the help of SAFe.
What does it look like when all roles across an operational value stream truly come together without the usual complexity and roadblocks that come with being in a large organization? How did they show up, lead with heart, and truly live their values? And what lessons were learned that other organizations can take away from this extraordinary experience?
โHaving scaled Agile in place already prior to this happening helps create a lot of clarity and transparency on where we should identify people who already had all the skill sets that we needed to really achieve this. And then it set up like a common language to talk about things like priority and how to sequence work. And honestly just really live the values of SAFe even more so than the process of SAFe which I think is just a beautiful place to be.โ
Presented at the 2021 Global SAFe Summit, October 2021 by:
Caitlin Clifford, Senior Director of Digital Health Services /CVS Health
Rebecca Davis, CVS Health Digital Lean Agile Practice Leader /CVS Health
Matthew Huang, Senior Product Manager of Immunizations /CVS Health
Randy Kendel, Release Train Engineer of Immunizations /CVS Health
โSAFe brings so much more engagement, which has really been key for all parties. I wouldnโt want to do it any other way.โ
โRajbir Bal, Program Manager, Access Control
Challenge:
JCIโs access control division needed to improve coordination among firmware and software teams across three locations with the goals of improving time-to-market, quality, and engagement.
Industry:
Information Technology
Solution:
SAFeยฎ
Results:
The division releases at least 2-4X more frequently than before
JCI reduced the size of its bug backlog by at least 3X
Access control delivers on its commitments 100 percent of the time
Customers/stakeholders appreciate the chance to provide feedback during the processโinstead of at the end
Best Practices:
Get help โ Especially early on, partner with a consultant
Train leadership โ JCI trained resource managers, product management, and directors to get buy-in before moving forward
Train SPCs โ They serve as change agents and coaches
Follow progress โ JCI used automated Agile dashboards in Team Foundation Server
Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI), a global diversified technology leader, serves customers in more than 150 countries and reports $30 billion in annual revenue. The companyโs access control division develops systems to help buildings achieve maximum security while increasing efficiency and lowering costs.
Developing access control systems demands that firmware and software teams work together to deliver on a coordinated schedule. At JCI, those teams are spread across Southern California, Milwaukee, and India.
In 2014, the division began an effort targeted at improving time-to-market and the predictability of releases. They also sought to identify quality issues sooner, increase transparency, and raise team engagement.
โWe were having very little success at agility planning, predicting releases and committing to and delivering on the timeline,โ explained David Richter, Director of Engineering, Access Control. โWe wanted to increase our flexibility and ability to react to change, and to react to our customer’s needs in a positive and respectful manner.โ But Richter and other change agents knew they would have to contend with several roadblocks along the path to SAFe transformation:
Changing the established paradigm of working in waterfall
Aligning teams in three disparate locations
Taking the SAFe route
JCI identified the Scaled Agile Frameworkยฎ (SAFeยฎ) as the most promising route for instilling lasting Lean-Agile practices.
โSAFe brought all the practices for us to start and then learn and adapt as we go,โ said Rajbir Bal, Program Manager, Access Control. โIt also forced us to have tough discussions early and throughout developmentโversus down the road when we got close to release.โ
To gain leadership backing, the Director of Engineering gave decision-makers clear reasons for deploying SAFe and the expected outcomes. Concurrently, Scaled Agile Gold Partner Icon Agility Services trained leaders in Leading SAFeยฎ so they would fully understand the Framework. This worked well as change agents succeeded in securing executive backing.
They followed with Leading SAFeยฎ for directors, product managers, and resource managers, bringing together 15 individuals from California, Milwaukee, and India. Next, they defined the structure of the various teams that would begin the first Agile Release Train (ART), and put all team members through SAFeยฎ for Teams training.
Two individuals, including Bal, earned certification as SAFeยฎ Program Consultants (SPCs) in order to serve as change agents and coaches. Following certification, they became authorized to deliver SAFeยฎ Scrum Master, SAFe for Teams, and SAFeยฎ for Product Owner/Product Manager training.
In addition to Bal, other coaches included engineering managers and the director of engineering, while Scrum Masters became coaches at the team level. When it was apparent that Scrum Masters and Product Owners had an overlap of responsibility, or at least their understanding of it, Bal brought them together in one location for a custom Product Owner/Scrum Master workshop to clarify roles and responsibilities.
Navigating the path to alignment
In 2015, JCI launched its first ART at a Program Increment (PI) Planning meeting with about 100 people and followed Essential SAFe. Bal and others knew they were taking the first steps toward progress, however, early planning events felt chaotic.
โThe first two PIs were not fun and we did not come out with committed plans,โ Bal said. โSome features were not well defined, people were not clear on the process, and we needed more time to break down user stories.โ
Bal attributes the discord to a couple of factors. The company included some user interface teams in that first ART, but not others, which caused misalignment. Geographic distribution also created challenges.
For more cohesive teams, they tried several approaches. First, they brought representatives from India to present on behalf of their teams. However, in doing so, they lacked the voices of those not in attendance.
Instead, they decided to start concurrent planning in the U.S. and India, with India beginning 12 hours ahead due to the time zone differences. As teams in India complete their planning days, those in the U.S. come in early to overlap with them. The Indian teams present their planning via videoconference. The same goes for day two of planning. American teams presented in what was the evening for their Indian counterparts.
Richter notes that, in those early months, JCI attempted to modify the Framework. Only some teams attended training and the company followed three-week sprints. โWe tried to make changes to SAFe, but that was a disaster,โ he said. โAfter that experience, we then started following SAFe exactly.โ
Many people also insisted on continuing lengthy documentation of functional and design specs, after 50 years of following this practice. But that changed over several PIs. โWe realized that documentation is not adding value,โ Bal said. โInstead, we switched more to flow diagrams and writing code versus paragraph after paragraph of specs.โ
With these tweaks, subsequent PIs progressed more smoothly as everyone became accustomed to the ceremonies and practices of SAFe. They made better use of their time at PI planning events. By the third PI, all teams also joined the train.
Over time, JCI found it more feasible to modify the framework to its own processes. In the access control division, developers must follow a specific process. They found that SAFe allowed them to implement Lean-Agile methods that worked in conjunction with these required processes. Other modifications included concurrent planning for India and the U.S., and face-to-face meetings between Product Owners and Scrum Masters to walk through the features radiator.
Acting like โOne Big Teamโ
Richter and Bal saw a number of positive outcomes emerge during the transformation:
Increased ownership โ Entire teams committed to goals in PI planning and delivered on those goals
Less technical debt โ Issues were identified earlier in development, which allowed for course corrections along the way, instead of at the end of development
Greater participation โ All levels joined in, including business partners and architecture
Earlier decisions โ Using the Lean Startup Cycle, they make go/no-go decisions sooner in the cycle than they had before practicing SAFe
More automation โ Automation reduced the overhead of testing and corrects quality issues earlier
Enhanced transparency โ People bring up issues sooner, rather than at the end of a PI
Greater teamwork โ Inter-team collaboration improved as well, with individuals reaching out to help others when needed
โWe started acting like one big team, instead of a bunch of teams of teams,โ Bal said. โWe saw more engagement at all levels.โ
Driving time-to-market, quality, predictability
After early growing pains, JCI began seeing the results of its efforts:
Faster time-to-market โ The division releases at least 2-4X more frequently than before
Higher quality โ JCI reduced the size of its bug backlog by at 3 times
Predictability โ Access control delivers on its commitments 100 percent of the time
Customer satisfaction โ Customers appreciate the chance to provide feedback during the processโinstead of at the end
โThis wasnโt an easy process for us,โ Bal said. โIt takes time getting everyone jelling PI over PI. But SAFe brings so much more engagement, which has really been key for all parties. I wouldnโt want to do it any other way.โ
For more details on JCIโs Essential SAFe implementation, download the supplemental PowerPoint presentation.
In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore made a stunning observation: The number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every 18 months since their invention. He predicted the trend would continue into the foreseeable futureโand it generally has. A billion transistors now fit on a chip the size of a pea.
Challenge:
In a complex, fast-growth industry, Intel must continuously innovate while controlling costs and maintaining quality.
Industry:
Information Technology
Solution:
SAFeยฎ, Agile and Lean
Results:
MVE delivered 65% more products with the same capacity.
Improved Commit-to-Accept ratios from 74% to +90%.
Everything is visible to everyone.
Scope change reduced to less than 5%.
Best Practices:
Choose the right RTEs โ Intel found that effective RTEs have a combination of technical background and a deeper Agile mindset/experience
Train the Leaders โ Business owners and Train Management should be required to attend SAFe training. It is critical that the leaders speak for the transformation, act as role models, and reinforce direction within the organization. Leverage advocates in the organization whenever possible.
Always end with Inspect & Adapt โ Just get started and then learn and adapt. Favor โprogress over perfection.โ
Keep it Simple โ Donโt overcomplicate the process, and bring things back to the basics of Agile and Lean.
Introduction
Intel has been integral in pushing that pace of growth in the marketplace. Today, the company employs more than 100,000 people globally and reports net revenue of $59.4 billion.
But like most enterprises, as it continuously innovates and expands, Intel must balance cost control while maintaining high quality.
โWith the complexity and number of the products skyrocketing, if we didnโt adjust or adapt, other than adding more people, Mooreโs Law would crush us,โ says Allen Ringel, Lean & Agile Transformation Leader, Intel.
Agile at Enterprise Scale
Intelโs Manufacturing Development Organization (MDO) division tests and validates Intel solutions, producing over two million lines of code every two weeks. In an effort to deliver more value, MDO began to adopt Lean-Agile practices in 2005, and by 2012 had small pockets of Scrum and a homegrown solution for scaling Scrum.
โWe found the Agile approach attractive because it turns the Iron Triangle on its head,โ Ringel says. โFeatures are negotiable but time, cost, and quality are not.โ
Yet as more people and divisions were folded into MDO, Intel found it increasingly difficult to scale Scrum. Thus, a team of about 15 people tasked with driving Lean-Agile at Intel looked at industry frameworks for ways to scale more effectively.
In 2013, MDO discovered the Scaled Agile Frameworkยฎ (SAFeยฎ), which provided clear structure and roles for taking the company into the next phase of Agile. SAFe also aligned well with the companyโs broader Lean approach as a learning organization focused on continuous improvement and waste elimination.
โIn an organization as large as MDO we needed to standardize the planning and execution process we use to work together to deliver value,โ Ringel says. โWhen we encountered SAFe it provided a proven, public framework, with well-defined roles and artifacts for applying Lean and Agile at the enterprise level.โ
Those 15 Lean-Agile leaders prepared for the implementation by attending the SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) Certification training. After mapping the roles, principles, practices & tools to back to what currently existed in the organization, they had essentially created a trail through the forest with a visible plan for implementation. Then they jumped in with both feet.
Leading up to the first Program Increment (PI) planning event, Intel trained more than 1,500 people. Over the course of eight weeks, they launched eight Agile Release Trains (ARTs) with 170 Scrum teamsโwith Christmas and New Yearโs in the middle. To ease the transition, the 15 Intel Lean-Agile coaches were embedded at the 14 different sites with MDO teams to answer questions and provide guidance.
At Intel, executive backing proved critical to the success of the rollout. Mohsen Fazlian, General Manager of the division, created a shared vision by communicating clearly about the reasons for adopting SAFe and scaling Agile. Intel also reinforced Scrum rules for teams to be properly sized, co-located, 100% committed, and cross-functional. Where co-location was not possible & budgets allowed, Intel brought together people in person for at least the first planning event.
That first PI, admittedly, demanded considerably more effort than subsequent events. Yet, the ability to see immediate value spurred momentum. โThe planning events were essential for teams to align at the train level while highlighting dependencies and allowing risk mitigation early on,โ Ringel says.
Intel made a few enhancements to the typical SAFe deployment. They digitized the program board so they could see everything on a dashboard at all times and identify efforts quickly as progressing normally or abnormally. Lean-Agile leaders guided managers in looking at abnormal areas from a new perspective. If something turned red on the virtual program board, instead of managers saying, โFix this,โ they ask, โHow can I help?โ
Training 2,000 Over Three Months
Fast forward to 2017. Intel has grown Lean-Agile practices at a pace that rivals Mooreโs Law. The well-defined roles and terminology within SAFe serve as essential signposts for those new to the Framework.
The structure has kept the trains on track as the organization continuously expands. A merger with another groupโnow combined under the name Manufacturing Value Engineering (MVE)โnearly doubled the size of the organization.
To fold in the new division, MVE trained nearly 2,000 people over three months and immediately organized them into trains. While the change came as a bit of a shock to some, the rapid integration enabled people to participate in the Agile system while trainers consistently communicated the value of the change, helping people experience it first hand and embrace their roles with the new way of working.
โWe all feel part of a bigger thing and speak a common language that everyone understands,โ Ringel says. โThereโs clarity in the model we work in, which has definitely been something people latch on to.โ
Ringel says that Intel has settled on an acceptable ratio of coaches to employees: 1:200-250. โWe have shown management that we can deliver value with half a percent of the organization as transformation leaders,โ he says.
One of the Largest Reported SAFe Deployment
Today, MVE has over 440 Scrums organized into 35 ARTs, including software and hardware engineers. MVE continues to widen the circle and is frequently consulted by organizations throughout Intel. Adjacent organizations at Intel interested in MVEโs success have enlisted MVE to help with scaling Agile, leading to eight additional ARTs in partner organizations. In fact, Intelโs effort is one of the largest publicly reported SAFe deployment based on number of ARTs.
While scaling has not been easy, it has been worth it. The impact of these efforts ripples across the company.
Increased Product Variants
Helped MVE to delivered 65% more product variants
Strong Performance-to-Schedule Discipline
Capacity-based planning and cadence provides a heartbeat and prevents schedule slips
Customers and upper management are changing their behaviors to protect the cadence set by Program Increments
Commit-to-Accept ratios improved from 74% to +90%
MVE minimized scope change in Program Increments to less than 5%
Increased Transparency & Visibility
The company identified bugs, impediments, weak tools and poor engineering habits
Transparency is invaluable and everything is visible to everyone
Communication & conversations are more valuable than tracking indicators in a tool
MVE now has a strong community with a common language
Institutionalized Process
Teams have demanded adherence when the environment becomes chaotic
Ultimately, Intelโs Lean-Agile efforts help it maintain the industryโs rapid rate of growth.
โLean & Agile help us deliver more products without adding more people, so we can stay competitive and keep up with Mooreโs Law,โ Ringel says.
โ โฆ this has โimproved the motivationโ of the team members. Going to work is more fun when thereโs less confusion and less waste. And motivated people do better work, so itโs a positive cycle! Another impact weโve seen is that other parts of LEGO visit the meeting, get super inspired, and start exploring how to implement some of these principles and practices in their own department. In fact, agile is spreading like a virus within the company, and the highly visible nature of the PI planning event is like a a catalyst.โ
โHenrik Kniberg and Eik Thyrsted
Update:
January, 2017 : A year after Henrik Kniberg and Eik Thyrsted shared the first phase of LEGOโs SAFe journey, they are back with the next chapter of their story. Their efforts to nip and tuck SAFe for optimal results run the gamut from large edits to small tweaks, and their learnings and outcomes are captured in a 36-page in-depth summary that is full of candid commentary and describes the thought process behind each decision. You can download it below.
Industry:
Consumer Products
Introduction
One of the worldโs leading manufacturers of play materials, The LEGO Group is still owned by the Kirk Kristiansen family who founded it in 1932. With headquarters in Billund, Denmark, and main offices in Enfield, USA, London, UK, Shanghai, China, and Singapore, the company employs more than 15,000 people worldwide.
In 2014, LEGO Digital Solutions turned to SAFe to improve their collaboration model and seek out what they like to refer to as the โLand of Awesome.โ Their story of business agility transformation was presented at LKCE (Lean Kanban Central Europe) by LEGOโs Head of Project Management, Eik Thyrsted Brandsgรฅrd and Lean/Kanban Coach, Mattias Skarin from Crisp.
Much like creating something from LEGOยฎ bricks, they built their transformation one piece at a time, starting with inviting 20 managers to a 2-day Leading SAFe class. From there, they began training the teams; first one, then another until they had 20 teams trained in SAFe. They approached every step as a learning journey, allowing for creativity along the way. When something didnโt seem like a good fit, they werenโt afraid to experiment. Taking results from Inspect and Adapt, they tweaked SAFe to their needs with a simple guiding principle, โKeep the stuff that generates energy.โ
โThe combination of a structured system, logic and unlimited creativity encourages the child to learn through play in a wholly unique LEGO fashion.โ โThe LEGO Group
Their first PI Planning eventโwhich they now refer to as their โcenter of gravityโโwent better than expected, with the teams eager to take what they learned and apply it.
โYou just canโt replace face-to-face communication, and PI planning is just a fantastic way to do that.โ
Their presentation includes insights and lessons learned, such as:
You need critical mass
They can now better manage expectations
Donโt be afraid to experiment
To become good at something you need to practice it
Experimenting your way forward matters more than your selection of path
SAFeโs creator, Dean Leffingwell, calls their presentation, โOne of the most insightful applications and presentations that Iโve yet seen on SAFe.โ You can view their 45-minute video below.
Many thanks to Mattias and Eik for sharing their inspiring story!
โWe had been challenged a number of times in changing our underlying CRM platform. After implementing SAFe, our overall effort actually came in $12M less than originally estimated and 18 months sooner than predicted.โ
โBryan Kadlec, Director, Client Digital Experience
Challenge:
Market leader Northwestern Mutual sought to apply Lean-Agile practices to remain competitive, though previous efforts had been stymied by a longtime Waterfall culture.
Industry:
Financial Services, Insurance
Solution:
SAFeยฎ
Results:
Collection Feature Cycle Time improved 30-50%
IT delivers requested capabilities 80-90 % of the time
The overall effort on a project came in $12 million less than originally estimated and 18 months sooner than predicted
Best Practices:
Support experimentationโLeadership at NWM fostered an environment, and provided resources, to enable this transformation. โOur forward-thinking leadership knew we needed to bring in some changes so they invested in continuous learning and improvement,โ Schindler says.
Use proxies for offshore teamsโNWM pre-plans with offshore teams and then brings proxy representatives to PI planning events.
Customize SAFeโNWM increased engagement with its own spin on the program board, with the Transformation Railway Station.
Introduction
In business, staying ahead of the competition inevitably requires taking some risks. But how do you do this, when a key part of your success depends on keeping risk at bay? Thatโs the question Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual (NWM) had to answer while seeking new ways to maintain and build on their 160-year history of helping families and businesses achieve financial security.
To maintain the leadership position NWM has built over nearly 160 years, the organization has taken an innovative, entrepreneurial approach to business. Itโs paid off: The past year (2016) was one of the companyโs strongest. The company reported record-level revenue ($27.9 billion), was named by FORTUNEยฎ magazine as one of the โWorldโs Most Admiredโ life insurance companies, and has maintained the highest financial strength ratings awarded to any U.S. life insurer.*
300-Day Cycles
In 2012, the company reached a turning point. In addition to a company-wide push for continuous learning and improvement, IT needed to move faster.
โIt took over 300 days and many instances to deliver value to our customers,โ says Jill Schindler, Manager, Client Digital Experience. โWe were getting a lot of questions around, โWhy does it take so long and cost so much?โ We knew we needed to be more flexible, adaptable and responsive, and it didnโt take us long to realize that Agile was a big part of that.โ
NWM had tried to adopt Lean-Agile practices before, experimenting with a few Scrum teams in the mid-2000s. However, those efforts ran headfirst into a deeply ingrained Waterfall culture.
โWe didnโt start with much training or coaching, and teams worked on the aspects they wanted instead of the aspects that we needed,โ says Bryan Kadlec, Director, Client Digital Experience. โWe fell woefully behind and then were slammed by a waterfall world to put out the fire.โ
A Second Attempt at Agile
Northwestern Mutual shelved its Scrum efforts until 2012, when the company embarked on a more methodical approach to Agile. This time, they set out to train as many people as possible. โWe wanted to do this and senior leadership believed in it, so we pushed forward,โ Schindler says.
At the time, three or four teams experimented with Agile but the organization simply was not set up to accommodate it.
For next steps, they held their first rapid improvement event (Value Stream mapping). The weeklong event brought together Scrum teams and specialized teams with the goal of addressing the challenges of these distinct groups working together. The end result: a better understanding of the problems and a systematic way of approaching them. Key to that was engaging the IT strategy team to help remove barriers.
The Missing Piece
About that time, NWM found the Scaled Agile Frameworkยฎ (SAFeยฎ) and quickly saw it as the missing piece. โSAFe totally lines up with what we were already trying to do but we just didnโt have a platform for it,โ Schindler says. โThis was the framework we needed for delivering Agile at scale.โ
โIn SAFe, we could see Agile and Lean together and had this sense that it was a very powerful thing,โ Kadlec adds.
Schindler and Kadlec went back to the leaders of their respective organizations and secured resources to try SAFeโbecoming pioneers not just for their own company, but also establishing NWM as the first large company in Wisconsin to take this course. They believed firmly in their chosen path, but it still felt risky to apply new Lean-Agile practices to a large chunk of the companyโs portfolio.
โIt shaved a few years off our lives!โ Kadlec quips. โWe believed that the path we were taking would deliver high value, but it still felt high risk. But if weโre going to compete, we had to have a quicker response time.โ
The First Program Increment (PI)
Schindler and Kadlec trained as SAFe Program Consultants (SPCs) and additionally tapped Al Shalloway, CEO, Net Objectives, along with SAFe Fellow Jennifer Fawcett to facilitate the companyโs first PI planning event. NWM asked 270 people to come together for the first two-day eventโin January in Wisconsinโwhere they launched their first four Agile Release Trains (ARTs).
The response was heartening. People were engaged and ultimately on board. โAt the end of the day, we felt a huge sense of accomplishment,โ Schindler says. โEveryone understood what was expected of them.โ Northwestern went on to train as many people as possible. In fact, for some team members, training was the first sprint.
Making the shift in the companyโs longtime waterfall culture wasnโt easy. Coaching was key, especially at the beginning. As teams went through cycles of Plan, Do, Check and Adjust, old behaviors would emergeโand need to be addressed. In truth, some individuals chose to leaveโbut most chose to dedicate themselves to the new way of working. The โnew eraโ behaviors the Agile mindset fosters have taken such a firm hold companywide that they are now a factor in performance reviews.
By the second PI event, again with Fawcett facilitating, Release Train Engineers had a sense of ownership.
Transformation Railway Station
Northwestern Mutual took a clever twist on the ART program board, dubbing it Transformation Railway Station. On its board, a tunnel image represents the funnel of new work/ideas and cows represent impediments. The former is particularly apt given that, in 1859, two policy owners were killed when a train hit a cow and derailed. When the new company lacked the full funds to pay out those first life insurance claims (for $3500), NWMโs president at the time personally borrowed the funds.
On the board, laminated trains make their way along the track (the Portfolio level) from the departure station through various stages:
IdentifyโCommunicate change vision, and determine Value Stream, ARTs, scope, PI planning date and training
PrepโPerform SAFe training
LaunchโConduct final prep and first PI planning event
MatureโCoach and develop the ART
Inspect and AdaptโHold Inspect and Adapt workshop, plus second PI planning event
Through the PI, all parties keep a close watch on progress and metrics. โLeadership can walk up and know where we are at any time,โ says Sarah Scott, Agile Lean Organization Coach at Northwestern Mutual.
Cycle Time Improvement
Since deploying SAFe, and beginning its first earnest Agile efforts, Northwestern Mutual reduced Collection Feature Cycle Time by 30-50%. And surveys of business representatives indicate that IT delivers what they requested 80-90 percent of the time.
Ultimately, the changes affected the bottom-lineโfor the better. โAfter implementing SAFe, our overall effort actually came in $12 million less than originally estimated and 18 months sooner than predicted,โ Kadlec says.
Now in year three, with 12 PIs behind them, the company has five SAFe instances and 14 ARTs in progress across a wide range of product areas. Northwestern Mutual provides leadership for SAFe in Wisconsin, even hosting a Scaling Agile Meetup Group that draws as many as 300 attendees to its monthly gatherings.
โWeโre at a tipping point now, continuing to break down barriers,โ Schindler says. โThe whole organization is in the heart of a major transformation and weโre leveraging SAFe to accelerate our Lean-Agile IT transformation. Weโre at a whole other level that I donโt think would have happened as quickly or with as much impact if weโd just had a handful of Scrum teams.โ
* Ratings are for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company, as of the most recent review and report by each rating agency. Northwestern Mutualโs ratings: A.M. Best Company A++ (highest), 5/2016; Fitch Ratings AAA (highest), 11/2016; Moodyโs Investors Service Aaa (highest), 1/2017; Standard & Poorโs AA+ (second highest), 6/2016. Ratings are subject to change.
Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NWM), Milwaukee, WI and its subsidiaries.
โTo sum up, the case study of Seamless is evidence that small or medium-sized companies can benefit from a scaled agile framework with custom modifications.โ
Challenge:
Multiple environments
Feature requests coming from different markets
Synchronizing work between teams (Software Engineering department spans 4 countries)
A way to deal with inevitable change of culture due to fast growth
Industry:
Technology, Financial
Introduction
Founded in 2011, and active in more than 30 countries, Seamless handles more than 3.0 billion transactions annually, making it one of the world largest suppliers of payment systems for mobile phones. Perhaps best known for its flagship mobile wallet product, SEQR (seโขcure), the fast-moving Stockholm-based company has grown from 50 to 200 employees in 2 years, and is pursuing an expansive growth strategy that has presented challenges both technical and organizational.
Challenges
Multiple environments
Feature requests coming from different markets
Synchronizing work between teams (Software Engineering department spans 4 countries)
A way to deal with inevitable change of culture due to fast growth
Wanting to avoid the unnecessary bureaucracy that often comes with expansion, they turned to a scaled-down version of SAFeโalong with major technical investments in the deployment pipelineโto provide a structure that would provide a solution for current challenges, and accommodate growing complexity.
More Stories in Less TimeโDespite Setbacks
The story of this SAFe transformation is published in InfoQ and comes from Agile and Lean Product Development Expert, Mikael Lundgren, and Seamless Paymentsโ Software Engineering Manager, Tomek Pajฤ k. They provide an account of the experience that is rich with detail and goes beyond tactical execution to include the strategic thinking behind this scaled-down SAFe transformation. They recount:
How they down-scaled SAFe while maintaining its core ideas
Tools utilized for managing backlogs of features, epics, and stories
Recruiting Scrum Masters to act as Agile coaches for entire organization
Establishing new roles to better support working environment
Introducing WIP-limited program execution where work is planned in Agile Release Trains
Many thanks to the study authors, Mikael Lundgren and Tomek Pajฤ k, for sharing your story and providing inspiration for small to medium-sized companies seeking scalable solutions as they face similar growth challenges.
Read the full story in the InfoQ article, Downscaling SAFe.
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viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.