BH Technologies® Case Study
Agile Transformation
Challenge
This Fortune 10 organization was kickstarting an Agile transformation from waterfall with several iterations, resulting in more of a “waterscrumfall” methodology. To stay relevant within the market and compete with health tech disruptors and new entrants, they made the decision to use Scalable Agile Framework (SAFe) methodology.
Beacon Hill Technologies was selected to partner through these Agile attempts and work with leadership to complete an initial human capital current-state assessment. We identified several human capital challenges that made it nearly impossible to have a successful transformation effort without addressing the root cause—the existing full-time team had domain expertise, but no outside hands-on Agile development or testing experience. Some tenured existing staff were also challenging the change in project methodology and delaying progress. Secondly, both the existing outsourcing firm and our consultants were domain experts, but they were not SAFe experts. Finally, cultural shifts and changes sometimes create unplanned attrition challenges. Given the nature of the group, it was important to not lose the domain expertise, and to also transform the culture to the Agile mindset.
Solution
Using our Human Capital as a Service (HCaaS) delivery model, we determined the existing consultants and full-time staff needed training and real-world, hands-on experience. We provided SAFe certification training and deployed subject matter experts (SMEs) who we then paired with existing consultants and full-time equivalents (FTEs). The SMEs served as player-coaches and acted as change agents. Additionally, our client needed two SAFe teams to complete time sensitive work products deliveries, as well as create succession planning within existing FTE and consultant staff. Additionally, the consultant teams became feeder programs for the various SAFe trains by providing the pool of FTEs. In the last three years, we have successfully deployed over eighty consultants, of which 75 percent have successfully converted to FTEs.
