BH Technologies™ Case Study
HCaaS Supports Agile Transformation from Waterfall
Challenge
This Fortune 10 organization was kickstarting an Agile transformation from waterfall with several iterations, resulting in more of a Water-Scrum-Fall methodology. To stay relevant within the market and compete with health tech disruptors and new entrants, they decided to use the 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 also challenged the change in project methodology and delayed progress.
Secondly, the existing outsourcing firm and our consultants were domain experts but not SAFe experts. Finally, cultural shifts and changes sometimes create unplanned attrition challenges. Given the group’s nature, it was important not to lose the domain expertise and to transform the culture to the Agile mindset.
Solution & Achievements
Using our Human Capital as a Service (HCaaS) delivery model, we determined that 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), whom we 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 product 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 a pool of FTEs. In the last three years, we have successfully deployed over eighty consultants, of which 75 percent have converted to FTEs.
