Ness helped a leading clinical trials company improve software development productivity by 70% through implementing an adaptive agile methodology and integrated development tools. A four-week assessment identified over $10 million in potential annual efficiencies. Recommendations included customizing agile practices, integrating application lifecycle tools for improved workflow, and implementing a process optimization framework with metrics dashboards for increased transparency. Benefits included unprecedented transparency, predictability, and a 70% increase in deliverables without additional costs.

1. Ness Adaptive Agile enables leading services
company to improve productivity by 70%
CASE STUDY
Ness is the long-standing software development partner for a leading global
services company in the clinical trials industry, whose overall software
development productivity was improved by an average of 70% through
leveraging the Ness Engineering Effectiveness Model. By first identifying their
business goals and challenges, the Ness team defined a clear action plan
to improve the company’s business involvement, remove friction from the
development process, and leverage best-in-class, integrated development tools
for coherent workflow and near real-time transparency.
Challenge
This client’s rapid growth has introduced some unique scalability challenges, especially
in the clinical trials industry, where leadership and innovation pertaining to prescription
drugs is critical. Like many companies, the client must respond quickly to existing
customer demands, but they also have an aggressive plan for innovative applications and
services to make the process of introducing new medications dramatically more efficient.
By first identifying Their predicament was how to achieve both of these goals by making the most of their
their business goals current investments. Their CIO delivered a challenge: “Find at least 20% additional
and challenges, the productivity in our software development processes to allow us to drive the business
Ness team defined a faster.” To do so effectively, the client engaged Ness’ Consulting services.
clear action plan to
improve the company’s Solution
business involvement,
remove friction from
Ness provides an Engineering Effectiveness Assessment, part of the NessSMARTTM
the development
Framework, which is designed to compare companies’ current practices with Ness’
process, and leverage own and industry best practices, and then create a gap analysis and optimization plan.
best-in-class, The Effectiveness Assessment leverages both qualitative and quantitative data to identify
development tools the highest-priority opportunities based on expected return on investment. For this
for optimized flow client, the four-week, on-site engagement resulted in the identification of more than $10
and transparency. million per year in potential efficiencies measured in both hard dollars and recouping lost
productivity. The Ness Consulting team delivered a clear and measureable action plan
to implement three complementary initiatives over two years. Being in the clinical trial
business, the client is heavily regulated by the FDA, so any propositions they accepted
from Ness had to include this constraint.
The recommendation from the consulting team was to better align the needs of the
business with the client’s development approach by implementing a highly customized
version of Agile methodology that leverages the Ness Adaptive Agile process. This
approach allows the client’s business groups to react more quickly to current customer
needs while also introducing new and innovative applications to the market quickly as the
needs of the industry evolve rapidly. Ness also suggested that the IT department would
benefit from an integrated Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tool set. While each
functional group was optimized for its part of the development lifecycle, there was not
effective workflow and integration of the different development functions.
www.ness.com/effectiveness

2. For the client, the four-week, on-site engagement resulted in the
identification of more than $10 million per year in potential efficiencies
measured in both hard dollars and improved productivity.
It was recommended that integrating all components of the application lifecycle would
streamline the development and delivery of new applications. Finally, transparency
into the development process was a real challenge. Like many companies, this client’s
Project Managers developed monthly status reports with stoplight indicators of red,
green and yellow. To create efficiency, Ness recommended implementing NessSMART,
a process optimization framework tailored to the client’s objectives that aligns
their software development methodology with the right tools to create a seamless,
transparent development process. NessSMART employs a series of key metrics by
function, customized dashboards and reports for executive management based on
automated and objective metrics from the integrated ALM toolset.
Client Benefits
The Adaptive Agile initiative has provided an unprecedented level of transparency
into the client’s development activities, enabling the teams to significantly increase
predictability and see clear opportunities for improvement early in the process.
Previously, the client had spent significant project management resources creating
progress reports for application development, which were time-consuming,
subjective and ultimately not useful. Ness’ solution has automated the process
to deliver a higher degree of transparency without additional resources or time
commitment. Productivity has steadily improved such that after several iterations,
deliverables continue to increase by more than 70%. At the outset of the initiative,
the client had expected these changes to impact the culture of the organization
to be more nimble, efficient and metrics-focused; the improvements Ness has
implemented have reinvigorated the project teams, making them more predictable,
productive, and engaged in their work. Ultimately, the executive staff has said that
the level of transparency alone has been worth the cost of implementation. 70%
more output for the same cost is icing on the cake.
Capability Description COMPLIMENTARY
Ness Software Engineering Services has created a set of qualitative and quantitative ASSESSMENT
measures to evaluate your Agile methodology implementation and systems
Contact us to schedule a two-
capability to meet your business objectives. Taking into consideration your business
hour initial assessment with
context, current methodology adoption and business goals, Ness has identified four
assessment “themes,” including: our team. We will deliver
• Explore: Business Suitability, Gap Analysis, Action Plan our standard benchmarking
• Adopt: Agile Methodology, Team, Tools & Governance report, free of charge.
• Review: Effectiveness, Corrective Measure Call us at:
• Reinvent: Agile Maturity Improvement +1 724-824-8170
By implementing recommendations based on these evaluation themes, many clients * For qualified companies only.
have significantly increased revenue from delivering product functionality and
features earlier, improved quality and increased user satisfaction.
* Ness reserves the right to deliver the complimentary assessment to qualified companies only.
Ness Software Engineering Services is a global provider of end-to-end, commercial-grade software development solutions.
We strategically partner with our clients across the entire software lifecycle to drive competitive advantage by improving time-to-market,
quality and innovation. Ness operates development labs for more than 60 ISVs and other product-oriented clients, utilizing its technology
centers across India and Central and Eastern Europe, along with onsite and local presence in North America, Europe, Israel and Asia Pacific.
300 Frank W. Burr Blvd., 7th Floor, Teaneck, NJ 07666 USA | Tel: +1-201-488-7222 | Fax: +1-201-488-5040 | www.ness.com/effectiveness
©2012 Ness Software Engineering Services