Scaling Agile with JIRA Software and Portfolio for JIRA
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ABN AMRO transitioned from traditional waterfall projects to agile working over two years, growing from 1 to 400 agile teams. They implemented JIRA to manage issues but initially struggled with scaling. They restructured teams into grids and blocks, created portfolio levels in JIRA, and implemented portfolio management in JIRA to improve alignment across teams and gain insights. Key learnings included making an agile transition, creating a vision for JIRA configuration, providing training, and using portfolio features for cross-team work.
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Scaling Agile with JIRA Software and Portfolio for JIRA
- 1. Scaling Agile with JIRA Software & Portfolio for JIRA From 1 to 400 teams in two years RIK DE VALK & DENNIS STRUIS | PRODUCT OWNERS | ABN AMRO
- 2. Agenda ABN AMRO in a nutshell Agile transition for ABN AMRO Portfolio management goes Agile From chaos to insight with JIRA Scaling with JIRA Portfolio
- 3. ABN AMRO in a nutshell A short introduction into our banking history
- 4. ABN AMRO Bank of today
- 5. ABN AMRO is a leading bank with an operating income of 8588 million 21,664 employees Servicing retail, private and corporate finances worldwide Headquartered in Amsterdam Since 1720
- 6. ABN AMRO is a leading bank with an operating income of 8588 million 21,664 employees Servicing retail, private and corporate finances worldwide Headquartered in Amsterdam Since 1720
- 7. ABN AMRO is a leading bank with an operating income of 8588 million 21,664 employees Servicing retail, private and corporate finances worldwide Headquartered in Amsterdam Since 1720
- 8. Agenda ABN AMRO in a nutshell Agile transition for ABN AMRO Portfolio management goes Agile From chaos to insight with JIRA Scaling with Portfolio for JIRA
- 9. AGILE TRANSITION Waterfall Full Agile enterpriseTraditional Enterprise, Agile teams
- 10. AGILE TRANSITION Waterfall Full Agile enterpriseTraditional Enterprise, Agile teams
- 11. Agenda ABN AMRO in a nutshell Agile transition for ABN AMRO Portfolio management goes Agile From chaos to insight with JIRA Scaling with Portfolio for JIRA
- 12. Over engineering Priority is set on project level, resulting in low value requirements being worked on Late and little feedback Feedback is a late stage, risking rework. Inflexible Scope and requirements are fixed and are controlled via budget Challenges with traditional projects Requirements outdated Long time between requirements setting and developing results
- 13. Over engineering Priority is set on project level, resulting in low value requirements being worked on Late and little feedback Feedback is a late stage, risking rework. Inflexible Scope and requirements are fixed and are controlled via budget Challenges with traditional projects Requirements outdated Long time between requirements setting and developing results
- 14. Over engineering Priority is set on project level, resulting in low value requirements being worked on Late and little feedback Feedback is a late stage, risking rework. Inflexible Scope and requirements are fixed and are controlled via budget Challenges with traditional projects Requirements outdated Long time between requirements setting and developing results
- 15. Over engineering Priority is set on project level, resulting in low value requirements being worked on Late and little feedback Feedback is a late stage, risking rework. Inflexible Scope and requirements are fixed and are controlled via budget Challenges with traditional projects Requirements outdated Long time between requirements setting and developing results
- 16. Funding Agile teams directly Project-based funding, executing Agile EASY FIX FULL SHIFT IN MANAGEMENT
- 17. Funding Agile teams directly Project-based funding, executing Agile EASY FIX FULL SHIFT IN MANAGEMENT
- 18. 400 teams working on IT Change portfolio
- 19. Agenda ABN AMRO in a nutshell Agile transition for ABN AMRO Portfolio management goes Agile From chaos to insight with JIRA Scaling with Portfolio for JIRA
- 20. 2500 users 50 admins March 5000 users 65 admins June 500 users 15 admins August Second cloud licenseJIRA introduced (cloud license) 70 issuetypes 500 statuses 800 workflows 15 issuetypes 25 statuses 30 workflows
- 21. 2500 users 50 admins March 5000 users 65 admins June 500 users 15 admins August Second cloud licenseJIRA introduced (cloud license) 70 issuetypes 500 statuses 800 workflows 15 issuetypes 25 statuses 30 workflows
- 22. 65 admins Causing chaos in way of working Scaling issues Dependencies remained vague and issues were incomparable Growth limited Server limitations and security concernsJIRA had to be re-managed
- 23. 65 admins Causing chaos in way of working Scaling issues Dependencies remained vague and issues were incomparable Growth limited Server limitations and security concernsJIRA had to be re-managed
- 24. 65 admins Causing chaos in way of working Scaling issues Dependencies remained vague and issues were incomparable Growth limited Server limitations and security concernsJIRA had to be re-managed
- 25. One JIRA team to rule them all BlueprintsMigrate & Configure Support & Training JIRA DEDICATION TEAM
- 26. 5000 users 65 admins June Second cloud license 70 issuetypes 500 statuses 800 workflows 6 000 users 40 admins December Private Cloud 70 issuetypes 500 statuses 800 workflows 10 000 users 10 admins May 30 issuetypes 40 statuses 200 workflows
- 28. Migrate & Configure DATACENTER ORACLE DB LOAD BALANCER MIGRATION
- 29. SUPPORT & TRAINING 30,000 Visits each month 8.000 members Following our online community 200 support questions Monthly via Issue Collector
- 30. 2000 Users in classroom training
- 31. Creating a call-out Highlight an area of a screenshot to ensure that your audience can focus on the area you want them to see.
- 32. Creating a call-out Highlight an area of a screenshot to ensure that your audience can focus on the area you want them to see.
- 33. Creating a call-out Highlight an area of a screenshot to ensure that your audience can focus on the area you want them to see.
- 34. But how do we align all these teams?
- 35. Agenda ABN AMRO in a nutshell Agile transition for ABN AMRO Portfolio management goes Agile From chaos to insight with JIRA Scaling with Portfolio for JIRA
- 36. Blocks Autonomy by having as many skills as possible within each block (team) Grids Autonomy by having Blocks with shared objectives and interdependencies organised together within a Grid Team Structure within ABN AMRO
- 37. Grid structure Value Enabling Block Value Delivery Block Value Proposition Block Grid owner
- 38. Two new levels for issue types
- 41. Grid level boards All Episodes for this Grid Portfolio workflow Saga/Parent context
- 42. Grid level boards All Episodes for this Grid Portfolio workflow Saga/Parent context
- 43. Grid level boards All Episodes for this Grid Portfolio workflow Saga/Parent context
- 44. Grid level boards All Episodes for this Grid Portfolio workflow Saga/Parent context
- 45. Portfolio scaling benefits Release Management Long term planning Dependencies ‘What if’ scenarios
- 46. Portfolio scaling benefits Release Management Long term planning Dependencies ‘What if’ scenarios
- 47. Portfolio scaling benefits Release Management Long term planning Dependencies ‘What if’ scenarios
- 48. Portfolio scaling benefits Release Management Long term planning Dependencies ‘What if’ scenarios
- 49. Portfolio scaling benefits Release Management Long term planning Dependencies ‘What if’ scenarios
- 50. Key Takeaways
- 51. Agile transition is the key. TAKEAWAY #1
- 52. Create a vision for your JIRA configuration. TAKEAWAY #2
- 54. Portfolio as a next step for cross-team alignment and insight. TAKEAWAY #4
- 55. Thank you RIK DE VALK & DENNIS STRUIS | PRODUCT OWNERS | ABN AMRO
Editor's Notes
- Happy to be here….. and share our story of the transformation to Agile with the help of JIRA Software and Portfolio of JIRA Next to me is Rik de Valk and my name is Dennis Struis. Both working for ABN AMRO in the Netherlands.
- We would like to start with a short introduction of ABN AMRO. We keep this as short as possible because we would like to focus on sharing our story of using JIRA Agile.
- Lets start with the short introduction of ABN AMRO
- ABN AMRO serves retail, private and corporate banking clients with a primary focus on the Netherlands and with selective operations internationally. In the Netherlands, clients are offered a full range of products and services through multiple channels including advanced mobile application and internet banking.
- Our long-term strategy stands firm: We are client oriented; We invest in the future; We maintain a moderate risk profile; We pursue sustainable growth.
- We are creating an environment in which innovation and co-creation are the key. But there’s also a lot of innovation going on in the world around us, and we have much to gain from teaming up with others. In June 2016 we opened the innovation centre for Fintechs and start-ups to meet with our employees in this independent environment and to develop and test ideas together.
- Headquarter in most beautiful city of the world. Amsterdam.
- Besides making our bank more future-fit with the transformation to Agile, the agile way of working benefits our employees: it gives them more autonomy and end-to-end responsibility and creates an environment in which innovation and co-creation is possible. And its has proven that it increased the job satisfaction within our company. But to give you an idea on our progress in this transformation to Agile till so far… the complete IT organization of ABN AMRO is working Agile already. Currently we are rolling the Agile way of working in our business departments
- We are still on a journey with our Agile transition. And this road to a full Agile Enterprise organization is not that straight as it looks like. I would say it has many ups and downs and sometimes you even have to take a step back before you can do a step forward
- Rik will tell you more about how Portfolio Management goes Agile
- ABN AMRO comes from an era of managing traditional waterfall projects. Many successful changes have been implemented using this way of working. But we’ve learned that it poses some challenges as well. Let’s have a closer look at what a project actually is. A project is: a predefined scope and requirements worth around 12 months of work for 15 FTE This scope and set of requirements are locked up in project documentation and is controlled mostly via budget Changes to these packages do not come easy: Scope documentation and requirements have to be adjusted, as well as planning, cost forecasts et cetera. Approval by decision making committees are required (Steering Committee, Portfolio Board, Architecture Board)
- The Business Case and project priority is set on the total project including all of its requirements. The project manager and project team are committed to delivery all of the requirements. As a result people will work on requirements with lower value than other requirements just because these are part of a project with a total higher priority.
- The project takes roughly one year Feedback on results very late in the project. Risking a lot of rework, wasted effort and money.
- Long time between setting requirements and developing results in delivering irrelevant features
- ABN AMRO considered different models: Funding projects, but executing Agile. Benefits: easy adaptation and acceptance from management (because of similarity of steering mechanism), fast feedback, requirements always up-to-date. Disadvantage: team not open to requirements outside project scope, even if these are more valuable. So still not delivering optimal value. Funding Agile teams, disconnected from any initiative. Benefits: all benefits that Agile brings. Disadvantage: huge shift in steering mechanism by management. Feeling of loss of control.
- ABN AMRO doesn’t have a project administration anymore; no project budgets Agile teams have an annual budget for their people and technology Pre-funding Agile Teams These teams are organised around products and capabilities; not around initiatives – as much as possible The budget per team (product / capability) is established through analysing demand There is an inventory of demand expressed in ‘portfolio epics’ Estimates of effort per domain (group of Agile teams) are done per portfolio epic
- Currently we have around 400 Agile teams working on IT Change within ABN AMRO.
- When we started with the first Agile teams, it was a request from the teams itself to start using JIRA to facilitate the Scrum processes, have an overview of the backlog and share the progress with Offshore teammembers. When we introduced JIRA Agile we started on a cloud license with a maximum capacity of 500 users. And a couple of months later we reached already the maximum capacity of 2500 We started in this journey a bit naïf I would say. Giving as much of autonomy to the users and teams. But many did not even where participated in the Agile transformation and created workflows based on Prince2 We did not realized what will be the impact for the organization and went for the We thought lets give everyone who ask for it the admin rights.
- Less then a year it took to reach 5000 users in JIRA and 65 Admins created together around 70 issue types and 500 statuses and over 800 workflows.
- JIRA had to be re-managed mostly because of 3 important reasons Limitations of the current infrastructure and also security concerns
- 65 admins that causing chaos in the way of working To often it happened that one of these 65 admins changed the name of a field or issue type that impacted all the projects
- With 400 teams and many dependencies there was a need to insight and overview on a higher level.
- We introduced a JIRA Dedication team And with help of many Product Owners and Scrum Masters we agreed on a list of issue-types, screens and fields that we implemented as a blueprint for ABN AMRO With so many people we want to be able to be as visible as possible. And not only a team that creates rules or blueprints. So we introduces Spocs in every IT Unit. Called JIRA WIZARDS. And it sounds funny but their work was really magical. Not only the are the eyes and ears and so visible but also can give us input and we can help them . The Dedication team implemented JIRA on a server version instead of a cloud version implemented blueprints for all software development teams, helped with the configuration of new and existing projects and.
- Expecting outcome in May
- The new setup was required to enable scaling and to cope with the increasing use of JIRA in ABN AMRO. Essentially the upgrade means that it’s no longer a single-server instance, but instead it will run on two servers with a load balancer to divide the pressure. The traffic can be flowed into two parallel lanes instead of the one we now have. This also means that when a single lane is jammed, the traffic can still flow through the other lane. As the growth of our JIRA user base continues we see a real need for increased performance, better uptime and better resistance against performance hungry tasks like bulk changes.
- Created a platform for: News updates Support request of the Dedication team And also basic tutorials of JIRA within ABN AMRO
- Trained 2000 people in classroom training on: Basic Jira (combined training with the Agile way of working) Advanced, More for the need of Scrum Masters Dashboard, Also Scrum Masters or anyone who is interested Portfolio. Product Owners or Chief Product Owners…
- Multiple flavors of the Issue type Schemes
- Workflow based on needs of the team
- Screens and fields congured with blueprints and easy to still add fields based on the needs of a single team.
- So the challenges around scaling for us have been about finding the balance between autonomy and chaos when it comes to JIRA configuration. We found ways to allow teams to have enough freedom to optimise their ways of working, while still keeping JIRA easy to maintain, easy to support and performing well. The final part of our story is also about alignment and autonomy. But this time it is about alignment on what the teams deliver
- Rik The most important aspect of creating alignment is communication and collaboration. Creating a shared vision, defining shared objectives and planning towards those shared objectives is only possible if people interact with eachother on a daily basis. This applies to individual teams, but is just as important across multiple teams. So I want to briefly explain two terms we use in ABN AMRO: Grids and Blocks. A Block is an Agile Team We aim to have all the skills in a Block to autonomously deliver value to our customers. But in a complex organisation, full autonomy is impossible. There are many interdependencies and shared services. Therefore we cluster multiple Blocks into Grids. A Grid is a set of Blocks that work towards shared objectives and deliver a set of related capabilities. Again the aim is to have as much autonomy as possible within the Grid. So we put all Blocks in a Grid that are required to autonomously achieve the Grid strategy.
- A Grid has a Grid Owner, who develops the Grid strategy and works with the Blocks to deliver on this strategy. As you can see there can be different types of Blocks in a Grid. Most Blocks are Value Delivery Blocks; they directly deliver customer value. But we also distinguish some other types of blocks. These can be to deliver technologies that are shared across multiple products. Or there Blocks that perform activities to improve the flow across multiple Value Delivery Blocks.
- So the most important solution in creating alignment is to organise around value delivering Blocks. But we also needed a way to plan and track initiatives that span across multiple Blocks and even multiple Grids. To do this we introduced a hierarchy of backlog items. A User Story is a feature that is delivered by 1 Block in 1 Sprint. An Epic is a feature or set of features that is delivered by 1 Block over multiple Sprints. >> The User Stories and Epics live on the Backlog of a Block and are owned by the Product Owner. An Episode is an initiative that requires multiple Blocks from 1 Grid to work together on its delivery. >> An Episode lives on a Grid backlog and is owned by the Grid Owner. And a Saga is an initiative that requires multiple Grids to cooperate to achieve its objectives. >> A Saga lives on a Business Line backlog and is owned by the Business Line manager.
- JIRA Software comes with User Stories and Epics. Here you see an Epic. And in this example Epic you can see the User Stories that belong to this Epic. But with Portfolio for JIRA we are also able to define an Epics Parent. The Parent Link field, similarly to the Epic Link field, shows that this Epic is part of a bigger initiative. In our case an Episode.
- Here you also see the Episode. And you can see its child Epics. Plus you can see that this Episode itself is part of a bigger initiative. In our case: a Saga.
- Each Grid has its own JIRA Project. In this project they manage their Backlog of Episodes. Any Block can link Epics to the Episodes of this Grid.
- A Grid translates its strategy into objectives and defines the Episodes required to achieve these objectives. On their Grid backlog in JIRA they create, refine, prioritise, plan and track their Episodes.
- The Episodes are managed through a lifecycle from new ideas to Episodes ‘ready for Blocks to be implemented’ and finally to implemented solutions. Workflows have been defined for Episodes to perform activities such as: Capturing the initial idea, Determining the value (with a light-weight business case or using Weighted Shortest Job First) Exploring solution scenarios
- Most Episodes are part of Saga’s. A Saga can be from the parent Business Line. But Grids also have to deliver Episodes for Saga’s from other Business Lines. That’s just the complexity of a large corporation. This Parent Saga directly makes it clear what the context of an Episode is.
- So Portfolio for JIRA has already helped in creating alignment by having these Parent Links. But this is just the beginning. Having 5 to 25 teams with individual backlogs and sprints and keeping all of these aligned is still challenging. This is where Portfolio Plans come in. All of these backlogs - the Grid backlog and the backlogs of all the Blocks within a Grid – come together in a Portfolio Plan. First of all: these Plans create a very good insight in what all Blocks within the Grid are working on. And the relation between all of this.
- Grids can jointly plan their releases. Using shared releases, or by simply aligning what goes into which individual release.
- Based on Team velocity, estimates from JIRA Software and release dates, realistic predictions can be made about delivery.
- Conflicts in dependencies can be easily identified.
- And what-if scenarios are used to assess the impact of new features, changed priorities or changed release dates.
- JIRA Supports the Agile way of working, but key within the organisation is the Agile transition and this requires not a tool but a mindset.
- We have changed our approach a lot on how to do the configuration the best possible way and we did not expect that we grow so fast to the number of users we have now. But
- Training helped in a better understanding of JIRA
- Portfolio is giving us more insight and alignment between multiple teams or grids.