Engagement Summary
The wholesale banking technology organization of a top 10 global commercial bank engaged Monticello Consulting Group (MCG) in early 2019 to analyze and improve the efficiency of Agile processes across the Treasury Data organization according to Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) best practices. The goal was to eliminate any redundant efforts, create more controlled project intake and reporting functions, and identify opportunities to improve the existing SAFe processes. MCG spent time observing, interviewing, and understanding the Treasury Data team’s goals and challenges. During the current state review, it was noted that most aspects of the SAFe framework were implemented and functioning adequately. However, management would gain the most benefits from 1) properly aligning their data model to known business capabilities, 2) implementing a more comprehensive project intake and prioritization process, and 3) creating an accurate metrics reporting framework to better highlight projects at risk, over/under utilized teams, and future program increment planning.
Case Study Detail
Capability Model
MCG met with Treasury Data management and key data domain stakeholders to understand the primary consumers of treasury data and the overall data strategy of the organization. Based on those discussions, the MCG team mapped data and business domains to business capabilities supported by the Treasury Data team. The resulting capability model promotes a shared understanding of data and stakeholders and is used as a basis for how to structure teams, prioritizing data provisioning requests, and scoping work. It also aligns with the strategic goals of the organization when it comes to the availability and provisioning of data globally.
Intake and Prioritization
The team observed that due to the high volume of treasury data provisioning requests coming from across the Wholesale Banking enterprise there were opportunities for improvement regarding the management of intake, prioritization, and viability assessments of work before it even reached the product owners, development teams, and product backlog. To improve the efficiency of data request management, MCG created a project intake and prioritization model for data requests which included a detailed end-to-end process flow and supporting team structure with roles and responsibilities. The intake and prioritization model enabled the Treasury Data team to engage the right data domain experts, map it to a business capability, and prioritize it against the project backlog.
Reporting Framework
As per Agile SAFe principles, the client had organized development efforts into time-boxed sprints within defined program increments. The sprint structure was working adequately, however, there was no mechanism to report accurate project status to upper management to properly forecast for future budget cycles and monitor against current budget limitations. To address this, MCG implemented Sprint Burndown and Velocity metrics along with Program Increment level reporting to keep key stakeholders up to date on overall delivery timelines and provide an executive level view into the accomplishments of the Treasury Data team and their integral role with provisioning data across the enterprise.
Business Value
Monticello’s team, through a continuous partnership with Treasury Data and operations teams, positioned our client for success by identifying opportunities to create efficiencies by applying SAFe principles and eliminate weak processes. Our program management, governance and software delivery experience, end-to-end process understanding, and timely execution supported the client’s goal of continuously improving its current Agile SAFe software delivery capabilities.
