Agile transformation and its implementation in large corporate institutions

Abstract

[Context] Agile transformation is a growing trend not only in software development companies, but recently also in traditional corporate environments. Waterfall-based strategies may no longer keep pace with the current business environment which may demand for an accelerated software delivery process and the ability to manage ever-changing customer priorities. In order to maintain their presence on the market, an increasing number of corporate environments tend to transition to the agile way of working, which affords ground for incremental iterative development, ability to respond to change as well as supporting continuous integration and continuous delivery.

[Objective] The purpose of this study is to explore current trends in implementing agile transformation in large corporate institutions from a consulting firms’ point of view. Specifically, the thesis is focused on understanding the approach of the consultants towards the agile transformation in large corporate institutions as well as investigating their overall experience with agile transformation and agile transformation frameworks, which represent the background of the thesis.

[Method] A qualitative exploratory case study was conducted. The research questions related to the usage of agile transformation frameworks in practice as well as the challenges that consultants encounter are answered based on 10 semi-structured interviews with individual consultants. A validation survey was also conducted, to validate the found results.

[Results/Conclusion] The results show that the agile transformation frameworks, as presented in literature, are not usually used in practice by consultants, nevertheless the consultants are often using the transformation elements of the target agile frameworks that are to-be implemented at the target company, e.g. SAFe. They further say that every agile transformation needs to be tailor-made for a specific target company, based on its needs, values and attributes. The consultants do not usually follow a strict schema when implementing an agile transformation at a large corporate institution, and they also mentioned several issues with the implementation. The most prevalent points are related to the topics of (1) Challenges with People and (2) Challenges with Organizational Structure.