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Agile Transformation for a Global Payments Leader
Delivering Predictable Business Agility Across a 25-Team, Multi-Region Omnichannel Program
Client Overview
The client is a global leader in payment solutions, building an omnichannel platform designed to unify and replace multiple regional products. The program consisted of more than 20 interdependent components across six geographical regions, all contributing to customer market commitments.
With teams spread across time zones and operating under varied delivery models, leadership required execution certainty—across teams, components, and the overall portfolio. They partnered with NextAgile to introduce organisation-wide business agility, improve predictability, and ensure reliable delivery of a business-critical program.
Business Challenges
The organisation faced significant structural and delivery challenges that impacted alignment, predictability, and time-to-market:
Fragmented Ways of Working
Teams operated on varied cadences and hybrid models without shared frameworks, impacting consistency.
Unclear Prioritisation
Lack of unified intake processes at the portfolio level led to unpredictable work flow.
Complex Interdependencies
Managing 20+ component dependencies increased risk and delivery uncertainty across teams.
Limited Data-Driven Insights
Sparse use of Agile metrics hindered forecasting, bottleneck anticipation, and informed decision-making.
Demand for Predictable Delivery
Leadership required consistent planning, visibility, and dependency management to meet market commitments.
Cultural Alignment & Role Clarity
Ensured clear roles for Product Owners, Scrum Masters, engineering, and portfolio leadership across teams.
The client needed a scalable transformation approach to harmonise delivery practices, manage dependencies across regions, and create predictable flow across the entire omnichannel solution.
Our Approach
NextAgile executed a structured, multi-layered transformation leveraging role-based coaching, portfolio-level operating models, and coordinated execution frameworks.
- Conducted Agile maturity assessments across 22 component teams and six regions.
- Reviewed portfolio intake processes, dependency workflows, and cross-team collaboration mechanisms.
- Analysed existing metrics, ceremonies, and tooling to identify gaps in predictability and flow.
- Partnered with leadership to define success criteria centred on transparency, predictability, and time-to-market.
- Designed a unified business agility operating model covering team, program, and portfolio layers.
- Introduced structured discovery sessions to size work, identify dependencies, estimate timelines, and define the initial backlog.
- Established role-based expectations for Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and engineering leads to promote clarity and accountability.
- Introduced a Portfolio Kanban system to visualise value flow and enable prioritisation based on capacity, dependencies, and customer commitments.
- Trained and coached 130+ engineers across 22 component teams for 12 months through paired coaching.
- Implemented Scrum for delivery teams with synchronised cadences to manage dependencies and align increments.
- Introduced SAFe-aligned practices such as Scrum of Scrums for cross-team coordination and risk management.
- Created Agile Centres of Excellence (COEs) to enable cross-pollination of practices and develop internal capabilities.
Enabled role-specific coaching for 10 Product Owners and 20 Scrum Masters to strengthen leadership within teams.
- Set up agile information radiators and physical boards to enhance team-level transparency.
- Introduced key team-level metrics such as Burndown, Velocity, Control Chart, and Cumulative Flow Diagram.
- Built dashboards for dependency tracking, throughput, flow efficiency, and predictability.
- Equipped the portfolio team with metrics required for forecasting and milestone confidence.
- Implemented Kanban systems for external dependencies and work-in-progress visibility.
- Adopted a structured Pilot → Stabilise → Scaletransformation approach to validate, refine, and expand practices.
- Synchronized sprint cycles across more than 20 component teams to enable seamless program-level planning and coordination.
- Conducted Agility Health Assessments to measure maturity progression and inform coaching focus areas.
- Institutionalised continuous improvement through regional reviews, inter-team retrospectives, and governance forums.
Impact & Outcomes
Within the transformation period, the client achieved significant business agility improvements across teams, components, and the overall portfolio:
High Delivery Success
Achieved 95% on-time delivery for a critical omnichannel program.
Unified Agile Operating Model
Standardised processes across 22 component teams, reducing friction and promoting alignment.
Clear Roles & Ownership
Product Owners and Scrum Masters drove prioritisation, accountability, and decision-making.
Predictable Planning Cycles
Synchronised sprints and structured discovery sessions enhanced execution reliability.
Enhanced Visibility & Risk Control
Unified dashboards and program-level metrics enabled proactive monitoring and mitigation.
Improved Collaboration & Flow
Scrum of Scrums, portfolio Kanban, and coordinated reviews strengthened cross-region delivery and efficiency.
The transformation created execution certainty at every level—from teams to portfolio leadership—establishing a scalable business agility foundation for future programs.
Testimonial
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