SAFe with Atlassian tools: Fast Agile Hive implementation

SAFe with Atlassian Tools & Agile Hive

From the project kick-off until the first PI planning, we zipped through our process to prepare for the big planning meeting within a month! Both the customer and our team are proud of the end result: a fully functional implementation of SAFe in Jira and a successful remote PI Planning. But what made this project so successful? Which factors were involved in making the implementation project so fast? I'd like to share our experiences with you, and it would be great if we could use what we've learned from this and put that into future projects.

Focus & clear, methodical processes

From the very beginning, we set ourselves a hard deadline. All our teams were working remotely due to our current situation. Our PI planning date was looming, and a delay was out of the question. With this pressure and focus, we set out on this project always keeping our eye on the prize: the finish line.

Agile hive is there to map SAFe. Certain artifacts, workflows, and mechanisms are developed with "SAFe by the book" in mind. The closer an organization works within the framework, the easier the configuration of our App and its base Jira instance is.

The customer could immediately provide us with the team structure, iterations, cadences as well as all required artifacts and thus Jira process types for the used SAFe levels. Methodically, everything was clear and unambiguous at all times. While in some kick-off workshops we had to invest a lot of time in the question "What exactly do we need?", here we were able to conclude the exchange in a relaxed manner after only about three efficient hours.

Done is better than perfect

I fondly remember a statement that was made again and again: "We don't want or need to win a beauty contest with it." Our goal was not perfection at every turn. Instead, it was about getting a well-functioning system up and running - and as quickly as possible.

The "done is better than perfect" ideology from Mark Zuckerberg was the means to an end here. This attitude helped us to decide quickly and not to discuss every last detail. "Keep it simple" was not an empty phrase, but really guided us.

Objectively speaking, I have to admit that at this speed we were not able to carry out all the things we'd discussed in our PI planning. For example, PI Objectives were initially only half-way implemented in the tool and will only be available in the coming PI. However, this half-way implementation at a technically essential but structurally not very decisive point has hardly taken away any of the dynamics and effectiveness of PI planning.

Last-minute decisions

We had exactly one contact person on the customer's end. He was capable of making decisions on his own, and in individual cases, he was able to coordinate internally. We had a clear answer to all queries within one day. Impressive for a large company!

It was certainly helpful here that all questions - from a methodological standpoint - were already perfectly aligned with the SAFe framework as described. As a result, the decisions were primarily concerned with the technical configuration and not with the organization or working methods of the teams. We were able to match the high level of commitment on the part of the customer and planned and handled the project with high priority from our side as well.

For example, we were able to carry out parallel configurations with several consultants in the core phases. This meant that a large part of the work was completed in just a few days.

Quick access to the infrastructure

As an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner, we offer our customers all services related to their Atlassian systems. This means that service management, hosting, operation, and app development complement each other effectively and efficiently.

Here in the project, the systems remain with us - with hosting, operation, and licenses. This made it easy for us to access the infrastructure quickly. During configuration, we were able to restore backups and copy the systems back and forth between the test and production environments in the shortest possible time. The IT environment, in combination with a good backup strategy and internal specialists for the operation of Atlassian systems, certainly saved us a lot of valuable time.

Closing thoughts

Every project can be successful, regardless of the desired time frame - partnership and commitment on both sides are crucial. And if need be, we are happy to take up the challenge again of implementing a project in a month. We are also happy to support you in implementing Agile Hive SAFe with Atlassian tools.

SAFe® with Atlassian tools: Get to know Agile Hive now!

Would you like to know more about Agile Hive and the software-supported implementation of SAFe®? We would be happy to discuss your requirements for enterprise-wide agile product development and product management with you. Take a look at the documentation for our Implementation Project to see the overview of what an implementation would entail.

Get in touch with us today and let us demonstrate how it works in a personal session.

SAFe with Atlassian Tools – Our fastest Agile Hive implementation yet!