Agile Transformation Improves Speed to Market

Client

Ladbrokes Coral is the oldest British-based sports betting and gambling company in the UK. Part of GVC Holdings, it is among the largest online betting and gambling companies in the world.
Popularity for gambling and sports betting spreads each year, thus a digital platform that can meet high expectations of users in a fiercely competitive and highly regulated industry is essential.

Challenges

When Ladbrokes Coral came to Symphony Solutions in 2014, they had been operating in a more traditional way and expressed the need to adopt Lean Agile principles to increase release, speed to market, productivity, and revenue.

“By the time we got something, it was already out of date”

Coral Head of Trading

Solution

“Lean Agile,” says Kseniya Kobryn, Chief Agile Officer at Symphony Solutions, “is a mindset, a culture, a way of seeing and being,” though Agile is often associated with:

• A set of principles;
• A move from a traditional organizational structure to multiple cross-functional autonomous teams;
• An improved way of working in quick iterations to accelerate change, increase time to market, and build revenue.

Symphony Solutions’ Lean Agile Consultants worked closely with clients and internal teams to help guide business and engineering through their Agile journeys. Symphony Solutions:

1. Implemented SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework);
2. Trained and certified teams in various relevant roles;
3. Consulted and coached clients in their scaling and growth.

Coaching

After planning, the coaches worked with teams through sprints and helped them adjust to a new way of working. For the Symphony-Coral group of 12 teams, the Consultant spent:

• 9 months through Implementation;
• 3 months in a Support role;
• 4 – 8 hours per week on a continuing basis.

“Implementation of Agile process and instruments allowed us to build and drive better business, a better product for our customer”

Coral Head of Trading

Result

1.Agile reduced time to market in SDLC from 50 days to 18 days and massively increased delivery.

2.“Teams and businesses are aligned, and everyone is pointed in the same direction” (Coral Product Development Manager).

3.Agile values helped to improve “delivery, understanding and visibility” for Coral products (Coral Head of Training).

Symphony Solutions’ Offshore Development Center for Ladbrokes Coral keeps growing. Lean Agile continues to be a crucial component to the success of this and other important clients. In fact, Symphony Solutions LACE group of dedicated change agents as part of full-cycle Agile transformation services helps clients to adopt Lean-Agile practices beyond just software development to all other departments such as HR, Finance, Marketing, and Leadership.