This is a case study presented by Orit Karlin, a development manager in Nokia-Siemens Networks and Aviram Eisenberg, Agile Coach from Ignite. It ellaborates the success and challenges when assimilating Agile in a large organization like NSN

1. Agile Transformation in NSN
Orit Karlin
2010 October

2. Content
Overview
NSN - ID
Moving to Agile in NSN Motivation
Main Challenges in moving to Agile
The Agile Transition process
The Transition Status: Achievements and
challenges
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

3. Overview – Transition in a big company
A Transition is mandatory in a Big and
Successful companies.
A transition in a big company is much harder
than in a small company…
IBM PC 1983
The first from
1981
Rainbow Digital 1982

4. NSN - ID
Name Nokia Siemens Networks
Fact Second largest telecommunications equipment supplier in the
world
Date 19 June 2006
Established joint venture between Siemens’s com division and Nokia
Network Business group
Operations In about 150 countries
Employees About 60,000
Location 5 central hubs: Finland, Germany, India, China and Portugal
World Leading
Products
MBB, LTE, Building the best Network that will support best the
future smartphones
Customer base More than 1,400 customers in 150 countries
Revenues More than 12.5 billion Euro

5. NSN – Sales in India

6. NSN – The Israeli site
More than 300 employees
Most from R&D and Research departments
 Networking experts
Most from Packet Networks Business Line
Managing Beijing development center
Merge of Seabridg – Siemens and ATRICA
Dror Nemorivsky- Head of Packet Networks
and the Site
•

7. Moving to Agile in NSN – Motivation
Top Management Decision in NSN
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin
Agile is indeed crossing the chasm
….and its starting to show

8. Agile Motivation – Water FAll advantages
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin
 WF advantages in a big
Organizations:
 Planning is possible
 Monitoring is possible
 Organization structure is clear
 Global management is possible
 Commitment to the customers

9. Agile Motivation – Agile advantages
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin
 Agile advantages in a big Organizations:
 Focuses on the customer needs
 Shorter development cycle
 Better quality
 Being Flexible for changes
 Delivering to the market a relevant product

10. Main Challenges in the Agile Transition in NSN
1/3
“Start-Ups” in a one big company
Departments that are not part of the organization
Having Non-Agile Organizational Structure
Teams outside the transition
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

11. Main Challenges in the Agile Transition in NSN
2/3
Global Agile development
Changing the Organization personality
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

12. Main Challenges in the Agile Transition in NSN
3/3
Global process
Coachers from different cultures
The managers are between a rock and a hard place
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

13. Agile implementation in NSN – Consulting
A local consulting company:
 Agile not as a “Religion”
 Not a “training company”
 Expert in SW development process
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

14. Agile implementation in NSN – Step Wise
Step Wise approach
 Birth and youth phase
 Convincing and training
 Pilots
 Keeping the existing organizational structure
 Self contain and centralize features
 The top management are involved
 Partial Multidisciplinary Scrum teams
 MOO
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

15. Agile implementation in NSN – N
Step Wise approach
 Maturity phase
 Expansion of the MOO
 The organization terminology is changed
 Good results from the first phase and conclusions
 The whole development is in Agile mode
 More cooperation from different departments
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

16. Agile implementation current status
Separated Scrum teams in IL and BJN
Agile planning:
 Currently 55% of the development is in Agile
 80% will be until 06/11
 90% will be until 12/11
The organization structure is not changed
Most of the departments are involved in the
process
The testing is not involved enough
PO from Marketing 
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

17. PO
Scrum
Teams
Daily work
-technical discussion
-changed content
-Architecture
-Development : code & documents
-Testing
The environment Deliverables:
• Translating “Programs”
into Sprint Deliverables
• Align and agree features
• Prioritize Product Backlog
Selected Model - Scrum teams environment
Verification
Scrum environment
RM
Marketing
Program

18. Agile Enablement Approach
Define initial methodology
Choose the pilot wisely
Minimize the problem
Identify change-leaders - empowerment
Identify pockets of objections – WIFM
Tweak as you go
Celebrate success, learn the lessons
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

19. The Achievements
Within second sprint actual vs. planned gap is
small
Better visibility of project status
Maintain predictability/forecast
Demonstratable intermediate deliveries
Better quality in intermediate deliveries
Prioritization works
Lesser islands of knowledge
Team expresses satisfaction
Get marketing on-board
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

20. Upcoming Challenges
Full QA integration
Continuous integration
Integrated stream
Reduce islands of knowledge
Distributed Scrum
Scrum of scrums
Team expresses satisfaction
NSN Israel SW Dev. Status Orit Karlin

21. Thank you
Orit.karlin@nsn.com
Head of program NSN & Juniper JV