As Agile adoption increased over the last decade, many organizations confront challenges in scaling. What often starts with a grassroots adoption of Atlassian needs to amplify from just a team of teams to a true train, program, or tribe.
To effectively scale and mature, companies need to coordinate work across multiple initiatives, with multiple teams sharing a unified backlog while applying standardization or best practices as they move from initiative to initiative.
And to get there, you need the right Atlassian tool foundation in place from the outset and a clear path forward.
Join us as our presenters, Brandon Huff, VP-Atlassian Solutions, and Tina Behers, Delivery Director-Business Agility, share insights into how to effectively harness Atlassian Jira and Jira Align as the engines of your agile transformation at scale.
In this session, we'll explore:
• The agile scaling challenges organizations face with aligning to Atlassian tools and how to mitigate them
• How to build solid foundations for your Atlassian deployment and adjust as you go
• How to configure Jira to optimally support Jira Align
• How to determine which scaling solution is best for your current specific needs and objectives
3. OUR SPEAKER
TINA BEHERS, Delivery Director, Business Agility, Cprime
• Formerly Sr. Director, Solution Architecture – Jira Align
• 30 years' successful experience in Transformation &
Organizational Development, Business Process Management,
Program & Project Management, Transformation and
Corporate Strategy
• Passionate about helping people achieve their best
• Most quotable quote: “You can’t scale crazy!”
4. OUR SPEAKER
BRANDON HUFF, VP, Atlassian Services, Cprime
• Drives solution design, agile transformations, software
development, infrastructure, and process development
projects for Cprime's Fortune 500 clients
• Has over a decade of experience in Agile coaching
• Has designed and configured hundreds of Atlassian instances
• Pioneered the first Atlassian University courses and
implemented the industry's first Atlassian SAFe solution
5. AGENDA
01 THE AGILE NEED
02 ATLASSIAN OPTIONS
03 SCALING FUNCTIONALITY NEEDS
04 COMPARING THE OPTIONS
05 CONSIDERATIONS
6. THE AGILE AT SCALE NEED
• Prioritization between
levels
• Alignment from Strategy
> Work and Work >
Strategy
• Business and technical
teams in sync
• Single point of truth
throughout the
organization
• Bi Modal Planning and
Delivery
• Align planning and
estimating practices
ALIGNMENT GOVERNANCE
• Manage risks and
dependencies across
teams
• Scope and estimate
are consistent
• Real-time insights for
quick response
• The right metrics for
all levels
PREDICTABILITY
7. AGILE AT SCALE SOLUTIONS TO MEET YOUR NEEDS
Jira Align
Jira Software
Cloud
SAFe Add-ons
SAFe SCALE
Jira Software
Data Center
Jira Software
Cloud or
Data Center
SAFe Add-ons
SAFeFUNCTIONALITY
8. WHAT ATLASSIAN SELLS
Customer profile:
• 200 - 500 Jira Users
• S/M business
• Single business unit
• May be newer to agile at scale
• May not have a need for agile at
scale (above SAFe program)
Jira + Advanced Roadmaps Jira + Jira Align
Customer profile:
• 1000+ Jira Users
• Fortune 1000+
• Multiple Business Units
• Multiple Portfolios
• 3+ years on agile at scale journey
9. WHAT CPRIME SELLS
Customer profile:
• 200 - 1000 Jira Users
• SMB through Fortune 1000+
• Few Business Units
• One Portfolio
• May be newer to agile at scale
• May not have a need for agile at
scale (above SAFe program)
Jira + Jira Align
Customer profile:
• 1000+ Jira Users
• Fortune 1000+
• Multiple Business Units
• Multiple Portfolios
• 3+ years on agile at scale journey
Jira + Add-0ns (including Portfolio for Jira)
10. CPRIME ATLASSIAN SAFe® APPROACH
Portfolio
Level Project
Portfolio Kanban
Initiative Issue Type
Team Scrum/Kanban
Story Bug
RiskSpike
Team
Level Projects
Program Kanban
Program
Level Project per
Release Train
Release on Demand
CONFLUENCE
Portfolio
Level Space
JIRA
Program
Level Space
Team
Level Spaces
Planning&Tracking
Roadmaps,Vision,
ValueStatement,
BusinessCases
PIObjectives
SolutionContext
PI 2 PI 3 PI n+1PI 1
Funnel Implementation Done
Exploration Implementation Deployment
Jira Epic Issue Type
To Do In Progress Done
11. IMPLEMENTING SAFe® WITH JIRA ALIGNCONFLUENCE
Time
People
Work
Confluence
JiraJiraAlign
Portfolio
Level Space
In Confluence
Program
Level Space
In Confluence
Team
Level Spaces
In Confluence
Feature Issue Type
Story Issue Type
EpicTheme
Release
Trains
Release on DemandPI 2
Q2
PI 3
Q3
PI n+1
Q n+1
PI 1
Q1
Teams
Program Team
Portfolio Team
Company Regions Business Unit Products
Roadmaps,Vision,
ValueStatement,
BusinessCasesTeam
Notes
PIObjectives
&ProgramRetro Portfolio in
Jira Align
Program
in Jira Align
& Jira
Teams in
Jira
Portfolio Kanban
Team Scrum/Kanban
Program Kanban
Funnel Implementation Done
Exploration Implementation Deployment
To Do In Progress Done
FV
Enterprise Strategy Level - Mission, Vision, Values, Strategies, Goals, & Portfolios
Roadmaps, Vision, Value Statement, Business Cases
12. Functionality Jira + Add-Ons Jira + Jira Align
Support Scaling Models Yes Yes
Planning – All Levels Yes Yes
Roadmapping – All Levels Yes Yes
Epic Management Yes Yes
Program Boards Yes Yes
Agile Reporting Yes Yes
Business Value/
Business Cases
Yes Yes
Financials Yes Yes
Forecasting Yes Yes
Strategic Planning Yes Yes
COMPARING THE FUNCTIONALITY
So, they are the same, right? Wrong
13. Functionality/Focus Jira + Add-Ons Jira + Jira Align
Guardrails Defined where needed Part of solution
Coaching Added where needed Part of solution
Training Added where needed Part of solution
Enterprise Strategy No Part of solution
Financial Management Basic tracking Part of solution
Product Management Integrates with add-ons Part of solution
Advanced Reporting Available with customization Part of solution
OKR Definition and Tracking With add-on Part of solution
Lean Management No Part of solution
GETTING INTO THE DETAILS
14. PORTFOLIO EPIC & JIRA EPIC TRACKING
• A kanban board provides a location to create and analyze Portfolio Epics and Jira Epics
• Leverages a SAFe® specific workflow to help managed implementation progress and WIP
KANBAN BOARD
- VS -
15. Forecasting + Program Room + Roadmaps
• Enterprise roadmaps provide roadmaps at all levels from
strategy to product delivery/outcome based. Connect to
the work the engineering teams are doing in Jira
• Interactively build the PI by adding epics, features and
stories
• Track release progress at the team and program level
• Manage & track objectives, risks, and dependencies
Advanced Roadmaps
- VS -
• Advanced Roadmaps provides the functionality to plan
Initiatives, break them down to Jira epics, estimate
work, and determine a schedule based on rank and
dependencies
• Provides impact analysis, schedule reports, and
dependency reports to help with planning and team
commitment
PLANNING & FORECASTING
16. • All work lenses report on progress and priority
• Strategy view shows your work hierarchy organized by
strategy across all programs.
• Top Down + Bottom up views
Work Tree Structure
• Structure provides an automated rollup of work based
on Portfolio, Program, and team planning
• Flexible views into the data let you quickly and easily see
the progress and data you need to see
• Allows for Jira Dashboard and Confluence reporting
- VS -
HIERARCHY ROLLUP
17. • Planning & forecasting
• Resource planning; sequencing work across teams
• Visualizing dependencies
• Roadmapping
Program Board, Risks, Objectives & Dependencies Easy Agile Programs
- VS -
• Manage dependencies across programs and teams
to ensure smooth handoff and integrations.
• Visualize and identify bottlenecks and mitigate
unforeseen delays.
PROGRAM BOARD & PI PLANNING
18. THE TOOL IS NOT THE PROCESS
• Jira + Add-ons = minimal guardrails, best practices exist but vary due to customer
needs ad process (less scaling process focused)
• Jira + Jira Align = specific guard rails with predefined best practices that align to the
process - Custom Guardrails, coaching assets and framework guidance may be added.
• ie - PRIME Kit coaching assets may be added for customers where we are coaching for
guidance on the process and execution links within the tool.
19. GOTCHAS
• Current Jira configuration and add-ons may be removed so Jira Align can be successful
• May need a lot of reconfiguring at the Jira level
• Previous best practice configurations may not work with Jira Align
• Setting expectations with customer is critical
• Jira Align is a wide complex system, configuration for proper alignment to “Meet them where they
are” + 6mos requires conversations targeted around Jira Align core configuration settings.
• *Not a “boil the ocean” approach (anymore)
• Training on how to use the tools is required, Time for trainings is minimized. E.g. 1 day for PM/PO,
4 hours for SM; 4 hours for Portfolio Managers, etc.
20. FOUNDATIONALLY ALIGNED
• Architected to make your transition to Jira Align easy
• Each Program level project represents an Agile Release Train (ART)
• Only includes Jira Epic at this project level
• Each Team level project represents an Agile team
• One scrum or Kanban board per team integrated to Jira Align per team
• Program Increments are a single read only field pushed from Jira Align
• Fix Versions are used as intended for development and not Program Increments
• Permissions and key custom fields map easily
• Additional Jira Align fields enabled:
• Parent Portfolio Epic/Capability
• Rank from Jira Align Program backlog
• Why button – details on the strategic alignment and need of the work is made visible in Jira
CONFIGURED TO SUPPORT JIRA ALIGN