Agile Transformation Case Study: BleXr

CLIENT

BleXr is a Performance Marketing or Affiliate Marketing Company, that empowers its users to make better online decisions.  Through its portfolio of websites it generates leads for operators in the Forex and iGaming industries.

The company is a young, smart and spirited group who knows what they want and thrives on hard work and success. It is a leading performance marketing company that is growing quickly.

WHAT’S SO HOT ABOUT i-GAMING

Symphony Solutions has learned from their clients about the gaming and betting industry and has watched its popularity increase over recent years.

– Global online gambling reached $107 billion by the end of 2017
– Mobile gambling represented $47.5 billion of that number
(Source: Ben Jones, ISC Digital, published by Gambling Insider)

Since 70% of online bets are placed with mobile devices, the influx of 500 million new smartphone users by 2022 will propel category growth even more.

CHALLENGE

In 2017 when BleXr wanted a more efficient operating approach to improve time to market, improve employee engagement and to deliver value in a sustainable fashion, they approached Agile Transformation consultants. Blexr was familiar with the benefits of Agile and sought expert consultants to work with their teams. It was at that point that they contacted Symphony Solutions.

Another challenge was that they lacked the breadth of talent to accommodate the range of roles needed for fast growing Agile teams.

CHALLENGE SUMMARY

1. They needed to implement scaled Agile framework
2. They needed to fill gaps in engineering talent to support the growth

SOLUTIONS

1. Assessment and Implementation of Agile process

Symphony Solutions assessed the situation, trained the teams in the Scaled Agile Framework, and coached the implementation starting with their first PI (Product Increment) Planning session. Each PI covers an identified time period with a pre-set number of ‘sprints’ in each increment.

Example: 4 sprints each lasting two weeks. During planning, projects are aligned over the Programme Period, and team members create a delivery plan for the entire PI period. They also map cross team dependencies and identify risks. The 2 day off site PI planning finishes with a confidence vote by all involved with a view to completion of the committed work.

A central idea of Agile is to identify problems early and adjust quickly to increase quality and speed of delivery. After each sprint, part of the product is released to market to enable quick learning about what works and what still needs refinement.

Agile Implementation can be time-intensive and frustrating for teams that are new to this mindset as they gain experience in real world environments. The Symphony agile coach supported these teams during sprints, weekly planning and retrospectives through the end of the first PI session and for several PI periods following.

2. Gaps in Engineering Talent

An agile team typically has a Scrum Master, several developers, and other roles depending on the nature of the project. BleXr lacked specialists in some of the key roles and needed qualified alignment as quickly as possible.

Symphony Solutions covered these gaps by setting up distributed teams to integrate with the Client talent.

RESULTS

1. Since the 1st PI period, the client has had 6 successful Agile quarterly planning sessions.
2. They grew from 40 – 60 engineers in 3 months.

SUMMARY

Symphony Solutions has a valued partnership with BleXr, who learned and adapted to Agile quickly, and our successfully integrated teams are performing at top level.

As a result of these measures, the client’s business grows, and they recently opened an office in Barcelona.