ThoughtWorks Coaching - Online Bank Goes Agile

Who? What?

The client is an online bank offering mortgages, car insurance and unsecured loans. They needed to enable their customers to manage their credit card balances centrally but their current application couldn't support the functionality or the increase in volumes expected. They also wanted to adopt Agile methods.

Why?

The functionality requirement was purely driven by improving customer service. The projected volume increases were 4000 percent once the service, "account aggregation" was in place. The client knew their existing application was unable to support this change. Adoption of Agile methods had been agreed by the IT department, but the development staff varied widely in experience and some members of the senior management team were skeptical.

How?

Coaching during development allowed us to introduce and build up Agile methods with minimal overhead. We began by working with the loans project team, switching to a dynamic planning process with week-by-week prioritization, planning and implementation of features. We enabled the unit-testing of software that was previously considered untestable using innovative techniques. The project team successfully delivered a set of common software services (built using .NET) including support for billing, event logging and coordination of print materials.

The Results?

The first system produced increased customer service by allowing multiple credit cards to be managed at one site. The management and development staff embraced the new approach and increased enthusiasm of developers led to the formation of a community that met regularly to share knowledge. The adoption of Agile processes led to faster ROI for the client as well as the immediate benefits of the automated testing implemented. The team produced a scalable, robust solution able to grow with business needs and initiated a culture of self-learning.

Print this page