Transformation of IT Services in ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab and DHL Information Services Europe through Application of Scaled Agile Frameworks

Olesia Lacko

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The growing popularity of scaled agile frameworks across all sizes of organisations is the trend that businesses are attempting to emulate today. Agility was used around the globe across all markets and businesses to speed up the pace of deploying solutions and products and improve team accountability. Being agile became a standard in the IT world, and scaled agile frameworks totally changed our perspective in terms of delivering human-centric solutions rather than just finished products. However, when it comes to the adoption of scaled agile frameworks in larger organizations, the transition has yet to occur. It is much easier when you have up to a hundred rather than up to hundreds of thousands of employees. Anything boils down to paperwork, legacy, processes, and the organizational climate itself-all of which are major constraints to corporate agility. On the market, there are a plethora of scaled agile practices and methodologies. Both small and large companies are attempting to migrate their IT services and processes fully or partly. There are two major sections of the thesis. The first section of the thesis is linked to chapter one, which is devoted to the theoretical part and concentrated on revealing the core concepts underlying some of the most popular in terms of adaptation among large organisations frameworks, such as SAFe, LeSS, DAD, and Nexus. After reading this section, you would have enough academic background to be able to critically assess and evaluate interviews and opinions from leading large firms about scaled agile systems. Each of the scaled agile frameworks that have been chosen and listed above will be evaluated in terms of historical context, production process, project management, and development cycles. Each subchapter dedicated to one of the chosen frameworks will also discuss its advantages and disadvantages. The second section of the master thesis focuses on the introduction of the two companies selected for this thesis: Skoda Auto DigiLab and DHL IT Services. In Chapters two, three, and four, the chosen organizations will be analysed in terms of organizational and operational structure, as well as the interview process and comparison. These chapters include a thorough examination of the qualitative interviews conducted to discover the feasibility of implementing scaled agile frameworks in such large and global companies as Skoda Auto DigiLab and DHL IT Services. The final chapter concludes the current thesis by recapping the findings of the completed interviews and by addressing the main thesis question - “Is it possible to apply agile methodologies and practices in large- scale projects and organizations; and if so, then what is the required process of transformation of IT services?".

Abstract:

The growing popularity of scaled agile frameworks across all sizes of organisations is the trend that businesses are attempting to emulate today. Agility was used around the globe across all markets and businesses to speed up the pace of deploying solutions and products and improve team accountability. Being agile became a standard in the IT world, and scaled agile frameworks totally changed our perspective in terms of delivering human-centric solutions rather than just finished products. However, when it comes to the adoption of scaled agile frameworks in larger organizations, the transition has yet to occur. It is much easier when you have up to a hundred rather than up to hundreds of thousands of employees. Anything boils down to paperwork, legacy, processes, and the organizational climate itself-all of which are major constraints to corporate agility. On the market, there are a plethora of scaled agile practices and methodologies. Both small and large companies are attempting to migrate their IT services and processes fully or partly. There are two major sections of the thesis. The first section of the thesis is linked to chapter one, which is devoted to the theoretical part and concentrated on revealing the core concepts underlying some of the most popular in terms of adaptation among large organisations frameworks, such as SAFe, LeSS, DAD, and Nexus. After reading this section, you would have enough academic background to be able to critically assess and evaluate interviews and opinions from leading large firms about scaled agile systems. Each of the scaled agile frameworks that have been chosen and listed above will be evaluated in terms of historical context, production process, project management, and development cycles. Each subchapter dedicated to one of the chosen frameworks will also discuss its advantages and disadvantages. The second section of the master thesis focuses on the introduction of the two companies selected for this thesis: Skoda Auto DigiLab and DHL IT Services. In Chapters two, three, and four, the chosen organizations will be analysed in terms of organizational and operational structure, as well as the interview process and comparison. These chapters include a thorough examination of the qualitative interviews conducted to discover the feasibility of implementing scaled agile frameworks in such large and global companies as Skoda Auto DigiLab and DHL IT Services. The final chapter concludes the current thesis by recapping the findings of the completed interviews and by addressing the main thesis question - “Is it possible to apply agile methodologies and practices in large- scale projects and organizations; and if so, then what is the required process of transformation of IT services?".

Keywords

Agile, Agile application, LeSS, Scaled agile frameworks, DAD, IT, Nexus, SAFe, Scaling Agile, Transformation of IT Services, Waterfall

Keywords

Agile, Waterfall, IT, DAD, Nexus, SAFe, Scaled agile frameworks, Agile frameworks, LeSS, Agile application, Scaling Agile, Transformation of IT Services

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 8. 9. 2020

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 7. 6. 2021
• Supervisor: Alena Buchalcevová
• Reader: Michal Doležel

Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze

Master programme / field:
Aplikovaná informatika / Information Systems Management