Modernizing Legacy Mobile App with Effective Implementation
of the SAFe Methodology

Success Story

Scalefocus entirely transformed a legacy mobile solution into a modern functional app with numerous smart functionalities and impeccable UX by establishing a flexible delivery process based on Scaled Agile practices to fit the client’s dynamic environment. We ensured meeting business goals along with fast time-to-market delivery preserving the product’s high quality and improving the communication between various stakeholders and 3rd party vendors. 

By enrolling Scaled Agile best practices for the overall project management and Scrum with Kanban framework for the day-to-day activities, Scalefocus streamlined the processes and communication. We also succeeded in building, enhancing, and maintaining native iOS and Android apps.

The Client

Our client is a European National Lottery, established in the first half of the twentieth century, and is among the oldest and most popular gaming and betting organizations across the continent. Apart from lotteries, games, and contests, its focus includes preserving cultural heritage and creating awareness of the importance of responsible gaming. Thanks to the consistent number of players and their committed engagement, each year, the National Lottery reinvests over €330 million in society through different charity, scientific and social initiatives.

Overall Objective

As part of their strategy to digitalize and reach more users by creating an omnichannel experience, our client conducted a rigorous eighteen-month three-stage tender procedure. Scalefocus’ mobile development expertise, evidenced by our Google Developers Certified Agency status, played a key role, and we were selected as their technology partner among twenty international companies. Managing and coordinating the work and communication of several internal teams and 3rd party vendors that were involved in product development inevitably required strong Program Management.

Challenges

• • Achieve fast time-to-market with excellent delivery quality
  • High business dynamics that required a management model that would easily accommodate changes in product development short-term plans
  • Deep understanding and consulting for product management, mobile technology, and user experience for optimizing the client’s roadmap and goals
  • Managing and coordinating the work and communication of several internal teams and 3rd party vendors involved in product development meant strong Program Management was required

Approach

The Scalefocus team iterated on the Scaled Agile principles and practices preserving high-quality delivery while focusing on the set business goals, providing agility due to the ever-changing business environment to perfect the process into an improved framework with clear steps and ownership. We created and applied a tailored Delivery Model to ensure business flexibility and fast time-to-market and applied a Scrum with Kanban framework for the teams’ day-to-day operations, using the standard Kanban Board and principles under proven Scrum events and practices.

Overall planning and management were conducted under proven Scaled Agile practices and principles, including:

• • Enhanced planning via program board and backlog for the business goals and product roadmap, developed in collaboration with the client’s Product Manager
  • Long-term business goals organized in a Program board where specifications with acceptance criteria are gathered and future features are prioritized
  • Overall Program Management that provides visibility on future features, dependencies, blockers, and risks
  • Backlog maintained where upcoming work is gathered and prioritized, along with suggestions for UI/UX and technical improvements
  • Short-coming workload planned for the top prioritized features in progress via Sprint board, organized in iterations where change management is accommodated based on demos
  • Applied triggers and metrics to foresee possible bottlenecks and blockers and raise early flags on potential delays while simultaneously ensuring shared understanding and knowledge among all involved parties 

We utilized standard Scrum with Kanban framework to achieve high-quality team management, coordination, and collaboration. This approach enabled visibility on the long business roadmap with frequent short-term results, organized with the following specifics: 

• • Planning, estimations, and reporting are done on a pre-defined cadence allowing adjustment on priorities
  • Sprint length fitting flexible time-to-market delivery, frequent demos, and Scrum ceremonies
  • Development Quality Management sustained by following best industry standards and quality control practices
  • Comprehensive business and technical documentation maintained throughout the whole development process
  • Maintaining the team spirit high for achieving a highly motivated team of experts and fruitful client collaboration, thus retaining the knowledge and expertise within the project along with keeping our long-term relations strong

Business Results

• • €6.9M generated through the app in just one month equaling the pre-handover’s annual total
  • 600,000 active users monthly for Android and iOS
  • 5 Google Play & 4.9 App Store rating as opposed to 3.7 at handover
  • Digital omnichannel experience with a regular and personalized game alert
  • 7 million ticket scans performed in just one month