LitheSpeed,  LLC        1300  Janneys  Lane  Alexandria,  VA  22302        www.lithespeed.com  

 

Case  Study:  Nationwide  Insurance  Agile  Adoption  Successful  in  Challenging  Global  Outsourcing  

   Summary    The  IT  Executive  team  sponsors  a  strategic  transformation  to  agile  methods  in  order  to  provide  premium,  differentiated  software  services  for  internal  business  partners  who  are  considering  going  offshore.    Company  Background    Nationwide  Insurance  is  a  F500  financial  services  giant  operating  in  a  highly  competitive  and  highly  regulated  industry.  Their  software  systems  are  large,  complex,  and  are  responsible  for  accurately  managing  billions  of  dollars  while  meeting  strong  oversight  requirements.      The  Challenge    Senior  IT  executives  must  answer  the  challenge  to  global  outsourcing  by  devising  ways  to  offer  differentiated,  premium  services  for  their  internal  business  partners.  Business  partners  perceive  internal  IT  to  be  expensive  and  slow  causing  them  to  look  to  cheaper  offshore  delivery  models.  Using  standard  software  delivery  methods  and  high  onshore  pricing  models  is  a  difficult  sell  to  internal  business  partners  who  are  considering  offshored  solutions.    The  Solution    LitheSpeed  has  worked  with  Nationwide  IT  to  standardize  on  agile  and  utilize  agile  methods  on  a  large  scale  to  offer  premium  software  delivery  services  for  business  partners.  Agile's  ability  to  flex  requirements,  show  interim  working  software,  accelerate  delivery,  and  improve  quality  is  a  strategic  win  for  both  sides.  Business  gets  the  responsiveness  that  they  need  and  IT  gets  a  premium  service  offering  that  justifies  onshore  rates.    LitheSpeed's  Contributions      LitheSpeed  has  worked  with  senior  IT  management  to  consult  to  executives,  coach    agile  delivery  teams,  develop  a  standardized  agile  process,  and  develop  agile  training  resources,  all  in  support  of  a  large-­‐scale  enterprise  transformation  towards  agile  delivery.    

(Continued)  

 

  LitheSpeed,  LLC        1300  Janneys  Lane  Alexandria,  VA  22302        www.lithespeed.com  

   End  Results    Nationwide  has  achieved  CMMI  level  3  compliance  for  its  agile  implementation  showing  that  it  has  a  well  defined  and  executed  agile  delivery  process  and  a  consistent  and  effective  way  of  engaging  its  business  partners.  Agile  at  Nationwide  is  highly  successful  and  is  now  growing  beyond  centralized  IT  and  into  other  business  units  and  locations.    Nationwide's  agile  implementation  was  recently  highlighted  by  The  Project  Management  Institute  (PMI)  in  its  PM  Network  magazine  (January  2009).