Cloud Migration for Major Retail Organization

Our client needed to migrate their existing platform to a cloud platform. They wanted to focus on development of search capabilities on the new cloud platform, as well as maintain existing search functionality on their current platform. The project was one of six programs supporting the overall cloud migration initiative. The client sought our leadership to overcome the project’s reputation of over-committing and under- delivering. We were hired in a program/project manager role to focus on the search functionality and oversee three SCRUM teams struggling to work together collaboratively.

Our approach was to integrate and partner closely with the SCRUM Master and Product Owners to implement Agile/SCRUM best practices. Our overarching goal was to ensure that all external communication was streamlined to clarify estimates versus commitments, and to re-establish confidence and transparency in the project. We assessed the relative velocity of the team for two reasons: to ensure that they were equipped to sustain required implementation schedules the new search functionality on the cloud platform as well as maintain the existing functionality on the current platform. By aligning the teams, we were able to reduce their workload stress and bolster their ability to meet commitments.

The cloud migration was successfully completed with the new search functionality. During the process we also found additional ways to deliver value by partnering with other project teams. For example, we worked with the retail merchandising team in various geographical locations to boost and rank products on the website.

• Platform costs reduced by merging two platforms to one.
• Faster service delivery due to implementation of agile methodology best practices.
• Laid foundation for future product personalization and enhanced search functionality.
• Improved team collaboration.