Splitting the ATOM
Agile Target Operating Model
Harriet Green, The British Council
James Yoxall, IndigoBlue
Digital British Council
Agile Working in a non-Agile Organisation
Harriet Green, Digital Director
The British Council
The British Council’s Purpose
The British Council creates international opportunities for the
people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between
them worldwide.
We call this cultural relations.
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
What we do in the name of Cultural Relations
www.britishcouncil.org
English teaching
Face-to-Face
English teaching
online
Facilitate exams
Encourage student
mobility
Promote English
Teaching as a
profession
Debate around
governance in
Education
Arts exhibitions and
events
Manage an
enormous Art
collection
Promote the UK
in 110 countries
www.indigoblue.co.uk
How are We Funded?
• The British Council is a UK charity
• We are a ‘mixed economy’: we generate our own income, and
receive a Government grant
• 75% of turnover is self-generated income
• We generate income by charging for some services, building
partnerships, sponsorships, and winning contracts from
governmental bodies (UK and abroad)
• By 2015, for every £6 we spend on building international
opportunities, less than £1 will come from our UK
government grant
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
The British Council and Digital – a Match Made in
Heaven
If the British Council’s goals are to encourage…
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Positive interaction between people
Debate
Learning
Mutual inspiration
Reaching from the UK to the far corners of the world
Then the British Council and digital media could be made for
each other!
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
But… our Journey with the Digital Media has Been Bumpy
• Pioneering early initiatives
• A global Content
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•
Management System
Popular English language
‘browseware’ websites
Teaching via Second Life ...
• ‘Big ticket’ development
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www.britishcouncil.org
projects proved hard
The CMS started to look
it’s age
Investment faltered
Isolated teams left on their
own
English language competitors
rose and grew strong
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Projects ran out of steam
No consistent standards
Effort duplicated
High security risk
Staff skills not developed
Industry best practice
improved…
we didn’t keep up
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Digital Director Post Created to Breathe New Life into
Digital
• FIT-FOR-PURPOSE DESIGN -‘responsive’, user journeys optimized for
tasks we know our users need to carry out, a new visual style
• CONTENT– global content assets created in a ‘global content store’;
local layer of content creates optimal user experience; we can support
any language or script
• A RATIONALISED DIGITAL ESTATE - digital assets audited, reduced from
765 to 330…so far. A tighter URL policy; a layer of harmonised social
media channels
• A NEW CONTENT PLATFORM - cutting-edge Open Source content
platform developed, we’ve named it ‘Solas’, replacing a multitude of
publishing tools, many obsolete and unstable. Rolling out to 110
country sites and to British Council project sites.
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Digital Director Post Created to Breathe New Life into
Digital
• Rolled out global training to build Digital skills
• FULFILLMENT, ECOMMERCE AND CUSTOMER SERVICES - a global event
management tool; a global product catalogue; Digital Asset
Management platform chosen. We report performance and insights,
using Webtrends, Google Analytics and Hitwise.
• EFFICIENT PRODUCTION AND ROLL-OUT - Agile development process
allows resource allocation and production volume to be accurately
managed. Principle of the ‘minimum viable product’, ensuring timely
delivery followed by enhancements.
• BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE BRITISH COUNCIL - network of
‘Heads of Digital’ now bridges Digital and business operations in every
region and business area, shares ideas and leads cultural change.
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Before…
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
And after…
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
The Digital Engagement Process
Participants, Audience, Learners, Leaders and influence
COUNTRY OPERATIONS
REGIONAL OPERATIONS
ARTS
ENGLISH AND EXAMS
EDUCATION AND
SOCIETY
ENTERPRISE
SERVICES
WIDER BUSINESS
BENEFITS
• Common
payments
service
• Integration
platform
• CRM
integration
WIDER USAGE
OPPORTUNITIES
Digital engagement
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Challenges to our Digital Change Programme
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Low level of confidence
769 separate websites – now reduced to 335
Lack of understanding of potential damage to the Brand
Fear of changing familiar jobs, or even losing them
Exceptionalism – “our part of the business is unique”
Working across all time zones of the world
Digital work has to be fitted in alongside the ‘real’ work
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
What We Hear From Our Stakeholders
“
We have already explained
our needs, you just have to make
it happen
“
We need sign-off in close
detail at every stage
“
Our business in unique,
we need a bespoke solution
I like it, but our
stakeholders won’t
“
We have waited years for this,
so we want everything to be right first
time
www.britishcouncil.org
“
“
You promised that feature!
You can’t now say it will be
delivered later!
www.indigoblue.co.uk
What We Hear From Our Senior Management
“
When exactly will you
deliver this?
“
Please forecast in
detail up to 2020
“
Wouldn’t it be better
to outsource this?
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Splitting the ATOM
Agile Target Operating Model
James Yoxall
IndigoBlue, Innovation Director
Changing the Context
CONTEXT
PROJECT
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www.britishcouncil.org
THINKING INCREMENTALLY
MANAGING UNCERTAINTY
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Interacting with the Context
CONTEXT
GOVERNANCE
PROJECT
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Adapt 2.0 Governance Framework
CORE
MODULES
EXTENSION
MODULES
www.britishcouncil.org
GOVERNANCE
STRUCTURE
PROJECT PLANNING
FORECASTING and
REPORTING
BASELINE and
CHANGE
MANAGEMENT
PROTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT
GATING and
ASSURANCE
COMMITMENT
MANAGEMENT
BENEFIT and
VALUE MANAGEMENT
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Optimising the Whole - Operating Model
WORK
www.britishcouncil.org
PEOPLE
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Operating Model Challenges
Where do ideas come from?
Possible delivery models
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Ideas
In-house
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Business priority
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Out-sourced
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Demand / capacity management
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Procurement models
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Measurement
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How to structure teams to
accommodate work
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Project centric?
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Product centric?
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Team centric?
How work is paid for
The full lifecycle of work
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Units of funding?
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Budget with customer or supplier
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Discovery
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What authority with the budget
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Build
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Models for ownership
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Support
•
Run
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Planning Horizons
Strategy
Portfolio
Release
Iteration
Daily
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Project-Centric Model
STAKEHOLDERS
BACKLOG
TEAM
PRODUCT
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Product-Centric Model
www.britishcouncil.org
STAKEHOLDERS
STAKEHOLDERS
BACKLOG
BACKLOG
TEAM
TEAM
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Portfolio Options Model – Capacity Management
STAKEHOLDERS
PRODUCT
www.britishcouncil.org
STAKEHOLDERS
STAKEHOLDERS
BACKLOG
BACKLOG
CAPACITY
CAPACITY
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Platform Model
STAKEHOLDERS
STAKEHOLDERS
BACKLOG
BACKLOG
BACKLOG
CAPACITY
CAPACITY
CAPACITY
LOCAL PRODUCT
LOCAL PRODUCT
?
PLATFORM
www.britishcouncil.org
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Target Operating Model - Components
CHANGE PROPOSALS
INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS
BAU REQUIREMENTS
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Business unit goals
 Scaling up / out
 Content update
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Strategic programmes
 Security
 Bug fix
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Market / product development
 Integration
 “small” change
 Tools
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
• Demand management
- Capacity measurement
- Layers of planning
 Value assessment
- Priortisation
- Reporting
PROJECT 1
PROJECT n
BAU
 Objectives
 Objectives
• Content
 Procurement
 Value KPIs
 Value KPIs
• Bug Fix
 Tool adoption
 Backlog
 Backlog
• “Small Change”
 Test automation
 Governance
 Governance
www.britishcouncil.org
ENVIRONMENT
 Continuous integration
www.indigoblue.co.uk
Thank you
Harriet Green, The British Council
James Yoxall, IndigoBlue