Multi-Year Digital Migration Project at Dutch Government

Related services
Agile, SAFe

Industry
Public and Utilities

Company
Xebia

In 2015, the Dutch government passed the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet), which outlines how to manage the country’s physical environment at national, regional, and municipal levels. To increase access to information and improve regulatory compliance, the act simplifies and merges thousands of laws and regulations into a single governmental digital system (DSO), which needs to be fully operational by 2021. The project provided a much longer lead time for official authorities to join (by 2029), and many stakeholders were involved. This, coupled with the breadth and complexity of the system, threatened that time limit and the project's overall success. The Dutch government, specifically Kadaster, the Netherlands' land registry and national mapping agency, brought Xebia on board to expedite DSO adoption.

Why

Improve collaboration to accelerate value delivery

What

Implement the Agile approach using SAFe as a framework

How

SAFe training for all stakeholders and long-term consultancy

Moving Past Analysis Paralysis for Long-Term Gains

The 6-year DSO program was already a complex undertaking, but it was further challenged on three levels: communication, overspending, and underdelivering. These are common issues with major government programs and can often lead to what is called “analysis paralysis,” a situation where work on a project stops because of the extensive inputs involved. In particular, the DSO project needed help moving past culture of endless discussions, with a focus on completing program increments (PIs), onboarding users, and improving the way partners worked together.

From Waterfall to Agile

Before partnering with Xebia, the DSO worked according to waterfall principles, which can slow down processes, especially in large and complex environments. By contrast, SAFe® is a proven method that offers structure and a shared language. The joint collaboration exposes and solves dependencies, creating a joint vision, sharing knowledge, and delivering results. Xebia suggested implementing the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®), known to increase productivity and shorten time to market. While Scrum may suffice at the team level, SAFe® suits larger organizations dealing with large-scale mission-critical programs. SAFe® applies systems thinking, builds incrementally with fast learning cycles, bases milestones on working systems, reduces work-in-progress, and decentralizes decision-making by organizing around value.

“Xebia showed us how SAFe has just the right mix for us to work—Agile enough for quick delivery but enough structure to be approved by the governmental organization.”

Danilo Jeletich Release Train Engineer

Sprinting Towards Trust-Based Delivery

To move away from endless discussions, Xebia introduced a “pressure-cooker” approach, starting with the first PI session just weeks into the transition. Over 60 stakeholders attended preparatory training. Once everyone could move past disagreements and uncertainties, Xebia supervised the SAFe implementation. “The results speak for themselves: DSO has transformed its approach from creating one massive project through tight contract-driven project management to incremental delivery based on trust, cooperation, timely adjustments, and actual use,” said Jeletich. With new standards, test environments, continuous delivery, and service management, DSO has also noted a quality increase and significant improvements in stakeholder collaboration.

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Dutch Government Unlocks Collaborative Efficiencies to Move Forward on Complex, Multi-Year Digital Migration Project

Moving Past Analysis Paralysis for Long-Term Gains

From Waterfall to Agile

Sprinting Towards Trust-Based Delivery

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