Let’s talk about how Salesforce switched to Agile. It’s a pretty cool story.
At first, Salesforce used a simple process—four-week releases. Fast, clean, no big problems. But as the company grew, things got messy. By 2007, releases were taking six weeks, and they were stuck with all the problems of a “waterfall” method: delays, unhappy customers, and teams blaming each other. Some developers worked for months without ever seeing their work go live. Imagine how frustrating that must have been!
They realized they needed a big change. So, they went all-in on Agile. Instead of taking small steps, they switched their whole 200-person development team to Agile within a few months. And guess what? It mostly worked. About 80% of their teams figured it out quickly and started running smoothly.
Why Did It Work?
- Leadership Support: The bosses fully supported the switch. They set a fixed release date and didn’t let it move, even when people wanted more time. This kept everyone on track.
- A Team to Lead the Change: Salesforce created a team with people from different roles (developers, testers, managers) to help everyone learn Agile. It wasn’t just managers; it was regular team members teaching each other.
- Focus on Basics: Instead of forcing every team to follow the same rules, they focused on key ideas—like always having software that’s ready to ship. Each team could decide how to work as long as they followed the main principles.
- Automation Helped: They already had a lot of automated testing, which made the switch to Agile easier.
- Open Communication: They had open meetings where anyone could join, ask questions, or share ideas. This kept things clear for everyone.
- Expert Trainers: Salesforce brought in Agile experts to teach their teams and even created quick training sessions for busy employees.
What Could Have Been Better?
- More Feedback Early On: They should have included more people in the planning. Letting employees share their ideas earlier would have made the process smoother.
- Training for Managers: Product managers struggled to switch from the old way to Agile. They needed more hands-on training.
- More Automation: Even though their automation was good, they realized they could have done more to speed things up.
- Involve Leaders More: The company leaders supported the change but didn’t always get involved directly. Salesforce realized leaders need to actively help teams, not just approve changes.
- Clearer Guidelines: They needed to explain better what was required (like having shippable software every sprint) and what teams could choose for themselves.
Salesforce’s move to Agile wasn’t perfect, but it worked. They went from long, stressful releases to faster, smoother ones.