Contribyte (now part of Eficode) facilitated an operational-model development project for Cinia to agile development of operational models and to distribute best practices across offices.

"The key change has been the growth of awareness and increased willingness to do things in a better way," says Tero Jokinen, SVP SW solutions at Cinia.

Thanks to a development project for operational models, which was facilitated by Contribyte (now part of Eficode), Cinia was able to unify practices between offices on the basis of employees’ experiences.

The project began with a series of workshops

On Cinia’s behalf, Contribyte (now part of Eficode) facilitated an operational-model development project lasting over a year. The project’s goal was to unify Cinia’s agile development of operational models and distribute best practices to offices in different cities.

The project began with a series of workshops in Cinia’s offices in Helsinki, Tampere, and Jyväskylä. The workshops gathered the views of project managers, service designers, architects, software developers, and testers on what kind of software development Cinia should be doing.

Strong progress through collaboration

On Cinia’s behalf, Contribyte (now part of Eficode) facilitated an operational-model development project lasting over a year. The project’s goal was to unify Cinia’s agile development of operational models and distribute best practices to offices in different cities.

The development project’s goal was to unify practices between Cinia’s offices, with Contribyte acting as an external expert.

This resulted in a new Cinia Playbook manifesto that defines how to engage in agile software product development in customer projects. After launching Playbook, Contribyte’s ‘Future of Product Development’ service was also initiated. It included features such as training, workshops and ways of fine-tuning Cinia’s business to become a better and more efficient version.

At the workshops, Contribyte’s deep experience and their resulting perspective on product development helped Cinia to identify the best solutions in support of its business.

According to Tero Jokinen, Senior Vice President of Software Solutions at Cinia, the operational-model development project facilitated by Contribyte has served as a kind of catalyst, guiding and expediting change in the right direction, alongside Cinia’s experts. He explains that “Contribyte aimed to discover the approaches that best fit our situation” and later elaborates, “with Contribyte, we have been able to enhance the organization’s competencies and good practices, and distribute them between offices. Contribyte has a great deal of knowledge of agile development, which has helped us to reinforce our own areas of strength.”

An external expert as a connecting factor

Cinia feels that the model of one-person consulting in three offices has worked well. The inclusion and unification of several offices were previously challenging for them, but having the external expert has been a huge help in bringing them together. It is easier for an external and neutral person to recommend practices that have proven workable in another office, while transferring information between offices.

Tero Jokinen states, “The external trainer enabled engagement in positive development work by being a neutral party who has helped us to avoid internal disputes. Contribyte has observed the situation and listened to the employees, on the basis of which it has proposed the best operational models.” He concludes that “The key change has been growth of awareness and increased willingness do things in a better way. We have learned to seek the solutions that best fit each project.”