SUCCESS STORY
Franklin Templeton: Financial Agility Story
Delivering Investment Value Faster with Agile
In today’s dynamic financial landscape, investment firms like Franklin Templeton need to be adaptable and responsive to changing market conditions. Traditional project management methodologies often struggle to keep pace. This is where Franklin Templeton’s success story with agile methodologies, specifically Disciplined Agile (DA), comes into play.
The Challenge: Delivering Value in a Complex Industry
Prior to adopting DA, Franklin Templeton faced challenges implementing traditional Scrum frameworks. The financial services industry is inherently complex, with intricate regulations and evolving client needs. Scrum’s rigid structure, while effective in some contexts, didn’t provide the necessary flexibility for their projects.
The Solution: Disciplined Agile for Faster Value Delivery
Franklin Templeton turned to Disciplined Agile, a framework that incorporates Scrum principles while allowing for customization based on project needs. DA’s core focus on delivering business value quickly resonated with their goals.
Here’s how DA benefitted Franklin Templeton:
- Increased Speed and Efficiency: DA’s iterative approach with shorter development cycles allowed them to deliver features and functionalities faster. This meant quicker feedback loops and faster adaptation to market changes. For instance, one project team using DA was able to release a new client portfolio management tool several months ahead of schedule, providing a significant competitive advantage.
- Enhanced Collaboration: DA emphasizes collaboration between business and IT teams. This improved communication and streamlined project execution within Franklin Templeton.
- Greater Flexibility: DA’s customizable nature allowed Franklin Templeton to tailor the methodology to their specific financial service projects. This flexibility proved crucial in navigating the complexities of the industry, such as accommodating regulatory compliance requirements within the agile framework.
The Results: A Culture of Agility
Franklin Templeton’s adoption of DA has yielded significant results. They’ve reported:
- Improved Quality: Faster feedback loops through iterative development led to higher quality deliverables.
- Increased Employee Engagement: The focus on collaboration fostered a more engaged workforce.
- Enhanced Business Agility: DA empowered Franklin Templeton to adapt and respond to market shifts more effectively.
A Model for Success in Financial Services
Franklin Templeton’s success story with Disciplined Agile serves as a valuable example for other investment firms. By embracing agile methodologies, financial institutions can achieve greater speed, flexibility, and collaboration, ultimately delivering superior value to their clients.
Additionally, Franklin Templeton invested heavily in training their workforce on DA. They conducted training sessions for over 800 employees across 10 countries, with a focus on remote learning options for maximum accessibility. This widespread training ensured everyone involved in projects understood the DA principles and could effectively contribute to the agile environment.
