OMEGA SOFTWARE USES

SCRUM TO IMPLEMENT
SCRUM AND TO DRIVE ITS
AGILE TRANSFORMATION
INCREASING CLIENT SATISFACTION,
TEAM COLLABORATION,
MORALE AND MOTIVATION

September 2023

For more than 20 years, Omega Software Ltd. has been one of the leading
providers of ICT solutions in Croatia, specializing in developing efficient
business solutions for both the public and private sectors. Their mission
is to help their clients digitize and modernize their business value streams
through innovative, tailor-made software solutions, modern ERP systems,
and futuristic Internet of Things (IoT) solutions that transform the way
people interact with cities. They are at the forefront of modern digital
CASE STUDY trends developing ICT systems that have already improved business
operations for more than 300,000 users. They pride themselves on their
commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.
Most Omega Software products and services are designed for public
procurement projects, which typically have a fixed scope, budget, and
completion date. Core offerings include digital transformation systems
such as Document and Case Management (DMS) and filing systems,
enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and IoT solutions. They also
provide custom development services to meet the unique needs of their
clients. Omega Software DMS and ERP products are primarily tailored for
the public sector, while their IoT solutions cater to both the public and
private sectors. Centrix is a modern, comprehensive, and fully integrated
office business management solution that is trusted by over 10,000
satisfied users to streamline their daily work. It combines a robust case
the company and document management system that is fully aligned with the latest
regulations for office operations and accompanying legislation. eVisitor is
an innovative and comprehensive information system designed for tourist
Omega Software ltd. registration and de-registration, connecting all tourist boards across the
Republic of Croatia.
prides themselves on
their commitment to
quality and customer
satisfaction. © 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 1
 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

The Challenge their plans and delivery schedules were seriously

challenged. They allowed constant unplanned
Omega Software previously used Waterfall-like interruptions from different channels, like support
processes to develop most products for public and sales. This negatively influenced flow and created
procurement projects. They had many challenges additional stress.
related to client satisfaction, team composition,
requirement clarity, backlog management, production Regarding reporting and metrics, they manually
support issues, and a turbulent development process. reported on project progress and tracked only the
In practice, they never complied with strict waterfall working hours. As a result, they lacked a transparent
process rules. They tended to adjust requirements insight into the project portfolio state. They did not
along the way and needed to approach the later have relevant, real-time data for making informed
project stages iteratively and apply some agile project and product portfolio management-
principles. In most cases, they assembled new teams related decisions.
for each new project, transferring team members Microsoft Azure DevOps was already their DevOps
from other project teams whose workloads were platform of choice, but its usage was not standardized
decreasing according to their plans. This way of across teams. Due to lacking knowledge and
working was unsustainable in the mid-and long-term. experience with this platform, departments, and
A simple slippage of one project caused a “butterfly teams used different patterns and practices. Teams
effect” on the entire project portfolio, and constant were scattered across separate Azure DevOps
replanning was necessary. Project teams were organizations and team projects. Many useful
short-lived and had no clear guidance in processes, platform features were completely ignored, like area
practices, and usage of tools. They were often just paths, Backlog hierarchies, ordering of Backlog items,
a group working on the same project with a narrow capacity planning, Kanban boards, team hierarchies,
focus on delivery. The teams were not self-managed, portfolio management, analytics and charts,
and work was often assigned to specific people. dashboards, Wiki pages, and Test plans.
The lack of clear accountabilities for backlog
management and refinement resulted in unclear
Beginning their Agile Transformation
requirements that weren’t ready for development and Omega Software began an Agile transformation
caused frequent rework. Teams complained about initiative in September 2020, building on the
unclear priorities and scope and had issues with foundation of a few teams called “agile pioneer
estimating and planning. teams” that were already using some Agile
approaches. Prior to this, they experimented with
They practiced the “big design upfront” approach and
structured teams of 10+ people working on multiple
“late testing”. Such an approach did not leave much
projects and solutions for various clients. While their
room for updating the backlog based on stakeholder
composition was relatively stable and they had some
feedback. Teams were stressed by feedback instead
agile practices in place, such as daily meetings, the
of welcoming it to better satisfy clients’ needs. This
reality was that team members were divided into sub-
decreased process predictability and negatively
teams focused on specific solutions and dedicated
affected the development process flow.
to individual projects. This made the overall team
Another significant negative impact resulted from the collaboration rather inefficient. Therefore, they
need to support existing clients and their production decided to transition to project-based teams.
environments. Teams that previously worked on these
In line with the new approach, they would create a
solutions did not exist anymore, and they were forced
team for a specific project purpose and dissolve it
to reassemble them fully or partially on occasion.
upon project completion. In most cases, this group
This negatively impacted the performance of existing
of people lacked time to mature and evolve into
teams whose team members were (temporarily)
an efficient unit. A few long-term project teams
reassigned to their previous teams. As a result,
were exceptions to this rule, with enough time to

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 2

 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

mature and experiment with agile practices. They became their “pioneers in agile” since they were the first
to recognize the benefits of agile and were further motivated to explore and improve. However, their agile
practices were applied in isolation, without organization-wide alignment, and resulted in alienation from the
rest of the organization, leading to recurring impediments.

The Solution
In 2020, Omega Software reached a breaking point where the need to change and address their existing
challenges could no longer be ignored. This sparked an organization-wide initiative to implement Scrum and
standardize operating practices across the organization, building upon the positive experiences of their agile
pioneer teams.
They decided to take a structured approach to their organizational change. The initial steps included a formal
assessment of their way of work, including all existing processes, practices, and tools. Their external partner,
Agilist IT, with Professional Scrum Trainers Ana Roje Ivancic and Ognjen Bajic, specializing in Agile, Scrum, and
DevOps, conducted the assessment. It consisted of questionnaires and interviews with selected representatives
and development teams involved in different stages of the end-to-end value stream. “Agilist IT helped us
uncover our challenges and discover various organizational optimizations that could lead to achieving our
business goals,” said Zeljko Tandaric, Board Member and DPO Product Owner.

Using Scrum to Implement Scrum

As a first step, they embraced the approach suggested by Agilist IT to “use Scrum to implement Scrum”. They
formed a dedicated Scrum Team responsible for the agile transformation at the organizational level called the
“Development Process Optimization - DPO” team. This team owns the optimization process and is empowered
to enable and drive changes from the top down. Their product is the transformed agile organization. They run
experiments and progress based on the feedback and the effects of changes. (See Figures 1 and 2)
1 - Figure 1 shows Transformational activities proceeding on two levels: The Development Process
Optimization Team drives systemic changes at the organizational level, while each Development Team
transforms itself in parallel with its production activities.

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 3

 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

The DPO team drives systemic change in a structured and organized manner by focusing on the following areas:
• Company-wide processes and policies
• Alignment of company culture and values
• Standardization of basic tools that support agile processes across all value streams
• Removal of organizational impediments
• Enabling capabilities across departments and teams
The team is comprised of an executive sponsor, high and middle managers, representatives of different
organizational units, selected technical experts and all Scrum Masters. Everyone involved dedicates
approximately 20% of their capacity to this engagement. The DPO Product Owner is the above-mentioned
executive sponsor. He manages the corresponding DPO Product Backlog, which contains all transformational
activities planned across the entire organization or individual Scrum Teams. The team works in 3-week sprints.
(See Figure 2)
2 - Figure 2 shows the Development Process Optimization Team’s membership, accountabilities, and
focus areas.

Roje Ivancic and Bajic played a decisive role in Omega’s journey, guiding and helping them steer their
transformational activities. They kicked off the transformation by assisting with the DPO Scrum Team formation,
which they instantly joined. Since then, they have been coaching the DPO team in Scrum and Agile and
facilitating their work driven by the DPO Product Backlog.

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 4

 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

Setting up the Scrum Teams and Product Owners collaborate with their team
Accountabilities members to add proposed features to their Product
Backlogs and refine them based on their priorities.
Omega stopped assembling teams for each new By focusing on the product domain, Product Owners
project and began assigning projects to newly can now ensure that all parties involved in product
assembled permanent Scrum Teams that stay together development understand the product scope and
longer. In the E-Business sector, they established product goals, driving Omega’s product development
four teams: one core product team developing toward success.
the core product and three implementation teams
implementing this core product and developing Omega Software has been continuously changing
custom features and modules for specific clients’ the Project Manager role as they grow their Scrum
requirements, each seen as their own product. In experience. Previously, project managers handled
the Custom development/ERP sector, there were standard project execution phases, starting with
four custom teams developing custom solutions the project initialization, planning, development
and one IoT product team. Six of these are Scrum schedule, activities sequencing, monitoring and
Teams. There are three Scrum Masters supporting controlling activities, including a lot of team micro-
these teams, and there is an ongoing effort to hire management. Nowadays, when development teams
additional Scrum Masters. operate as self-managing Scrum Teams, Project
Managers serve them from the outside, remaining
Product teams work on their product, while other responsible for contract management and tracking,
teams work on a mixture of large and small projects including the financial aspects. In collaboration with
and are accountable for developing and supporting Product Owners, project managers now transform
their projects in the long term in different lifecycle contractual obligations (scope, budget, deliveries,
phases. The work belonging to each team is timeframe) into product roadmaps and release plans
managed and prioritized in one Product Backlog that and monitor project execution according to expected
serves as a unique point of reference for working on timelines. They now focus on improving business
current projects and supporting former projects in relationships with clients, managing high-level
maintenance phases. project risks, and reporting on project progress to the
Since each Scrum Team is considered to be delivering management board.
its own product, each team/product has its own
Implementing Scrum in the Organization
Product Owner accountable for Product Backlog
management and prioritization. They are responsible The transformation itself happens within teams from
for actively managing stakeholder requests for all the bottom up. The teams have full autonomy to
projects the team works on or supports. To ensure proceed with their Scrum implementation at their own
a seamless and effective product development pace as long as they stay aligned with organizational
process, Omega Software standardized their Product guidelines defined by the DPO team because their
Ownership and Product Management practices as production work and priorities influence the pace at
part of their ongoing agile transformation. which they can absorb changes. Through the DPO
team, the organization provides a context where teams
Product Owners use roadmaps to track and model
can thrive while teams change their ways of working
high-level feature descriptions from both external
within the given context. This is how the organization
and internal sources. These roadmaps serve as the
achieves aligned autonomy. (See Figure 3)
foundation for strategic planning. Their existing
decision-making board, consisting of key managers,
sales experts, and architects, convenes several times
a year to align on long-term investments and product
priorities. Once a product roadmap is approved,

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 5

 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

3 - Figure 3 shows Aligned autonomy in the agile transformation

The biggest challenge for each team was to ensure sustainable progress of both production work and work on
their Scrum implementation. They experimented with a parallel optimization of their Scrum process aligned
with the teams’ production Scrum process. (See Figure 1)
Optimization activities were managed on the corresponding templatized team’s Optimization Backlog separated
from the teams’ Product Backlog (See Figure 4). It contains items that helped introduce Scrum, Agile, and
complementary practices and tools in a controlled, iterative, and incremental manner and helped empirically
drive team development from zero to a fully functional Scrum Team. The optimization Scrum process’ Product
Owner is either a DPO team member or the team’s Scrum Master, while other accountabilities remain in the
existing team. The team works off both Backlogs simultaneously in the same Sprint cadence, dedicating no less
than 10% of their capacity to optimization activities and the remaining capacity to production work.

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 6

 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

4 - Figure 4 shows a Templatized team’s Optimization Backlog in Azure DevOps

The Scrum Teams are now empowered and motivated to grow into fully self-managed teams that entirely
embrace accountabilities for their work and the outcomes of their work. They realize that breaking from various
old habits, like managing people or assigning work to people, is a slow process that they need to foster using
proper learning and coaching. To help with this, the DPO team curates the company knowledge-base wiki,
where all global processes, policies, and principles are described together with practical guidelines on how to
implement Scrum “in the field” (e.g., Scrum accountabilities within the organizational context, Scrum event
workflows, and checklists, etc.)

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 7

 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

Agilist IT has successfully trained 81 employees in Professional Scrum using the highly effective Applying
Professional Scrum (APS) curriculum from Scrum.org. 76% of employees who took the exam earned the
prestigious PSM-I certification, demonstrating their excellent understanding of Scrum principles and practices.
Additionally, several employees hold other valuable certificates, such as PSPO-I, PSD, PSM-II, PAL, and PAL-
EBM, further highlighting their diverse skills range.
“As part of our long-term strategy, we’re committed to following the Scrum.org learning paths to build
competencies in all our accountabilities, ensuring that our employees continually improve and develop their
knowledge and expertise,” said Tandaric. “This approach will help us to stay competitive and keep delivering
outstanding results for our clients.”

Complementing Scrum with an Integrated DevOps Platform

Right from the start, Omega Software recognized the importance of complementing its Professional Scrum
implementation with a standardized set of tools. While already using Azure DevOps, they knew they weren’t
taking full advantage of its built-in agile product management tools. Agilist IT coaches and experts in Azure
DevOps advised and helped configure Azure Boards, one of the Azure DevOps services, to best support
multiple Scrum Teams working on different projects. Teams use Azure Boards to manage all Product and Sprint
Backlogs, Sprint taskboards, refinement and support Kanban boards, and team dashboards. The company
knowledge base wiki is also an integral part of this platform.
Two strategies helped them address the lack of clear accountability for Product Backlog management,
refinement, prioritization and planning. The first concerns introducing a single Product Owner for each product,
as already described. The second concerns the standardized company Product Backlog refinement model the
DPO team defined. Each team must incorporate company guidelines for their Definition of Ready and model
it using a team Kanban Refinement Board in Azure DevOps. Kanban columns correspond to refinement stages
(e.g., PO Interested, Specification & Design, Size, Estimation, Ready), and team members combine individual
refinement activities with regular joint team refinement sessions. (See Figure 5)
5 - Figure 5 shows a Refinement Kanban Board in Azure DevOps

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 8

 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

Teams use other integrated Azure DevOps services to each team uses during the resolution process as 3rd-
manage their code repositories and run pull requests
level support.
(Azure Repos), build, and release their increments
(Azure Pipelines), and manage their manual and
automated testing efforts (Azure Test Plans). They Results
leverage additional Azure DevOps 3rd party extensions Omega Software measures outcomes in four areas:
for time tracking, reporting, retrospective facilitation, responsiveness to customer needs and requirements,
managing roadmaps, exporting requirements into product quality, value, and improvements.
documents, and collecting stakeholder feedback. Responsiveness is measured by cycle time, product
quality by number of known defects and customer
The company also started leveraging the Azure satisfaction, value by net profit, and improvements by
DevOps built-in analytics service. The out-of-the-box Scrum Team checklist and surveys.
charts include burnups and burndowns, lead and cycle
times, and cumulative flow charts at team levels. They The most impactful positive external outcome of
plan to expand it to product and company levels. To introducing Scrum was increased client satisfaction.
meet other reporting, tracking, and measurement Introducing iterative and incremental development
needs, they extract data from Azure DevOps and use enabled higher visibility and adaptability throughout
Power BI for further analysis and visualization. the project. Scrum Teams now use frequent deliveries
of valuable and usable increments as a powerful
Handling Production Support Issues in Parallel strategy for involving stakeholders early and often
With Development Work and earning their trust.
The change to permanent Scrum Teams diminished Omega Software actively educates existing and
the negative effect caused by previous efforts because new clients about the benefits of their agile way of
teams remain accountable for projects they worked working and encourages them to collaborate with
on. Teams now manage work on current projects their Scrum Teams.
and lower-priority work on former projects (i.e.,
small change requests) on their Product Backlogs. “Getting client feedback early and often allows us
The Product Owners balance changing priorities to address their expectations and risks much earlier
through the order of Product Backlog Items making than before and accommodate for differences in
sure the impact of reprioritization is transparent and implementation details. Additionally, by gathering
accessible. out-of-scope requirements, we proactively prepare
future sales opportunities,” said Klaudia Tekovic, ERP
Scrum Teams handle 3rd-level support related to Business Area Director.
their active and former projects within the Sprint. The
team reserves some Sprint capacity for support work Nika Regina, Scrum Master, adds: “The most relevant
to handle unplanned interruptions. They dynamically positive internal outcome is the increased satisfaction
select Developers that can take on support work and of our most important business asset – smart and
reduce the impact on their Sprint Goal. capable Developers and Business Analysts working
in self-managing Scrum Teams.” Omega Software is
Omega’s clients use Redmine, a web-based client, now a safe and supportive environment where teams
to create and track their tickets. The same tool are given time to learn, grow and mature. They pay
is used by 1st and 2nd level company support more attention to the work atmosphere, teamwork
teams to triage and manage tickets. Bi-directional patterns, and the quality of communication. Team
integration between Redmine and Azure DevOps is members are encouraged to be proactive and take
in place to transfer high-priority bugs and incidents on more responsibility for work outcomes. They
to a dedicated Support Kanban Azure DevOps board notice that the company recognizes their skills and
attribution, which increases their motivation.

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 9

 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

Long-lived self-managing Scrum Teams, accountable for developing and supporting the products and projects
they work on, addressed numerous challenges the company was facing for years. A single Product Owner per
team manages and prioritizes the team’s single Product Backlog that serves as a unique point of reference
for working on current projects and supporting former projects in maintenance phases. The Product Owner
primarily collects client and stakeholder requirements and ensures they are translated into clear and valuable
requirements. They are responsible for staying up-to-date with market trends and legislative changes to ensure
their products remain competitive and compliant.
“With these standardized practices in place, we can deliver high-quality products that meet the needs of our
clients and stakeholders. Additionally, permanent teams enable us to plan and track people’s engagement
more effectively, which is already visible in our increased capability to deliver more products to the market,”
said Tekovic.
Gordana Buljan, Head of the PMO Office, emphasizes the successful transition of Project Managers to Scrum
process stakeholders. “Our experienced Project Managers contribute to company business results by dealing
with high-level formal customer communication and shielding the Scrum Teams from unwanted outside
distractions.“. Management outside of the Scrum Teams can focus more on customer relationships, risk
management, and project profitability.
“We knew we needed to take our Azure DevOps to the next level by standardizing its usage across processes
and teams,” claims Igor Gorecan, Head of Software Development. By centralizing all workflows from
requirement to production and back in this integrated DevOps environment, the company built the foundation
for transparency and traceability. “Answers to questions we had a hard time with before, about the status of
a particular project or project portfolio, features released to production environments, or the number of bugs
resulting from stakeholder feedback, are now readily available,” continues Gorecan. By using the same tools,
everyone stays aligned with the Scrum process as modeled by the DPO team. Context switching has been
reduced as information is available and updated.
Teams support their entire value stream process in Azure DevOps through chained Kanban boards
and Scrum Product and Sprint Backlogs (See Figure 6). A requirement starts its life cycle on the
sales Kanban, moves to the refinement Kanban, and progresses to the Product Backlog and Sprint
Backlog. If it requires later support, teams handle it on their corresponding support Kanban boards.

6 - Figure 6 shows Chained Kanban boards and Scrum Product and Sprint Backlogs in Azure DevOps
supporting the entire value stream process

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 10

 CASE STUDY | SCRUM
Omega Software

“One of our most valued process improvements, especially from the Developers’ perspective, is our new
standardized Refinement process supported by Kanban boards. This process guides our refinement efforts
in the right direction and significantly helps us get the requirements to a ready state in a controlled and
focused manner,” said Filip Cop, Product Owner of one team in the E-Business Sector. This is the foundation
for high-quality products where all aspects of quality are considered and addressed early and throughout the
development lifecycle.
“Over the past two years, the DPO team has established itself as a crucial driver of our company’s agile
transformation. With a clear vision of the kind of agile organization we aim to become in the long term, the
DPO team is responsible for ensuring that all organizational improvements are aligned and sustainable,” said
Tandaric. Moreover, the DPO team has evolved into a strong change agent for all company’s operations, not
exclusively related to agile transformation. They have implemented numerous important changes that affect
daily processes and built a company culture where constant changes are embraced as normal. This team is
implementing constant improvements using an empirical approach and acting upon internal (employee) and
external (customers, stakeholders) feedback. In their case, management plays a key role in the transformation
because it models global processes, policies and principles that apply to all teams (e.g., Definition of Done -
DOD, Definition of Ready - DOR, Refinement Kanban Boards, etc.). This ensures that teams stay aligned with
the organizational strategy. (See Figure 3)
As a key result of these efforts, Omega Software has been recognized in the regional IT market for achieving
tangible results through their agile initiatives. “We have raised awareness around the fact that such a
transformation is not an easy and common organizational effort and it made us look “cool”,” said Tandaric.

About Scrum.org
Scrum.org, the Home of Scrum, was founded by Scrum co-creator Ken Schwaber as a mission-based organization
to help people and teams solve complex problems. We do this by enabling people to apply Professional Scrum
through hands-on training courses, globally recognized certifications and ongoing learning all based on a
common competency model.
Scrum.org supports people wherever they are on their learning journey from beginner to highly experienced
practitioner, helping them to grow over time with ongoing learning opportunities and resources. Community
members share knowledge and gain new insights from each other leveraging forums, blogs and more.

© 2023 Scrum.org All Rights Reserved | Page 11