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We’ve been waiting for this moment, and it’s finally here! Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 is moving from beta to general availability (GA), and we couldn’t be more excited. This isn’t just an update, it’s a complete transformation of how teams forecast their work. Over the past months, we’ve fine-tuned Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 based on your feedback during the beta phase. Your insights helped us iron out issues, enhance key features, and introduce new capabilities that make forecasting more flexible, precise, and powerful than ever -- and this is just the start! Now, Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 is powered in part by Atlassian Forge, packed with new features, and available to even more teams. If you're still using the previous version, now is the time to upgrade because the future of forecasting has arrived! What is Portfolio Forecaster? In an unpredictable work environment, Portfolio Forecaster helps teams remove uncertainty by providing accurate forecasts based on actual work patterns. Instead of relying on gut feelings and static roadmaps, Portfolio Forecaster delivers probabilistic forecasting, allowing you to see when your work is likely to be completed. No magic, just data-driven insights. Whether managing a single project, multiple teams, or an entire portfolio, Portfolio Forecaster gives you the visibility you need to plan confidently. From Beta to General Availability: What’s New? When we launched Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 in beta, we knew we were onto something special. But we didn’t stop there! Thanks to your feedback, we went back to work, refining the experience to make it smoother, smarter, and more secure. Here’s what we improved between beta and GA: ✅ Fixed Bugs & Improved Performance – Faster, more reliable, and smoother than ever. ✅ Scenario Planning – One of the most requested features is here! Now, you can compare multiple "what-if" scenarios to make informed decisions before committing to a plan. ✅ Forecast Portfolios – Get a bird’s-eye view by combining multiple forecasts into a single, streamlined view, perfect for tracking progress across projects, programs, or departments. ✅ Portfolio Forecaster Now Runs on Atlassian Forge Remote – a major upgrade in security and performance, ensuring your data is managed with the highest level of protection. With these enhancements, Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 is more robust, flexible, and secure than ever, built to help teams of all sizes drive better predictability and smarter decision-making. What Makes Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 a Game-Changer? Goodbye, Limitations: Forecast Any Issue Type Forget the old restrictions. Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 lets you forecast using any issue type! Whether you're tracking epics, stories, tasks, or custom issue types, you now have complete flexibility in how you structure your forecasts. Scenario Planning: Explore Different Outcomes Before Deciding One of the biggest enhancements in Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 is Scenario Planning, giving you the power to explore multiple possibilities before making a decision. With Scenario Planning, you can: ✔ Compare different “what-if” scenarios to evaluate best-case, worst-case, and realistic timelines. ✔ Adjust team capacity, work scope, or priorities and instantly see the impact on your forecasts. ✔ Make data-backed decisions instead of relying on guesswork. This feature is a game-changer for project managers, product owners, and leadership teams. It helps you plan ahead, mitigate risks, and adjust strategies proactively. Forecast Portfolios: A High-Level View of Everything One of the most powerful additions in Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 is Forecast Portfolios. A way to combine multiple forecasts into a single, consolidated view. This means you can: ✔ Track multiple projects, teams, or initiatives from one place. ✔ Keep leadership and stakeholders informed with a clear, high-level overview. ✔ Maintain visibility into cross-team efforts without losing the details. If you manage multiple teams or large-scale projects, this is the feature you’ve been waiting for! Stronger Security with Atlassian Forge Remote Portfolio Forecaster now runs on Atlassian Forge Remote, a major security and performance upgrade. This means: ✔ Tighter data security aligned with Atlassian’s latest best practices. ✔ Improved scalability, ensuring Portfolio Forecaster can grow with your organization. ✔ Better performance, so forecasts run faster and smoother. Security and reliability matter, and with Forge Remote, Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 is built for the future. What’s Next? More Awesome Stuff on the Way! We’re not stopping here. We’re working on even more exciting features to take your forecasting experience to the next level. While we can’t reveal everything just yet, trust us, you’re going to love what’s coming! Stay tuned for future updates. Time to Upgrade - Here's What You Need to Know For Beta Users:   If you were part of the beta, ask your Jira admin to upgrade now so you can continue to use the app and access the latest updates. For Users on the Legacy version:   Still using the older version? Now’s the perfect time to upgrade! Version 1.0 will no longer be available after April 2nd , so make the switch today. Need help? Your Jira admin can assist. Need help upgrading?  Check out our documentation page  for step-by-step guidance.   Got questions? Our support team is happy to help! Reach out HERE . Want to discuss this new release? Join the conversation in our community !   Haven't used Portfolio Forecaster before? Now's the perfect time to start. Experience how it will help your team streamline forecasting and decision-making. Try it out for free !     Thank You for Helping Us Build This! Your feedback made this possible, and we’re so grateful to our beta testers and early adopters for shaping Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 into the powerhouse it is today. Upgrade now and start forecasting with confidence!

About Fruugo Fruugo enables retailers everywhere to sell to shoppers anywhere. As a global marketplace, Fruugo understands the complexities and intricacies of cross-border trade and offers the quickest, easiest, and most risk-free way of selling your products globally. Customers can shop in their language and currency from anywhere in the world, enjoying a truly localized experience with exchange rates and shipping costs, all managed by Fruugo. As more customers shift to shopping online, they are increasingly shopping internationally. Fruugo’s highly diverse range of customers and retailers is empowered by its innovative technology and knowledge, allowing both to connect seamlessly in over 40 countries around the world. Introducing Ben Cutler and his role within Fruugo Ben is the Lead Scrum Master at Fruugo, where he’s been making an impact for nearly two years. With a strong background in development, testing, automation, DevOps, and leadership, Ben brings a wealth of hands-on experience to his role. While Ben serves as Scrum Master for multiple teams, he also plays an integral part in driving transformative initiatives across the organization. His work focuses on improving predictability at Fruugo and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. In addition to his Scrum Master duties, Ben also dabbles as a Jira administrator, customizing and automating workflows to streamline processes. His goal is to empower teams, provide valuable insights into the business, and ultimately help the teams move faster. Background Fruugo started using ActionableAgile® Analytics in January 2023 - shortly before Ben started with the company. Ben did however drive the adoption and integration of Portfolio Forecaster in 2024 which is now used alongside ActionableAgile® Analytics. Using data to support decision-making and agile practices is something the team at Fruugo has come to have at the core of its team.  Fruugo are heavily invested in the Atlassian suite and along with Jira and Confluence they also use Jira Service Management, Bitbucket, Bamboo and Status Page. The Situation When Ben joined Fruugo in 2023, the team had already started using ActionableAgile® Analytics. While its adoption across the engineering teams was still in its early stages, the Agile team had started to embrace a data-driven decision-making mindset and a strong focus on continuous improvement. ActionableAgile® Analytics, seamlessly integrated with Jira, quickly became a valuable tool in supporting these efforts. At the time, Fruugo’s teams were primarily Scrum-based, with a few Kanban teams. Many teams were still relying on Story Points and deterministic estimates. Ben introduced his teams to a more forward-thinking approach: forecasting with Throughput data and Monte Carlo simulations within ActionableAgile® Analytics. After reviewing the data and finding it to be more reliable and engaging the team in more meaningful conversations, the teams quickly adopted this new method. Other Scrum Masters have since followed suit, applying the same approach with their teams, and found similar success How Fruugo uses ActionableAgile® Analytics Ben mentioned that the team at Fruugo use ActionableAgile® Analytics every day in some shape or form. This can be seen in many of the traditional Scrum Events.  Sprint Planning At the team level, ActionableAgile® Analytics plays a crucial role in sprint planning. By leveraging Monte Carlo simulations, teams address the key question: “What should our commitments be?”   This data-driven approach prevents overloading teams with work that cannot be delivered, improving predictability and ensuring sustainable commitments. Monte Carlo: When Chart in ActionableAgile® Analytics Daily Stand Ups:   During daily stand-ups, the Work Item Age Chart is a standout feature for Fruugo. This chart helps teams decide what to prioritize, a practice Ben described as invaluable.  Inspired by Daniel Vacanti’s guidance to “focus on your oldest ticket first,”  the teams use this visual tool to identify and address aging work items effectively. Aging Work In Progress Chart in ActionableAgile® Analytics Retrospectives:  In team retrospectives, Fruugo often incorporates data from ActionableAgile® Analytics to review key metrics like Cycle Time and Throughput. While retrospectives don’t always rely heavily on data, Ben emphasized that these insights are especially valuable when the team wants to assess performance and identify areas for workflow improvement. As Ben put it, reviewing this data is "great for assessing performance and focusing on the team’s flow." This flexible approach allows teams to strike a balance between reflective discussions and actionable insights, ensuring retrospectives remain both meaningful and productive. Large-scale Project Planning with Portfolio Forecaster Outside of events  At Fruugo, Portfolio Forecaster is an essential tool that extends beyond the typical day-to-day Agile events. It plays a critical role in facilitating broader conversations, setting realistic expectations, and supporting key decision-making processes. One of its uses is in Fruugo's Portfolio Review meetings, which take place every two weeks. These meetings bring together senior leadership and representatives from all product areas to review progress on the current strategic priorities.  To prepare for these sessions, Scrum Masters and their Product Owners (POs) will meet to review the most up-to-date forecasts provided by the Portfolio Forecaster. This ensures everyone is equipped with clear, data-driven insights to present during the Portfolio Review meetings. What sets the Portfolio Forecaster apart is its flexibility. Ben highlights that it’s not tied to a rigid schedule and can be used dynamically to support planning and prioritization whenever needed. For example: When a batch of new work is refined, the team consults the forecaster. After completing a significant amount of work, the forecast is updated. When requests arise to introduce new work, the tool can show the potential impact. This continuous forecasting approach allows the team to make informed decisions in real-time. By having access to accurate and up-to-date data, Fruugo can engage in meaningful conversations at both the business and portfolio levels. While the tool isn’t monitored every hour, its availability ensures clarity and confidence in decision-making whenever it’s needed. Fruugo’s Results 50 Work Items, 4,000 Days: A Workflow Overhaul Success Story  Ben shared a remarkable transformation story from Fruugo's IT Support team, which handles internal tech support and requests.  Initially, the team faced significant challenges in managing their workload efficiently. Balancing dual responsibilities and providing support while also contributing to project work, meant they couldn’t focus fully on either. As a result, their work-in-progress began to spiral out of control. Using ActionableAgile® Analytics, the team discovered that in September 2023, they had approx 50 work items in progress, with a staggering total age of 4,000 days  ( data provided by the Work In Progress Run Chart ). By leveraging the insights gained from ActionableAgile® Analytics, the team initiated focused discussions—similar to retrospectives—about prioritization and process improvement. They used the WIP Run Chart and Cycle Time data to: Identify request types taking longer to resolve. Prioritize efforts to improve these request types. Gather more data to address recurring bottlenecks. Enhance processes, such as improving request submissions to prevent inefficiencies. The results were dramatic. Today, the team has reduced their work-in-progress to 12 items with a total age of only 77 days. This shift has transformed their service desk from "not very good" to a fit-for-purpose, highly effective service. Reflecting on the achievement, Ben shared: “I like to look at that graph on difficult days or when I feel like I haven’t made much progress. It reminds me that we’ve achieved something.” Teams more informed  Ben shared how ActionableAgile® Analytics is empowering teams to make more informed, data-driven decisions. While the organization is still refining its overall approach, many teams, especially the Product Owners (POs), are now much clearer on their direction and how they will achieve their goals. By utilizing ActionableAgile® Analytics and Portfolio Forecaster, the teams can now make more strategic decisions about prioritization. This ranges from small-scale decisions, like evaluating the impact of adding an extra ticket, to larger, more strategic choices, such as assessing the consequences of taking on an additional week’s worth of work. This deeper understanding allows teams to better weigh trade-offs and fully understand the implications of their decisions on ongoing projects. Ben emphasized that this level of clarity and insight is something they aim to extend to the wider organization, ensuring that everyone can benefit from a consistent, data-driven approach to planning and prioritization. Summary of Outcomes Improved Team Alignments/ Expectations   Dramatically Improved Service Response Time Improved Predictability At A Team and Business Level.  Faster Value Delivery Informed Conversations and Decision-Making What Does the Future Look Like for Fruugo? Placing Greater Emphasis on Flow Looking ahead, Fruugo is prioritizing improvements in team flow, with a specific focus on optimizing the end-to-end work delivery process. Challenges such as limited automated testing and deployment delays have highlighted key areas for improvement, which will be addressed to create a smoother, more efficient delivery pipeline. By leveraging Cycle Time  and Throughput data  from ActionableAgile® Analytics, Fruugo will identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in team workflows. The goal is to collaborate closely with teams to increase throughput, streamline processes, and ensure a seamless flow of work from start to finish. This renewed focus on flow is vital to Fruugo’s future, as it will help reduce delays, boost efficiency, and ultimately deliver more value to the business. Experimenting with OKRs At Fruugo, Ben has been piloting Allan Kelly’s Agile OKR framework, which is now being rolled out across all teams. The adoption of OKRs is designed to empower teams to design solutions that can be delivered within a committed timeframe, while also fostering a shared understanding and alignment across the business. When combined with complementary practices like Story Mapping and slicing, OKRs are driving greater focus, reducing distractions and increasing value. Additionally, tools like ActionableAgile® Analytics and Portfolio Forecaster provide valuable data and insights to guide conversations around work sizing, prioritization, and ongoing stakeholder discussions.

About Wireless Logic Wireless Logic – IoT connectivity for any device, anywhere   Wireless Logic is a global leader in Internet-of-Things (IoT) connectivity, dedicated to bridging the physical and digital worlds with seamless, secure, and scalable solutions.   With more than 14 million devices connected across 165 countries and direct partnerships with 50+ mobile and satellite operators, they offer global coverage and end-to-end IoT services which accelerate the success of IoT projects.  Conexa, a purpose-built platform and dedicated IoT network, enables customers to securely connect and manage assets across any network and any number of deployments. This simplifies operations, accelerates time to market, lowers the total cost of ownership, and ensures ultra-reliable connectivity.  Their IoT services are meticulously designed, tested, deployed, and managed to meet the specific needs of each customer device fleet. They strive to deliver the most reliable, flexible, and secure connectivity services in the market.  Wireless Logic's customers range from global enterprises and governments to startups and SMEs, and they operate across a wide range of market sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, security, transport, energy, utilities, and smart cities.   Backed by Montagu, a leading mid-market private equity firm, Wireless Logic benefits from unrivalled financial strength and continued investment in growth and innovation.  Introducing Susan Ridgeon and her role within Wireless Logic Susan has been a Scrum Master at Wireless Logic for two and a half years, playing a pivotal role in guiding her teams toward better processes and outcomes. With her experience spanning over five years in Agile practices, Susan brings expertise in fostering realistic planning and continuous improvement, even amidst the challenges of rapid company growth. Coming from a Microsoft Azure environment, Susan faced an initial challenge adapting to Atlassian and Jira upon joining Wireless Logic. Early on, she realized the limitations of out-of-the-box Jira reports, especially for metrics like Cycle Time. In her role, she actively works to optimize Wireless Logic’s use of tools like Jira and integrate probabilistic forecasting methods to drive better delivery accuracy. Background Wireless Logic started using ActionableAgile® Analytics in Jira Cloud in mid-2023 as part of their overhaul to move away from time-based estimates. While working in three-week sprints, probabilistic forecasting has since proved to be not only more accurate but also a better fit for Wireless Logic’s growing needs. The Situation Wireless Logic faced a critical challenge: shift away from outdated time-based estimation methods that led to over-optimistic, unrealistic plans. This challenge was deeply felt by teams composed of Technical Leads, Technical Product Managers and Engineers, who, despite best efforts, often failed to complete deliverables and meet expectations. One of the biggest pain points Susan faced was the “false sense of accuracy” that reinforced the reliance on time-based estimates. Though developers were eager to move away from this approach, alternatives like story points posed their own challenges. There was a lot of mis-understanding surrounding story points and the lack of usability as a delivery date.  As the company recognized the need to prioritize more realistic planning and foster a culture of continuous improvement, Susan embarked on a mission to introduce approaches, like probabilistic forecasting with ActionableAgile® Analytics, to align the teams’ goals with achievable outcomes.  Along with ActionableAgile® Analytics, T-Shirt sizing proved more suitable for the team to help shape the conversations and drive discussions. Limited Visibility and Manual Efforts To bridge the gap, Susan started conducting her own experiments. After starting a free trial of ActionableAgile® Analytics, Susan would compare the teams time-based estimates to the forecasts provided by the Monte Carlo simulations from ActionableAgile® Analytics. Susan vividly recalled a pivotal sprint where one of the teams planned 20 tickets but managed to deliver only nine. In the background Susan had used the Monte Carlo simulation which forecasted that the team would complete 10 tickets—accurately reflecting the outcome.  This result highlighted the inadequacies of their time-based estimation approach and underscored the value of probabilistic forecasting.  Another challenge was extracting critical metrics like Cycle Time from Jira. “It’s just really hard to get that information from Jira,” Susan explained: Implementing ActionableAgile® Analytics - What happened after? The implementation of ActionableAgile® Analytics at Wireless Logic was a straightforward process. Susan built a business case highlighting the tool’s potential to improve accuracy and efficiency, which gained buy-in from the Technical Leads and the Engineering Manager. The team started out with approval for a monthly subscription before moving over to an annual subscription in February 2024.  During the initial phase of the rollout of ActionableAgile® Analytics, Susan recalled an experience seeking assistance for a few technical questions which required some assistance from the support team at 55 Degrees.  “ Your support team are amazing—feel free to include that in your post! They’re so responsive, getting back to me quickly and even setting up a call with more of the team when we run into an issue. Truly impressive service! " The Rollout – One Sprint team at a time When Wireless Logic decided to implement ActionableAgile® Analytics it was decided to roll it out team by team. Initially this began with one sprint team which were chosen due to their experience and capacity.  After proving success with this team, the tool was expanded to other teams one by one. During the rollout, Wireless Logic primarily used three main charts: Aging Work in Progress, Cycle Time Scatterplot, and Monte Carlo ("How Many"). ActionableAgile® Analytics is now used during retros – During which the team will look at the data from the Cycle Time chart and look for any outliers. This helps the team break down where work stalled which initiates valuable conversations.  Conversations which are not to drive blame, but to actively seek improvements – The team tries to understand if there were any lessons learnt and if they could have done anything different to formulate actions for improvement to take forward.  “ On occasions we have aging work, we will review in the daily scrum as the app visualises it much better than anything we get in Jira.  It then helps teams to know where to focus efforts, prioritise and make their daily plan. Engaging Teams and Encouraging Discussion To facilitate the rollout of ActionableAgile® Analytics, Susan conducted internal workshops focused on flow metrics such as Work Item Age and Cycle Time. “I’ve been showing the teams how to get the information and explained why it’s important for Daily syncs” she shared. These efforts also prompted a cultural shift in how teams approached estimation. Inspired by insights from meetups and Monte Carlo simulation results, Susan introduced T-shirt sizing as another discussion point to complement estimates from ActionableAgile® Analytics—a strategy to spark more dialogue.  “We also use T-shirt sizes now. If someone says large and someone else says small, that starts a conversation, it encourages discussion and shared understanding. The conversation that follows helps uncover hidden complexities, risks, or gaps in knowledge, leading to a more accurate shared understanding of the task. ” This change helps to identify where they can split tickets into smaller chunks of work. Perhaps the most significant outcome was the cultural change within the teams. Susan described a shift in focus from starting new tasks to finishing work in progress: The Result  A Shift to Realistic Planning Implementing ActionableAgile® Analytics has transformed Wireless Logic’s planning approach, leading to more achievable commitments. Susan highlighted this shift: “We are more likely to finish everything that we’ve committed to in planning than we were before. The data is much more realistic, and we’re not overplanning like we used to.” With Monte Carlo simulations, teams now base their plans on throughput and capacity, resulting in plans that align more closely with their actual delivery potential. Fostering a Culture of Finishing The cultural shift toward completing work rather than starting new tasks has been a standout result of using ActionableAgile® Analytics. Susan noted the change in team conversations: “Stop starting, start finishing. That became the focus. It was really positive to see tech leads and team members championing this mindset. ” One team lead exemplified this change, encouraging the team to prioritize completing aging work instead of pulling in more tasks. By comparing the same day a year apart Susan explained the Work In Progress was 20 a year ago and now the team has 5 items in progress. This focus has made the work more manageable with less risk.  Empowering Teams with Insights The adoption of actionable data through metrics like WIP aging and cycle time has driven meaningful conversations in retrospectives and daily scrums.  By incorporating these insights, teams are improving their processes and gradually achieving greater efficiency and predictability. “ With the flagged option in ActionableAgile® Analytics, we can easily identify delays in our workflow. For instance, when reviewing cycle time, we can see that a task was blocked for 10 days and investigate the reasons behind it. This insight helps us address bottlenecks and improve our processes”. Summary of Outcomes Increased Predictability  Improved Collaboration and Focus Streamlined Data Insights Increased Focus on Prioritization Structured Conversations What Does the Future Look Like for Wireless Logic? Integration of ActionableAgile® Analytics into the business Wireless Logic is exploring opportunities to expand the use of ActionableAgile® Analytics beyond its current teams to create a unified approach across the business. While the tool has already driven significant improvements in planning and collaboration within engineering and Dev Support teams, Susan sees potential for wider adoption. “We’re still working on encouraging more teams to use the tool. Everyone has access, but it’s mainly myself and our other Scrum Master, who are actively leveraging it,” Susan explained. By embedding flow metrics and data-driven practices across all teams, Wireless Logic aims to foster a culture of transparency and shared accountability. Using Sprint Lengths for Monte Carlo Forecasting While using Monte Carlo Forecasting within the app, Susan encountered a challenge related to her team's sprint-based approach. Her teams currently work in 3-week sprints, which means throughput data is only updated at the end of each sprint. As a result, forecasting based on recent data can be difficult, since the ActionableAgile® Analytics Monte Carlo model relies on a continuous flow of completed work. Ideally, Susan and her team would be able to generate forecasts in the context of their sprint cycle, rather than being constrained by a time-agnostic approach. However, Monte Carlo Forecasting is primarily designed for workflows with steady, incremental throughput—like Kanban—rather than batch-based sprint systems. Since providing this feedback, 55 Degrees has now put this on our public roadmap ( See the Under Consideration tab -  “ Forecast by additional time units” – If this is a feature you would like to see added   you can view the roadmap of ActionableAgile® Analytics here  and vote on features such as this that you would like incorporated into the app.

About KFC UK & Ireland KFC is a global chicken restaurant brand with a rich, decades-long history of success and innovation. It all started with one cook, Colonel Harland Sanders, who created a finger lickin’ good recipe more than 75 years ago—a list of 11 secret herbs and spices scratched out on the back of his kitchen door. Benjamin Richards and his role at KFC UK & Ireland Ben serves as a Systems Coach at KFC UK & Ireland, where his primary focus is aligning teams and individuals to drive greater efficiency while reducing waste across the organization. In his role, Ben oversees the Agile Guild,  supporting and fostering change across different business functions. His responsibilities extend beyond just delivery; he invests in building cohesive teams and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Ben has been a user of the Atlassian suite of tools for 10+ years. Background KFC UK&I has been using ActionableAgile® Analytics in Jira for four years - since 2019. 55 Degrees is proud to witness over 4 years of growth alongside KFC UK&I. The Situation KFC UK&I wanted to prioritise quick and consistent delivery of value to customers whilst understanding the health of their products. To level up the business, they began to embark on a journey of continuous improvement with the aim of becoming more predictable and having more meaningful conversations internally about how they work to meet their goals and drive meaningful outcomes. Enhancing Efficiency and Reducing Errors To improve, KFC UK&I needed to reduce the administrative burden of, and impact of human errors in, maintaining large spreadsheets for tracking team and product health metrics. Automating data to drive decision-making became an intriguing direction for the team. " There was the admin overhead of, as well as the human error within, the spreadsheets and additional data you are trying to work with. There was a lack of standardisation and continuity " Advancing Towards Standardised Processes A lack of standardisation and continuity in data analysis processes made it difficult to get a consistent and accurate view of team and product health. It was clear that this created barriers to communicating data and language across teams. Facilitating Seamless Data Exchange and Contextual Understanding: Sharing data and insights between teams and stakeholders was challenging, leading to inefficiencies and misinterpretation. There was an incomplete bigger picture between the teams thanks to data silos and standardisation. " The spreadsheet that I was operating from was easy for me, because I'd gone through the pain of curating and creating it. However, maintaining at scale and taking others on the journey to take ownership a struggle, and rightly so. " The Solution: ActionableAgile® Analytics When KFC UK&I decided to move toward a data-driven and automated approach to agility, it was important that they were able to use their existing data in Jira. ActionableAgile® Analytics for Jira was ideal, because users don’t have to leave Jira, and because the data in Jira stayed safely in Jira at all times.  Once starting with ActionableAgile® Analytics , KFC UK&I saved time from the very start by avoiding manual spreadsheets and loading their existing historical data directly from Jira in minutes (or less). There was no more waiting - discussions could start immediately! " With ActionableAgile™️ Analytics we could work with data at its source and leverage our existing system (Jira) - with ease. Being able to define data, manipulate it, and assess different time periods - that was a massive win. " Overcoming Data Silos and Misinterpretation For KFC UK&I, the team can now center conversations around work items and business goals. The teams are able to view the same data and trust in its integrity. This shift promotes a true team mentality, focusing not only on execution, but also on intentional collaboration and alignment with business objectives.  This aspect, often overlooked in many companies, is now a focal point for KFC UK&I, enhancing overall team effectiveness and cohesion. " It’s great to see the recent releases [to ActionableAgile® Analytics ], such as the ability to share datasets. Even though I am not in the weeds of the day-to-day [in teams], I can still at least sing from the same hymn sheet that the scrum masters are working from, rather than second-guessing the data filtering ."  Actionable data to paint a bigger picture Data should serve a purpose and, above all, be actionable. If you stop at consuming a chart, you are robbing yourself of huge rewards. The big win is using this data to have the right conversations at the right times, so you can take the right actions and make the right decisions.  That is why, across all teams, at least once a quarter, the Agile Guild team at KFC UK&I will now take a snapshot of data from ActionableAgile® Analytics and complement with narration and context around that data.  This ensures everyone knows how the data is being interpreted, sees the context that goes into that interpretation, and allows deeper discussion among everyone who consumes it. " We might see a 5% decrease in throughput - okay, well, that is a number. But actually, the context applied brings the meaning and driving action.  We are able to take data and have meaningful conversations as a collective. We tried x and saw y improvement – in doing so we look to standardise, consolidate, and normalise practices if there is a shared consensus that there is value and benefit from it. "  Supporting real conversations with stakeholders By providing accurate and transparent data, ActionableAgile® Analytics has built greater trust among team members and stakeholders in the insights derived from the data. There has been an enhanced ability to have meaningful, data-backed conversations with business partners and stakeholders, aligning them to the value stream and helping ensure everyone is on the same page. An example of this can be seen during a recent quarterly review process meeting, where the team presented data with context in the following areas: Arrival Rate vs. Throughput '24  – Using ActionableAgile® Analytics , the team demonstrated that 36% more work had entered the backlog over the quarter. It's encouraging that, alongside this increase, throughput also rose by 16%, meaning work is flowing smoothly through the team, and they are managing the higher demand without causing significant backlogs. However, this will be something to monitor closely going forward. Cycle Time  – ActionableAgile® Analytics highlighted that the team’s cycle time had increased by 27% during the quarter. While this could be alarming to stakeholders without context, the team was able to explain that the increase was due to external factors, such as a recent code freeze and reduction of team " A big takeaway is being able to support meaningful conversation with our business partners [Stakeholders], that align to the value stream(s). Having an elevated level of trust in the data of how we operate to support outcomes is a must have. "  Continuous improvement using data With one of the main drivers being continuous improvement, KFC UK&I run a quarterly Kaizen (that’s Japanese for improvement) event through a two-week sprint focused on identifying problems and fostering innovation throughout the business. ActionableAgile® Analytics has provided supporting data used during this period and daily throughout team level Kaizen. Results by the numbers Having implemented ActionableAgile® Analytics some years ago we took a look back at how KFC UK&I has progressed on their journey over the last 2-3 years. Let’s look into how some numbers are around their Product Value Stream goals. Has KFC UK&I been able to cut down on down time while being more efficient, predictable and deliver more? Overall Average Flow Efficiency : This is the time work is actively being worked on, as opposed to waiting or being idle. 2021 : 69.5% 2024 : 77.6% (+7.95%) Overall Cycle Time:  Cycle time is a key performance metric, reflecting how quickly work moves through the system. Shorter cycle times indicate efficiency in delivering work. 2021 : 9.3 days   2024 : 6.3 days (-3 days) What assumptions can we make from this? The increase in Flow Efficiency (+7.95%) suggests that KFC UK&I has significantly reduced idle time in their product value stream, indicating an improvement in how quickly work is prioritised and completed.  Furthermore, the reduction in Cycle Time by 3 days reflects that they are not only working faster but also have become more efficient at delivering value to their customers. These metrics strongly imply that KFC UK&I has optimized their process flows, minimized bottlenecks, and improved predictability, positioning themselves for sustainable, scalable delivery. Summary of Outcomes Automated data analysis, reducing manual errors and administrative burden. A standardized approach to tracking and analyzing metrics, ensuring consistency and reliability. AKA - a data source they can trust. Common data and language that teams can bring to regular Kaizen periods. Implementation of automation to identify and address aging work in progress, signaling and enforcing the cleaning of the backlog. What does the future look like for KFC UK&I? Finding their flow Having started with Scrum, Scrumban, and Kanban at the core of their agility, KFC UK&I has transitioned into a product-centered style of working, leading the teams to lean methods and applications to support flow and the associated flow metrics to help tell the tale. To support this transition, KFC UK&I has also begun using Jira Product Discovery alongside ActionableAgile® Analytics because these tools offer flexibility for strategic initiatives and prioritisation. " Over the last two to three years, we have been on a journey of stepping it up a gear in terms of driving and moving away from projects, and stepping into a product-oriented structure.  We have focused on forming value streams, and with this, a greater view of how we find flow in our product teams and overall alignment, to deliver value to our customers. "

About BNP Paribas Bank Polska In Poland, BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A. provides services to retail customers and other segments, including Wealth Management, microbusinesses, SMEs, and corporate banking.  As part of the BNP Paribas group, a prominent European bank with a global presence , BNP Paribas Bank Polska offers responsible and innovative financial solutions that help their customers change their world and support the Polish economy.  Damian Rybiński and his role at BNP Paribas Bank Polska As an Agile Coach at BNP Paribas Polska, Damian plays a pivotal role in supporting agile transformation goals. His responsibilities include working with Tribe Leaders, coaching and mentoring Scrum Masters, and ensuring overall effectiveness, efficiency, and predictability within the tribes.  "It's a wide role in our organization. In a nutshell, as an Agile Coach, I support tribes by being a lean-agile leader, coach, mentor, and doer—depending on the situation." Background BNP Paribas Bank Polska has been using ActionableAgile® Analytics for Jira for over a year now. 55 Degrees is excited to build a long-term relationship with BNP Paribas Bank Polska as they continue their Agile Transformation.  The Situation Generally speaking, being Agile at Scale  is an incredibly hard feat to pull off. With over 8000 employees in Poland and nearly 4.2 million customers, BNP Paribas Bank Polska faces the monumental challenge of implementing agile practices across a vast and diverse organization. The complexity of the banking sector added another layer of difficulty, making it essential to find solutions that could simplify processes while maintaining high standards of quality and predictability. BNP Paribas Bank Polska was motivated to move away from the limitations of out of the box gadgets and filters within JIRA and Confluence, which they found to be cumbersome and inefficient. Instead, BNP Paribas Bank Polska sought a solution that seamlessly integrated with JIRA and offered a comprehensive visualization of flow metrics and data that could enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. Limited predictability and metrics BNP Paribas Bank Polska faced challenges in accurately tracking metrics and achieving predictability. Their previous reliance on native JIRA features and Excel for flow metrics visualization didn’t provide the insights they were looking for, despite the extra effort required to use them. The lack of a seamless and intuitive tool for connecting and visualizing data meant that the organization struggled to build reliable forecasts. It was nearly impossible to make the informed, data-driven decisions required to manage project timelines and expectations effectively.  "We knew that if we wanted to build predictability, we had to take care of flow metrics." The standard process at scale Achieving standard processes at scale was a significant challenge for BNP Paribas Bank Polska. The organization struggled to establish a straightforward connection with Jira to visualize data metrics. This led to them prioritizing “ease of use” as one of the key criteria when assessing new tools. The complex banking environment further complicates processes' efficient implementation and standardization, making it difficult to ensure consistent and effective practices across all teams. For instance, different regulatory requirements across regions, varying legacy systems, and the high volume of transactions all contribute to the complexity. The Solution ActionableAgile® Analytics for Jira BNP Paribas Bank Polska considered several alternative solutions but ultimately chose ActionableAgile® Analytics for its ease of implementation, advanced flow metrics, and customer support around the tool. Recognizing that a successful rollout of the ActionableAgile® Analytics was of utmost importance, the BNP team held multiple sessions with 55 Degrees while assessing the tool. To prepare, 55 Degrees conducted introductory training courses with the Scrum Masters, after which BNP held internal training sessions for their leadership.   BNP Paribas Bank Polska attributes their success not only to choosing the right solution, but also to their thorough preparation. This is evident in the rapid and widespread adoption of their practices by over 150 squads across the company. Catalyzing change across 150 squads Implementing ActionableAgile® Analytics across 150 diverse squads has been a transformative force at BNP Paribas Bank Polska. The tool has addressed the need for ease and scalability in a challenging banking environment by simplifying complex processes and providing straightforward metrics visualization. The comprehensive training sessions for Scrum Masters and other leaders ensured effective adoption, which was crucial given the complexity and scale of operations. This facilitated a unified approach to managing flow metrics, making spreading these practices easier across all teams.  With the value of ActionableAgile® Analytics proved internally among the initially trained squads, BNP felt confident in rolling the tool out to approximately 150 existing squads across the company in 2023. "In agile transformation, Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters often do things that the business doesn't see. Having the data to demonstrate the benefits makes it much easier to collaborate." Common language around metrics ( It IS possible! ) BNP Paribas Bank Polska is deep into its third year of Agile transformation, and the integration of ActionableAgile® Analytics has played a pivotal role in establishing a common language around flow metrics. Before the implementation, many people within the organization had never heard of flow metrics.  Establishing a shared language and cultivating a unified mindset has been pivotal for successful implementation. Damian highlighted that Scrum Masters now use flow metrics during events and meetings, enabling diverse teams to benefit from a standardized approach, regardless of their specific frameworks or methods. Scrum Masters can fully leverage the tool while addressing any blockers or impediments that arise inside their tribes. "The actions of standardizing processes and implementing ActionableAgile® Analytics to predictability have been crucial factors in our success." Happy Business Leaders In today's financial climate, demonstrating the business value of third-party tools to leaders is crucial. At BNP Paribas Bank Polska, showing business leaders the value of ActionableAgile® Analytics has been quite effective. Damian: "We showed the relationship between reducing Work In Progress and shortening Cycle Time or between reducing Work In Progress and increasing Throughput—the number of items we delivered. This allowed business leaders to see these correlations clearly. And since they see the benefits and the real data, they are more eager to work with us to make it even better. It's important for them to see the real data and benefits."  Real data is displayed to leadership during strategic events. This image notes the correlation between reducing Work in Progress and reducing Cycle Time. Real data is displayed to leadership during strategic events. This image shows how the team asses release plans based on Monte Carlo Simulations. Predictable Predictability The implementation of ActionableAgile® Analytics has significantly enhanced predictability at BNP Paribas Bank Polska.  By leveraging Monte Carlo simulations and metrics such as Cycle Time and Throughput, teams can now provide accurate forecasts and answer the critical question, "When will it be done?" This level of predictability is essential for planning effectively and for meeting stakeholder expectations.  Additionally, The tool has enabled a common approach to monitoring work progress and delivery dates, making it a valuable asset for ensuring timely and reliable outcomes. Simplified complex processes for over 150 teams, making metrics easier to understand and improving scalability. Successfully implemented unified flow metrics management along with a common language for flow metrics. Strengthened collaboration with business leaders by showing clear benefits and real data, gaining their support for agile projects. Improved predictability with accurate forecasting and timely delivery using metrics and simulations, meeting stakeholder expectations. What does the future look like for BNP Paribas Bank Polska? Continuing the standardization of metrics - step-by-step BNP Paribas Bank Polska plans to continue standardizing the Cycle Time and Work Item Age metrics across the organization to further enhance predictability and efficiency. This ongoing effort involves gradually implementing additional ActionableAgile® Analytics metrics and ensuring that all squads are aligned in their use.  The bank recognizes that achieving high levels of consistency and quality in its processes is crucial for maintaining its competitive edge in the complex banking sector. Damian: “ We believe these follow-ups are crucial when it comes to standardizing the tool. You have to have a plan because it's impossible to implement everything at once .” Cultivating agile excellence 🥚 Maintaining an agile mindset is a key internal objective driven by the need to enhance predictability, quality, and process efficiency.  Thus, internal chapters within BNP Paribas Bank Polska, the Agile Excellence Chapter and Efficiency Excellence Chapter, have established a dedicated ‘ Flow Metrics Circle   🥚’ ( informally known as EGG internally ) to support the standardization of flow metrics.  Damian: “ We need to build predictability. We need to take care of our quality and we need to shorten our feedback cycles in the most innovative and complex areas. We need to have better processes that are not only faster, but also better in terms of quality and more accurate when it comes to market’s requirements ."

About Spektrix Spektrix is a complete solution for ticketing, marketing, fundraising, and CRM, designed specifically for the performing arts and events industry. With world-class technology and support, Spektrix helps 750+ organisations across the UK, Ireland, US, and Canada to grow their revenue and deepen customer relationships. Powerful, intuitive software, at-a-glance insights, frequent and seamless upgrades, training, support, and strategic consultation with experienced professionals come at no additional cost - making Spektrix the fastest-growing solution for arts organisations today.  Introducing Rita Goodbody and her role within Spektrix Rita joined Spektrix in 2022 as an Agile Delivery Manager during a period of significant growth for the company. When she began, Spektrix had just three engineering teams; today, it boasts eight. Her role is dynamic, with no two days alike, but her overarching focus is on delivering value to end users and customers. Rita’s responsibilities span across two teams, including one focused on architectural and technical long-term vision. She also collaborates regularly with a group of delivery managers, exchanging insights on improving delivery processes and supporting team efficiency. Central to her work is enabling the flow of work, fostering continuous improvement, and providing clarity to stakeholders about delivery timelines. Spektrix utilizes Kanban and Lean practices, emphasizing continuous forecasting to maintain accountability and transparent communication. Tools like Jira and Confluence are integral to their workflow, allowing the team to manage work seamlessly and link delivery metrics with strategic goals. This structure ensures that all stakeholders have a clear view of how individual efforts contribute to larger company objectives. For Rita, the role of an Agile Delivery Manager is about more than just achieving goals—it’s about empowering teams, enabling flow, and making work happen. Background Spektrix began leveraging ActionableAgile® Analytics in Jira Cloud in mid-2023 as part of their commitment to optimizing delivery processes and enabling their teams to deliver value more effectively. This tool has become a cornerstone of their workflow, helping them align their growing teams with strategic goals and maintain transparency across the organization. The Situation Teams within Spektrix were structured similarly, typically comprising six to nine people with roles including engineers, product owners, delivery managers, tech leads and engineering managers. Delivery teams worked with different focuses—some tackling long-term architectural initiatives, others concentrating on short-term features. This diversity of efforts demanded clear alignment and a reliable way to track progress. Much of the work at Spektrix relied on manual processes, particularly when it came to tracking, forecasting, and providing updates to stakeholders. Delivery managers like Rita spent significant time preparing data manually. "We used to spend hours doing spreadsheets,” she explained.  This manual approach involved extracting data from Jira and inputting it into spreadsheets for forecasting and reporting. While effective for a smaller team size, the process became a bottleneck as the number of teams grew. Simple tasks like answering stakeholder questions often required substantial time.   Growing Pains: Scaling Teams and Processes As the teams expanded, the inefficiencies of manual processes became increasingly apparent. Delivery managers found themselves struggling to provide consistent updates, and the manual workflows made it difficult to keep pace with the demands of a growing organization.  Each Delivery Manager had 2 teams. Switching context from one team to another took time to get everything loaded and ready for the update. On average the Delivery Managers would spend 2-4 hours getting the data right and being able to update all relevant information to reflect the latest progress. It was clear Spektrix needed a way to streamline its processes and reduce the reliance on time-consuming methods that no longer served its scale. Rita reflected on the transition: “We were spending so much time doing manual spreadsheets, updating data, and preparing forecasts. It was taking too long, and as we grew, it was clear something needed to change.’’ Challenges of Growing Complexity The diversity of Spektrix’s teams and their varying focuses further complicated efforts to maintain alignment. Without a unified approach to tracking and forecasting, teams and stakeholders often worked with incomplete or inconsistent information. Rita described the need for better visibility and alignment: “Each team works slightly differently, but we all needed to look at the same information to stay on track and ensure we were delivering value.” This lack of cohesion impacted both day-to-day operations and longer-term planning, underscoring the need for a scalable solution to manage the growing complexity. Implementing ActionableAgile® Analytics - What happened after? The rollout of ActionableAgile® Analytics at Spektrix was a gradual but transformative process, beginning with the delivery managers and expanding across teams. The initial goal was to replace the manual, spreadsheet-driven workflows that consumed significant time and effort.  To secure approval for the business case, Rita utilized the tool during the free trial period to demonstrate its value. She emphasized that the time savings it provided far outweighed the cost of the tool. Additionally, she highlighted how the team could self-serve and access quick updates at a team level, making the decision to invest in the tool an easy choice. First the teams wanted to make sure they had the same information and results as the manual data. We've always used flow metrics, core to Kanban, but ActionableAgile® Analytics allowed us to use it  more transparently by everyone in engineering rather than just delivery managers with complex and brittle spreadsheets. ActionableAgile® Analytics gives us more ways to examine teams delivery from different angles with more dynamic and automated views. Starting with the Delivery Managers Rita described how the implementation began with delivery managers exploring the tool together. “We just got together as delivery managers and said, ‘Okay, let’s set this up in our teams. We compared how things worked, ran demos for each other, and started spreading it slowly,” she explained. Initially, delivery managers were the primary users, testing the tool and identifying how best to introduce it to their teams. Teams within Spektrix were structured similarly, typically comprising six to nine people with roles including engineers, product owners, delivery managers, and tech leads. This provided a consistent framework for implementing ActionableAgile® Analytics while tailoring its use to the needs of individual teams. Building Engagement Across Teams The next step was to share the tool with team leads and engineers, demonstrating how it could help with planning and forecasting. According to Rita, the response was overwhelmingly positive. “The leads were really engaged. They were like, ‘Wow, this is brilliant—we can get information so quickly.’” The adoption process varied across teams. Some quickly embraced flow metrics like work item age and cycle time, incorporating them into daily stand-ups and using them to identify bottlenecks. Others preferred a focus on long-term metrics, analyzing historical data to identify trends and opportunities for improvement. In one of Rita’s teams, the use of flow metrics sparked proactive collaboration. “They were like, ‘Can you call us out when something hits three or four days? We do forget to look at it.’ So I’d flag aging items, and that really helped us reduce cycle times. When you look at the historical data, we went from high cycle times all the way down. That momentum motivated the team,” she shared. Unlocking Time and Focus For delivery managers at Spektrix, implementing ActionableAgile® Analytics was a game-changer, particularly in terms of saving time. Before, hours were spent manually updating spreadsheets to track and forecast delivery timelines. “We realized we were saving so much time,” Rita explained. “Now, instead of spending Monday mornings buried in Excel, we can use that time for more valuable work.” The shift not only freed up delivery managers but also allowed teams to focus on improving their workflows. Rita highlighted how this shift built momentum. “We started sharing metrics like cycle time with the teams, and over time, they saw real improvements. When you look at the historical data, we went from high cycle times all the way down. That momentum motivated the team to keep improving.” In one of the teams, we went from 16-18 days under 85% confidence level to 6-8 days under 85% confidence in less than 3 months time . See below snapshot.  Delivering a Critical Feature—On Time One standout moment came in 2023, when Spektrix faced a tight deadline for an important feature release. Rita and her team were able to quickly identify that the current setup wouldn’t allow them to meet the deadline. “Using the tool, we forecasted that we wouldn’t make it without additional support. We brought in help from other teams and managed to deliver on time,” Rita said. The feature was delivered as planned, sparking applause from across the company. “Everyone was happy and clapping,” she recalled. A Shift in Culture The adoption of ActionableAgile® Analytics sparked a cultural shift at Spektrix. Delivery managers moved from being gatekeepers of data to enablers of transparency and flow. Teams grew more independent, and shared metrics became a common language. “We started sharing screenshots and updates regularly, whether in chats or meetings. Teams could see their progress, and it created this momentum,” Rita said. “The real magic is when people pull the information themselves. Instead of us pushing it onto them, they’re asking questions, getting curious, and taking action.”  Real Cycle Time data from one of the teams as at December 2022 - Prior to using ActionableAgile® Analytics Real Cycle Time data from the same team as at December 2023 - 8 months following the installation of ActionableAgile® Analytics Above, we can see the same team's Cycle Time exactly a year apart. By analyzing the data, we can draw the following conclusions: Consistent Delivery in 2023 Compared to 2022 The 2023 chart shows more clustering of cycle times around lower percentile bands (e.g., 50% and 70%) compared to 2022. This indicates improved consistency in delivery times, enabling stakeholders to better predict when work will be completed. Faster Cycle Times in 2023 Median cycle times (represented near the 50% band) in 2023 appear lower than in 2022. This suggests that the team improved their overall efficiency, reducing the time it takes to deliver items from start to finish. Fewer Outliers in 2023 In 2022, there are more visible dots above the higher percentile bands (e.g., 95%), reflecting more frequent long-running work items. By 2023, the team reduced the number of outliers, demonstrating their success in addressing bottlenecks and managing complex tasks more effectively. Increased Work Volume in 2023 While Maintaining or Improving Cycle Time The 2023 chart shows a larger number of data points (and potentially larger dots) compared to 2022, suggesting the team handled a greater volume of work. Despite this increased workload, the team maintained or improved their cycle times, showcasing scalability and adaptability.  Summary of Outcomes Significant Time Savings allowing for work on more valuable projects Improved Cycle Times On-Time Delivery for Critical Features Increased Team Accountability Enhanced Stakeholder Confidence What Does the Future Look Like for Spektrix? Establishing Transparency and Collaboration Across Teams Looking forward, Spektrix envisions a future where transparency and flow metrics are integrated not just at the team level but across the entire organization. Rita highlighted a growing need for cross-team visibility, especially as dependencies and collaborative goals become more prevalent. “We’d love to see a dashboard that brings together data from multiple teams in one place,” Rita said. “Right now, if one team’s work blocks another, we have to gather data manually from different delivery managers. It would be amazing to see trends across teams at a glance to quickly understand where dependencies or bottlenecks are happening.” This vision aligns with Spektrix’s efforts to scale their use of tools like Jira and ActionableAgile® Analytics beyond engineering teams to other areas.  As Spektrix explores future possibilities, the balance between automation and meaningful conversations remains critical. While some team members have suggested features like AI-driven insights to identify trends and optimize throughput automatically, Rita reflected on the value of keeping discussions at the forefront. “I love going into the data, looking at the past two weeks, and prompting the team with questions,” she explained. “Why did this happen? Was this good or bad? That conversation piece is so valuable. If we rely too much on automation, we might lose that depth of understanding.” Championing Flow Across the Organization Spektrix plans to champion the adoption of flow metrics and tools like ActionableAgile® Analytics across the company, embedding these practices into all teams and processes.  Rita believes this will help achieve broader alignment with company goals. “At some point, we’ll want to centralize how we use tools across the company, ensuring everyone benefits from the same efficiencies and insights,” she shared. By continuing to foster collaboration, refining their use of flow metrics, and expanding tool adoption, Spektrix is paving the way for a future where agility and transparency drive success at every level.

At 55 Degrees, we’re always looking for new ways to enhance your workflow and simplify how you interact with your data. That’s why we’re excited to announce that the beta version of Saved Data Sets for ActionableAgile® Analytics is coming soon to Azure DevOps! This upcoming feature will empower you to save and revisit your preferred data configurations instantly, transforming how you work with data. Here's a sneak peek at what inspired its creation, the problems it addresses, and the benefits you can expect once it’s live. Why Did We Create the Saved Data Sets feature? We noticed a pattern among our users: Many of you frequently return to the same configurations, spending valuable time setting them up repeatedly. With Saved Data Sets, you can save your preferred configurations and focus on what truly matters—analyzing data and making data-driven decisions. This feature is designed with you in mind. Eliminating repetitive tasks streamlines your workflow, enhances efficiency, and ensures a smoother, more satisfying experience. With Saved Data Sets, you’ll work smarter, boost productivity, and rely on a tool that truly supports your daily tasks. What Problems Will Saved Data Sets Solve? When it launches, Saved Data Sets will tackle some of the biggest challenges our users face: Time Efficiency:  Users often spend significant time reconfiguring data sets to match their previous setups. By enabling the saving of custom configurations, we eliminate repetitive tasks, allowing users to load their preferred settings instantly. Consistency:  For users who rely on specific configurations for reporting or analysis, the risk of human error during manual setup can lead to inconsistencies. Saved Data Sets ensure that users can retrieve their exact configurations, enhancing accuracy and reliability in their work. User Experience:  Navigating through complex data configurations can be overwhelming. This feature simplifies the process, making it more intuitive and user-friendly, which is especially beneficial for new users or those working on multiple projects. Enhanced Focus:  By reducing the time spent on setup, users can dedicate more attention to analyzing data and deriving insights, ultimately improving productivity and decision-making. The Benefits of Saved Data Sets Here’s what you can look forward to when Saved Data Sets become available: Users can anticipate several significant benefits from the Saved Data Sets feature: Time Savings:  You can quickly load your previously saved configurations, eliminating the need to spend time redoing the setups for recurring tasks. Improved Accuracy:  By ensuring consistency in configurations, you minimize the risk of errors that can occur during manual setups, leading to more reliable results. Enhanced Productivity:  With less time spent on configuration, you can focus more on data analysis and strategic decision-making, maximizing your overall productivity. User-Friendly Experience:  The feature's intuitive design simplifies data management, making it accessible for users of all skill levels, including those who may be new to the app. Customization Flexibility:  You can easily save and switch between different configurations, allowing you to tailor your experience to meet specific project needs or preferences. What’s Next? Saved Data Sets is just the beginning. This feature lays the foundation for even more exciting updates, including the ability to share configurations with your team directly within Azure DevOps. Collaboration and efficiency are about to reach new heights! Stay Tuned The wait won’t be long—Saved Data Sets is coming soon to ActionableAgile® Analytics for Azure DevOps. Get ready to streamline your workflow, save time, and work smarter than ever before. Keep an eye out for more updates, and let us know what features you’d love to see next in our Roadmap . We can’t wait to hear how Saved Data Sets transforms the way you work!

Planning across multiple teams can be a challenge. Different teams work in different ways, and their data reflects that. Yet, when stakeholders need a view of the bigger picture, combining everything into one massive forecast is tempting. Unfortunately, this often leads to inaccurate predictions and poor decision-making. That’s why we’re excited to introduce Forecast Portfolios , a new feature in Portfolio Forecaster  that provides a smarter way to align teams and plan across groups. What Are Forecast Portfolios? Forecast Portfolios allow you to view multiple team forecasts together in one unified, read-only portfolio. Instead of merging data into a single forecast—where differences in team practices and workflows can create errors—Forecast Portfolios respect the unique characteristics of each team’s forecast. Users can easily create a portfolio by selecting group forecasts and combining them into a shared view. These portfolios can also be filtered to focus on the most relevant work, and they can be shared with stakeholders for better visibility and collaboration. Why It’s a Game-Changer Forecast Portfolios  solve a critical problem: how to provide cross-team visibility without sacrificing accuracy. Here’s what makes it stand out: Accuracy Without Compromise:  Each team’s forecast remains intact, ensuring reliable insights for better decision-making. Enhanced Visibility:  Stakeholders can see the full picture across teams in one place. Time-Saving Simplicity:  Portfolios are quick to set up and easy to share, making cross-team planning seamless. Customizable Views:  Filters allow users to focus on the data that matters most to them. Who Benefits from Forecast Portfolios? Directors and Program Managers:  Easily align resources and strategies across teams. C-Level Executives:  Gain high-level visibility into progress and performance. Team Leads:  Share their group’s contributions transparently while maintaining the integrity of their data. Forecast Portfolios: Align Smarter, Plan Better If you’ve been struggling to align forecasts across teams without losing accuracy, Forecast Portfolios is here to help. By providing clarity, collaboration, and confidence in your forecasting, it’s the tool you need to navigate complexity and plan for success. Forecast Portfolios is on its way and will soon be available in Beta on Portfolio Forecaster. Get ready to explore this exciting feature to enhance your planning and decision-making. Stay tuned-more details coming soon!

In today’s fast-paced, ever-changing business world, the ability to adapt and plan for the unexpected is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. Teams constantly navigate shifting priorities, limited resources, and unpredictable demands. Organizations must think beyond static forecasts and embrace a more dynamic, flexible approach to succeed. Building on the foundation of probabilistic forecasting, Scenario Planning  in Portfolio Forecaster takes dynamic forecasting to the next level. Empowering teams to explore the “what-ifs” of their workflows provides an invaluable tool for risk planning and decision-making in an ever-uncertain environment. This capability revolutionizes forecasting, enabling smarter decision-making, greater agility, and improved outcomes. Here’s why Scenario Planning is a game changer—and how it transforms your experience with Portfolio Forecaster. What is Scenario Planning in Portfolio Forecaster? Scenario Planning within Portfolio Forecaster  allows teams to toggle on potential future scenarios and test the impact of changes—before they happen. By simulating various "what-if" scenarios, teams can answer critical questions like: What if we reduce the number of items we’re working on simultaneously? What happens to our timelines if priorities shift? How would working ahead on future tasks impact our forecast? When can we expect to complete upcoming items if we maintain our current pace? All of this is seamlessly integrated into Portfolio Forecaster , giving users the tools they need to prepare for the unexpected directly within their forecasting workflow. Why Scenario Planning in Portfolio Forecaster is a Game-Changer 1. Anticipate Outcomes with Confidence With Scenario Planning in Portfolio Forecaster, you can explore multiple outcomes, anticipate risks, and proactively adapt your plans to meet changing conditions. 2. Make Data-Driven Decisions Every decision involves trade-offs, and Portfolio Forecaster clearly outlines those trade-offs. Whether adjusting work-in-progress limits, shifting priorities, or changing workflows, Scenario Planning helps you understand the impact of your choices, enabling smarter and more strategic decisions. 3. Adapt to Change with Agility Change is inevitable—whether it’s a new customer demand, an unexpected delay, or a strategic pivot. Scenario Planning helps teams prepare for these changes before they occur. With Portfolio Forecaster, you can model the effects of changes on timelines and outcomes, empowering teams to respond with agility and confidence. 4. Optimize Resources and Throughput Balancing speed, quality, and resource allocation is a challenge for any team. Scenario Planning within Portfolio Forecaster allows you to experiment with changes, such as reducing the number of concurrent tasks or reordering priorities, to optimize efficiency and avoid bottlenecks or burnout. 5. Foster Collaboration and Transparency Portfolio Forecaster isn’t just for project managers—it’s a tool for aligning entire teams. With Scenario Planning, stakeholders gain a clear, shared view of potential outcomes. This transparency fosters collaboration and ensures that everyone is aligned, reducing misunderstandings and building trust. How Portfolio Forecaster Stands Out Portfolio Forecaster  is designed to make forecasting and planning both intuitive and powerful. The addition of Scenario Planning elevates its value by enabling teams to visualize and plan for multiple potential futures. Whether you’re managing complex projects, aligning cross-functional teams, or trying to optimize workflows, Portfolio Forecaster gives you the insights and tools to stay ahead of uncertainty. Key benefits of Scenario Planning in Portfolio Forecaster include: Ease of use:  Toggle between actual forecasts and simulated scenarios without disruption. Seamless integration:  Leverage Scenario Planning directly within your existing forecasting workflow. Actionable insights:  Translate “what-if” scenarios into concrete, informed decisions. The Bigger Picture: Why It Matters At its core, Scenario Planning in Portfolio Forecaster is about empowerment. It empowers teams to: Stay ahead of uncertainty  by exploring possibilities. Make informed decisions  that drive better results. Align around shared goals  with clear, data-backed insights. In an era where adaptability is crucial, Scenario Planning is more than a feature—it’s a strategic advantage. It helps organizations move from reactive to proactive, from static to dynamic, and from uncertainty to confidence. Explore the Future with Portfolio Forecaster If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “What if…?” Portfolio Forecaster’s Scenario Planning feature is the answer. Providing a forward-thinking approach to forecasting enables smarter workflows, faster decision-making, and better outcomes. The future isn’t static—why should your planning be? Start your free Portfolio Forecaster trial today to navigate complexity with clarity and thrive in an unpredictable world.  Scenario Planning is launching soon in Beta! Stay tuned and be among the first to try it out. Get ready to explore new possibilities and make smarter, data-driven decisions with Portfolio Forecaster.

I should also say at the outset, that while I do write a lot about predictability, I’m terrible at prognostication without data, which means that what I have below is more of a wish list rather than a bold statement about what will happen in 2025. Also, so you know, this is not going to be some crass or trite blog post about how AI is going to change everything about Agile.  Yes, AI will have some impact, but I’d be willing to bet that impact (whatever it is) will not be in any area that is widely being talked about now. Without any further adieu, here goes: 1.       A continued shift away from prescriptive Agile frameworks.  With all due respect to practitioners of Scrum, Safe, etc., those frameworks have had their day, and unfortunately, our industry is no better off (and, in many cases, worse off) than when they first came into prominence.  My expectation is that companies continue to drop their investment in those failed Agile experiments and continue to shift toward understanding what drives efficiency, effectiveness, and predictability from first principles.  Yes, I am biased here.  And yes, I’ve said this before.  But I believe 2024 was a sea change in this regard, and I don’t see that trend reversing any time soon.  Plausibility :  Pretty good. 2.       Can we please stop talking about story points?  It is 2025, ffs.  Everybody and their brother’s neighbor’s dog know that story points don’t work, yet they still seem to be pervasive.  Even the person who created story points says don’t use them but somehow, I am still encountering them on a monthly basis.  Outside of fixed length timeboxes (see # 1), I believe story points are the single biggest factor that has held Agile back from achieving its full potential.  I know, I know, story points are not “Agile,” but pick a team at random that is doing “Agile,” and chances are they are using story points--in one form or another.  When the person who was responsible for introducing story points has repeatedly said not to use them, then I think it is time that we should heed his advice.  Plausibility :  Nil. 3.       Can Agile please finally fill its biggest hole? That is, it proves that adopting Agile practices actually improves either an organization's top line or bottom line or both.  The problem is that as long as we continue to follow the prescriptive frameworks of # 1, this will be hard to demonstrate.  Think about how many billions of dollars have been spent on Agile in the past twenty-ish years. Is there any proof that this investment has provided any real financial benefit?  Anecdotally, I would say it has not—which is the fundamental reason why Agile finds itself in the doldrums.  As long as Agile continues to rely on financially inefficient strategies like (as mentioned above) fixed length timeboxes, prescriptive roles, and story points (to name a few), then for all intents and purposes, Agile will continue its slow march toward death.  What we need to do is be able to prove to CFOs, that any investment in legitimate Agile practices will contribute to a company's overall financial health.  To date (with minimal exceptions), this has never been done.  Therefore, from a CFO’s perspective, they are thinking, “If the only way I can do this is to do it badly, then I’ll do it badly as cheaply as possible”.  Translation: no Agile.  I personally am hoping to help move the needle on this, but until we do, I see no hope for Agile. Plausibility :  Minimal. Maybe you were expecting something a bit more cheery and upbeat.  I’m sorry I couldn’t deliver on that.  Having said all of this, however, I still firmly believe that organizations that truly “get” Lean-Agile practices (not the faux ones provided by prescriptive frameworks) will survive, and the organizations that don’t won’t.  That will probably take longer than 2025 to play out.  But my guess is this is where it starts. On that note, let’s work together to make Agile better for everyone.  All the best to all of you in this year and beyond!

55 Degrees is proud to announce the successful renewal of our SOC 2 compliance, reaffirming our commitment to maintaining the highest standards in data security and customer trust. This milestone underscores our dedication to safeguarding customer data by adhering to rigorous security protocols and continuously enhancing our security and compliance program. As a renewed achievement—not our first SOC 2 audit—this accomplishment reflects our ongoing efforts to meet and exceed industry standards, ensuring our customers’ data is handled with the utmost care and integrity. What is SOC 2, and why is it important? SOC 2, or Service Organization Controls 2, is a framework that is governed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). With a SOC 2 audit, an independent service auditor will review an organization’s policies, procedures, and evidence to determine if their controls are designed and operating effectively. A SOC 2 report communicates a company’s commitment to data security and the protection of customer information.   Improving your security posture  SOC 2 compliance exemplifies an organization’s commitment to customer trust and is a major milestone toward improving its overall security posture. With increasing cybersecurity threats and data breaches, it is paramount that organizations prioritize information security and the protection of their systems and data. By undergoing a SOC 2 audit, our controls and processes were validated by a third party who attests to the functioning of the controls relevant to our application.  Why did we pursue SOC 2 now? SOC 2 compliance is integral in proving to customers, stakeholders, and interested parties that our organization values their trust and has effectively implemented security controls. At our company’s stage, we realized that it was an ideal time to pursue this as it is important to protect data and mitigate potential security risks early and on an ongoing basis.  55 Degrees’s journey to SOC 2 compliance Compliance Partners   The task would have seemed insurmountable without the right compliance partners to guide us on our journey. Some key partners were involved in our SOC 2 compliance journey. Vanta  We partnered with Vanta , the leader in the Trust Management space, to help us automate the collection of our audit evidence. Vanta provides us with the strongest security foundation to protect our customer data. Advantage Partners  Our audit firm, Advantage Partners , was extremely helpful in creating a seamless audit experience. With their guidance and support, we were able to achieve SOC 2 compliance in a swift, efficient manner.  Process  While SOC 2 can be a big undertaking, our compliance partners streamlined the process. We leveraged Vanta to integrate our key systems and guide us in implementing policies and procedures to quickly become audit-ready. Vanta gave us the direction we needed to pursue our compliance journey.  Advantage Partners then confirmed our audit readiness, and we kicked off our Type II audit. Advantage evaluated the controls we have in place for the audit and opined on their state.  Advantage Partners drafted and issued our report shortly after our audit window ended.  Timeline  One key takeaway is that improving our security posture and achieving compliance is monumental. This can be made easier with the right compliance partners, but it will take dedicated focus and time from your organization. The readiness period can take the most time, but we were able to prioritize compliance to get the audit ready in weeks rather than months.  We also found it important to review the audit timeline with Advantage Partners, set an ideal audit date, and then work backward to be ready in time. However, now that controls are implemented and security is a priority for our team, subsequent SOC 2 audits will be even more seamless.  Lessons we learned  Start the process early.   It is easier to implement policies earlier than later, and doing so as early as possible helps you build a more secure organization. Building secure procedures and infrastructure is key to a successful security program. Focus on improving security posture, not checking boxes. Compliance is not one size fits all. Ensure you are spending time understanding the frameworks you’re working towards so you can know how to best comply for your organization. Your entire organization will be involved in improving security and adhering to procedures. Help them to understand how they impact your ability to stay compliant! Security is a continuous project that should be prioritized in an organization. Don’t snooze your alerts - aim to stay at 100% readiness in Vanta all the time! The right partners and tools are key.  Finding a compliance management tool like Vanta to guide you through the process makes it much easier to know what to do and do it quickly. Not only does it make it easier to get started, but it makes it (nearly) painless to maintain your audit readiness! Leveling up our licenses in tools like Snyk Enterprise has really alleviated the pain of managing certain aspects of our compliance and providing the necessary proof.  Finally, partnering with an audit firm dedicated to your success makes the process much less scary! Make sure you find a firm that you feel comfortable with, and that is comfortable in your compliance management system. You can read more about our trust stance at https://55degrees.se/trust . If you would like to request access to our SOC 2 report or see information about the controls currently in place and other publicly available documents, you can visit our Vanta Trust Center at https://trust.55degrees.se . If you have any other questions, please contact us !

If you thought Portfolio Forecaster 1.0 was good, buckle up—Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 is ready to take your forecasting experience to a whole new level. Packed with new features and a ton of flexibility, it’s designed to help you dive deeper, forecast more accurately, and ensure everyone’s on the same page. What Makes Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 a Game-Changer? Goodbye, Limitations: Forecast Any Issue Type Gone are the days when you could only forecast by epics and versions. With 2.0, you can now create forecasts using any issue type, meaning you can track and predict across all your tasks and work items. This newfound flexibility lets teams get a complete, customized picture of every project. Now, you’re not just scratching the surface—you’re seeing every aspect of your work, from the big-picture initiatives down to those essential, smaller tasks. Enhanced Group Forecasts for Real Collaboration Group forecasts were always a cornerstone of Portfolio Forecaster, but in 2.0, they’re sharper and more team-focused than ever. With enhanced group forecasts, you can now capture the full dynamic of collaboration within your team, aligning forecasts more closely with how your people actually work together. This means you get a crystal-clear view of each team’s contributions to a project, empowering better decision-making and transparency. All-New Configuration Options for Customization Freedom Every team operates differently, and Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 respects that with its flexible configuration settings. Now, with features like JQL filters and a variety of issue link types, you can customize each forecast to fit precisely within your workflows. Need to filter down to specific status category? Done! Prefer forecasting using different issue types? No problem! It’s a configuration playground where you decide how detailed or broad each forecast should be, ensuring they mirror exactly how your team functions. Streamlined Sharing and Access Control Transparency and teamwork just got a serious upgrade. With Portfolio Forecaster 2.0, forecasts are no longer confined to just the creator. Now you have complete control over sharing, from who can view a forecast to who can help manage it. This level of access makes it easy to involve others and ensure everyone is aligned with the latest forecast data. Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 transforms your forecasts into a shared tool that fosters collaboration and alignment across the board. Introducing Forecast Portfolios One of the most anticipated features coming to Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 is  Forecast Portfolios . Imagine being able to combine multiple group forecasts into one streamlined view, capturing the progress across projects, programs, or departments—all in a single place. This upcoming feature lets you see the big picture while still preserving the precision of each individual forecast. With Forecast Portfolios, you can monitor your entire project landscape and stay on top of all the moving parts without losing any accuracy. It’s the ultimate way to keep everything organized and in focus, supporting smooth project execution at every level. Forecast Portfolios will be available in our beta release in the second week of November, with additional updates rolling out in stages. The full release is set for January 2025. Fast, Direct Access with Deep Linking Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 makes it easier than ever to jump directly to the information you need. Deep linking allows you to copy a forecast’s URL and share it with team members, giving them one-click access straight to the data. No more digging around or long email chains—just a simple link that brings your team exactly where they need to be. How Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 Enhances Your Forecasting Experience Building on the strengths of Portfolio Forecaster 1.0, Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 brings an exciting new level of depth and precision to your forecasting experience. While the original version was a great start, this update addresses the needs of users managing complex projects with diverse issue types. With enhanced features and functionalities, 2.0 empowers you to make more informed decisions and drive successful outcomes, transforming the way you approach forecasting! New and Improved in Portfolio Forecaster 2.0: Forecast Any Issue Type  – No more limits to epics and versions—now every task, issue, and detail can be accounted for. Enhanced Group Forecasts  – Align your forecasts more closely with team dynamics and collaboration. Flexible Configuration  – Tailor each forecast to your unique workflows with JQL filters, link options, and more. Improved Sharing and Access Management  – Keep everyone on the same page by sharing access and granting admin permissions. Deep Linking  – Get your team where they need to go, instantly. And with  Forecast Portfolios  on the horizon, Portfolio Forecaster 2.0 is primed to bring a whole new level of clarity and coordination to your organization. It’s coming soon—get ready to take your project visibility, precision, and collaboration to the next level with Portfolio Forecaster 2.0!