BT adapts to a new phase of globalisation

Globalisation has redefined the modern economy; it offers growth and opportunity but also demands a new way of working. As a company that serves customers in more than 170 countries, BT recognises that it must improve business agility to generate efficiencies and improve operational and environmental performance. To achieve this, BT Innovate & Design (BTID) has embarked on a Global Development Centre (GDC) Programme that embeds collaborative solutions from SMART Technologies.

Central to BT’s growth ambitions is BTID - responsible for building all the systems and networks used by BT. These systems are built by end to end project teams that have adopted the agile development methodology. Collectively these teams are responsible for development that enables BT to drive towards its strategic goal of being Number One for Customer Service. The adoption of agile development practices requires a new type of environment, especially as the teams are geographically dispersed across the UK, India, China, USA and Central Europe. BTID realised that it needed a new environment where both layout and technology supports agile delivery.

“The idea was influenced by information from Google, Gartner Group and Microsoft as well as research into understanding how people actually collaborate. We also researched interactive environments that are conducive to dynamic and positive decision-making. We knew some form of telepresence was required and evaluated a range of technologies and software, all of which supported some of our vision,” says Bola Oshisanwo, Director, Agile Development Centre. “Our developers tend to work in groups around a white board and research revealed that they want to interact with and see what their colleagues are writing on the boards, and not their faces. At that point we knew our solution must support this way of working whilst connecting teams that are spread across multiple locations.”