As our product became more complex, our infrastructure needed to be more robust, and we had to expand beyond IT. It was time to think about a scaling model to increase predictability, alignment, and performance across the enterprise.
SproutLoud started in 2006 with a clear vision: to transform channel marketing. From a small team of six, it grew to nearly 200 employees by 2015. The company’s software, services, and support platform help major brands boost sales through local channels.
As the client base and product complexity increased, SproutLoud began experimenting with Lean-Agile practices like Scrum and Kanban. But by 2014, after opening a new office in South America, the leadership realized their existing models were no longer sufficient for scale.
Ramesh Nori, SproutLoud’s Director of Agile PMO and Agile Coach, put it plainly: “The models we had were not on par with our growth.” The company needed a more robust infrastructure and a way to coordinate beyond IT teams. They needed a scaling model that would deliver predictability, alignment, and enterprise-wide performance.
SAFe® was the scaling model SproutLoud needed
In mid-2015, SproutLoud’s search for a scaling framework led them to the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®). Ramesh recalled, “When we found SAFe, we thought, ‘That’s a perfect match!’” The framework resonated with their pain points and offered concrete solutions: resource allocation, new roles, and distributed decision-making.
Anjan Upadhya, SproutLoud’s CTO, added that SAFe® “addressed our pain points, offered suggestions on allocating resources, filling in new roles, and introduced a way to approach distributed decision-making, which we needed at the time.”
With strong executive backing, SproutLoud moved quickly. They leveraged nine years of prior Lean-Agile experience to ease the transition. One team member attended SAFe® Program Consultant (SPC) training in Washington, D.C., while teams completed SAFe® for Teams and managers took Leading SAFe® courses.
Despite not all stakeholders being SPCs, SproutLoud held its first Program Increment (PI) planning meeting and launched its first Agile Release Train (ART) in 2015. They immediately integrated SAFe® into their existing development process, scaling from three to seven teams.
They followed each PI and sprint with Inspect and Adapt sessions to continuously evolve their product development cycle and stay true to the framework.
Business and IT finally aligned through PI planning
A critical benefit of adopting SAFe® was the alignment it created between teams and business owners. PIs brought the two groups together with a clear cadence.
Ramesh explained, “Business owners explained the ask, making requests much clearer for IT teams. That was fundamental.” This clarity improved communication and reduced ambiguity in requirements.
Between 2015 and 2018, SproutLoud added over 50 new employees. SAFe® helped absorb this growth smoothly. “With clearly defined roles, the team dynamic became very clear and easy to understand,” Ramesh said. “Even if we had to reconfigure teams, the Framework kept team members on the same page.”
Overcoming resistance while embedding SAFe®
Transitioning to SAFe® was not without challenges. Teams had to learn a new way of working and gradually embrace it.
SproutLoud recognized that having the right people in the right roles was essential before transformation could succeed. The introduction of two new teams—the Product team and the Engineering team—helped clarify responsibilities on the business and technical sides of product development.
Ramesh noted, “We now have a dedicated product team with a product manager and product owners working to help with artifacts such as Epics, Features, and Stories.” This improved the quality of work items and reduced system stress.
The company addressed code quality and continuous delivery challenges through regular training and enhanced GIT-automated flows, embedding improvements into their development cycle.
Defining strategic themes, epics, and user stories at SproutLoud
SAFe® structures work around strategic themes, epics, features, and user stories to maintain alignment and focus.
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Strategic theme: A high-level business objective guiding product development. For example, SproutLoud might define a theme like “Enhance local channel engagement through personalized marketing automation.”
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Epic hypothesis statement: This captures the problem, proposed solution, and expected outcomes for an epic under the theme. An example:
“If we build an automated campaign manager tailored for local stores, then channel partners will increase campaign adoption by 20%, reducing manual effort by 30%.”
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User stories: These break down epics into granular, actionable work items. For the above epic, stories might include:
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As a channel partner, I want to schedule campaigns in advance so that I can plan marketing activities efficiently.
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As a local store manager, I want to receive personalized campaign recommendations based on customer demographics.
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As a product owner, I want to track campaign performance metrics to optimize future marketing efforts.
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SproutLoud PI Planning Meeting, 2015
Product Manager: “Our strategic theme this quarter is to improve local channel engagement through automation.”
Business Owner: “We need clear metrics on campaign adoption and partner satisfaction.”
Engineering Lead: “We'll break this into epics and features to align development across teams.”
Scrum Master: “Let's map dependencies and identify risks during this PI.”
The session created shared understanding and buy-in across business and IT.
Bridging the gap between business priorities and technical execution
Improvements after adopting SAFe® at SproutLoud
SproutLoud’s adoption of SAFe® yielded several concrete benefits:
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Predictability: Program Increment planning established a clear cadence, improving delivery forecasts.
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Alignment: Bringing business owners and teams together created shared goals and clearer priorities.
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Scalability: The framework supported growth from 3 to 7 teams, absorbing new hires more smoothly.
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Role clarity: Defined roles for product managers, product owners, and engineering streamlined workflows.
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Quality: Continuous delivery cycles with automated GIT flows enhanced code quality and deployment speed.
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Adaptability: Inspect and Adapt sessions encouraged iterative improvement and responsiveness to change.
Ramesh summarized, “It is a journey, and we are making good strides in the right direction.”
Test yourself: Applying SAFe® concepts at SproutLoud
You are a new product manager at SproutLoud during the 2016 PI planning. The strategic theme is 'Increase partner engagement through automation.' You notice the business owner wants to add a last-minute epic focused on mobile app redesign, which is unrelated to the current theme and will strain engineering capacity.
The call: How do you handle the business owner's request during PI planning while maintaining alignment and team focus?
Your reasoning:
You are a new product manager at SproutLoud during the 2016 PI planning. The strategic theme is 'Increase partner engagement through automation.' You notice the business owner wants to add a last-minute epic focused on mobile app redesign, which is unrelated to the current theme and will strain engineering capacity.
Your task: How do you handle the business owner's request during PI planning while maintaining alignment and team focus?
your reasoning:
From the field: The importance of clearly defined roles
Field exercise: Define a strategic theme and epic hypothesis
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Pick a product area you are familiar with or imagine one for a channel marketing platform like SproutLoud.
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Define a strategic theme for the next quarter. It should be a high-level business objective (e.g., "Improve partner retention through personalized incentives").
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Write an epic hypothesis statement that links a proposed solution to expected outcomes. Use this format:
If we [build X], then [users will achieve Y], measured by [metric Z].
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Break the epic into at least three user stories describing specific user needs or features.
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Reflect on how this structure helps maintain alignment and focus during product development.
Where to go next
- Understand Lean-Agile principles and frameworks: Agile Fundamentals
- Learn how to run effective PI planning sessions: Program Increment Planning
- Explore backlog management and user story writing: Managing the Product Backlog
- Deepen stakeholder communication skills: Stakeholder Management
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