From a central setup to a decentralized way of working

About Tim Ummels – COE Lead at ING Wholesale Banking

Within ING Wholesale Banking, Tim Ummels services as COE Lead of the Process Orchestration Center of Excellence. Tim: “Six years ago, I started working with Pega, at the time in the role of central product owner. We began on a small scale, with four development squads. In that phase, much of the responsibility lay with me. I was accountable for multiple migration trajectories and maintained a high level of control. After about four years, the question arose: how do we scale this further across more teams?”

 

The shift toward decentralized teams

“Everything ran through me. That provided oversight, but also became a bottleneck. You simply can’t give all different stakeholders exactly what they want. Financial Markets, Trade and other domains each had their own priorities and dynamics. The desired situation was clear: more decentralized teams, positioned closer to the business, with the autonomy to set priorities and make decisions themselves. That requires trust, but above all a solid foundation. We needed to move from a central setup to a decentralized way of working. Initially, all squads still fell within my reporting line, but that model became unsustainable as the number of teams grew.”

 

Establishing the Center of Excellence

“Decentralized working is only possible when governance and ways of working are properly set up. We wanted to get this right from the start. We explored several options and quickly concluded that we needed external expertise to establish a Center of Excellence. Preferably, that expertise should come from an independent party, not directly from the vendor.
That is how we came to BPM Company. Earlier, we had already completed a training program with the entire team at BPM Company Academy, which was a very positive experience. We visited their office and got to know the organization better in that way. Ultimately, around 75 percent of the team became certified, which gave us confidence.”

 

The vision of the COE

“As mentioned, we were primarily looking for support in setting up the governance and ways of working. BPM Company had experience with de Volksbank and other organizations that were highly relevant to us. We entered into a collaboration in which several consultants worked alongside us for a full year. Together, we developed a blueprint for the COE: what should the organizational structure look like? Which areas of expertise are required? How do you set up decision-making and alignment forums? And how do you manage the stakeholder landscape?

The most important thing is having a clear vision, because that vision forms the foundation of how you build a COE. BPM Company had a very clear perspective on this. Step by step, we shaped it further and ultimately embedded it within the organization.”

 

“BPM Company has provided substantial support with their knowledge and experience”

“Today, the COE is operating to full satisfaction. Over time, we have continued to scale it further and BPM Company has provided substantial support with their knowledge and experience. In many cases, we were able to adopt best practices almost one-to-one. They shared numerous tips, tricks, and accelerators, with a strong focus on reusability. How do you ensure that what you build can be reused? How do you make that visible? And what investments are required? We even set up a dedicated case type in Pega specifically to support this.”

 

BPM Company as Trusted Consultant

“BPM Company fulfilled the role of a trusted consultant. Largely thanks to their support, the COE has become a major success. So much so that I was invited to speak on stage at PegaWorld about the importance and implementation of a COE. That was an honor, but more importantly, it reflects how well the journey has gone. Communication with BPM Company has always been very pleasant. Even now that the project has been successfully completed, we remain in regular contact. A relationship has developed that is both professional and personal. Something I certainly don’t have with every partner I work with.”

 

Innovation and complex challenges

“Looking ahead, I will primarily turn to BPM Company for the more complex challenges. Edge cases and initiatives that haven’t been done before. Think of a transition to Constellation or an upgrade from DX version 1 to version 2. These are complex journeys and precisely the kind of work for which BPM Company is an excellent partner.”