Agile's Role in Developing Robust Software Competency at Precor

Precor has a history of innovation as a leader in the fitness equipment industry. Market forces caused new technology innovations, and traditional outsourcing strategies failed to deliver on the new vision. The decision to develop these new product capabilities in-house created the need for software competency that didn't currently exist. Cost of software was historically considered “free” because it was very simple and ROI was far less than a year. Now, software is driving many business decisions and strategies. And today the software group has about 40 people. Starting a software competency in an existing business with material non-software businesses is not straightforward. Sustaining this competency requires successfully addressing challenges with the entire organization and is a long-term effort. This experience report provides a multi-year reflection and includes business decisions that drove key behaviors.