TUI Group Succeeds in Shifting from Project to Product Using the Flow Framework

TUI Group, a global travel company, aimed to consolidate their technology tools for enhanced global sales and distribution. The challenges they experienced as a result of COVID prompted them to transition into a digitally enabled company. Their transformation focused on shifting from a project- to product-oriented IT organization, transitioning to cloud-based solutions, and strategic restructuring.

TUI Group recognized the need for accurate measurement throughout their software delivery process to better guide investments, identify bottlenecks, and assess the success of their transformation into a product-oriented organization. The decision was made to adopt the Flow Framework®, based on the renowned book, Project to Product, by Planview CTO, Dr. Mik Kersten, so that business outcomes could be measured within TUI Group’s product operating model.

TUI Group is the world's leading end-to-end travel tour operator with more than 400 hotels, 16 cruise ships, five tour operator airlines, a significant online presence, and operating in 140 countries worldwide.

Over the years, TUI Group has grown through the acquisition of travel and tour operators around the world. The organization was at a point where they needed consolidation across their various technology tools into one stack to better enable global sales, speed of distribution, the ability to take on greater risk and distribute it appropriately, and quicker availability of new features to customers.

According to Pieter Jordaan, Chief Technology Officer for TUI Group, “COVID was an interesting experience, providing us with a great opportunity to transform our company into a software company.”

There were three areas where TUI Group looked to transform and needed the right technology to support their initiatives:

1. Shift the operating model of IT into a product-oriented organization.
2. Re-platform by transitioning from old legacy systems to new cloud-based solutions.
3. Re-evaluate strategic priorities and re-structure the organization (IT and business) in response to the impacts of COVID.

When evaluating solutions, TUI Group’s partners at Amazon Web Services (AWS) introduced them to Project to Product, the best-selling book by Planview CTO, Dr. Mik Kersten. The organization learned about the Flow Framework® and its ability to measure success based on business outcomes when shifting from a project- to product-oriented operating model.

Recognizing the importance of adopting the Flow Framework, TUI Group understood that without measuring actual business value to the end customer rather than proxy metrics, they would lack clarity on investment priorities, bottlenecks, and the degree of success achieved in their transition to a product-focused organization.

Every team and product-line in the program at TUI Group is now using Planview to measure flow. Teams are no longer reactive based on addressing issues within the value stream. The previously wasted time and resources can now be devoted to delivering better outcomes for the customer. With Planview Viz, TUI Group is now proactive and able to be more predictive of potential risks so that appropriate measures can be taken.

A big benefit with using Planview Viz is the Flow Metrics dashboard. Product managers and product owners are all able to view the same data and derive insights according to their needs, whether that’s by cross-platform teams or individual product teams.

To increase the probability of success when undergoing digital transformation, Jordaan recommends adopting the Flow Framework.

“Planview really helps you understand that if you don’t make the shift from project to product, you will really struggle. I think Mik did a really great job in the book describing why proxy metrics are really deceiving and the greatest risk in your transformation progress.”

The Flow Framework Community provides a professional, inclusive, and supportive environment for learning, questioning, and networking on all topics related to the Flow Framework, Flow Metrics, and value stream management (VSM). flowframework.org/community