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Enhancing MoJ Common Platform reliability through proactive defect management and strategic solutions.
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Scrumconnect partnered with the Ministry of Justice to enhance the Common Platform’s efficiency and reliability through strategic defect management and innovative methodologies.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Common Platform is a colossal web application integral to justice proceedings across 99% of Criminal and Magistrates courts in the UK. Despite its critical role, the platform faced significant challenges that hampered its efficiency and reliability.
The primary issues included a massive defect backlog, with over 1000 unresolved defects dating back to 2021. This backlog stemmed from undefined user journeys and a baseline that required substantial improvement. The scope of defects was often unclear, and the entire process was predominantly reactive rather than proactive. Consequently, the primary objective was to achieve a net reduction of 50 defects per month, alongside reducing the number of new defects created and increasing the number of defects resolved.
We implemented strategic defect management and innovative methodologies to enhance the MoJ Common Platform’s efficiency and reliability.
To tackle the defect backlog, we initiated the process by defining and publishing the backlog. This approach provided transparency and visibility to a diverse range of stakeholders through various meetings, workshops, and "Show and Tell" ceremonies.
We engaged in active brainstorming sessions directly with the leadership team to devise strategic solutions. Many of the actions discussed were promptly implemented, driving significant improvements in our processes.
Curated insights were regularly presented to the Crime Programme board, and we published weekly blogs to keep the entire Crime platform informed about progress and developments.
In addition to the existing Kanban process, we introduced a new working methodology that focused on grouping defects by functionality and addressing them in bulk. This approach contributed to achieving a net reduction of 50 defects per month for April and May, with June on track to continue this trend.
The defect triaging process was improved through two key initiatives. We established a prioritisation matrix to score defects based on their impact, streamlining the backlog by ranking the order in which defects were addressed. Comprehensive analysis was conducted to link existing defects, thereby controlling and reducing the inflow of new defects. As a result, new defects decreased by 50% over the last six months.
We significantly reduced defect backlogs and improved platform reliability, enhancing the overall efficiency of the MoJ Common Platform.
Despite the absence of defined SLAs for 3rd line support, we achieved a turnaround, improving SLA compliance by at least 90%. This was evidenced by the minimal percentage of untriaged defects in the queue by 2024.
We delivered over 100 complex functionality defect fixes in the last six months, maintaining a remarkable ~99% quality rate. Only 5 defect fixes regressed during this period, underscoring the effectiveness of our approach.
Our efforts received positive feedback from various stakeholders: Prioritisation Matrix: Business process owners praised the prioritisation matrix for its effectiveness.
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