Scaling Enterprise Agility at Dell Medical School with Jira Align

Dell Medical School at the University of Texas sought to scale agile practices beyond team-level execution and establish enterprise-wide strategic alignment. While Jira was actively used across delivery teams, leadership lacked consolidated visibility into portfolio performance, Program Increment (PI) objectives, cross-team dependencies, and initiative progress.

To bridge this gap, Dell Med partnered with Clovity to implement Jira Align and integrate it seamlessly with their existing Jira environment. The engagement required structured data preparation, complex synchronization management, governance enablement, executive reporting design, and risk-managed deployment.

The result was a scalable enterprise agile framework that now delivers real-time strategic visibility, improved planning maturity, and stronger delivery predictability across the organization.

The Challenge

Limited Portfolio Visibility

Although agile methodologies were adopted at the team level, executive leadership lacked reliable roll-ups from team execution to strategic initiatives. Reporting required manual consolidation and did not provide real-time insights into portfolio health or PI performance.

Jira Configuration Gaps

A detailed assessment revealed structural issues within Jira that prevented enterprise-level alignment:

• Inconsistent issue hierarchies
• Misaligned Epic–Story relationships
• Non-standardized issue types
• Workflow inconsistencies across projects
• Redundant and legacy configuration artifacts
• Unstructured backlog data

Without remediation, these gaps would result in inaccurate reporting and unstable synchronization with Jira Align.

Complex System Integration

The Jira–Jira Align connector required precise alignment across:

• Story → Feature → Epic → Initiative hierarchy mapping
• Custom field and workflow equivalency
• Status synchronization
• Historical data validation
• Dependency relationship integrity

Initial sync attempts exposed duplication risks, incomplete roll-ups, and validation conflicts, requiring structured troubleshooting and iterative refinement.

Platform Evolution

During implementation, multiple Atlassian updates introduced configuration and sync behavior changes. Continuous monitoring and adjustment were necessary to maintain system stability.

Clovity's Approach

1. Jira Audit & Data Readiness

Clovity conducted a comprehensive Jira assessment to establish an enterprise-ready foundation.

Key activities included:

• Validating and restructuring hierarchy relationships
• Standardizing issue types across projects
• Harmonizing workflows
• Cleaning redundant and misaligned data
• Preparing structured backlog data
• Aligning configurations with SAFe principles

This ensured Jira was fully compatible with enterprise roll-up requirements.

2. Phased Sandbox-to-Production Deployment

To minimize operational risk, Clovity implemented a phased rollout strategy:

• Configured Jira Align Sandbox environment
• Mapped issue types and fields across systems
• Defined sync rules and validation checks
• Conducted multiple data validation cycles
• Eliminated duplication and hierarchy propagation errors

Only after achieving stability in Sandbox was the Production connector deployed. This ensured zero disruption to active Jira users and ongoing delivery operations.

3. Executive Reporting & Governance Enablement

Beyond technical integration, Clovity enabled enterprise reporting capabilities to support leadership decision-making.

Configured solutions included:

• Portfolio health dashboards
• Strategic initiative roll-ups
• PI objective tracking
• Cross-team dependency visualization
• Capacity vs. commitment analytics
• Predictability and velocity reporting

Additionally, Clovity supported Dell Med during PI Planning cycles, facilitating:

• Objective alignment
• Dependency workshops
• Risk tracking
• PI closing reviews
• New PI kickoff preparation

This strengthened governance discipline and improved enterprise coordination.

Results & Business Impact

Enterprise-Level Strategic Alignment

Dell Med now operates with unified visibility from portfolio strategy to team execution. Leadership has real-time access to initiative progress, dependency tracking, and PI health metrics.

Improved Planning Maturity

Structured PI governance resulted in:

• Clearer cross-team coordination
• Transparent dependency management
• Enhanced commitment tracking
• Improved delivery predictability

Reliable Data Synchronization

Stabilized connector configuration and ongoing monitoring eliminated recurring sync failures and ensured accurate portfolio roll-ups.

Strengthened Agile Governance

Standardized workflows and hierarchy structures enhanced transparency, accountability, and portfolio oversight across departments.

Ongoing Partnership & Continuous Optimization

Following successful implementation, Dell Medical School extended its engagement with Clovity to provide ongoing support and optimization.

Clovity continues to deliver:

• Continuous Jira Align monitoring
• Connector health checks
• Sync error resolution
• Dashboard enhancements
• Advisory support aligned with Atlassian updates
• PI Planning and governance guidance

This long-term partnership ensures sustained enterprise agility and continuous improvement.

Conclusion

The Jira Align implementation at Dell Medical School was a structured enterprise transformation—not simply a system deployment.

Through disciplined data preparation, phased deployment, integration stabilization, executive reporting enablement, and governance support, Clovity enabled Dell Med to scale agile practices with clarity and confidence.

Today, Dell Med benefits from:

• Strategic alignment across portfolios and programs
• Structured PI governance
• Reliable, real-time synchronization
• Executive-level visibility
• A scalable foundation for continued enterprise growth