Medical Technology Case Studies
From Start-Stop Chaos to Predictable Delivery
Our client is a leading medical device company specializing in innovative therapies for obstructuve sleep apena (OSA). Working closely with sleep specilists, ENT surgeons and healthcare systems, the organization provides an alternative treatment option for patients who cannot tolerate traditional CPAP therapy.
As the company expanded its national footprint, its digital product organization faced increasing pressure to deliver software and digital capabilities with greater predictability while maintaining quality and regulatory alignment.
The Challenge:
The client’s digital product organization struggled with fragmented planning, competing priorities and limited visibility across teams.
Most teams planned only one sprint ahead, making it difficult to:
- Coordinate dependencies across teams
- Provide reliable delivery forecasts
- Align stakeholders around shared priorities
- Communicate realistic release timelines
As priorities shifted, teams frequently experienced “start-stop” work patterns that disrupted focus and created frustration. Leadership lacked confidence in delivery commitments, and stakeholders found it increasingly difficult to trust release forecasts.
Accelerating Medical Device Development
Our client’s business focuses on developing high tech medical cardiac devices which include hardware, software, and firmware. They are subject to intense regulatory scrutiny and processes, both internally and from the FDA.
Managing a team of more than 50 people across the US,
Canada, and India, the Director of Software Development
faced significant challenges when they took over.
Inheriting a group with numerous projects stuck in a
perpetual state of being “almost done,
” releases were
infrequent, happening every few years, which was far from
ideal in a field that demanded more frequent updates.
Adding to the challenges, the team size had recently been
reduced dramatically, to around 30 people from 50.
Collaboration Challenges: Teams were overly dependent upon each other, creating a complex web of inter-team communication. Accounting and management added to that complexity, inhibiting collaboration. Unpredictable, Delayed Delivery: Limited capacity planning and large releases meant major updates took years to deploy. A waterfall approach led to long, unpredictable testing and compliance phases at the end of projects, leading them to significantly – and continually – miss target dates. Frequency of Releases: Customers viewed our clients’ product portfolio as old and outdated. Frequent delivery was needed to keep up with customers’ expectations.