Case Study

AJ Castellucci – SAFe Customer Testimonial

Publicado em

Novembro 29, 2023

In the dynamic landscape of modern workplaces, the pursuit of optimal efficiency and seamless collaboration has become paramount. This customer testimonial highlights the benefits and how ClickUp, a forward-thinking organization, engaged in a comprehensive SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) training program facilitated by Kolme Group.  

Under the guidance of seasoned experts Quinton Hiini and Sofai Faumuina, ClickUp embarked on a strategic initiative to embrace agile methodologies and enhance organizational agility.  

Introduction 

My name is AJ Castellucci, and I’m the Partner Engagement Manager at ClickUp! I live in Boston, and I’ve been working in software consulting and professional services roles for the past 7+ years. 

Kolme offered our team an awesome opportunity to be trained and certified in SAFe, and I was really happy to have the chance to gain some new skills AND learn about a methodology that’s important to both ClickUp and software in general. 

After working with Kolme, I felt confident in my ability to pass the SAFe certification exam (and I did pass), and I’m also able to use this knowledge to have much more productive conversations with customers implementing an agile use case. Overall, this was a great experience, and I learned a ton!

The Story   

I am ClickUp’s Partner Engagement Manager, which means that I work with all of our service delivery partners and oversee their projects. As a consultant, I need to be an expert on all of our platform’s main use cases, and one of the most important use cases is agile software development.   

By seeking out a certification (i.e., SAFe), I would be able to speak to both customers and the partners I work with in a more confident way about the use case, and this provides a much better customer experience since they can work with a true platform and methodology expert.  

The “Challenge” or “Opportunity” Gained from SAFe or Agile Training/Knowledge

Software development is one of the key use cases for which we sell our platform. As a consultant, when working with customers who are implementing this use case, I need to be an expert in configuring ClickUp to meet the needs of customers who use an agile workflow.   

While I was always able to discuss our best practices, it was difficult for me to have really in-depth conversations with customers (who are often scrum masters) because I didn’t fully understand their terminology and methodologies.  

By getting the SAFe training and certification, I (and my other colleagues who did this with me) could be true experts in the agile methodology. Not only could we speak to ClickUp best practices, but we could also be on the same page with scrum masters and really get into the weeds with them on workflow conversations.  

Why You Chose Kolme Group for Your SAFe Training  

As the Partner Engagement Manager, I work closely with Sofai and Quinton, and they brought up the idea of delivering this training to the internal ClickUp team.   

When thinking about all the possible vendors who could deliver SAFe training, Kolme was the perfect fit for us because they are experts in both SAFe and ClickUp, and they could show our team how the two work together in a way that nobody else could. This made them the obvious choice, and it was quite cost-effective for our team as well! 

The Result  

My team and I had an awesome time working with Kolme. Quinton and Sofai were both so fun to work with, and we really appreciated how they altered the standard SAFe training to make it work within ClickUp. This really improved the experience and gave us so much more value than we would have received elsewhere.  

Based on the training, all team members had a relatively easy time passing the SAFe certification exam, so we now all have our official certifications. On top of that, we all can confidently speak to customers about the agile development use case in the context of ClickUp, and the ability to do so is invaluable.   

Everyone on the team had great things to say about our training, but I will provide my own quote about the experience:

“Quinton and Sofai from Kolme were such a pleasure to work with during our SAFe training. Not only did they successfully train our team on the methodology, but they took the extra time to apply it to our business and give us the skills to start using it in a real and impactful way. Anyone interested in agile will benefit from this training, but it will be even more useful to those looking to implement the SAFe methodology within ClickUp!”


Conclusion
 

As demonstrated by ClickUp’s Partner Engagement Manager, AJ Castellucci, the collaboration with Kolme Group for SAFe training proved invaluable in enhancing organizational proficiency and expertise in these SAFe principles.  

AJ’s testimony reflects not only the effectiveness of the training but also the personalized approach taken by seasoned experts Quinton Hiini and Sofai Faumuina. The seamless integration of SAFe principles within the ClickUp context showcased Kolme Group’s unique ability to tailor their expertise to meet specific organizational needs.

If your organization seeks a transformative journey toward agility and efficiency, consider Kolme Group for SAFe training. Connect with us today to unlock the full potential of your team and navigate the complexities of modern workplaces with confidence. 

 

Thank you for TRUSTING us with

your PPM SaaS needs