The Challenge
Sony Music Publishing, the world’s leading music publisher, oversees the commercial rights to more than 8 million songs for artists across the globe. With a vast catalog and diverse global teams, Sony was already invested in Jira as its core work management tool — but lacked a scalable, standardized way to plan and prioritize work across IT and Business departments.
Without a consistent Agile framework in place, teams struggled to coordinate portfolio epics, align feature development by product, and plan Program Increments (PIs) in a way that connected day-to-day execution to strategic goals. Leaders needed clearer visibility into progress and performance metrics to guide investment decisions and ensure that the work aligned with Sony’s ambitious growth and innovation objectives.
To tackle these challenges, Sony Music Publishing set clear goals for the engagement:
Adopt the SAFe® methodology consistently across both IT and Business teams
Plan and prioritize portfolio epics in line with strategic themes
Manage feature development at the product level, with clear scheduling
Perform robust PI planning across multiple Agile teams
Measure progress with dashboards tailored for different roles, from teams to executives
The Solution
To bring this vision to life, Sony Music Publishing partnered with Trundl to implement SAFe® in a Box — an accelerated, guided solution designed to align Jira with SAFe® best practices in just 30 days.
Trundl’s Agile and Jira experts worked alongside Sony’s IT and Business teams to deploy a unified Lean Portfolio Management system, structuring Jira to support SAFe® roles, layers, and planning cadences. Using powerful apps like Structure and Structure Gantt, Trundl enabled teams to break down portfolio epics, manage feature development timelines, and coordinate Program Increment (PI) planning seamlessly across multiple Agile teams.
To ensure actionable insights at every level, Trundl configured EazyBI dashboards to deliver clear flow metrics, progress tracking, and performance indicators — giving team members, managers, and executives the visibility they needed to make informed decisions and adjust plans in real time.
Beyond technical setup, Trundl provided hands-on training, best practices consulting, and practical change management guidance — empowering Sony’s teams to embrace Agile at Scale with confidence and consistency.
The Results
By partnering with Trundl and deploying SAFe® in a Box, Sony Music Publishing achieved measurable improvements in alignment, planning, and delivery:
Established a robust SAFe® Lean Portfolio Management system across IT and Business
Enabled teams to prioritize, manage, and deliver portfolio epics aligned to strategic themes
Facilitated PI planning across multiple Agile teams using Structure
Managed feature development and scheduling across PIs with Structure Gantt
Provided clear visibility of flow metrics and key performance indicators through customized EazyBI dashboards
Together, these results strengthened Sony Music Publishing’s ability to plan, prioritize, and deliver work at scale — orchestrating its global teams to stay in tune with the company’s commitment to innovation and creative excellence.
