Case Study

Summary

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is the most renowned programming provider to U.S. public television, and endeavors to provide viewers opportunity to explore their imaginations within their successful non-profit business model. They have embarked on an ambitious task: to create the preeminent destination for educators seeking high quality content for use in a classroom environment – the Digital Learning Library or ‘DLL’.

The DLL would provide an outlet for PBS and non-PBS digital media content tailored to the needs of educators. The offering had to appeal to, and attract, a broad range of diverse users; content producers, member stations, and PreK-12 teachers across the country. Shortly after the Digital Learning Library was funded and a decision was made to proceed, the technical complexity coupled with limited internal resources prompted PBS to look outside the organization for service providers. Unable to identify a single vendor with the complete skill sets required, multiple vendors were selected to start developing product components.

The assembled team quickly went to work building the solution while PBS focused on managing the process and keeping vendors aligned with the evolving business objectives of the DLL. It quickly became apparent that the vendors, developing different components of the solution, were employing different engineering practices and lacked a common framework. Due to the complexity of the components and extensive integration requirements, the team as structured was not achieving the vision or necessary velocity required for the DLL offering.

Three Pillar Global was selected by PBS Education to accomplish three main objectives; stabilize the various components/modules of the solution, establish consistent and effective engineering management practices and processes, and evolve management of the multiple projects into a single portfolio of products with a clearly defined and aligned roadmap. Three Pillar Global worked with the business owners at PBS and the vendor teams to establish a transition plan, tailor a product development lifecycle, and create a Virtual Delivery Center (VDC) to support the lifecycle.

Introducing standardized engineering and operational processes has allowed PBS to focus on the user community and preparing the product for market. Managing the different product components as a portfolio has reduced risk associated with introducing changes to the product, and most importantly allows PBS to focus on promoting the vision for the Digital Learning Library.