Chris OBrien - Azure DevOps for managing work
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The document discusses the use of Azure DevOps Boards to manage development and support work, emphasizing its advantages in shortening development cycles, facilitating continuous delivery, and enhancing collaboration. It outlines Azure DevOps tools such as boards, pipelines, and repos while highlighting their flexibility for various programming languages and integration capabilities. The content also addresses common challenges in work tracking and how Azure DevOps can streamline project management for teams of different sizes and requirements.
Chris OBrien - Azure DevOps for managing work
- 1. Using Azure DevOps Boards to manage development or support work CHRIS O’BRIEN (MVP) Products and Services Director, Content and Cloud, UK
- 2. About me Products and Services Director, Content and Cloud www.sharepointnutsandbolts.com @ChrisO_Brien http://cob-sp.com/COBLinkedIn
- 3. My boss said we need DevOps! DevOps as a concept: SHORTEN DEVELOPMENT CYCLES PROVIDE CONTINUOUS DELIVERY INCREASE QUALITY Close the gap between development and operations/admins
- 4. Azure DevOps tools Boards Plan, track and collaborate around dev tasks Simple/lightweight options Agile planning tools Repos Store code at any scale Use Git or TFVC Rich tools e.g. branch policies, code reviews, semantic code search Pipelines Automated builds and deployments Cloud-hosted Flexibility: • Many languages • Container support • Azure/AWS/GCP • SPFx Other Testing – manual and automated Artifacts – package hosting Integrations/ marketplace – Teams, Slack, Excel etc.
- 5. Azure DevOps tools Boards Plan, track and collaborate around dev tasks Simple/lightweight options Agile planning tools Repos Store code at any scale Use Git or TFVC Rich tools e.g. branch policies, code reviews, semantic code search Pipelines Automated builds and deployments Cloud-hosted Flexibility: • Many languages • Container support • Azure/AWS/GCP • SPFx Other Testing – manual and automated Artifacts – package hosting Integrations/ marketplace – Teams, Slack, Excel etc.
- 6. OPTIONS FOR TRACKING WORK
- 7. A high-end support team might use an enterprise ITSM tool like ServiceNow to track their work. But what about other cases? Development Support A dev team not already using Azure DevOps may use a variety of tools – Jira, Asana Github etc. But many are still using simpler tools! In both scenarios, there’s a good case for Azure DevOps being a better solution!
- 8. Before looking at Azure DevOps, let’s consider simpler tools and their pros/cons
- 9. Options for tracking work For Simple and accessible PMs like it Against Everything! But especially: • Info buried in a file • No images • No visual representation • No notifications • No capacity tracking
- 10. Options for tracking work For No longer trapped in a file PMs like it Against No support for iterations No capacity planning Not particularly visual
- 11. Options for tracking work For Board view Integration (e.g. Teams) Against No support for iterations No capacity planning Lack of advanced features e.g. link to code, burndown chart
- 12. Boards - fundamentals Task board as the centre Simple drag and drop between statuses Track effort remaining, priority etc. Collaboration features @mentions Link to other work items/create relationships
- 16. DEMO – tracking work SIMPLY with Boards
- 17. Recap – features we just saw Backlog items/tasks Adding items and relationships Assigning to users Group work together (issue > tasks) Rich text support Ability to edit items directly from card Tracking Remaining work @mention Follow Notification of task assigned to me Tagging Priority Iterations Defining iterations Assigning items to an iteration
- 18. DevOps can change your life! Problem Solution I can't see who is working on what, and which task I should pick up Who is doing what? How much longer will this task take? Has there been any updates to this item? What did we change in the code? Who is overloaded and who has capacity? Has the test environment been updated yet?
- 19. DevOps can change your life! Problem Solution I can't see who is working on what, and which task I should pick up Who is doing what? View the task board How much longer will this task take? Look at “remaining effort” Has there been any updates to this item? Follow item What did we change in the code? Link a repo/branch to work item (e.g. Task) Who is overloaded and who has capacity? Look at “Work details” Has the test environment been updated yet? Wait for build e-mails/go into Pipelines area
- 20. Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) How the CFD helps How long is an item active for? (cycle time) Which is our slowest phase? • Proposed/Ready? • Active? • Resolved? • Testing?
- 21. Cumulative Flow Diagram How the CFD helps How long is an item active for? (cycle time) Which is our slowest phase? • Proposed/Ready? • Active? • Resolved? • Testing?
- 22. RUNNING AGILE PROJECTS ON DEVOPS
- 23. Process types Scrum Agile Scrum Agile • New • Active • Resolved • Closed • Removed • New • Active • Committed • Done • Removed
- 24. Bringing some structure In “basic”, use a structure like: Epic Issue Task Not mandatory! Use: • Epics only • Issues only • Epics and Issues Pick what makes sense for you..
- 25. Maintaining a helicopter view (agile/scrum) Use Epics and Features to divide backlog into areas: • Epic – large business initiative e.g. ”Accessibility for all” • Feature – app or chunk of work e.g. “Teams integration” • User stories - sit beneath features Again, Epics and Features are not mandatory! Use one or both if they make sense
- 26. The Agile planning process Backlog grooming Add user stories and prioritise Assign approx. effort – hours/story points/sizes Create tasks for selected user stories – tech lead assigns effort Sprint planning Establish sprint capacity (man hours), with absences etc. Use forecast tools to size sprints (based on velocity) Move items into next sprint Ensure matches to available capacity Backlog grooming Sprint planning
- 27. DEMO – running agile sprints
- 28. Recap – features we just saw Managing sprints Set sprint capacity Sprint forecasting Different backlog levels Boards Custom queries Filtering items on board Board styling - card and tag colours/rules Columns on board (e.g. doing/done) Code management/ deployment Link to commit in Azure DevOps Pipelines - build/deploy to Azure App Service
- 29. Burndown chart Interpreting the burndown Flat line = no updates Increase = work not estimated or planned properly at sprint start
- 30. Client quote – down the line “We’ve started using Azure DevOps but it’s SO confusing! We can’t seem to update the status of items properly – WTF?!” This is a licensing gotcha!
- 31. Access levels Visual Studio Subscriber • Full access – to level of VS subscription (Enterprise/Professional) Basic • Access to most features. 5 included for free. Stakeholder • Partial access. Unlimited users for free. Stakeholder access Includes limited access to Kanban boards. Stakeholders can: • Add/edit work items • View boards Stakeholders cannot: • Work with board directly e.g. drag-and-drop work items/update via card • Do sprint planning Developers Pro testers Project Managers or similar Occasional users $0 $0 $6 pm
- 32. Licensing scenario Role Number License type To pay for Cost per month Dev with Visual Studio 6 VS subscription 0 $0 Dev without Visual Studio 6 Basic 1 $6 Project Manager or similar 3 Basic 3 $18 Casual tester 5 Stakeholder 0 $0 TOTAL $24 All devs have Visual Studio? $0 per month 2 x testers upgraded to Basic for free
- 33. Automated builds and deployments (CI/CD)
- 34. Pipelines fundamentals • 30 hours free per month • Free for public projects
- 35. Pipelines - two kinds of builds • Easy to get started/learn build concepts • Visual editor • Split into BUILD and RELEASE pipelines Classic
- 36. Pipelines - two kinds of builds • Pipeline as code - can be branched • Can copy/paste snippets easily • Can reference remote definitions • The future! YAML
- 37. YAML vs. classic – things to know • For now, release builds use classic UI • A classic build exports as JSON, but can be converted to YAML • Use “View YAML” button for individual actions
- 38. DEMO – automated builds
- 39. Starting DevOps effectively • Centralise discussion through DevOps work items – you’ll benefit later • Reflect and optimise - talk about what worked well • Tweak the board (and work item types) to fit your needs Add tasks only - start simple 1 Track effort on work items (initial and remaining) 2 Use analysis tools – forecasting, burndown, WIP limits etc. 3 Automate builds so testers/PMs are always clear on deployment status 4Go on a Journey:
- 40. Summary DevOps is NOT just for high-end dev teams! Supports improved communication across the team Tap into the “behind the scenes” analysis DevOps does on your data (CFD, burndown, sprint planning) Automated builds are easy for common scenarios
- 41. Resources https://sharepointnutsandbolts.com https://cob-sp.com/2DHk7gK https://cob-sp.com/DevOpsVideos Thank you!! Any questions? @ChrisO_Brien (Content and Code)
Editor's Notes
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