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DevOps and Culture, part 1

January 16, 2019 Jan 16, 2019 01/16/19
Developer Support
Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” This is a great introduction to how we think about DevOps and in this article, I’m going to unpack this statement so that we have a bit more context. This is the first part of multiple articles on culture as it relates to DevOps.

Tracking Cross-team Projects in Azure DevOps Boards

October 29, 2018 Oct 29, 2018 10/29/18
Developer Support
If part of this transition requires that aspects from the legacy process be kept, it’s a great opportunity to demonstrate that through the use of agile process and agile tools, we can have an even better control of the value (beyond just software) that the development team is creating for the company.

Pragmatic TDD

October 23, 2018 Oct 23, 2018 10/23/18
Developer Support
I have been working on a small project in my free time in which I’m the only developer. When I started the project, I wanted to write the entire application in a test driven, test first, manner. I wrote my failing test, then made the test pass and as I saw opportunities to refactor, I took the time to reduce complexity, separate concerns and reorganize as needed. I was in a red-green-refactor rhythm and it was enjoyable to see the test count go up and my code coverage for tests at 100%… but then reality set in.

Solving What’s Off About Monolithic Applications

October 2, 2018 Oct 2, 2018 10/2/18
Developer Support
It's all about the people. The resistance to change is human nature. Leaders and team members alike. Assessing the team is simple. If they can demonstrate an openness to changing how they do things you are on track. If team conversations consist of why things must continue to be done the way they are being done success will be a challenge. But leadership is the real key. Effective change is a collaborative process and management's primary team facing role is keeping the team within the agreed upon boundaries. But of equal importance is securing and managing executive sponsorship. The team is pushing hard against their own instincts for the betterment of the organization. The organization must support them and insulate them from organizational winds that look to disrupt their efforts.

DevOps Stories – An Interview with Brian Blackman of Microsoft Premier

September 10, 2018 Sep 10, 2018 09/10/18
Developer Support
App Dev Manager Dave Harrison talks with Brian Blackman, a Senior Consultant for Microsoft Premier. As an Azure development and DevOps consultant, he works with Independent Software Vendors (ISV), Enterprises, and Partners where his specialty is DevOps. Brian’s focus is assisting customers in establishing a vision for DevOps, assessing where they currently stand, and then working with them to develop a roadmap to attain their vision. MCTP, MCSD-C++, CSM, CSP, SAFe Agilist.

WIP Your Product into Shape

July 13, 2018 Jul 13, 2018 07/13/18
Developer Support
In his latest post, Senior Consultant, Assaf Stone shares some useful suggestions on tracking Work In Progress (WIP) in VSTS.What is WIP?WIP simply means work in process (also sometimes, Work In Progress). This metric simply measures how many items (features, stories, backlog items, tasks) your team have started to develop, but have yet to ...