Introduction
One of main devops goal is to break silos in software development in order to streamline the process of software delivery, from planning and software development life cycle (SDLC) to production and monitoring, to build shorted delivery cycle, increase deployment frequency in close alignment with business objectives; However, participants in the implementation of devops face more difficulties because of the heigner variety of tools; executive, product manager and engineer still uses different tools glued together by imperfect integrations will generate a non-value added steps. How to find the right devops tools that work in harmony to achieve complete automation in agile development by identifying non-value added steps in order to reduce waste while adding value to product and services.
This article presents a look at the concept of Lean as applied in devops with Gitlab Analytics value stream for continuous improvement.
What is value stream mapping ?
Lean, is a philosophy of manufacturing process improvement through the elimination of waste. As Lean developed since its origins in the automobile industry, it has been extended to apply with DevOps tools and principals to accelerate feedback and improve time to market. It’s important to keep in mind that customers, whether external or internal, care about the value of the product or service to them, not the efforts it took to produce it, or the value that may flow to other customers. One of the key phases in Lean is the identification of non-value added steps in order to streamline a process. By classifying the steps of a process into two categories, value added and non-value added, it is possible to initiate actions to improve the former and eliminate the latter by reducing waste in both of them.
How to use VSM in DevOps ?
In a DevOps environment, VSM used to illustrate, analyze and improve the steps required to application Delivery. A key part of lean methodology, VSM reviews the flow of process steps and information from origin to deliver to the customer.
To begin applying lean principles to application delivery processes first needs to identify where the non-value added steps are that can be reduced or completely eliminated. Using gitlab value stream Analytics allows for one shared view of the team’s velocity with insight how long it takes the team to move from planning to monitoring, and serves as an effective tool for communication, collaboration and even culture change. Decision makers can clearly visualize the current state of the process and where waste is occurring.and then you can pinpoint areas for improvement and where there is more pain and waste.
after identifying the bottlenecks in the delivery pipeline. They need to be analyzed to identify root causes of the inefficiencies. This list of root causes then need to be prioritized and the top three to five identified to develop a mitigation plan. DevOps tools and principals can now be applied to address them. An adoption roadmap to adopt these capabilities and the associated practices can now be developed and put in motion.
Conclusion
Rather than seeking for permission you seek for value. Find some small area of improvement that you can do, do it and then share some results with the organisation by applying a Value stream map for identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement. The key word in this all is ‘continuous’.
Referances
How to Use Value Stream Mapping in DevOps
Continuous Improvement
