The benefits of DevOps / Agile Culture & Time-zone Crossover
Global Teams using DevOps, Agile development and time-zone crossover are the new normal.
The pandemic has given rise to a new world where the demand for technological advancements to facilitate business efficiency, control and growth is higher than ever. The software and technology industries are moving at the fastest pace in their history to meet that demand.
Businesses must keep up with changing customer needs and habits. In order to deliver the highest quality technology solutions and necessary changes, clients need to implement firm development strategies and processes.
What is the best software development strategy for the technology sector?
The answer is a DevOps / Agile development methodology. Sprint Implementing together with a DevOps / Agile development methodology provides us with the perfect combination required for an efficient and successful development process to deliver maximum benefit to clients striving to meet their customer demands.
There are twelve principles in agile project management which include:
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- The highest priority should always be client satisfaction through swift and continued delivery of beneficial software.
- All changes, early or late in the project should be welcomed. Agile processes are equipped to handle change to give the customers a competitive advantage.
- Delivering working software in a shorter time frame ranging from a couple of weeks to a couple of months. The timescale should be as short as possible.
- Developers, project owners and other related people should be in constant communication throughout the project.
- Encourage people. Create an environment that helps them flourish and enhances their overall performance.
- The most effective mode of communication is face-to-face communication. Information transfer should be made very clear and effective.
- The primary measure of success is the working software.
- For sustainable development, the Agile processes are very important. The developers, sponsors, managers, and users should maintain a constant pace throughout the development process.
- Technical excellence and a great design is the key to enhancing agility.
- Simplicity in all processes is very important to maximise the productivity of the amount of work that needs to be done.
- Self-organising teams create the best designs, requirements and architectures.
- The teams should regularly produce ideas for increasing productivity and implement the most effective ideas among the teams.
The software development process
Agile methodology always starts with defining the roles and users. What follows is the documentation of a vision statement, including the scope of the problems that might arise during the development process, the opportunities that may present themselves, and the value that needs addressing.
Once the customer needs are established and the strategy devised, the project owner must capture the vision and work with the software development team or multiple teams to deliver the resulting technological change. The key to success is constant communication among the team members and the project owner. The roles in the DevOps / Agile culture and the development process include:
Users:
The Agile development process always starts with prioritising the user or customer experience. All customer needs and behaviours are considered when designing the workflow of the software. Understanding the users always leads to the successful delivery of high-quality solutions.
Product Owner:
Someone has to be the voice of the customer. Their responsibility is to create a product vision that meets the client’s needs. This person is called the product owner. The product owner needs to filter all the insights, feedback and ideas to create a product vision that is clear and straightforward.
The product owner works with the development team breaking down the product vision into smaller user stories. These user stories help developers understand the problem that needs to be solved and why it is important for the client. The constraints and limitations are also put forward.
The product owner makes sure that the development team understands the requirements and the solution. It is pivotal for the development team and the product owner to be in sync with each other so that the DevOps culture inspires collaboration and ensures teams are aligned.
The development team:
The teams in DevOps / Agile development usually consist of a diverse group of people with the desired mix of skill sets as well as the desire to work collaboratively to get the job done efficiently and to the correct standard.
The main focus is on delivering the highest quality software in the minimum possible time. The multi-disciplinary team members focus on delivering working software like databases and business logic, the create and demo the user interfaces individually.
With this methodology, we do not have to wait for the whole application to be developed to make bug fixes and resolve problems.
To avoid any unseen problems and costs, team members need to be in constant communication, time zone crossover allows for 24 /7 collaboration and development which maximises output.
The number one key to success.
Successful Digital Transformation is three times more likely with effective communication.
Effective communication is achieved with constant collaboration and report submissions to ensure that everyone is aligned in the delivery of the solution. New ideas and suggestions are shared and if a new idea is approved, the teams adjust the roadmap accordingly, which increases productivity.
There are other roles in the DevOps Agile culture and development process depending on the types of software that need to be developed. The software quality teams may include scrum masters, UI/UX designers, database engineers and software quality engineers.
Why choose a DevOps /Agile Methodology?
The main reason that DevOps / Agile methodology stands out among all others is its flexibility and adaptability.
We do not need to design and address all the problems and requirements upfront.
In a DevOps / Agile environment, challenges are divided into smaller problems and dealt with one at a time by the relevant individual or team. If there is a change in requirements, other methodologies cannot adapt as quickly.
DevOps / Agile culture is demand-driven, which means teams can deliver consistently at pace while constantly adapting to the new needs and requirements of the market.
In a DevOps / Agile culture, teams can change the project requirements at any time because they do not have to wait for the project to be delivered before review, as testing is an ongoing part of the process.
If a problem arises during the development phase, DevOps / Agile teams can adapt and change to resolve the problem at speed, thus avoiding future issues. In a DevOps / Agile culture, every team member collaborates and contributes to the solution. DevOps/Agile methodology also ensures that each and every person takes responsibility for their work, which leads to an increase in code quality.