The DevOps model brings developers and administrators closer together and enables agile methods in both areas.

In the first article of my “Time to Production” series, I highlighted best practices for optimizing the time it takes for a new feature from a product owner’s request to the completion of development. With the completion of software development, however, the feature is not yet available to users in the production system. The idea of also speeding up the second part of the supply chain after a change has been handed over to the operator – without any compromise in availability, security or other quality features – is obvious. Here too, the application of agile principles is promising. DevOps – the composition of the terms development and operations – is a model and not a role. It is neither meant that developers take over the task of operators and administrators, nor vice versa. Content of the DevOps model is the interdepartmental cooperation between development, quality assurance and operation as well as the implementation of best practices in software development in the field of service management and system administration.

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Agile methods can help to increase the productivity and quality of processes as well as of the developed software. A consideration of the success criteria.

Productivity is an important key figure in software development. It determines which software volume an organization can create with a certain amount of effort while adhering to certain quality criteria. We have already published several articles about our experiences with its measurement and optimization. However, high productivity in software development alone does not say anything about how quickly a new feature of an application can be used in production by users – the so-called Time to Production. My new series of articles deals with this topic.

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In software development, a selective measurement of productivity can be very deceptive. Valid statements require consideration over a longer period of time.

In one of my previous contributions, I described how the management model used at PASS for several years works. In brief: It is based on three key performance indicators (productivity, costs and quality) and the corresponding measurement methods. Continue reading 

Through the cyclical repetition of measurements, evaluations and optimizations a targeted improvement of productivity and quality can be achieved in software development. Thereby error analysis is an essential part of this process.

When processing an error, the focus is naturally on correcting it in order to eliminate the user’s restrictions on the use of the system. In many cases, agreed response or troubleshooting times require a quick focus on a solution, even if it is only a workaround solution that does not prevent the error from occurring in the long term. Continue reading 

How can productivity and quality in software development be managed effectively and sustainably controlled? A KPI-based management model as response.

In my last article “Three levers for higher productivity in software development“, I used empirical values to show how industrial methods, such as standardization and automation, affect productivity. Thus, software development by industrial means does not aim at mass production of similar products; on the contrary, it enables a high degree of individualization by a small-scale standardization of business-related and technical components. Continue reading