Software Development: Accelerating Delivery Through Agile and DevOps Practices

Explores why real leadership means designing systems that enable team autonomy, flow, and accountability—rather than relying on command-and-control …

NKD Agility helped SLB unify 800+ engineering teams by consolidating DevOps systems, standardizing processes, and improving visibility, collaboration, …

Defines the Definition of Done in Scrum as a clear, shared standard for quality, ensuring increments are releasable, transparent, and continuously …

Explains how the Definition of Done evolves in Scrum, aligning team practices with organisational standards to ensure consistent quality, compliance, …

Transform legacy engineering with a proven, step-by-step approach—learn how to automate, adapt, and build a resilient, modern DevOps culture.

Engineering excellence isn’t perfection—it’s continuous improvement, clean code, and fast feedback. Unlock true agility with modern Agile and DevOps …

Stop testing quality in—start building it in. Learn how shifting left, automation, and fast feedback loops drive engineering excellence in modern …

Continuous delivery is achievable for any software, regardless of complexity. Success depends on investment in automation, quality, and process …

Value in software is only realised through delivery. Frequent releases validate assumptions, reduce risk, and enable rapid feedback, adaptation, and …

Unlock engineering excellence with Azure DevOps—boost traceability, transparency, and developer experience for agile, high-performing teams.

Learn how to upgrade legacy .NET and ASP.NET MVC projects to SDK-style for easier builds, modern tooling, and future readiness, including tips for …

Explains how integrating security and quality early in software development—using practices like TDD, pair programming, and continuous feedback—builds …

A practical guide to Evidence-Based Management, showing how organisations use experiments, feedback, and key value areas to improve value delivery …

Explains Scrum’s core values, roles, artifacts, and events, highlighting how they support teamwork, transparency, and adaptability in managing complex …

Compares “flow of value” and “flow of work” in Kanban, explaining why only validated outcomes count as value and stressing the need for evidence, …

Explores Agile as a disciplined system of delivery, emphasizing engineering excellence, CI/CD, observability, and system design over mindset or …

Tracking estimation accuracy in software delivery leads to mistrust, fear, and distorted behaviours. Focus on customer value, flow, and outcomes—not …

Explores when to use a single Azure DevOps project versus multiple projects, detailing impacts on flow, visibility, governance, and team collaboration …

Getting Started with the Definition of Done (DoD). Every team should define what is required, what criteria must be met, for a product increment to be …

AI exposes that coding was never the main bottleneck in software delivery; real constraints are in system flow, team practices, and organisational …

Explains why promoting code through multiple branches slows delivery, increases risk, and suggests GitHub Flow or Release Flow as simpler, safer …

Is your team’s “done” really done? Discover how a clear, objective definition of done boosts quality, agility, and trust in product delivery.

Ensure fast, reliable development with Continuous Integration (CI). Merge code frequently, detect errors early, and maintain a healthy codebase.

Scrum teams must deliver working software to real users every Sprint; true progress is measured by delivery to production, not just by completing …

Many Scrum Masters lack core Scrum knowledge and technical skills, leading to poor team support. Learn key competencies needed for effective, …

Automating builds, tests, and deployments with Azure Pipelines.

High work in progress (WIP) causes delays and unpredictability; improving estimates won’t help. Limiting WIP and focusing on flow is key to reliable …

Explores modern code review practices, emphasising automation, pre-reviewed code, and shift-left strategies to improve software quality, speed, and …

An Internal Developer Platform streamlines development processes, enabling teams to build, test, and deploy applications efficiently within a …

NKD Agility helped SLB unify build and release processes across 90 teams in 13 countries, boosting team ownership, efficiency, and engineering …

Mentoring program for developers and teams to master Agile, DevOps, Kanban, and evidence-based practices, fostering engineering excellence and …

Velocity measures how quickly teams turn ideas into value, using build, test, deploy, and feedback times—not just story points—to track real delivery …

Explains how Scrum teams can strategically allow unfinished work to flow across Sprint boundaries, enhancing throughput, responsiveness, and …

Stop confusing acceptance criteria with definition of done—learn the crucial difference to boost quality, speed, and trust in your agile delivery.

Transform your definition of done into a strategic advantage—deliver real value, reduce risk, and drive business impact with every sprint.

Ensure software quality and reliability with Automated Testing. Detect issues early, reduce manual effort, and accelerate delivery.

Excessive handoffs in software development create delays, reduce quality, and harm team morale. Learn how eliminating handoffs boosts agility, flow, …

Measuring individual cycle time in Kanban misleads teams, hides real bottlenecks, and harms flow. Focus on system-wide metrics like PCE, WIP, and …

Continuous Delivery is the practice of frequently delivering small increments of valuable product directly to real users, enabling rapid feedback, …

Explains why regular backlog refinement is essential in Scrum, how to make backlog items ready for Sprint Planning, and ways to measure effective …

Explains how technical leaders can break down organisational silos and enforce better branching, team structures, and architecture to improve software …

Explains how short-lived topic branches in source control improve software quality, enable modularity, speed up integration, and support agile, …

Discover why “done” means live in production—not just code complete. Learn to deliver real value, close feedback loops, and drive outcomes that …

Applying software engineering principles to ensure scalable and reliable systems.

Stop relying on memory for quality. Discover why automated pipelines beat manual checks, and how embedding quality gates ensures trust, speed, and …

Explains how the Scrum Master is accountable for enabling effective product delivery, fostering team success, and ensuring each sprint produces a …

Best practices for version control and branching strategies in modern software development.

Hiring an unqualified Scrum Master limits team growth, reduces agility, and hinders value delivery. Effective Scrum Masters drive change, coaching, …

Undelivered software provides no value. Frequent, iterative releases reduce risk, cost, and failure, enabling faster learning and real user impact in …

Explains how a Scrum Master drives team improvement, removes obstacles, and leads organisational change, going far beyond basic facilitation or …

GitHub is a platform for version control and collaboration, offering tools for code hosting, CI/CD, project management, and team collaboration.

Explains how adopting a shift-left approach in software development improves quality, speeds up delivery, reduces costs, and fosters collaboration by …

Explores the widespread issue of incompetent Agile coaches and Scrum Masters, its impact on teams and organisations, and practical steps to restore …

Scrum Masters must have technical and business expertise to guide teams, improve code quality, and drive real agility—not just schedule meetings. …

A cross-border product team overcame misalignment and role confusion through immersive mentorship, boosting collaboration, engineering engagement, and …

Argues that the Scrum Master role requires proven mastery and real-world experience, not entry-level skills or certifications, and should be earned …

Scrum Teams must consistently meet a clear, non-negotiable Definition of Done to ensure quality, manage risk, and prevent technical debt in every …

Managing and reducing technical debt to maintain sustainable development velocity.

Martin is in EST for 6 months and available for hands-on consulting in North America. This month’s spotlight: How tracking estimation accuracy is …

Measuring the time from work initiation to customer delivery, helping teams monitor workflow efficiency and improve value delivery.