Software Development: Accelerating Delivery Through Agile and DevOps Practices

Guidance for identifying genuine agile software development in DoD projects, including key principles, warning signs, essential tools, and critical …

Explains why delivering working software to users every iteration is vital in Agile, highlighting feedback, value, and practical steps for continuous …

Explores key qualities of an effective Scrum Master, focusing on team empowerment, backlog management, collaboration, and removing organisational …

Manage Agile projects effectively with Azure Boards. Track work, optimise planning, and improve team collaboration.

Explains how adopting test-first practices in software development improves quality, reduces bugs, and enables confident continuous delivery by …

Explains how feature flags enable safe, incremental software releases, support continuous delivery, and use user feedback to improve features before …

Guidance for running effective Daily Scrum meetings, focusing on collaboration, transparency, and actionable planning to help teams achieve their …

Step-by-step guide to building an automated Release Management pipeline for professional developers, covering build, deployment, environment setup, …

Explains an effective branching strategy for Scrum teams, covering best practices, common pitfalls, and step-by-step guidance for managing code, …

Explores practical strategies for scaling agile practices, key metrics, virtual training adaptations, and global insights to navigate change in the …

Learn how Kanban boosts transparency in software engineering, helping teams visualise workflows, identify bottlenecks, and drive continuous …

Explains how generative AI and PowerShell scripts automate and improve blog post tagging and categorisation in Hugo, with human oversight and …

Explains how agile practices help teams manage complexity, adapt to change, and deliver value faster in modern product development, compared to …

Discover why experienced Scrum practitioners often misunderstand core principles, and how revisiting Scrum fundamentals restores clarity, agility, and …

Outlines core Agile values and principles for software development, emphasising collaboration, adaptability, working software, customer focus, and …

Explores how Visual Studio 2012 supports continuous quality enablement, automated testing, and rapid delivery in modern software development for …

A real-world account of guiding a new Scrum team through their first sprint, covering estimation, story points, sprint planning, and handling …

Explains how to set up and use Standard Environments in Visual Studio 2012 TFS for automated software deployment and testing, enabling consistent, …

Explains the role of automated testing in modern software development, covering types, integration, benefits, challenges, and tools for maintaining …

The Scrum Team is a defined accountability within Scrum, composed of a Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Developers working together toward a shared …

Explains how empiricism—continuous observation, inspection, and adaptation—drives Agile success by enabling teams to respond effectively to real …

Learn how to customise Azure DevOps to support Scrum teams, manage backlogs, plan sprints, and improve agile workflows with practical setup and …

Step-by-step guide to creating a Build vNext build definition in Visual Studio Online, covering task setup, options, triggers, variables, and build …

Explores and corrects common misconceptions about Scrum, clarifying its true principles, events, planning, and governance to help teams adopt Agile …

A clear summary of Scrum’s framework, roles, events, artefacts, and values, explaining how teams use Scrum to deliver value and adapt to complex …

Sprint planning is a collaborative session where teams define and align on goals, tasks, and priorities for the next sprint, ensuring clarity and …

Learn how to define, craft, and achieve effective Sprint Goals in Scrum, using frameworks like SMART and OKR to align teams, deliver value, and …

Step-by-step guide to effective Sprint Planning in Scrum, covering goal setting, backlog selection, team capacity, actionable plans, and clear …

Explains the Nexus framework for scaling Scrum with multiple teams, detailing roles, events, and artefacts to coordinate product delivery and manage …

Step-by-step guide for running a Sprint Review, including presenting the increment, gathering feedback, updating the backlog, forecasting, and …

Learn practical strategies to minimise downtime and maintain engineer productivity during data migration, including planning, dry runs, and effective …

Summarises key changes in the 2020 Scrum Guide, including simplified language, self-managing teams, and new commitments for goals, backlog, and …

Explains how Scrum Teams can use Kanban practices to optimise workflow, track flow metrics, and enhance transparency, efficiency, and continuous …

Explores how immersive learning in Agile and Scrum helps overcome cognitive bias, promotes hands-on practice, and supports continuous improvement for …

Scrum Teams uphold, not lower, quality by strictly following and evolving the Definition of Done, ensuring predictable releases and reducing technical …

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

Technical debt includes slow feedback, fragile systems, and manual processes that hinder progress. Addressing it early with automation and testing …

One Engineering System (1ES) is a strategic standardised, integrated framework designed to streamline software development by unifying tools, …

Explains how true quality improvement needs both tools and a culture of safety, using Toyota’s andon cord as a lesson for Agile and Scrum adoption in …

Balancing risk and speed when getting software into production.

Explains why environment-based branching slows development, and recommends using feature flags and progressive rollouts for simpler, faster, and safer …

Unlock seamless governance, security, and scale with Azure DevOps—integrated tooling that lets you deliver value, not just manage complexity.

Explains how slow product release cycles delay feature delivery, risk losing relevance, and create competitive disadvantages, highlighting the …

Ensuring backlog items meet a clear, actionable standard before sprint planning.

Frequent software releases reduce risk, enable faster feedback, and help teams adapt to user needs, preventing costly mistakes and improving overall …

Explains key Scrum concepts: distinguishing Definition of Done from acceptance criteria, using spikes vs. refinement, and strategies for managing ad …

Learn why simple branching strategies like GitHub Flow and Release Flow help teams deliver faster, reduce risk, and avoid the pitfalls of complex …

Throughput is a delivery metric used to inspect how much work is completed per unit of time, enabling analysis of flow efficiency and system …

Approaches to planning incremental and iterative software releases.

Explores how fear hinders true agility in teams, emphasising the need to foster courage and trust for effective Agile, Scrum, and DevOps practices and …

Explains the Scrum Master's role in ensuring team delivery by fostering agility, removing blockers, and being accountable for improving team …

Explores why team autonomy in Scrum must be balanced with alignment to strategic goals, highlighting the role of clear objectives and leadership in …

Explore and compare Agile frameworks. Understand their principles, applications, and impact on organisational agility and value delivery.

Master estimation in Agile and Scrum. Improve forecasting, manage uncertainty, and align expectations using empirical data and collaborative …

Scrum Masters need authority to remove obstacles and drive project success. Without empowerment, they can't fulfil their role or be held accountable …

A critical lens on attempts to combine project management with agile delivery approaches.

Learn how to maintain data integrity during DevOps migrations, weighing full versus selective data transfer, managing risks, and ensuring team …

Achieving excellence in software craftsmanship, architecture, and engineering practices.

Tracking individual cycle time can harm team performance by encouraging task cherry-picking, reduced collaboration, and lower quality, without …

Measuring individual cycle time overlooks team performance and system bottlenecks. Focus on lead time, throughput, and process efficiency to improve …