What is the best application of Scrum in the world?

TL;DR; Microsoft’s Azure DevOps team successfully transitioned from waterfall to Scrum, dramatically reducing build times from over 20 hours to just 3.5 minutes and delivering a product that better meets customer needs. This highlights how effective Scrum can be when applied well, especially in overcoming technical debt and improving efficiency. Development managers should consider how adopting Scrum could drive similar improvements in their own teams.

Published on 26 May 2023

Written by Martin Hinshelwood

2 minute read

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Spotlight on Outstanding Scrum Application

What might you consider to be the best application of Scrum in the world?

While it’s tough to single out one application as ’the’ greatest, at the same time and it’s hard to declare a definitive ‘best,’ I definitely want to spotlight one implementation that never fails to impress me.

That’s right. We’re talking about the Azure DevOps teams at Microsoft. This team never fails to have my admiration and respect.

Transitioning From Waterfall to Scrum

The DevOps team at Microsoft bravely took a product traditionally delivered through a waterfall methodology, saddled with heaps of technical debt , and managed to create a product that hits the right note with their customers.

Over about eight years, this team has managed to bridge the gap, pivoting towards Scrum and building a product that truly resonates with customers. 💡

Projecting Forward with Efficiency

Now, this is what I call accelerating towards progress!

Get this. Here’s something that will blow your mind - this team went from a build time of 20-plus hours to a mind-blowing 3.5 minutes! 🚀

Now, this is an impressive prime example of how effective Scrum can be when implemented right.

Are you intrigued to unravel the secrets behind the effectiveness of Scrum and Agile?

Explore my Agile and Scrum courses, which might revolutionise your perspective! 😉

So what is the best application of Scrum in the world? I don’t think I could mention the best, but the implementation that I respect the most is probably the Azure DevOps teams at Microsoft.

Um, they took a waterfall product that they delivered once every two years with significant amounts of technical debt and over eight years, uh, moved it towards this, uh, uh, club. They closed the chasm; they were able to build a product that really resonated with their customers.

And they were able to, um, go from, man, it used to take them 20 plus hours to build their product, and they got it down to three and a half minutes. That’s an application of effectiveness.

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