From my presentation at DevOpsDays Buffalo in September 2019 as well as DevOpsDays Denver in April 2019 - Presentation about prioritization of continuous improvement

1. © Deloitte Digital 2015
1
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE:
THE ART OF PRIORITIZING DEVOPS
September 2019
Fawzy Manaa
Technical Lead, Deloitte
DevOpsDays Buffalo 2019

2. 2 | Copyright © 2015 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
DEVOPS AND ME?
• Lead DevOps technology lab at Deloitte
• Strong believer in ‘Agile DevOps’ = Fail, Learn, Repeat
• Been focused on DevOps transformation and enablement in large enterprises
• Frequent speaker at DevOpsDays conferences
@FawzyManaa

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WHO IS THIS FOR?
• If you are experiencing one or more of the following:
• Not sure where to begin? What to build next?
• Don’t have the time to sustain “all of this”?
• You have DevOps capabilities but no one wants them?
• Unsure if your enablement work really matters?
@FawzyManaa

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SETTING THE STAGE
You are
here!
Maturity
Time
You aspire to
be here!
@FawzyManaa

5. Okay, What Do I ‘DevOps’ next?
Ask yourself: Why do I want to do DevOps?
Test automation?
Cloud capabilities?
Containerization?
@FawzyManaa

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WHERE DO I START?
“Any improvement not
made at the constraint is
an illusion”
Find the Constraint Address the Constraint
How?
Conduct Value Stream
Mapping exercise
Acknowledge
1 2 3
What?
Not just the technology; gaps and
capabilities encompass people,
process, and culture too
@FawzyManaa

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MAKING AN EDUCATED GUESS
Consider the following factors to make a quick, yet informed, decision
about what problem to solve for next:
Pain Effort Risk
Priority
?
@FawzyManaa

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What if My Constraints are too Big?
Ask yourself: What dependencies do I have?
@FawzyManaa

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FOUNDATIONAL CAPABILITIES AND
PRACTICES ARE IMPORTANT!
These are the capabilities essential to almost any DevOps continuous improvement initiative or technical
capability buildup. They include but not limited to the following:
Modern Collaborative Source Control and Dev Workflow
Shared Knowledge Base (e.g. Wiki, IM, ChatOps)
Openness to Feedback and Sharing
@FawzyManaa

10. 10 | Copyright © 2015 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
THE CAPABILITY ONION
Sometimes, it just makes
sense to prioritize
capability build based on
dependencies
(e.g. containerization
before container
orchestration)
Core
Capabilities
Emerging
Capabilities
Advanced
Capabilities
@FawzyManaa

11. 11 | Copyright © 2015 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.@FawzyManaa

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How Do I Put DevOps to Use?
Ask yourself: Have I socialized the capabilities and
practices I built and defined?
@FawzyManaa

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PILOT, PILOT, PILOT!
Pilot teams are important to validate capabilities and practices, collect feedback and serve as means of
socializing progress
MISSION ALIGNMENT AND IMPACT
LEARNING MAXIMIZATION
INTEREST AND WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE
What makes a good pilot team?
@FawzyManaa

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Now What?
Ask yourself: What’s my next constraint?
@FawzyManaa

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CREATE A WELL-OILED MACHINE
Scale
Pilot Pilot
Scale
Pilot
@FawzyManaa

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How Do I Know I am on the Right Track?
Ask yourself: Who have I involved along the way?
@FawzyManaa

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CONTINUOUS FEEDBACK
Are you Listening?
(Informal Feedback)
Are you Asking?
(Formal Feedback)
Are you Measuring?
(System Feedback)
@FawzyManaa

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How Do I Find The Time to Do All of This?
Ask yourself: Does anyone else see the value in what I am doing?
@FawzyManaa

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PRIORITIZING TECHNICAL DEBT
If you do not consciously attempt to do it, it simply won’t happen
Allocate time for incremental improvements
Build a business case for major improvements
• Allocate 10% to 20% initiative time
• Build time for continuous improvement (monthly, quarterly)
• Account for technical debt as part of project estimates
• Involve supporters and others who also care
• Let your leadership know
• Demonstrate small successes to build momentum
1
2
@FawzyManaa

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NOTHING MATTERS IF YOU DON’T…
Manage Work In-Take Manage Your WIP
@FawzyManaa

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FINAL ADVICE
Don’t Get Bogged Down, Get Some Small Early Wins
and Celebrate Them!
Don’t Count on Getting Everything Right the First Time
Because You Likely Won’t!
@FawzyManaa

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STAY IN TOUCH
Shoot me an email fmanaa@deloitte.ca
Follow me on Twitter at @FawzyManaa
@FawzyManaa