Team management strategies for DevOps

In an increasingly digital market, and where the time to market is shorter and the quality and reliability more relevant, it is imperative that software development teams can organize themselves in order to provide a faster reaction to the market with more reliability. DevOps intends to eliminate the existence of silos (Development and Operations) and streamline the software production, declining waste and difficulties in its construction, increasing productivity and developing better products with a focus on client satisfaction. Nevertheless, the joining of teams around the same goal causes key managing challenges, namely the management of conflicts and information sharing between teams. The way that these challenges are managed can interfere with the successful implementation of DevOps philosophy. Though a Case Study, the research goal is to study the best team management strategies that help to reduce the appearance of conflicts and enhance information sharing in the context of DevOps implementation, increasing effectiveness in those teams. As a result, this research brings some strategies to facilitate the DevOps team management and reinforces the importance of managing conflicts, processes, tasks and information well.Num mercado cada vez mais digital e onde o tempo de mercado é cada vez mais curto, a qualidade e fiabilidade mais relevantes, é imperativo que as equipas de desenvolvimento de software consigam organizar-se de modo a proporcionar uma resposta rápida no mercado e cada vez mais fiável. A filosofia DevOps pretende terminar com a existência de silos (Desenvolvimento e Operações) e agilizar a produção de software, diminuindo desperdício e dificuldades na sua construção, aumentando a produtividade e desenvolver produtos melhores com foco na satisfação do cliente. Contudo, a junção de equipas em torno de um mesmo objetivo acarreta desafios cruciais para a gestão, nomeadamente a gestão de conflitos e da informação entre as equipas. A forma como estes desafios são geridos poderá interferir no sucesso da implementação de uma filosofia DevOps. Através de um Caso de Estudo, o objetivo desta pesquisa é o levantamento das melhores estratégias de gestão de equipas que ajudem a reduzir o surgimento de conflitos e potenciar a partilha de informação em contexto de implementação da filosofia DevOps, aumentando a eficácia destas equipas. Como resultado, esta pesquisa traz algumas estratégias que podem facilitar a gestão de equipas DevOps e reforça a importância de fazer uma boa gestão dos conflitos, tarefas, processos e da informação

A Survey of DevOps in the South African Software Context

This study investigated DevOps practices and experiences in the South African software development context, along with associated perceptions of benefits and challenges. Survey data collected from a sample of 80 software development professionals showed that more frequent builds, earlier detection of bugs and reduced project lead times were the top three benefits, while getting DevOps capable members into a team, finding experienced professionals to support DevOps practice and changing deep-seated company culture to support DevOps were the top three challenges. DevOps practices are still emerging. Although 85% of respondents report continuous integration as a frequent practice, only 54% report using continuous deployment frequently. The biggest reported impacts of DevOps on software development culture were in making development team members aware of operational faults, responsible for quality assurance, and responsible for deployments. Realisation of benefits from DevOps depends largely on a culture change. Results are useful for guiding organisations considering DevOps adoption

A theory on human factors in DevOps adoption

Context:DevOps is a software engineering paradigm that enables faster deliveries and higher quality products. However, DevOps adoption is a complex process that is still insufficiently supported by research. In addition, human factors are the main difficulty for a successful DevOps adoption, although very few studies address this topic.Objective:This paper addresses two research gaps identified in literature, namely: (1) the characterization of DevOps from the perspective of human factors, i.e. the description of DevOps’ human characteristics to better define it, and (2) the identification and analysis of human factors’ effect in the adoption of DevOps.Method:We employed a hybrid methodology that included a Systematic Mapping Study followed by the application of a clustering technique. A questionnaire for DevOps practitioners (n = 15) was employed as an evaluation method.Results:A total of 59 human factors related to DevOps were identified, described, and synthesized. The results were used to build a theory on DevOps human factors.Conclusion:The main contribution of this paper is a theory proposal regarding human factors in DevOps adoption. The evaluation results show that almost every human factor identified in the mapping study was found relevant in DevOps adoption. The results of the study represent an extension of DevOps characterization and a first approximation to human factors in DevOps adoption

Documenting and implementing DevOps good practices with test automation and continuous deployment tools through software refinement

The accelerated pace of life of companies in Colombia and the world, entails the need to obtain software developments with the highest quality, in the shortest possible time and with minimal reprocessing after it is put into production. Therefore, the use of good software development practices and their automation through tools is no longer a luxury for development teams today, but part of their way of working. Unfortunately, in Colombia many of these helps and forms of work are not widely used. This paper presents the documentation and implementation of preventive quality tools and good practices for software development that allow code versioning, continuous integration, automation of functional tests, static code analysis and continuous deployment. Objective: Present the good practices implemented in the Smart Campus Ecosystem case study for software development. Methodology or method: Good practices for software development based on XP and DevOps are reviewed. A set of tools is selected for implementation that has a direct impact on the quality of software development. These tools are used in the UNIAJC Smart campus ecosystem case study. The results of the implementation are documented in this article. Results: The preventive quality model is exposed, put on test and the results are documented. Conclusions: The preventive quality model helps to increase the results of quality assurance through the set of tools that provide development teams with key information for refinement and refactoring of source code within development runtime and no later than this stage

Relationship of Transformational Leadership and Organizational Change During Enterprise Agile and DevOps Initiatives In Financial Service Firms

The rate of organizations adopting Agile and DevOps methodologies has grown in recent years, with researchers observing the impact of leadership styles and methodology adoption, presenting challenges with sustaining and scaling change initiatives. Where organizations within the marketplace today reveal the significance of leadership in influencing change, while findings signal deficiencies with having leaders who are ready. The purpose of this quantitative correlational research examines the increased probability of failure organizations face when engaging in enterprise Agile and DevOps transformational change initiatives. Through investigating the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors, readiness for change, and organizational citizenship behavior exhibited by management and employees engaging in Agile and DevOps initiatives within regional financial services companies with a presence in the South Eastern United States. The resulting study surveyed 390 anonymous participants with varying backgrounds and organizational roles based upon predetermined quota constraints aligning with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census, and FDIC data. Utilizing three principal instruments to measure transformational leadership, change readiness, and organizational citizenship behavior; conducting statistical analysis for construct reliability, descriptive properties, and hypothesis testing, concluding the existence of influential correlation of change readiness and organizational citizenship behaviors having a relationship with transformational leadership. The research findings identify the association of organizational readiness and employee social citizenship responsibility with applicability to transformational leadership, bringing light to the significance of grooming and sustaining leaders at all levels of the organization

Examination of Adoption Theory on the DevOps Practice of Continuous Delivery

Many organizations have difficulty adopting advanced software development practices. Some software development project managers in large organizations are not aligned with the relationship between performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions, as moderated by experience, with intent to adopt the DevOps practice of continuous delivery. The purpose of this study was to examine the statistical relationships between the independent variablesâperformance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions, as moderated by experienceâand the dependent variable of behavioral intent to adopt a continuous delivery system. Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis\u27s unified theory of acceptance and use of technology provided the theoretical framework. A stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed on survey data from 85 technical project managers affiliated with LinkedIn project management groups. The analysis reflected that only performance expectancy was significant in predicting intent to adopt continuous delivery. The findings may contribute to social change by providing project managers with the information they need to support organizational change, collaboration, and facilitation. The knowledge gained may additionally help organizations develop operational efficiency, competitive advantage, and generate higher value to their clients and society

Proceedings of the Project Management Innovation Annual Conference

The Project Management Innovation Conference brings together professionals, leaders, visionaries, researchers, and students to engage in the topics related to the future of project management. Attendees represent all fields and industries, including government, corporate, and private. Attendee demographics include practitioners, front-line staff, and executive management

Consequences of Project Team Member Turnover for agile Information Systems Development Teams: A Multiple Case Study

Turnover of IT professionals has been at the center of IT workforce research, mainly focusing on individual level drivers and consequences. This paper explores how turnover events affect the dynamics of agile software development (ISD) teams. We conducted 25 semi-structured interviews in seven cases to understand team-level consequences of turnover events. We found that ISD teams who directly or indirectly experienced turnover events are confronted with the following four consequences on the group level: (1) group dynamics shift, leading to (2) interpersonal voids, and (3) voids of expertise which consequently leads to (4) rebalancing resources. Through our work, we contribute to a better understanding of how coping processes that start after collective turnover occurs in agile ISD teams are shaped at the group level

Drivers of Attitudes toward Online Purchase Intention Among Residents of Taiyuan in China

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the influencing factors of consumers’ attitudes towards online shopping and purchase intention in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. The conceptual framework proposes the causal relationship between trust, subjective norm, perceived risk, perceived behavioral control, attitudes, and purchase intention. Research design, data, and methodology: The researchers used a quantitative method (n=500) to send questionnaires to consumers about the online shopping experience in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. A nonprobability sampling includes judgment sampling, quota sampling, and convenient sampling. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used for data analysis, including model fitting, reliability, and validity tests. Results: The results show that trust significantly affects online shopping attitude. Furthermore, perceived risk, perceived behavior control, and attitude have significant effects on purchase intention. The influence of subjective norms on shopping intention is not significant. Attitude has the greatest impact on shopping intention. Conclusion: It is suggested that the managers of online shopping platforms should maintain consumers’ good attitudes toward online shopping, improve the level of trust mechanism, and control risks. the research results will help strategic managers and marketers of online shopping platforms gain better experience and enlightenment in attracting consumers to enhance the development of the online shopping market

Community Smells -- The Sources of Social Debt: A Systematic Literature Review

Context: Social debt describes the accumulation of unforeseen project costs (or potential costs) from sub-optimal software development processes. Community smells are sociotechnical anti-patterns and one source of social debt that impact software teams, development processes, outcomes, and organizations. Objective: To provide an overview of community smells based on published literature, and describe future research. Method: We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify properties, understand origins and evolution, and describe the emergence of community smells. This SLR explains the impact of community smells on teamwork and team performance. Results: We include 25 studies. Social debt describes the impacts of poor socio-technical decisions on work environments, people, software products, and society. For each of the 30 identified community smells, we provide a description, management approaches, organizational strategies, and mitigation effectiveness. We identify five groups of management approaches: organizational strategies, frameworks, models, tools, and guidelines. We describe 11 properties of community smells. We develop the Community Smell Stages Framework to concisely describe the origin and evolution of community smells. We describe the causes and effects for each community smell. We identify and describe 8 types of causes and 11 types of effects for community smells. Finally, we provide 8 Sankey diagrams that offer insights into threats the community smells pose to teamwork factors and team performance. Conclusion: Community smells explain the influence work conditions have on software developers. The literature is scarce and focuses on a small number of community smells. Thus, community smells still need more research. This review organizes the state of the art about community smells and provides motivation for future research along with educational material.Comment: Accepted for publication in Information and Software Technolog