Surendar EnduriPMP| Ogilvy PennyWise SolutionsHyderabad, India
One of the focus areas in DevOps is to have a continuous feedback loop between project development and operations teams. Whereas the project definition of PMBOK emphasizes that, project is different from on-going operations. Given this, can you please provide your thoughts on what role changes we expect from the project managers in the DevOps context. Would it expand the current responsibilities of Project Manager? Saving Changes...
My humble point to mention here is that DevOps is a new way of doing things, with increased frequency and by using tools and automation. A project manager was a very important person in the 90s when we were writing library or medical software using 486 computers, and the project manager was responsible for everything then including paying bills. Today the build and delivery is more focused in the sense that the deadlines are expected on a daily basis and testing and the QA has to be taken care of on a daily basis. I see a difference here. Saving Changes...
While DevOps may be a new term, I don't see that this is too much different from what we should have been doing in the past (and perhaps some have been doing in the past)...i.e. building the product of the project taking into account future operational considerations as well... (doesn't mean that the operation itself is part of the project)
If you agree with this thinking, then there is no dramatic additional responsibility for the PM... simply aligning with the new formalized approach called DevOps and doing the old things under a new name and formalized methodology.
Perhaps I don't comprehend the depth of DevOps... so please correct me as needed
I totally agree with your point, DevOps focus around making sure that developers meet the requirement of what operation needs will be so a PM still focuses the project at hand but with the new methodology of Devop they take into consideration what the requirement for operation. This focus primary in Quality. Saving Changes...
Don Gilman, PEPMO Lead - College Station| ViasatCollege Station, Tx, United States
Having been deeply integrated into teams doing Waterfall, Spiral, Scrum, Kanban and now starting a DevOps Journey I can tell you that what is the same is the goal: Delivering software, as quickly, cheaply, and with the highest possible quality. What is different is the approach. Agile and DevOps is about empowering the team (which is a radical approach to those of us with grey hair from trusting programmers....). It is about reducing friction by making the idea-benefit period as short is as possible. "Small bytes". The catch is TANSTAAFL. You can't just come in on a Monday to find all the team in a common bullpen with a huge banner staying "Today we are Agile and doing DevOps". You have to make an investment in training, tooling, and attitude across the organization.
My thinking is while Scrum Masters remove barriers for the team, the PM supports the Scrum Masters by handling the administrative things that must be done (technical folks do like getting new contracts or products, do want to be paid, have equipment, environments, tools, training,etc.). The devil is in the details. Do you have one product line with a few teams or do you have multiple products, services, platforms, in multiple countries with layers of compliance, legal, and InfoSec requirements spread across ten teams?
Talk to me in a year and I'll tell you how the latter scenario has impacted my opinion. Saving Changes...
Pench BattaEnterprise Lean Agile DevOps Coach /SAFe Program Consultant (SPC6)| Capgemini, Inc.Bentonville, Ar, United States
In DevOps, operations team is part of the development team. The communication loop is for all the areas and automated all the time. As a project manager, it is our responsibility to see how it is working without any obstruction. Saving Changes...
