How do you align your Agile and DevOps goals with your IT budget?

1 Define your value streams

A value stream is a set of activities that deliver value to the customer, from the initial idea to the final product or service. By mapping out your value streams, you can identify the key stakeholders, processes, tools, and metrics that are involved in each stage of the software lifecycle. This will help you to allocate your IT budget and resources more effectively, as well as to eliminate waste and optimize efficiency. You can also use value stream mapping to align your Agile and DevOps teams and practices with the customer needs and expectations.

2 Establish your outcomes and measures

Once you have defined your value streams, you need to establish the outcomes and measures that will guide your Agile and DevOps budgeting and planning. Outcomes are the desired results or benefits that you want to achieve from your software initiatives, such as increased revenue, customer satisfaction, or market share. Measures are the indicators or metrics that will help you to track and evaluate your progress and performance against your outcomes. You should choose outcomes and measures that are relevant, realistic, and aligned with your business strategy and vision.

3 Adopt a flexible and iterative approach

Agile and DevOps are based on the principles of flexibility, adaptability, and continuous improvement. Therefore, your budgeting and planning should also reflect these values and allow for changes and feedback along the way. Instead of creating a fixed and detailed plan at the beginning of the year, you should adopt a more iterative and incremental approach, where you plan and budget for shorter cycles or sprints, and adjust your priorities and resources based on the outcomes and measures. You should also involve your stakeholders and customers in your budgeting and planning process, and solicit their input and feedback regularly.

4 Balance your innovation and maintenance

Another challenge for Agile and DevOps budgeting and planning is to balance your innovation and maintenance activities. Innovation refers to the development of new features, products, or services that create value for your customers and differentiate you from your competitors. Maintenance refers to the upkeep and improvement of your existing software assets, such as fixing bugs, enhancing security, or updating dependencies. Both innovation and maintenance are important for your software quality and delivery, but they also require different levels of investment and resources. You should find the optimal balance between them based on your value streams, outcomes, and measures, as well as your market and customer demands.

5 Leverage automation and cloud

One of the ways to optimize your Agile and DevOps budgeting and planning is to leverage automation and cloud technologies. Automation can help you to streamline and standardize your software processes, such as testing, deployment, or monitoring, and reduce human errors, costs, and delays. Cloud can help you to scale and adjust your IT infrastructure and resources according to your needs, and pay only for what you use, rather than investing in expensive and underutilized hardware or software. By using automation and cloud, you can also improve your software quality, speed, and reliability, and deliver more value to your customers.

6 Review and improve your practices

Finally, you should review and improve your Agile and DevOps budgeting and planning practices regularly, and learn from your successes and failures. You should collect and analyze data and feedback from your outcomes and measures, as well as from your stakeholders and customers, and identify the gaps, issues, or opportunities for improvement. You should also benchmark your practices against the best practices and standards in your industry and domain, and seek external advice or guidance if needed. By reviewing and improving your practices, you can ensure that your Agile and DevOps budgeting and planning are aligned with your IT and business goals, and deliver the best value to your customers.