Connecting the Business, Development, and Operational dots in an enterprise [BizDevOps] - A TCS Approach

Transcription

1 White Paper Coectig the Busiess, Developmet, ad Operatioal dots i a eterprise [BizDevOps] - A TCS Approach Eterprises are uder cotiuous pressure to deliver iovative solutios that drive busiess results. This paper provides a approach towards achievig effective collaboratio betwee the busiesses, systems architecture, applicatio developmet ad operatio fuctios. Hece this approach has bee termed as BizDevOps. The paper explais various dimesios of BizDevOps ad provides the seed for moderizig our busiess aalysis, architecture, applicatio developmet ad operatios. It further utilizes service orchestratio ad model-drive techologies to achieve agility throughout the value chai. It also describes, kowledge sharig i the form of models across stakeholders to maitai cosistecy ad thereby improve time to market ad quality. This paper provides a approach for capturig value derived from iformatio techology, ad subsequet mappig with the busiess drivers to articulate value creatio. Emphasis has bee give to systemic thikig that acts as a base to the BizDevOps approach. The paper is a iitial attempt to describe BizDevOps approach which will further evolve with time.

2 About the Authors Shatau Talukdar Shatau Talukdar has bee workig with TCS sice the last 4 years. He is part of the TCS Iovatio Labs Busiess Iterface team ad has bee evagelizig the research activities to various groups withi TCS ad customers. He has bee coductig research proliferatio i the areas of aalytics, risk & compliace, systems thikig ad model drive services. He has worked i customer egagemets to drive iovatio adoptio ad also i creatig ew offerig strategies. He holds a master degree i Busiess Admiistratio from a premier busiess school i Idia. Shakar Rateshwara Shakar Rateshwara is a iovatio evagelist at TCS. He heads the evagelize fuctio for the Optimize theme withi TCS Iovatio Labs. He has kee iterest i the commercializatio of IT trasformatio, busiess optimizatio, systems thikig, desig thikig, ad all systems simulatio techologies. Shakar worked with techologies ad itellectual property for some years i established techology compaies. Shakar decided to work o the other side of iovatio, matchig techologies with marked eeds, i the Iovatio Idustry leadig to his role i TCS. 2

3 Table of Cotets 1. Executive Summary 4 2. What is BizDevOps? 4 3. Teets of BizDevOps 5 4. TCS Model Drive Approach for BizDevOps 5 5. The backboe of BizDevOps-Collaboratio Bus 8 6. Value Delivered Coclusio 11 3

4 Executive Summary The dimesios of today s fast chagig world have icorporated effective collaboratio, futuristic thikig ad better decisio systems, but, IT delivery still relies o best practices ad cotiuous process improvemet (CPI) for evolutio. BizDevOps is a attempt to push the barriers o how busiess strategies ca be effectively implemeted ad improved, usig solutios, goig beyod best practices ad CPI. I order to achieve busiess agility, eterprises eed to realize a strategy that spas the etire value chai, from busiess requiremets to deploymet. As users iteract with applicatios through the web, cloud ad mobile, busiesses have become more dyamic, while embracig the imperative to meet users expectatios of usability, features ad performace as soo as possible. This makes collaboratio a crucial elemet amog stakeholders, that are part of this lifecycle ad cotributes value at each phase of the busiess delivery. This value will eed to be measured phase wise, startig from capturig busiess requiremets, through developmet, testig ad operatios. This requires a systemic rather tha systematic approach towards gettig a holistic view of the etire value chai. BizDevOps comprise of techologies, processes ad practices that uifies all the phases as part of cotiuous busiess applicatio supply chai. Cosistet Kowledge: Cosistet kowledge of IT aspects as well as busiess processes is the first requiremet for developig effective BizDevOps. Withi IT, it is importat to gather a extesive kowledge of tools ad platforms used by busiess aalysts, developers, testers ad operatios teams. Busiess aalyst teams drive, icreasig busiess eeds by explicatig the requiremets. The developmet team assumes the matle of idetifyig chages, ad the operatios team is motivated to cotrol chages as they udermie stability ad reliability. This divergece i resposibilities ca be efficietly maaged by way of cosistet domai kowledge, the resultat process kowledge ad the required operatioal kowledge i the form of models. This esures effective collaboratio withi teams. Automate Agility: Automatio at every level of the IT process ca provide cosistecy, reliability, quality ad speed ecessary for IT to alig with busiess eeds. This will eable applicatio releases throughout the lifecycle, icludig developmet, testig, operatios, deliverig value to users faster. Systemic Thikig: A practice that trasforms the thikig from pure aalytic to systemic is the eed of the hour to achieve a effective BizDevOps. Systemic thikig provides a view o itercoectivity of various systems, their compoets ad how systems act as a whole, rather tha i parts, is the basis of BizDevOps approach. What is BizDevOps? BizDevOps is a set of processes, techologies ad systems for collaboratio ad itegratio amog the fuctios resposible for busiess requiremets, through desig, developmet, assurace ad operatio to deliver software products ad services i a agile maer. 4

5 Cetered o trust ad resposibility, the cultural aspects of BizDevOps address orgaizatioal structures by ecouragig busiess, developmet ad operatios to ackowledge each other s challeges ad avoid coflicts. By developig a culture of collaboratio betwee teams, BizDevOps aims to urture shared iterests i a eterprise. BizDevOps paradigm aims to boost the traditioal approach by formalizig processes that effectively map IT to dyamic busiess requiremets. The Teets of BizDevOp TCS provides a cosultig approach to measure the effectiveess of BizDevOps ad provides services that drive its implemetatio efficietly. It focuses o the followig four aspects: 1. Culture Assessmet: This aspect assesses a orgaizatio s backgroud to sese ad respod to major chages i terms of people, process ad iovatio. This is the steppig stoe ad the most importat aspect, towards achievig the BizDevOps culture. Our approach for defiig a culture metric towards BizDevOps adoptio helps establish the as-is state ad promotes ways to achievig the target BizDevOps state. 2. Automatio for improved efficiecy: This is aother importat aspect of BizDevOps. We providea approach pla for eterprises to trasform from a maual approach to a decisio-supported stage, ad evetually, to a fully automated state. Automatio is supported by stadards such as Kaba, lea, agile services ad six sigma that lead to service excellece. 3. Measuremet parameters: Coflictig KPIs ca lead to differeces betwee busiess, developmet ad operatios i busiess aligmet ad service delivery. There eeds to be a uiform mechaism to measure the risk across the value chai. A successful BizDevOps implemetatio, measures KPIs such as performace metrics, process metrics ad people metrics alog the busiess iterfaces to achieve busiess agility. 4. Kowledge maagemet: There is a eed to iculcate a commo visio, vocabulary, kowledge ad tools. We eable orgaizatios to select the kowledge maagemet platform that best suits their requiremet. TCS Model Drive Approach for BizDevOps I may orgaizatios, achievig BizDevOps ecessitates chages i process, people ad techology i various ways. This could result i chages i roles, resposibilities, iter-team iterfaces, while ew tools ad platforms may eed to be istalled ad ew skills adopted. We offer model-drive egieerig-based developmet ad assurace services. This approach is ow beig exteded to busiess requiremets ad operatioal dimesios aimed at achievig BizDevOps. It esures cosistecy of domai, systems ad applicatio kowledge amog the stakeholders i the etire value chai. 5

6 Cotiuous Itegratio Busiess Aalyst Developmet Assurace Opratios Evaluate Requiremet Credit Busiess Process Model Desig usig BPM Develop usig code geerators Uit ad service layer testig Testig to Assurace Release Maagemet Cofiguratio Maagemet Collaboratio Egie ad Maagemet Architecture Evolutio Service Automatio Data Visualizatio & Isights Collaboratio Bus Domai Model System Model Value Model Kowledge Repository Fig.1 Model Drive Approach for BizDevOps Kowledge Repository: It all starts whe busiesses are required to iitiate a rapid respose to a chage. Busiess chage is captured i the form of models durig the requiremet aalysis phase. Requiremet gatherig without the aid of tacit kowledge available i the orgaizatio makes it time ad effort itesive for the domai expert. Our expertise i deliverig services across domais, has captured busiess processes i the form of domai models i a kowledge repository. This kowledge egieerig platform is empowered with tagible domai kowledge ad ca be used to build a lucid set of requiremets that ca lower cycle time ad miimize errors. It eables meaigful use of subject matter expertise ad effort, sice it begis from a already preset domai kowledge corpus as a startig poit. Durig the requiremet capturig process, the focus is o gettig a holistic view ad itercoectivity of the system compoets that forms the eco system. The eco system ca be captured with help of CID methodology which provides the ifluetial parameters that impacts the system behavior. Oce the ifluecers to the systems are idetified the ext step is to get a objective derived from the eeds of the stakeholders. This is obtaied through SNAC framework that determies various stakeholder s eeds, alterable ad costraits to obtai a busiess aalysis plaig approach.. We pla to share a detailed descriptio of the framework i our upcomig papers. The iformatio related to applicatio fuctioalities alog with o-fuctioal aspects are modeled i the kowledge repository. Platform ad ifrastructure compoets such as storage ad etwork are modeled alog with applicatio models that are referred to durig the deploymet process. Withi applicatio fuctioality, there is a value associated with each trasactio. Modelig the value of such trasactios as part of earlier lifecycle phases esures that critical fuctioalities are assiged the requisite emphasis durig subsequet phases. This value model culmiates i the overall IT cost associated with a busiess trasactio. 6

7 Model Drive Developmet ad Assurace Services: The developmet team uses the models to create, i detail, the ext level of service, UI ad data models. Each process executio/trasactio will be associated with a cost model. This eables trackig of overall service cost durig productio ad would help i associatig the IT cost with the busiess value. Applicatio developmet has advaced over the years by implemetig ewer, crisper methods ad tools. However, the same has ufortuately ot bee the case with testig methods ad tools. Testig tools are largely restricted to test maagemet ad test automatio ad do little to address the critical aspect of arrivig at good test cases. We have devised the ovel approach of usig busiess process models created durig the requiremets process ad reusig them durig assurace services. This formalism i assurace approach provides a way of automatically geeratig test cases from the Busiess process models that assures IT aligmet with busiess chage, better coverage of test suite ad improved productivity of the testig teams. Cofiguratio Models: Operatios teams are facig complicated deploymet challeges i terms of multiple tiers ad service-orieted architecture. The umber of deploymet servers has icreased sice the itroductio of virtualizatio, cloud ad mobile-eabled techologies. Applicatio release operatios require a higher applicatio model level that describes a abstract applicatio topology, that is, the layout topology, depedecies betwee server types, applicatio artifacts ad the relatioship betwee them. The model captures the relatioship betwee the applicatio artifacts ad server types. This level of abstractio eables IT to create deploymet procedures that ca be easily applied i differet eviromets without the eed for hadlig each eviromet from scratch. A sigle applicatio model across release eviromets esures cosistecy i terms of release operatios across the eviromet. The automatic deploymet process that is used durig productio is also used i the developmet ad testig phases. Teams use the same approach while deployig their applicatio i their respective developmet ad test eviromets. This esures that ay egative impact is idetified at a early stage of the agile developmet. No Fuctioal Model Cofiguratio: The o-fuctioal applicatio requiremets (NFR) such as respose times, user growth, usability, ad criticality that ifluece system attributes such as scalability, availability, security, ad maitaiability are usually modeled durig the productio phase. The QOPD framework provides egieerig ad traceability of product attributes (fuctioality, security, compatibility, reliability, usability, performace, maitaiability, portability) durig the delivery process. These NFRs will eed to be modeled at the requiremet phase, carried over to the developmet phase ad tested durig the assurace phase ad fially moitored ad validated by the operatios team. The frameworks icrease maturity i product/software quality through adaptig to iteratioal stadards thereby esurig certaity through delivery. This approach provides a holistic view of the system as perceived by ed users ad ecessary corrective steps, if required, ca be take durig the iitial model creatio. This eables the reuse of models for other similar product/service variats ad improves time to market. 7

8 The backboe of BizDevOps Collaboratio Bus I order to achieve effective BizDevOps through a model-drive approach, a robust collaboratio bus is imperative. This helps drive commuicatio effectively across stakeholders. This bus acts as a backboe for achievig BizDevOps ad esures appropriate flow of domai kowledge, product/services iformatio, ad process models across the agile value chai. The bus itegrates the services required at every phase from applicatio requiremet, developmet, assurace ad deploymet. The bus also provides predictive aalytics, workflow maagemet, real-time moitorig ad dashboard services to the users. Collaboratio Egie ad Maagemet Architecture Evolutio Egie Service Automatio Data Visualizatio Systems of egagemet Social isight support decisio process Virtual coect Chage Maagemet Model Maagemet Auto-Reco for kowladge, system & value models evolutio Sese ad Respod Predictive ticket aalytics Risk factor acceptace IT support procedure Real time role based dashboard Alerts BizDevOps KPI dashboards Status/Reportig Value delivered Risk Fig 2. Collaboratio Bus Collaboratio Egie ad Maagemet - The collaboratio bus built o Web3.0 techology provides a social platform wove ito the busiess processes. This focuses o relevace, usability ad timeliess of kowledge shared betwee teams. The bus has several tools that supplemet each other to capture project kowledge as well as tacit kowledge a eterprise to foster collaboratio withi teams. This collaboratio bus icludes the models imported by respective teams durig the agile process. Each update to the bus triggers a alert to the ext stakeholder for model import. With a Web 3.0 feel, it prompts greater collaboratio, icreases productivity, ad reduced time-to-market through the sharig of critical kowledge. The collaboratio bus also provides features like powerful search, expert idetificatio, crowd sourcig ad gamificatio that allows orgaizatio to haress kowledge by leveragig skills from the vast resource pool. Based o appropriate qualificatio criteria, associates are provided access to cotribute to the project. The collaboratio bus also provides a virtual coectio betwee teams i a agile eviromet. Our virtual coectio platform allows the teams to seamlessly collaborate i a virtual 3D eviromet space that mimics a real office with a idetical layout ad seat allocatio. TCS GNDM eables the executio of agile developmet through distributed busiess, developmet ad operatios team ad virtual coectios bridge the gap betwee these distributed teams by creatig life-like avatars of the associates that leads to icreased frequecy of iteractio ad develop better relatioships. 8

9 Architecture Evolutio Egie The architecture evolutio egie deals with ehacig existig system architecture through feedback from the cotiuous itegratio process. It cotais a chage maagemet module that gets triggered by a chage, to both fuctioal ad o-fuctioal systems aspects, suggested by operatios durig productio. The resultat chage is validated with the domai ad system models ad a appropriate workflow is triggered. This egie provides domai ad system models maagemet ad, based o the chage suggested by the stakeholder, it is set back for architectural review with the busiess ower. It also provides auto recommedatios about the system ad domai models ad, oce the chage is approved, the model gets updated ad flows back to developmet ad testig ad fially to productio. This effective, smooth flowig model-based approach leads to faster time to market for the chage with miimal cost icurred durig the lifecycle due to cosistet iformatio flow i the form of models. Service Automatio The service automatio fuctio automates repeatable services that are part of support activities i the productio eviromet. This module i the collaboratio bus proactively seses ad respods to alerts geerated from the operatioal eviromet ad provides predictive aalytics for tickets. Our Support Aalytics Platform, uses a domai-drive data-miig approach to support aalytics that help improve the service level agreemet. This aalysis is leveraged by the operatios team ad, through the collaboratio platform, shared with busiess aalysts for developmet i the form of models to idetify potetial fuctioal ad o-fuctioal improvemets. Itroducig risk factor acceptace ehaces the success of trasitioig ew developmets ito productio. At the begiig of implemetatio projects, the busiess, developmet ad operatios team should joitly evaluate the risk factors to productio as a feed forward loop. I case the risk value is higher, the corrective processes ca start istead of waitig for acceptace testig. I such cases, the teams share resposibility for achievig targets o busiess iterface metrics. Data Visualizatio I the curret state, there are differet KPIs measured ad reported differetly by each stakeholder i the value chai. There is a eed to obtai a uified view of the etire value chai, specific metrics eed to be defied at busiess iterfaces, carried over ad tracked i the other dimesios. There are metrics prevalet i developmet such as percetage rework after testig ad the umber of test cases. There is also a differet set of KPIs for the operatios team like SLA requiremets, umber of defects, ad so o. We eed to have KPIs like hadover time, risk factor acceptace, umber of deploymet related icidets measured at the busiess iterface. Performace measuremet caot be performed i isolatio, but steps are take to lik egieerig models with busiess results. 9

10 Value Delivered It is imperative to measure value at each phase of the life cycle. There are stadards available that measure IT value durig the developmet, assurace ad productio phases. These measures esure that idividual teams follow the guidig priciples ad meet SLAs as per requiremets. For example, the developmet team has to esure miimum defects i code, the assurace team has to esure maximum test coverage durig testig ad the operatios team has to comply with striget SLAs post deploymet. There are steps available to measure KPIs i the most effective way, but the eed is to alig IT with the busiess chage. For istace, if busiess triggers a eed to address requiremet immediately to stay competitive i the market, the IT system should be agile ad the chage i the IT system should be mapped back to this busiess chage effectively. The BizDevOps approach achieves this objective as show i Fig.3 by esurig that value is recogized ot oly i the idividual phase of the life cycle but also durig the busiess iterfaces that directly map the value to the busiess. This eables tyig the KPIs i the Busiess,Developmet, ad Operatios directio ad also i the reverse where the value of the each KPI i the operatios ca be mapped to busiess. Cost Reductio Icreased Agility Greater Quality Fuctioal Ehacemet Automatio Accelerates hadover Risk factor acceptace Number of deploymets related icidets Busiess to IT aligmet Biz Collaboratio Bus Busiess Iterface Dev & Assurace Collaboratio Bus Busiess Iterface Ops # of lies code/day % of rework after testig % project activities o time ad o requiremet Test cases coverage SLA requiremets met Number of icidets Duratio Ope tickets Fig 3. Value from BizDevOps Busiess Iterface 10

11 Coclusio I the bid to achieve competitive advatage, eterprises all over the world aim to release their applicatios to ed users withi a very short spa of time to achieve competitive advatage. Eterprises expect that IT ivestmets made towards buildig applicatios should alig with the busiess objective ad start realizig value at a early stage of the lifecycle. This requires cosistet ad effective sharig of kowledge amog various groups ivolved i achievig the busiess objective. BizDevOps ot oly brigs effective collaboratio betwee busiess, developmet, assurace ad operatios teams but also offers automatio ad a tight feedback loop to speed up the refiemet ad updates to applicatios. This ehaces collaboratio ad commuicatio betwee teams that leads to icrease i busiess agility, improved efficiecy ad predictability. Refereces [1] [2] DevOps. Wikipedia ( [3] [4] Kulkari V ad Reddy S, A Model-Drive Architectural Framework for Itegratio- Capable Eterprise Applicatio Product Lies. ECMDA-FA 2006: [5] Kulkari V, Reddy S ad Rajbhoj A, Scalig Up Model Drive Egieerig - Experiece ad Lessos Leart. MoDELS (2) 2010: [6] Smita Ghaisas ad Nirav Ajmeri, Kowledge assisted Requiremets Evolutio, Chapter 7 i Maagig Requiremets Evolutio, Ed. Spriger, I press, ISBN , [7] Maish Kumar, Nirav Ajmeri, Smita Ghaisas, Towards kowledge assisted agile requiremets evolutio, Proceedigs of the 2d Iteratioal Workshop o Recommedatio Systems for Software Egieerig, p.16-20, May 04-04, 2010, IEEE Iteratioal Coferece o Software Egg, ICSE'10 Cape Tow, South Africa 11

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