Scaled Agile SAFe-DevOps - SAFe DevOps Practitioner Exam SDP (6.0)

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide and handbook, Features are prioritized in the ART Backlog in the Synthesize activity of Continuous Exploration. This activity involves creating Solution hypotheses based on customer needs and market research, and then selecting the most promising ones to be implemented in the ART Backlog. The handbook states that "Synthesize is the activity of creating Solution hypotheses based on customer needs and market research, and then selecting the most promising ones to be implemented in the ART Backlog."1 Therefore, Synthesize is where Features are prioritized for continuous delivery.

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide1, scanning application code for security vulnerabilities is an important step in the Continuous Integration aspect of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline. Continuous Integration is the process of developing, testing, integrating, and validating new functionality in preparation for deployment and release. Continuous Integration helps teams to improve quality, reduce risk, and establish a fast, reliable, and sustainable development pace. Scanning application code for security vulnerabilities is one of the ways to ensure that the code meets the quality standards and requirements, and that it does not contain any errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities that could compromise the security or functionality of the Solution. Scanning application code for security vulnerabilities can be performed by using tools such as GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps2, which uses CodeQL to identify vulnerabilities in various languages and frameworks. Therefore, scanning application code for security vulnerabilities is an important step in the Continuous Integration aspect of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline.

The primary benefit of value stream mapping is that it provides insight into organizational efficiency and value flow. Value stream mapping is a lean technique to analyze, design, and manage the flow of materials and information required to bring a product or service to a customer. It uses a system of standard symbols to depict various work streams and information flows, and to identify value-adding and non-value-adding activities. Value stream mapping helps the organization to gain insight into the current state of the delivery process, such as the lead time, cycle time, throughput, quality, and waste. This insight can help the organization identify bottlenecks, dependencies, handoffs, delays, and inefficiencies that affect the flow of value. Value stream mapping also helps the organization understand how the flow of value can be improved by applying the principles and practices of DevOps, such as culture, automation, lean flow, measurement, and recovery. By improving the flow of value, the organization can increase customer satisfaction, reduce costs, accelerate time-to-market, and enhance business agility

The purpose of value stream mapping is to visualize how value flows from concept to cash and to deliver incremental value in the form of working, tested software and systems. Value stream mapping helps to identify the current state of the value stream, the steps, activities, roles, and tools involved, and the delays, waste, and inefficiencies that can be eliminated or improved. It also helps to create a future state vision and an action plan for continuous improvement

One practice that prevents configuration drift between production and non-production environments is immutable infrastructure. Immutable infrastructure is a management approach for infrastructure resources where changes are made by deploying new versions of resources instead of modifying existing ones. In this approach, the infrastructure is treated as an immutable asset that is built, deployed, and disposed of, rather than modified in place. For example, instead of modifying an existing virtual machine (VM), a new VM with updated configurations and software is deployed, and the old VM is disposed of. This approach eliminates the possibility of configuration drift and reduces the risk of introducing unintended changes to the infrastructure. Immutable infrastructure also simplifies the management of infrastructure resources, increases the reliability and security of the infrastructure, and facilitates rapid and consistent deployment

The Continuous Exploration aspect in SAFe primarily supports the key stakeholder objective of aligning business and technology. This phase focuses on exploring market needs and defining solutions that deliver the most significant customer and business value within the constraints of technology and feasibility. It helps ensure that the development efforts are in sync with business goals and market demands, thereby fostering alignment between various stakeholders..

Two important items to monitor in production to support the Release on Demand aspect in SAFe are the number of concurrent users and the system performance. The number of concurrent users is the number of users who are accessing the system at the same time. It is an indicator of the demand and popularity of the system, as well as the potential load and stress on the system resources. The system performance is the measure of how well the system responds to user requests and meets the nonfunctional requirements, such as availability, reliability, scalability, and security. Monitoring the number of concurrent users and the system performance helps to support the Release on Demand aspect in SAFe by providing valuable information for the following purposes:

To optimize the release strategy and timing, based on the user behavior and preferences

To ensure the system can handle the expected and unexpected user traffic, and to scale up or down the system resources as needed

To detect and resolve any issues or incidents that may affect the user experience and satisfaction

To evaluate the impact and value of the released features, and to identify areas for improvement or innovation 5

Agile Teams are responsible for ensuring quality is built into the code in SAFe. SAFe is a framework for scaling agile practices across the enterprise, based on the principles of Lean, Agile, and DevOps. SAFe organizes the enterprise into Agile Release Trains (ARTs), which are teams of Agile Teams that deliver value in a regular cadence. Agile Teams are the fundamental building blocks of SAFe, and they are cross-functional, self-organizing, and self-managing teams that deliver value in short iterations. Agile Teams are responsible for ensuring quality is built into the code in SAFe, by applying the following practices:

Test-first – Test-first is a practice that involves writing tests before writing code, to ensure that the code meets the requirements and standards, and does not introduce any defects or vulnerabilities. Test-first helps to improve the design and maintainability of the code, and to accelerate the feedback and validation process. Test-first can be implemented using various techniques, such as Test-Driven Development (TDD), Behavior-Driven Development (BDD), or Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD).

Built-in quality – Built-in quality is a practice that involves applying quality standards and checks throughout the solution lifecycle, rather than inspecting quality after the fact. Built-in quality helps to prevent defects from escaping to downstream stages or customers, and to reduce the cost and risk of rework and waste. Built-in quality can be achieved using various methods, such as code quality and security analysis, code review, pair programming, refactoring, and continuous testing.

Continuous testing – Continuous testing is a practice that involves automating and executing tests at every stage of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline, to verify that the solution meets the functional and nonfunctional requirements and standards, and to detect and resolve any issues or defects as early as possible. Continuous testing helps to ensure the reliability and performance of the solution, and to support the delivery and deployment of value to the customer. Continuous testing can be performed using various tools and frameworks, such as unit testing, integration testing, system testing, acceptance testing, performance testing, and security testing

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide1, continuous deployment enables release continuously. Continuous deployment is an aspect of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline that automates the migration of new functionality from a staging environment to production, where it is made available for release. Continuous deployment allows teams to deploy small, incremental changes to production continually, enabling them to respond to market opportunities with the highest possible value in the shortest sustainable lead time. Continuous deployment also helps teams to reduce the risk of deploying faulty or incomplete code, as well as to optimize the performance and resource consumption of the system. Therefore, continuous deployment enables release continuously, which is a key business objective for delivering value to customers faster and more reliably.