If you are looking to build agile infrastructure teams in your organization, you can consider several different approaches. One popular approach is using Kanban. This methodology enables teams to work on the continuous flow of unplanned work, also known as event-driven work. In long-term projects, it is often preferable for the same team to handle both planned and unplanned work. This encourages teams to identify operational issues and develop automated solutions.
Kanban helped build agile infrastructure teams:
You might have heard of the Kanban methodology, but you may not know how to use it in your organization. The process of Kanban involves making small changes to the flow of work and adjusting it to prevent bottlenecks. However, it has much to do with long-term change, so you should experiment to find the right workflow for your organization.
To implement Kanban in an IT department, you should be aware of some challenges. For one thing, the IT department is complex, and a simple Kanban implementation can positively impact its processes.
Demand analysis
When building agile infrastructure teams within your organization, it is imperative to understand your business’s current and projected needs. This insight can help prioritize the rollout of agile teams. In addition, knowing what work is currently being done enables you to organize it into scopes that are appropriate for agile teams. For example, if the demand for storage-related work is high, you may want to divide it up among two teams of 24 people.
Agile infrastructure teams are ideally small and focused on automating processes and services. They use scrum methodology, which involves short development sprints of two to three weeks. Teams focused on operations, on the other hand, typically use Kanban or scrumban methodologies, which allow for more flexibility and a continuous flow of work.
Accountability
Agile infrastructure teams can be a great way to streamline labor-intensive tasks. When implementing this model, companies should define the vision and scope of the new organization. Identify the tasks that each agile team member will perform to meet the organization’s business objectives. Accountability is a key factor in making these teams successful.
Accountability is important in Agile teams because behaviors tend to catch on – they influence others. Creating a governance body composed of senior IT leaders will help ensure that the teams are making progress, refreshing objectives, and continuously improving their agile practices. Agile transformations can be sustainable, and many infrastructure organizations have opportunities to build on their initial gains. These opportunities include revising career models, implementing flexible budgeting, and changing strategic planning processes.