With years of experience in digital product development, I’ve seen how team dynamics can make or break a project. Recently, I stepped into a new role as Scrum Master for an agile DevOps team that includes experts from both the client and external partners, including INFO. This diverse mix has brought unique challenges, but also valuable opportunities for growth. In this blog, I will share my personal journey helping with creating this new team, the hurdles we faced as a team, and the strategies we developed to navigate this complex transformation.

Context and pseudonyms

With respect to the privacy for all parties involved, I’ll be using a couple of pseudonyms:

• BigO: This is our client, and INFO has been building a product for them to integrate in their Product Platform.
• CoolDev and SmartDev: They both are product suppliers for BigO. They each build components for the Product Platform.
• CleverCloud: The cloud infrastructure provider for the Product Platform.

Forming the team: A unified approach

The need for a dedicated agile DevOps team became clear when we were collaborating with BigO and the other product companies, CoolDev and SmartDev. It turned out to be a major challenge to take all products and integrate them into a unified Product Platform for BigO.

The organisational structure was not aligned with the ask by BigO to speed up delivery to customers.

Without a focused effort on seamless integration, the project risked delays and misalignment. We discussed with the parties and concluded that we needed to create two teams under the umbrella of BigO. The “Thinkers Team” would tackle strategic questions and guide the Product Platform architecture, while the DevOps team would focus on the practical delivery. The DevOps team must ensure the products work together seamlessly and are ready for deployment on CleverCloud’s infrastructure. With experts from the different product companies, from CleverCloud, under the ownership of BigO, with a mandate, courage, and a sense of urgency the DevOps team should be able to deliver the much-anticipated Product Platform.

An organisational structure where experts come together to speed up delivery to customers.

Key challenges: Navigating change

Transitioning to this new organisational structure hasn’t been without challenges. As a DevOps team tasked with integrating products from different suppliers onto cloud infrastructure supported by another company, we faced several obstacles that pushed us to adapt and rethink our approach.

Bridging the gap with Product Owners

One of the biggest hurdles has been establishing effective communication with product owners for the various products, they were accustomed to working in with a focus on their products. They needed to make a shift from a product-centric to a platform-centric mindset. Their goals and release schedules are now aligned with the broader goal: delivering a unified Integrated Products Platform. This change required more active engagement and coordination, which was difficult but essential for achieving the goals.

Overcoming resistance to DevOps practices

Another challenge came from CleverCloud’s rigid processes and procedures. Their reliance on a structured ticketing system with multiple approval layers slowed down our responsiveness, creating friction as we tried to implement agile practices. We are navigating the bureaucratic hurdles, some still to be tackled, while maintaining momentum, pushing for greater flexibility to meet our integration needs.
We have also found that within the BigO organisation there are still some agreements and procedures in place which slow us down. I am tackling these procedures head on, with help from the DevOps team as well as management that is willing to embrace our vision and is working on aligning these agreements and procedures with the team’s needs.

Slowing down the release process

To facilitate a smoother transition for end-users, and everyone stuck in more traditional ways of working, we decided to slow down the release cadence. This gave users time to adapt before migrating to fully automated release train. Besides the fact that this approach helped us with user onboarding, it also increased pressure on our team to balance thorough preparation with the urgency of delivering the integrated platform.

Strategies for success

Once we started, my first focus was fostering a strong team dynamic, starting with personal meetings to build trust and rapport. These early discussions were crucial for setting a collaborative tone and aligning our goals. The team identified automation as a core priority that required our first attention. Together, we mapped out our first tasks:

• Assessing the current integration landscape
• Choosing the right tools to streamline and automate workflows
• Cleaning up and organizing documentation
• Setting clear next automation targets

Implementing a Kanban board helped us track tasks effectively, while consolidating our documentation into a well-structured Wiki space improved clarity. We also established dedicated messaging channels for ongoing communication. Importantly, our DevOps team can’t work in isolation. I engaged with the broader operational landscape, including the BigO’s service desk team, the product owners, managers, and teams, the CleverCloud engineers and managers, and council operations engineers, – operations managers, – application managers and – application support. It was important to get a grip on this landscape and be informed about and aligned with current processes and be able to communicate our progress effectively.

Momentum builds

The new team structure has led immediately to improvements in communication among suppliers, BigO, and product teams. We’ve seen a growing understanding and better collaboration, reflected in positive feedback from end-users who appreciate the renewed focus on the platform rollout. Internally, we’ve moved from theoretical discussions to practical implementation, automating our release processes and conducting dependency checks. This shift has prompted critical questions about broader operational workflows, marking our evolution from isolated product development to a more comprehensive delivery organization. On a personal note, building connections with stakeholders – both those eager to push forward and those hesitant about the changes – has been a rewarding experience. By fostering an inclusive environment, I’ve been able to gather valuable insights and guide the team through this period of transition.

The road ahead: Focus areas

We’ve made some significant progress and there is still much to be improved and aligned on. We have identified some focus areas we are going to work on first.

Strengthening team capabilities

Our immediate goal is to increase the frequency of releases by enhancing automation and refining our development practices. By taking an incremental approach, we aim to roll out updates more regularly without compromising quality.

Enhancing organizational collaboration

A key next step is integrating the support team into the release process. Including a representative from the support team in our meetings will improve communication and ensure smoother handovers of new features.

Improving release communication

We are also committed to enhancing how we inform users about upcoming releases. This requires alignment across teams and clear, transparent updates to manage user expectations effectively.

Conclusion: A journey of growth

The transition to an agile DevOps team approach has been filled with challenges and learning opportunities. By fostering collaboration, tackling obstacles directly, and maintaining open communication, we’ve built a strong foundation for continued success. And this is just the beginning. With a clear platform-centric focus on our goals and a strong commitment to continuous improvement, we are well-positioned to navigate the road ahead and deliver lasting value.

I look forward to sharing more updates as we continue this exciting journey together.