Driving DevOps with Value Stream Management: Micro Review
Value Streams are one of the most important concepts in lean software development and DevOps. Most DevOps practitioners suggest understanding & mapping your software as a starting point for DevOps. Value Streams also form the foundation for Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) — one of the most widely adopted agile scaling frameworks.
So it was time for VSM to get the treatment it deserved in a book that I would recommend only second to the DevOps Handbook.
It's a comprehensive take on VSM with 600+ pages & 4 sections. The author delves into many aspects of VSM and is pretty comprehensive in terms of the topics covered. The first section delves into basic concepts around value delivery, lean-agile thinking, systems thinking & an overview of VSM tools and methods. The second section is interesting as it delves into the VSM methodology itself and lays out a 7 step process that describes the methodology. I found the methodology pretty comprehensive and one of the few of its kind in terms of guidance, examples, and tools. Section 3 is a good overview of the fast-growing landscape of VSM tools, frameworks, and vendors. Section 4 rounds it out with tips from practitioners, thought leaders, and DevOps specific advice on leveraging VSM.
If you are a practitioner, the book fills out the gaps in knowledge or rounds out your overall understanding of the topic. The book is a must-have in your library and is also a testament to the growing authoritative knowledge base and material on the various aspects of digital transformation in Enterprise IT.
