https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/tags/application-lifecycle-management/ Recent content in Application Lifecycle Management on Engineering Leadership in AI & Software Hugo en Tue, 16 Jun 2026 17:40:35 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/should-you-use-one-project-to-rule-them-all-in-azure-devops/ Mon, 25 Aug 2025 09:00:00 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/should-you-use-one-project-to-rule-them-all-in-azure-devops/ Using a single Azure DevOps project for all teams and products reduces fragmentation, improves visibility, and streamlines governance compared to managing multiple projects or organisations. Key benefits include unified reporting, easier collaboration, and lower administrative overhead, while Area Paths and Teams provide the necessary structure and security within one project. Development managers should consolidate into one project where possible, using Area Paths and Teams to model structure and scale, to optimise flow and delivery. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/videos/from-legacy-pain-to-modern-devops-my-proven-roadmap-for-real-engineering-transformation/ Mon, 04 Aug 2025 07:00:00 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/videos/from-legacy-pain-to-modern-devops-my-proven-roadmap-for-real-engineering-transformation/ Transforming legacy engineering to modern DevOps requires a flexible, evidence-based approach focused on testing hypotheses, starting with the most challenging products, and automating every step from code commit to production. Involve all stakeholders to define essential requirements, automate approvals and deployments, and use phased rollouts with real-time feedback to minimize risk. Focus on one improvement at a time, build a culture of continuous learning, and scale successful practices across the organization. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/videos/unlocking-engineering-excellence-how-azure-devops-transforms-traceability-transparency-and-the-developer-experience/ Mon, 28 Jul 2025 07:00:00 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/videos/unlocking-engineering-excellence-how-azure-devops-transforms-traceability-transparency-and-the-developer-experience/ Azure DevOps is a comprehensive platform that enhances engineering excellence by providing end-to-end traceability, transparency, and an integrated developer experience across planning, code, builds, and testing. Key benefits include instant visibility into what is deployed where, streamlined audit and compliance processes, and reduced friction between developers and testers. Development managers should ensure their teams fully leverage Azure DevOps’ capabilities to improve collaboration, accountability, and product quality. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/videos/from-chaos-to-clarity-my-journey-through-devops-and-the-three-key-challenges-to-overcome/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 11:34:59 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/videos/from-chaos-to-clarity-my-journey-through-devops-and-the-three-key-challenges-to-overcome/ The author describes moving from chaotic, manual development practices to adopting DevOps, highlighting three main challenges: shifting culture and collaboration, integrating and automating toolchains, and fostering continuous learning. Success requires systems thinking, strong feedback loops, and a culture of experimentation. Development managers should focus on supporting people, streamlining processes, and encouraging ongoing learning to deliver better products faster. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/building-a-release-pipeline-with-release-management-with-visual-studio-2013/ Tue, 18 Feb 2014 16:30:59 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/building-a-release-pipeline-with-release-management-with-visual-studio-2013/ Explains how to set up a scalable release pipeline using Release Management in Visual Studio 2013, covering continuous release, feedback environments, and DevOps practices. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/release-management-with-team-foundation-server-2012/ Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:38:24 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/release-management-with-team-foundation-server-2012/ Explains how to automate and streamline software release management using Team Foundation Server 2012, Lab Management, and Octopus, focusing on build, deployment, and quality. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/engineering-notes/convert-legacy-projects-and-asp-net-mvc-apps-to-sdk-style-with-confidence/ Thu, 29 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/engineering-notes/convert-legacy-projects-and-asp-net-mvc-apps-to-sdk-style-with-confidence/ Upgrading legacy .NET projects to SDK-style makes your codebase easier to maintain, improves build and CI/CD integration, and prepares you for future .NET upgrades. Converting class libraries is straightforward and highly recommended, while web apps require more care and are best handled with the MSBuild.SDK.SystemWeb package if you want SDK-style; otherwise, you can leave them in the old format. Start by converting class libraries now to simplify your engineering system and reduce technical debt. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/alm-consulting-in-scotland-uk-scandinavia-amp-europe/ Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:08:44 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/alm-consulting-in-scotland-uk-scandinavia-amp-europe/ Provides ALM consulting, training, and assessments across Scotland, UK, and Europe, specialising in lean-agile, TFS, Visual Studio, Scrum, and process improvement. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/ndc-london-second-look-team-foundation-server-amp-vso/ Wed, 15 Oct 2014 14:49:05 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/ndc-london-second-look-team-foundation-server-amp-vso/ The speaker will present a demo-heavy session at NDC London to showcase major improvements in Team Foundation Server and Visual Studio Online since 2012, targeting developers who previously found TFS lacking. Key insights include end-to-end demonstrations of new features for agile project management, coding, testing, release, and monitoring, with scenarios covering both new features and bug fixes. Development managers should consider revisiting TFS/VSO for .NET projects and can provide feedback on which features or scenarios they want prioritized in the session. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/create-a-release-management-pipeline-for-professional-developers/ Thu, 04 Dec 2014 12:15:56 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/create-a-release-management-pipeline-for-professional-developers/ This guide walks through setting up an automated release management pipeline using TFS/VSO and Azure, showing how to build, deploy, and parameterize a legacy web app across multiple feedback environments. Key takeaways include the importance of automating builds and releases, using environment-specific parameters, and streamlining approvals for smoother deployments. Development managers should consider investing time upfront to automate and parameterize their pipelines, as this reduces manual errors and accelerates feedback cycles. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/quality-enablement-with-visual-studio-2012/ Wed, 15 May 2013 03:13:20 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/quality-enablement-with-visual-studio-2012/ Explores how Visual Studio 2012 supports continuous quality enablement, automated testing, and rapid delivery in modern software development for higher user satisfaction. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/standard-environments-for-automated-deployment-and-testing/ Sun, 17 Mar 2013 06:23:45 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/standard-environments-for-automated-deployment-and-testing/ Explains how to set up and use Standard Environments in Visual Studio 2012 TFS for automated software deployment and testing, enabling consistent, repeatable pipelines. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/why-should-i-use-visual-studio-alm/ Wed, 07 Jan 2015 15:39:20 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/why-should-i-use-visual-studio-alm/ Visual Studio ALM offers a comprehensive set of features beyond just source control and build, covering requirements, project, change, quality, feedback, defect, release, and analytics management in one integrated platform. Replacing it with tools like Git and Jenkins means losing most of this functionality and facing significant integration and maintenance challenges. Development managers should carefully assess what capabilities they need and consider the long-term effort required to replicate Visual Studio ALM’s end-to-end support before switching tools. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/create-a-standard-environment-for-release-management-in-azure/ Thu, 04 Dec 2014 11:30:00 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/create-a-standard-environment-for-release-management-in-azure/ Setting up a standard release management environment in Azure is straightforward, cost-effective, and closely mirrors on-premises setups by using VMs, resource groups, and Application Insights for analytics. Using the old Azure portal gives better control over naming and resource organization, while Azure’s flexibility allows quick scaling and isolation for multiple environments. Development managers should consider scripting environment setup for repeatability and use Application Insights to track application usage and feedback. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/virtual-labs-in-the-modern-application-lifecycle/ Sat, 22 Sep 2012 05:22:14 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/virtual-labs-in-the-modern-application-lifecycle/ Explores how virtual labs help development and operations teams manage, test, and automate complex modern application environments using virtualisation technologies. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/how-visual-studio-2010-and-team-foundation-server-enable-compliance/ Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:04:04 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/how-visual-studio-2010-and-team-foundation-server-enable-compliance/ Explains how Visual Studio 2010 and Team Foundation Server support compliance by enabling traceability, audit trails, and linking code changes to requirements and tests. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/improvements-in-visual-studio-alm-from-the-alm-summit/ Fri, 08 Feb 2013 03:18:22 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/improvements-in-visual-studio-alm-from-the-alm-summit/ Highlights new Visual Studio ALM features from the ALM Summit, including Git support, web-based test management, Kanban swim lanes, and flexible work item tagging. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/professional-application-lifecycle-management-with-visual-studio-2013/ Mon, 07 Apr 2014 17:11:35 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/professional-application-lifecycle-management-with-visual-studio-2013/ Guide to using Visual Studio 2013 for application lifecycle management, covering new ALM features, agile practices, Git integration, and cross-platform development. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/when-should-i-use-areas-in-tfs-instead-of-team-projects-in-team-foundation-server-2010/ Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:27:20 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/when-should-i-use-areas-in-tfs-instead-of-team-projects-in-team-foundation-server-2010/ Explains when to use Areas versus Team Projects in TFS 2010, comparing benefits, drawbacks, and best practices for managing multiple projects and process templates. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/quality-centre-to-team-foundation-server-in-one-complex-step/ Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:58:58 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/quality-centre-to-team-foundation-server-in-one-complex-step/ Compares tools for migrating or synchronising data from HP Quality Centre to Team Foundation Server, outlining features, limitations, and best options for each approach. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/requirement-management-in-the-modern-application-lifecycle/ Sun, 09 Sep 2012 17:51:34 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/articles/requirement-management-in-the-modern-application-lifecycle/ Explains how Team Foundation Server supports requirement management in modern app development, including traceability, integration, and partner tools for agile and compliance needs. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/tags/release-management/ Tue, 11 Feb 2025 10:17:24 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/tags/release-management/ Release Management is a systematic approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling the deployment of software releases to testing and live environments. Originating from the need for structured software delivery, it plays a critical role in ensuring that software is released in a predictable and sustainable manner, aligning with both organisational objectives and customer expectations. Effective release management minimises deployment risks, enhances interdepartmental collaboration, and keeps all stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the release process. This practice allows teams to deliver value incrementally, facilitating rapid feedback and adaptation, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement where each release serves as a learning opportunity. It integrates well with Continuous Delivery and Agile methodologies, optimising workflow and maintaining quality at every stage. Unlike Agile Planning or Product Management, which focus on strategic development aspects, Release Management is operational, concentrating on the tactical execution of software delivery. It necessitates a comprehensive understanding of technical and organisational dynamics, making it essential for modern product development. By establishing clear release processes, organisations can better respond to market changes and customer feedback, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/tags/application-lifecycle-management/ Tue, 11 Feb 2025 10:16:54 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/tags/application-lifecycle-management/ Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is the systematic approach to managing software applications throughout their entire lifecycle, from initial development to eventual retirement. Originating from the need for structured processes in software development, ALM integrates various practices, tools, and team collaboration to streamline workflows and enhance communication. Its importance lies in its ability to provide organisations with a comprehensive view of application development, aligning technical efforts with business goals while remaining adaptable to evolving requirements. By implementing methodologies such as continuous integration and continuous delivery, ALM fosters rapid feedback and iterative enhancements, which are critical in dynamic environments. This approach not only reduces deployment risks but also cultivates a culture of accountability and transparency within teams. Furthermore, ALM aids organisations in effectively managing their application portfolios, ensuring optimal resource allocation and proactive technical debt management. This long-term focus is essential for driving innovation and maintaining a competitive edge, as it allows teams to concentrate on delivering high-quality software that satisfies user demands and contributes to overall business success. The synergy between ALM and frameworks like Agile and DevOps amplifies its impact, establishing a solid foundation for ongoing improvement and value creation. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/tags/azure-devops/ Tue, 11 Feb 2025 10:16:54 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/tags/azure-devops/ Azure DevOps is a comprehensive suite of tools developed by Microsoft that supports continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), enhances collaboration, and streamlines agile project management. It encompasses various functionalities, including Azure Boards for work tracking, Azure Repos for source control, Azure Pipelines for automating builds and deployments, and Azure Test Plans for managing testing efforts. This platform is crucial for organisations seeking to deliver value in a predictable and sustainable manner, as it promotes a culture of collaboration and transparency among teams. By providing a unified environment for development and operations, Azure DevOps facilitates the adoption of best practices in agile methodologies and DevOps principles, ensuring efficient software delivery that is responsive to evolving business needs. Its systemic approach encourages continuous improvement and learning, enabling organisations to swiftly adapt to market demands while upholding high-quality standards. The integration of tools within Azure DevOps mitigates silos, enhances communication, and fosters a shared understanding of project objectives, ultimately leading to improved outcomes and a culture of innovation. This capability is vital for organisations aiming to achieve operational excellence and maintain a competitive advantage in a fast-changing landscape. https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/tags/one-engineering-system/ Tue, 11 Feb 2025 10:16:54 +0000 https://engineering-leadership.hinshelwood.com/tags/one-engineering-system/ The One Engineering System (1ES) is a strategic framework designed to unify engineering tools and practices across various teams, aiming to reduce friction, enhance collaboration, and ensure consistency at scale. Originating from the need to streamline workflows in software development, 1ES focuses on establishing a shared engineering backbone that allows teams to operate more efficiently by eliminating the chaos associated with disparate toolchains and ad hoc processes. This approach is crucial in agile and DevOps environments, as it promotes a common set of engineering standards that facilitate planning, coding, testing, deployment, and production support. By reducing cognitive overhead and simplifying integration, 1ES enables teams to deliver high-quality outcomes more reliably. Importantly, the framework emphasises that tools should adapt to the teams’ workflows rather than impose rigid structures, allowing for flexibility and coherence rather than uniformity. Successful implementation of 1ES necessitates investment in team enablement, including guidance, training, and support, to ensure effective adoption. When executed properly, 1ES fosters scalable engineering excellence, characterised by clear communication, consistent processes, and a resilient development lifecycle across the organisation.