Agile Development & DevOps

Ceox has extensive experience of Agile and DevOps Delivery. Working across a range of customers and projects we have utilised Agile project delivery methodologies and DevOps ways of working to develop user-centric services that deliver value faster. 

Whether it is transforming legacy IT and re-platforming to Cloud, delivering multi-device mobile applications or process re-engineering and service design to support a multi-channel strategy the flexibility of the Agile methodology supports most projects and customer needs and can be adapted as user and business requirements evolve.

Agile supports effective engagement with users as it builds close links between business and technology. With user needs identified progress can be demonstrated through show and tell meetings at the conclusion of sprints. This approach increases transparency, reduces risk, accelerates development and ensures that a minimal viable product (MVP) is produced which meets customer needs and is delivered on time and to budget. 

Ceox’s Agile and DevOps Approach

The Ceox Agile and DevOps approach Discover, Design, Deliver, Optimise reflects Government Digital Service’s (GDS) Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Livephases.  Working across the Discover, Design, Deliver, Optimise phases the iterative process of sprints enables Agile teams to develop software, manage delivery and support product ownership. 

DevOps delivery is supported through an iterative process with prototyping, continuous testing, deployment and improvements on common technology platforms. Incremental changes are released to production early and often.

Approach

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Discovery

  • Establish who the users are

  • Understand the needs of users - performing user research to ensure user-centric design which improves user experience and delivers first time

  • Agree who will own the service into the future

  • Agree the team who will develop the service

  • Review the legacy technical architecture

  • Create project backlog (user stories, epics and initiatives) 

  • Build, refine and estimate backlog with business owner engagement

  • Identify and understand risks

  • Establish Governance and reporting 

  • Plan to meet GDS Digital Service Standards and Assessments for Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Live. 

Deliver

  • Iteratively improve by being Agile

  • Develop the service

  • Test the service with users

  • Deliver training

  • Secure the data

Design

  • Bring the team together

  • Define project structure, sprint planning and agile meetings/ceremonies 

  • Define a minimum viable product (MVP)

  • Run the project process to meet needs of user personas  

  •  Iteratively prototype the service

  • Test prototypes with users

  • Create a high-level architecture

  • Assess and embed Security and Privacy into design (functional, technical and platform)

Optimise

  • Deploy the service

  • Measure the success of the service

  • Maintain uptime and availability

  • Understand how the service can 
    be improved

  • Ensure information security

  • Improving customer experience

  • Rapid and reliable deployment to service

Every project and customer are different but typically Ceox offers customer organisations a choice of
4 Agile Delivery and DevOps support models.  Each model is by nature Agile, advocates DevOps and has
a focus on user experience and GDS Digital Service Standards.

  • Advisory – Ceox can provide strategic advice and guidance on Agile delivery and DevOps. This can include establishing an ‘as is service’, defining a ‘to be’ Agile operating model and developing a strategic transformation.  Developing a knowledge sharing and learning culture along with coaching, mentoring and training teams in Agile project delivery and DevOps from leadership down facilitates sustainable capability growth and development of Agile DevOps culture. 

  •  Mixed Teams – Ceox often work alongside in-house Agile delivery or multi-disciplinary DevOps teams. This model supports an inclusive and collaborative approach that facilitates a multi-disciplined Agile , DevOps, user centric design approach that is Cloud native and automated.  The mixed team approach encourages shared ways of working, tools, processes and standards. It combines Ceox and customer knowledge and capabilities and builds an Agile Delivery and DevOps capability comprising customer in-house team in-house employees and Ceox’s specilaists. The Mixed Team model rapidly establishes a highly effective and scalable capability.

  • Outcomes – Ceox has extensive experience of the delivery of major projects from Discovery through Alpha, Beta and Live encompassing research, design, deliver and optimise. A Ceox team takes full responsibility for the rapid delivery of digital products and services that are designed to meet the needs of users.

  • Staff Augmentation – Staff on long-term basis or for short timeframes to facilitate rapid start-up, effect upskilling or knowledge transfer or provide support for GDS assessments.

Benefits of Agile

Utilising a Ceox Agile Delivery and DevOps support models can realise the following benefits:

  • Meet user needs - user centric design approach ensures that user stories are developed on exactly what users need

  • Reduced time to market - Agile approach accelerates time to market for new products and services

  • Improve Quality - increased product quality, and reduce technical debt, through built-in governance processes in the continuous delivery and integration process

  • Improve operational efficiency – DevOps team utilises monitoring and reporting tools to identify production issues and enable prompt fixes

  • Process Efficiency and business agility is enhanced

  • Upgraded Platforms - re-platforming to cloud based services provides opportunity for improved performance, flexibility, scalability and innovation

  •  Accessibility - all services are fully inclusive to support Accessibility standards

  • Secure – security and privacy requirements are embedded in the design and delivery

Ceox has a history and a track record of working with agile methodologies to bridge the gap between business and technology. Our team includes skilled specialists and practitioners with extensive experience of working on GDS projects. Our projects cover a range of public and private sector organisations. With all our projects we actively encourage organisations to develop their own in-house agile delivery capability and with these ways of working embedded project delivery can be transformed and applied to other projects.

To find out more, drop us an email on: hello@ceox.co.uk

If you’d rather talk on the phone, then our number is: 0333 987 4495