Pass the Scaled Agile Scaled Agile Certification SAFe-DevOps Questions and answers with CertsForce

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide1, feature toggles are useful for decoupling deployment from release. Feature toggles are a technique that allows code to be turned “on” or “off” without needing additional deployment. Feature toggles enable teams to experiment with different features, validate their assumptions, and learn from their failures without affecting the rest of the system. Feature toggles also help teams to reduce the risk of deploying faulty or incomplete code, as well as to optimize the performance and resource consumption of the system. Therefore, feature toggles are useful for decoupling deployment from release, which is an aspect of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline that releases new functionality immediately or incrementally based on business and customer needs2.

One of the measurable benefits of adopting DevOps practices and principles is that it results in faster lead time and more frequent deployments. Lead time is the time it takes from the moment a change is requested until it is delivered to the customer. Frequent deployments are the number of times a change is deployed to production. Both of these metrics indicate the speed and efficiency of the DevOps process, as well as the ability to respond to customer needs and feedback. According to the State of DevOps Report 2020, high-performing DevOps teams have 208 times faster lead times and 106 times more frequent deployments than low-performing teams

After conducting current-state mapping in the context of Value Stream Mapping, a team should be able to identify and describe the biggest bottlenecks in the delivery pipeline. Current-state mapping is a process of visualizing the entire flow of a product or service from start to finish, highlighting each step and identifying where delays or inefficiencies occur. By understanding where these bottlenecks are, teams can then work on strategies to improve the overall flow, reduce lead times, and enhance efficiency. This step is crucial for identifying areas for improvement and setting the stage for future actions to optimize the Value Stream.

When preparing a DevOps backlog, prioritizing features using WSJF includes two factors: cost of delay and duration/job size. WSJF stands for Weighted Shortest Job First, which is a prioritization model used to sequence work for maximum economic benefit. WSJF is estimated as the relative cost of delay divided by the relative job duration. Cost of delay is the money lost by delaying or not doing a job for a specific time. It is a measure of the economic value of a job over time. Job duration is the time it takes to complete a job. Jobs that can deliver the most value in the shortest duration provide the best economic return. WSJF also considers other factors that contribute to the cost of delay, such as user and business value, time criticality, and risk reduction and/or opportunity enablement

Two activities performed as part of defining the hypothesis in Continuous Exploration are identifying metrics based on leading indicators and defining the minimum viable product. Continuous Exploration (CE) is an aspect of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline that drives innovation and fosters alignment on what should be built by continually exploring the market and customer needs, defining a vision, roadmap, and set of features for a solution that addresses those needs. CE is based on applying customer-centric and design thinking to understand and create alignment on new development opportunities, while recognizing that all such ideas are hypotheses that need to be validated. CE involves four activities: hypothesize, collaborate and research, synthesize, and validate. The hypothesize activity describes the practices for generating ideas and the measurements needed to validate them with customers. The hypothesize activity involves the following practices:

Identifying metrics based on leading indicators – Leading indicators are metrics that measure the expected outcomes and benefits of the solution, such as customer satisfaction, retention, engagement, and revenue. Leading indicators help to evaluate the validity of the hypotheses and assumptions about the customer value proposition, and to guide the decision making and prioritization of the features. Leading indicators are also known as key performance indicators (KPIs) or objectives and key results (OKRs).

Defining the minimum viable product (MVP) – An MVP is a version of the solution that has just enough features to test the hypotheses and assumptions about the customer value proposition, and to elicit feedback from the customer. An MVP is not a fully functional or polished product, but rather a learning vehicle that allows the enterprise to validate the problem-solution fit and the product-market fit. An MVP helps to reduce the uncertainty and risk of developing the wrong solution, and to accelerate the learning and discovery process11

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide and handbook, Features are prioritized in the ART Backlog in the Synthesize activity of Continuous Exploration. This activity involves creating Solution hypotheses based on customer needs and market research, and then selecting the most promising ones to be implemented in the ART Backlog. The handbook states that "Synthesize is the activity of creating Solution hypotheses based on customer needs and market research, and then selecting the most promising ones to be implemented in the ART Backlog."1 Therefore, Synthesize is where Features are prioritized for continuous delivery.

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide and handbook, value flows through Continuous Integration in the Continuous Delivery Pipeline. This aspect involves merging code changes from multiple developers into a shared repository and running automated tests to ensure quality and functionality. The handbook states that "Continuous Integration is the process of merging code changes from multiple developers into a shared repository and running automated tests to ensure quality and functionality."1 Therefore, Continuous Integration enables teams to deliver value faster and more reliably by reducing integration errors and conflicts.

The goal of DevOps in SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) related to automating steps in the pipeline is best described in option A: between Code commit and Release.

In the context of SAFe, the aim is to establish a Continuous Delivery Pipeline where the process from code commit (when developers commit their code changes to a version control system) to release (when the software is made available to end users) is as automated as possible. This automation includes steps like automated builds, tests, and deployments, ensuring that the software is always in a releasable state with minimal manual intervention. This approach helps in achieving faster delivery times, improved software quality, and more efficient and reliable release processes.

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide1, when prioritizing improvement items, the steps with short Active Time and high %C&A in the future-state map should be the main focus. Active Time is the amount of time a step spends on performing work, while %C&A is the percentage of capacity utilization of a step. The future-state map shows how the Value Stream will look like after implementing improvements, based on customer feedback and business value. The improvement items are ranked by their impact on flow efficiency, customer satisfaction, and business agility. The steps with short Active Time and high %C&A in the future-state map indicate that they are bottlenecks or waste sources that need to be eliminated or reduced as soon as possible. Therefore, they should be prioritized for improvement actions.