Management and Development of DevOps and Traditional IT Project Paths

Abstract

Author Title Number of Pages Date Jonna Ahonen Management and Development of DevOps and Traditional IT Project Paths 70 pages + 2 appendices 15 January 2020 Degree Bachelor of Engineering Degree Programme Industrial Management Professional Major International ICT Business Instructors Mikko Poranen, IPA Specialist Anna Sperryn, Senior Lecturer Sonja Holappa, Senior Lecturer The objective of this thesis was to propose a way to manage and develop IT project paths that consist of both DevOps and Waterfall projects. To achieve this objective, this thesis aims to identify the key aspects for managing the IT project paths and build suitable proposal for the identified aspects. This thesis is based on interviews with the case company's ICT and business experts, the company's internal documents, benchmarking workshops with companies X and Y and industry best practices. Furthermore, the study is based on a structured approach starting with investigating the current state of the company's IT project management, then exploring available knowledge and best practices, and lastly building and validating the initial proposal. The key findings of this thesis revealed deficiencies and challenges in IT project prioritization, portfolio management and documentation. Moreover, roles and responsibilities for DevOps and Waterfall projects were found to be somewhat unclear to the personnel. The outcome of this thesis consists of three main proposals: a proposal for implementing the Two Project Paths Model, a proposal for managing the Two Project Paths Model and a proposal for developing the Two Project Paths Model. The proposal for managing the Two Project Paths Model includes propositions for a prioritization process, IT project portfolio and portfolio management, documentation and defined roles and responsibilities.