Brownfield

When transitioning from classic methods to Agile and DevOps, the gatekeepers can feel stuck in limbo. The first step to easing the transition for security reviews, change management, and independent verification is to give them a place they control. As of GitLab 13-ish, the existing roles do not meet this need, despite the merge request approval with branch, tag, and environment protections.

This article lays out a 2 project workflow with an automated merge request handoff to support the access levels needed for segregation of duties with Auto DevOps.

Pushing the limits of mobility and performance has become easier now that the iPad Pro has the Magic Keyboard and Visual Studio Code can be web-based as code-server.

TL;DR: It’s pretty nice but has some shortcomings. This article covers both the workflow and configuration.

When multi-project workflows are necessary, the hand-offs can lead to repetition. To alleviate that, Lab Assistant will automate the hand-off for a multi-project workflows.

As DevOps evolves, new technologies enable better processes. If your team has a process defined by tradition, take a fresh look. Use some of these examples and keep an eye out for other accelerators as time passes.

Branches for input, merges for admission, tags for output.

GitLab released a dozen page book about Git Branching Strategies to serve as a high-level overview of branching strategies and how they work.

One of GitLab’s strengths is creating productivity-boosting constraints that positively impact system architecture and DevOps cycles. This is very clear in the Kubernetes-powered workflow, but discovering this can be impossible if an org is already locked into an ops-focused Kubernetes deployment.

Also, Kubernetes is entirely optional so don’t force it before the operations team is ready. Avoid ClickOps, even if that means delaying orchestration.

At the risk of giving people SATs flashbacks, the admission that OpenShift is not, was not, was never supposed to be, and will never be kubernetes has happened. It feels good to have that clarity, even if the marketing and sales folks haven’t changed their tunes yet.

A brief lengthy rant follows on what adoption of the “Scaled Agile Framework” (SAFe) indicates in 2020. For a more comprehensive blow-by-blow of how SAFe is deficient, head over to google. This focuses on the indicators related to the selection of SAFe and not the framework itself.

Work on the remote handbook template continues, though it’s in a state now where an interested party can go to https://handbook.brownfield.dev and use the link on the home page to download a GitLab import to start their very own project.

The relational database approach where all data is normalized and business logic runs in stored procedures creates maintainability problems that create unlimited risk and cost over time. Every year of continued database operation puts the product and organization further behind.