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How to Connect Development and Customer Support in Minutes: ServiceNow and Jira

In by Jenna PottsLeave a Comment

Have you ever felt frustrated by long wait times and lack of communication when calling into tech support? What could it be costing your business if your customers are feeling the same way? When a customer reports an issue, they expect to know what’s happening and when they can expect resolution. However, customer support and development are typically handled by two different teams. This can easily create a communication breakdown where development doesn’t get the information they need, support doesn’t get timely updates, and the customer just gets mad. Outside of making your developers moonlight as customer service reps (or …

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How to Facilitate Development Team Collaboration in Minutes by Connecting Jira and Azure DevOps

In by Jenna PottsLeave a Comment

Almost everyone has experienced delays between the different stages of your software delivery. Everyone just takes these delays to be part of the process, But it’s the length and cause of the delays that are the real issues. What causes these delays? The software delivery process is done in various step by teams using tools, mostly designed for their specific needs. Any transition requires a handoff, which at best creates wasted time in the process and at worst can cause major issues if something isn’t communicated properly. As any fan of (American) football know, wherever there’s a handoff, there’s a …

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How VSM Can Help You Steer Clear of These Six OKR Mistakes

In ConnectALL, OKR, Value Stream Management by Soumya Menon

In 2020, when a majority of the workforce switched to remote working, organizations of all sizes across the globe turned to Objective Key Results (OKR) to figure out how to stay aligned while responding to rapid change in the business environment.  OKRs, as you may know already, are a great way to attain audacious goals. This is because setting OKRs forces individuals, teams, and companies to articulate their goals in a time-bound and measurable fashion. By setting an Objective (a broad mission statement) and several Key Results (shorter, measurable assignments) great strides can be made in a quick and organized …

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Six Ways Tool Integration Dramatically Improves Test Management Processes and QA

In by Jenna PottsLeave a Comment

Now, I got no fight with any man who does what he’s told, but when he don’t, the machine breaks down. And when the machine breaks down, we break down. And I ain’t gonna allow that in any of you. Not one. — Sgt Barnes, Platoon (1986) In our world of software delivery, machine breakdowns include tools and systems not integrating and interoperating, people not communicating, and the resultant defects that occur in the application under test. And the reality is that we do face communication breakdowns that impact the productivity and quality of everything we create. We assume that …

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Speed Without Limits: How VSM and Tool Integrations Help Regulated Industry Leaders Speed Up Software Delivery

In by Jenna PottsLeave a Comment

Have you ever found yourself thinking something like this? “These new methods of software delivery won’t work in my industry. We’re just too regulated to do things that way.” As software delivery methods like Agile and DevOps continue to rise in popularity, and lean practices like Value Stream Management are implemented to accelerate it, you may find yourself feeling left behind due to the nature of your industry. These new approaches may work for flashier industries like tech or retail, but what about those of us who are in more tightly regulated fields? There are strict regulations in spaces like …

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Simplify Change Request Management: Supercharge Agile by Connecting SAP Solution Manager and Jira

In by Jenna PottsLeave a Comment

Are you currently using manual steps to manage what changes move to your production environment? If so, then you are most likely adding layers of waste to your change management process. At the same time, it is also important that you are staying in compliance with your internal governance processes. So how can you make your software delivery more agile while maintaining the important processes managed within your SAP environment? In this webinar, we will show you how connecting Jira and SAP Solution Manager will help you control your change management process. By automating the change management process in this …

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Accelerate Your Agile Processes by Automating Workflows and Letting PPM Tools Interoperate

In by Jenna PottsLeave a Comment

One of the biggest challenges that Agile managers face is the lack of visibility into their projects, portfolios and programs. When you connect your PPM tools and let them interoperate, you enable project managers, program managers, portfolio managers, or project stakeholders to view real-time status and progress of agile projects. In this webinar, we will show you how you can create an all-in-one system for PPM when you connect Jira and Rally Software. It helps couple product management, development and QA teams bringing in visibility, improved coordination and a seamless product delivery process. We will show you how with a …

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You’ve Heard What Value Stream Management Isn’t. Now Hear the Truth About What It Is.

In by Jenna PottsLeave a Comment

At ConnectALL, we have discussed ad nauseum what value stream management isn’t.  We’ve told you that it is NOT a tool, NOT a feature, and NOT a map. It isn’t a person, it isn’t a platform, and it isn’t a set of metrics. Agile? DevOps? Also not value stream management. But what is less clear in our industry is a concrete definition of what value stream management actually is. It’s time to draw our line in the sand. We are going to push aside the squishiness that often accompanies this topic and plant our flag on what we believe is …