Acrobatic-Lychee3314 discusses strategies for consolidating project and operational tasks for technical teams using Azure DevOps Boards, emphasizing unified management for both PMO-driven and ad-hoc work.

Integrating PMO Project and Operational Backlogs with Azure DevOps Boards

Author: Acrobatic-Lychee3314

This discussion explores the challenge of unifying project management office (PMO) tasks with operational backlogs for technical teams using Azure DevOps Boards:

Scenario Overview

  • PMO-Generated Tasks: Project managers create tasks for various projects, assigning them to technical teams.
  • Operational Backlogs: Technical teams also field tasks from an ITSM system, covering ongoing operational needs (updates, maintenance, ad-hoc requests).
  • Goal: Centralize all tasks (project, operational, ad-hoc) for each technical team within a single Azure DevOps Board, while maintaining a project-centric view where appropriate.

Key Requirements

  • API Integration: ITSM system can push tasks into Azure DevOps Boards programmatically.
  • Customized Views: Project managers and team members should have filtered views—project managers see project progress, tech team members see all tasks assigned to their team or themselves.
  • Separation of Duties: Some tasks are only relevant to non-technical project teams and should remain isolated within the project view, not cluttering technical teams’ backlogs.

Solution Referenced

  • Hierarchical Teams in Azure Boards: Leverages Azure DevOps’ support for hierarchical team configurations, allowing different teams to maintain distinct backlogs and boards while rolling up visibility for cross-team coordination.
  • Documentation: Configure hierarchical teams in Azure DevOps

Discussion Highlights

  • Clarification on Terminology: The word “project” means the PMO sense (a business project), not the technical ‘Project’ structure in Azure DevOps.
  • Filtering Views: Azure Boards can be structured so that:
    • Project Managers: Have visibility into all project tasks.
    • Technical Teams: See all work (from projects, ITSM, ad-hoc) relevant to their backlog.
    • Non-Technical Project Team: Handles their tasks solely in the project view.
  • Implementation: Team configuration and permission management are key to ensuring the right stakeholders see the right sets of tasks.
  • Flexibility: The approach supports the addition of ad-hoc tasks and dynamic feeding of work items from multiple origins.

Practical Tips

  • Use Azure DevOps’ hierarchical teams to map both project and operational responsibilities.
  • Integrate ITSM APIs for automated task creation.
  • Leverage board customizations and security/permissions to segment visibility by role and function.
  • Review official Microsoft documentation to set up and fine-tune hierarchical teams and filtering.

Reference

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