Pass the Scaled Agile SAFe Scrum Master SAFe-DevOps Questions and answers with ExamsMirror

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide and handbook, when development and operations do not collaborate early in the pipeline, surprises are found in deployment that lead to significant rework and delay. This means that the teams may not have a shared understanding of the quality, performance, and security requirements of the Solution, and may encounter issues that were not anticipated or tested. The handbook states that "When development and operations do not collaborate early in the pipeline, surprises are found in deployment that lead to significant rework and delay."1 Therefore, it is important for teams to work together throughout the value stream to ensure continuous delivery.

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide and handbook, the Release activity is triggered by a business decision to go live. This means that the Solution is ready to be delivered to end users and customers, based on the validation and testing done in the previous activities. The handbook states that "The Release activity is triggered by a business decision to go live."1 Therefore, this activity involves releasing value to customers on demand, while also measuring and learning from the feedback.

Ensuring that security controls like threat modeling, application security, and penetration testing are in place throughout the Continuous Delivery Pipeline is an example of Continuous security monitoring. This skill involves the ongoing assessment and oversight of security measures within the pipeline to ensure that the software remains secure against potential threats at all stages of its development and deployment.

 According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide and handbook, Continuous Deployment is a practice that helps developers deploy their code into production. This means that Continuous Deployment involves moving changes from the staging environment to the production environment, without requiring manual intervention or approval. The handbook states that "Continuous Deployment is the practice of moving changes from the staging environment to the production environment, without requiring manual intervention or approval."1 Therefore, Continuous Deployment enables teams to deliver value to customers faster and more reliably.

Blue/green deployment falls outside the scope of the Stabilize activity. The Stabilize activity is part of the Release on Demand aspect of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline, which is responsible for releasing new functionality to end users, either immediately or incrementally, based on business and customer needs. The Stabilize activity ensures that the solution is working well from a functional and nonfunctional perspective, and that it can be operated and supported effectively. The Stabilize activity involves the following practices:

Continuous security monitoring – Applying automated tools and processes to detect and respond to security threats and vulnerabilities in the production environment, and ensuring compliance with security policies and standards.

Failover and recovery processes – Establishing and testing backup and restore mechanisms, disaster recovery plans, and business continuity procedures, to ensure the availability and resilience of the solution in case of failures or disruptions.

Features monitoring – Collecting and analyzing data on the usage, performance, and outcomes of the released features, to measure their value and impact, and to identify any issues or defects that need to be fixed or improved.

Support and maintenance – Providing ongoing support and maintenance for the solution, such as resolving incidents, handling requests, applying patches, and performing upgrades, to ensure the reliability and quality of the solution.

Blue/green deployment, on the other hand, is a technical practice that belongs to the Continuous Deployment aspect of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline, which is responsible for deploying new functionality into the production environment, where it can be tested and validated. Blue/green deployment is a change management strategy that reduces the downtime and risk of deploying new versions of software. It involves having two identical but separate environments: one is the active environment that serves the user traffic (blue), and the other is the inactive environment that hosts the new version of the software (green). The deployment process consists of switching a small portion of the user traffic from the blue environment to the green environment, after verifying that the new version is working properly. The portion of users who receive the new version are called canaries, as they serve as early indicators of the quality and performance of the new version. If the canary release is successful, the entire user traffic is gradually switched to the green environment, which becomes the new active environment. If the canary release fails, the user traffic is switched back to the blue environment, which remains the active environment. Blue/green deployment has several benefits, such as:

It allows for fast and reliable rollback, in case of any issues or errors in the new version, by simply switching back to the active environment.

It eliminates the need for complex and error-prone migration scripts, as the inactive environment can be prepared and tested in advance, without affecting the active environment.

It enables testing and experimentation of the new version with a subset of users, by directing some user traffic to the inactive environment, before switching completely.

It facilitates continuous delivery and deployment, by automating the switching process and reducing the transaction cost and risk of moving changes to production

Two of the technical practices that focus on Built-in Quality are pair work and test-driven development. Pair work is a collaborative technique where two developers work together on the same code, one writing the code and the other reviewing it. Pair work improves the quality of the code by reducing defects, increasing knowledge sharing, and enhancing creativity and problem-solving. Test-driven development (TDD) is a practice where developers write automated tests before writing the code, and then refactor the code until it passes the tests. TDD ensures that the code meets the requirements and specifications, as well as improves the design, readability, and maintainability of the code

In the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), after features are defined and designed during Continuous Exploration, they move into Continuous Integration. Here, they are further broken down into smaller, implementable parts known as user stories. These stories are then developed, tested, and integrated into the existing codebase. This process ensures that new features are developed in a systematic and efficient manner, with regular integration and testing to maintain quality and readiness for release.

Two areas that should be monitored in the Release on Demand aspect to support DevOps and Continuous Delivery are the build status and the deployment cycle time. The build status is the measure of whether the code and components can be successfully compiled, linked, packaged, and verified into deployable binaries. The build status indicates the quality and consistency of the code and the readiness for deployment. Monitoring the build status helps to support the Release on Demand aspect in SAFe by providing valuable information for the following purposes:

To identify and fix any errors or defects that may prevent the code from being deployed or released

To ensure that the code meets the quality standards and security checks, such as static code analysis, code coverage, and code review

To verify that the code and components are integrated and merged correctly into the trunk

To track the progress and status of the features and capabilities that are being developed and delivered

The deployment cycle time is the measure of how long it takes to deploy the code and components from the source control system to the production environment. The deployment cycle time indicates the efficiency and reliability of the deployment process and the speed of delivery. Monitoring the deployment cycle time helps to support the Release on Demand aspect in SAFe by providing valuable information for the following purposes:

To optimize the deployment process and reduce the lead time and variability

To automate the deployment process and eliminate manual steps and errors

To align the deployment process with the market demand and release strategy

To evaluate the impact and value of the deployed features and capabilities 7

According to the SAFe DevOps Practitioner 6.0 study guide1, one of the main challenges of a DevOps transformation is when various groups in the organization have different directions and goals. This can create silos, conflicts, and inefficiencies that hinder the collaboration and integration needed for continuous delivery. For example, some groups may prioritize speed over quality, while others may prioritize security over innovation. Some groups may resist change and adopt outdated practices, while others may embrace new technologies and methodologies. These differences can lead to misalignment, duplication, and waste of resources that slow down the delivery pipeline and reduce the value to customers. Therefore, having a common vision, culture, and set of technical practices that support the SAFe CALMR approach to DevOps is essential for overcoming this challenge.