Business are demanding ever shorter release cycles for new applications. Traditionally ‘Operations’ is seen as a barrier with lengthy bureaucratic controls and delays in provisioning production systems. DevOps is a growing movement for shortening development and deployment and integrating Development and Operations.

However this requires a mindset shift, new behaviors and a cultural shift in both Development and Operations. Traditionally suspicious of each other, they must now work closely together. Yet many companies are struggling to adopt and deploy DevOps and how to change the culture.

Why is this?

• DevOps is not that difficult to understand, but it has a huge impact on the way people need to behave.
• DevOps is often seen as a technology solution – automated coding, deployment, testing.
• DevOps is not a framework or method. It is an approach, a philosophy based on principles.

About The “The Phoenix Project” Simulation Game

The simulation game is based upon ‘The Phoenix Project’ Book. Parts Unlimited is in trouble. Newspaper reports reveal the poor financial performance of the organization. The only way forward to not only save the coBookCovermpany but to make it competitive and profitable is “The Phoenix Project” which represents an IT enabled business transformation, with Retail Operations as the business owner of this project. The VP of IT Operations is asked to take the lead of the IT department and ensure that “The Phoenix Project” will be a success. But the VP of IT Operations is facing a tremendous amount of work. A huge backlogs of issues, features and projects.

Your team will act in different roles within the Parts Unlimited organization. You can be Retail Operations, Human Resources or Finance – playing the Business roles of the company. Or you can be the VP of IT Operations or other members from his IT Team that needs to develop the applications and solve the IT Issues.

Your challenge is to use the DevOps principles and apply them in this serious Business Simulation. In three rounds you will work on the IT projects and IT issues and ensure that “The Phoenix Project” will be finished on time. But, beware, the business keeps coming with new ideas and demands and external developments outside your control can also throw a spanner in the works.

Objectives

The simulation will be customized towards your own specific needs and learning objectives. But in general these are the main objectives:

• How to apply DevOps principles in a real life situation?
• How to find the right balance between delivering your SLA requirements and your IT projects according to plan?
• How to experience how DevOps can bring serious value to your business?
• How to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your IT Department?
• How to create better flow in your teams?
• How to develop people’s skills to act in a DevOps environment?
• How to show business their responsibilities in making IT Projects more successful?