DevOps & CI/CD Assessment
A DevOps assessment of how your code gets to production
Our DevOps assessment follows a change from commit to production: source control and branching, builds, automated tests, environments, release approvals, deployment and rollback. It ends with a written findings report and a ranked plan, read out to you. Running Azure DevOps Server or Team Foundation Server? A shorter assessment inventories the installation and recommends a path.
For an IT leader whose team ships its own software
Your team builds and deploys its own software, and getting a change to production takes longer, or breaks more often, than it should. You want an outside read on where the time goes and what to fix first.
We look at the whole CI/CD pipeline, not one tool, and we read it from your team’s own data rather than from a maturity questionnaire.
Two assessments, each with a set length
Each one ends with something your team can act on. Pick the one that matches the question in front of you.
3 weeks
DevOps and CI/CD assessment
How your code gets from a commit to production today: source control and branching, builds, automated tests, environments, release approvals, deployment and rollback.
How it runs
- Week 1 Interviews and walkthroughs We interview the people who build, test, approve and deploy, and they walk us through a change on its way to production.
- Week 2 Your pipeline and work-tracking data We read your team’s own pipeline runs and work items, and measure DORA’s original four delivery metrics: deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate and time to restore service.
- Week 3 Findings and a ranked plan We write up what we found, rank what to fix first, and read the report out to you.
What you get at the end
- A written findings report, read out to you
- A ranked plan your own team can carry out
- Your measurements of DORA’s original four delivery metrics, measured from your team’s own data
2 weeks
Azure DevOps Server assessment
An inventory of your Azure DevOps Server or Team Foundation Server installation, and a recommended path: upgrade in place, move to Azure DevOps Services, or move to GitHub, with the work each path takes.
How it runs
- Week 1 Inventory Version and update level, collections, process customizations, build and release definitions, and extensions.
- Week 2 A recommended path We weigh the three paths against what the inventory found, recommend one, and set out the work each would take.
What you get at the end
- The inventory of your installation
- A recommended path, with the work each of the three paths takes
Four measures of how your team delivers
We measure DORA’s original four delivery metrics from your team’s own pipeline and work-tracking data. These are the assessment’s scope, not the full current DORA metric set.
- Deployment frequency
- How often your team deploys to production.
- Lead time for changes
- How long a committed change takes to reach production.
- Change failure rate
- How often a deployment causes a failure in production.
- Time to restore service
- How long it takes to recover from a failure in production.
We report your team’s own numbers and what moves them. We don’t grade your team against other companies. DORA’s metric history (opens in a new tab) explains how the original four evolved into today’s five-metric model.
Azure DevOps Server and Team Foundation Server
Planning a TFS upgrade, or a move to Azure DevOps Services or GitHub? Every version before the current Azure DevOps Server has a fixed end date. The Azure DevOps Server assessment inventories your installation and recommends one of three paths.
Upgrade in place
Stay on your own servers and move to the current Azure DevOps Server. Microsoft currently lists no fixed retirement date; support is subject to staying current under its Modern Lifecycle Policy. You keep running the servers, SQL Server and the updates. The upgrade work depends on your version and customizations.
Move to Azure DevOps Services
Moving from Team Foundation Server or Azure DevOps Server to Azure DevOps Services keeps Boards, Repos and Pipelines, and Microsoft runs them in its cloud, so your team stops patching an Azure DevOps server. The work is moving the history and setting up how people sign in.
Move to GitHub
A move from Azure DevOps to GitHub means planning for code, pull requests and pipelines, with GitHub Actions in place of Azure Pipelines. The work depends on your integrations, customizations and history, and on how your team wants to work.
Microsoft’s support dates
Each date is the last day of support in Pacific Time, as the product’s Microsoft Learn lifecycle page lists it. We checked every one on .
| Version | Lifecycle policy | Last day of mainstream support | Last day of extended support | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Foundation Server 2017 On Update 3 | Fixed | Microsoft Learn: Team Foundation Server 2017 lifecycle (opens in a new tab) | ||
| Team Foundation Server 2018 | Fixed | Microsoft Learn: Team Foundation Server 2018 lifecycle (opens in a new tab) | ||
| Azure DevOps Server 2019 On Update 2019.1 | Fixed | Microsoft Learn: Azure DevOps Server 2019 lifecycle (opens in a new tab) | ||
| Azure DevOps Server 2020 | Fixed | Microsoft Learn: Azure DevOps Server 2020 lifecycle (opens in a new tab) | ||
| Azure DevOps Server 2022 | Fixed | Microsoft Learn: Azure DevOps Server 2022 lifecycle (opens in a new tab) | ||
| Azure DevOps Server | Modern | No fixed retirement date currently listed; support is subject to staying current. Supported since . | Microsoft Learn: Azure DevOps Server lifecycle (opens in a new tab) | |
In mainstream support Microsoft ships security and non-security updates; in extended support, security updates only. Where a version names a release, Microsoft lists that release as the one supported to the end date. What “keeping it current” means is in Microsoft’s Modern Lifecycle Policy (opens in a new tab).
When it fits, and when it doesn’t
It fits when
- Your team builds and deploys its own software.
- Getting a change to production is slow, manual or risky, and you want to know why before you buy a tool.
- A release depends on the one person who knows the steps.
- You run Azure DevOps Server or Team Foundation Server and need to decide what comes next.
It doesn’t fit when
- You have no in-house team building software yet. Start with custom software development instead.
- You need someone to run production for you day to day. The assessment ends with a plan, not an operations service.
- The tool is already chosen and you only want it installed. That is implementation work, not an assessment.
FAQ
What it looks at, what happens after it, and what Microsoft’s dates mean for you.
What does a DevOps assessment look at?
How a change gets from a commit to production: source control and branching, builds, automated tests, environments, release approvals, deployment and rollback. We measure delivery with DORA’s original four delivery metrics, read from your team’s own pipeline and work-tracking data.
What do we get at the end?
A written findings report and a ranked plan, read out to you. The plan is written for your own team to carry out.
Do we have to hire you to carry out the plan?
No. If you want our help with it, that is a separate engagement, scoped from the plan. It is never a condition of the assessment.
Our team is still on Team Foundation Server 2017. How long do we have?
Microsoft’s last day of extended support for Team Foundation Server 2017 is January 12, 2027, for installations on Update 3. After that, Microsoft no longer supports it. The Azure DevOps Server assessment recommends which path to take before then.
Should we upgrade in place, move to Azure DevOps Services, or move to GitHub?
It depends on your customizations, integrations, history and where your team is headed. Staying on your servers, moving to Azure DevOps Services or moving to GitHub each carries different work. The Azure DevOps Server assessment recommends one, with the work each path takes.
Is Clear Function a Microsoft partner?
Yes. Clear Function is a Microsoft partner.
What does it cost?
We quote each assessment after the discovery call, once we know the size of your team and your pipeline.
Next step
Want an outside read on how your team ships?
Tell us about your team and how it releases today. We’ll tell you which assessment fits, or whether you need one at all.