Source
r/azuredevops•
prophetcat

Needing help with figuring out how to deploy DevOps

I am looking at converting our shop to using Azure DevOps, but am unsure about whether I can make it flow similar to what we are currently doing. I'm not opposed to making some workflow changes, but I want to make it as comfortable for my users and admins as possible.

We are a fairly small group (fewer than 10). We use Axosoft for our customer issue and bug tracking, one team uses Trello for most of their workflow, and the other uses ToDoist. Customers can email an issue to a specific address and it will automatically create an issue in Axosoft, which can then be associated with an enhancement, defect, or task. We use Subversion for source control, on a server that hasn't been updated in several years. Nothing is automated except for our Windows app build process which uses a Powershell script.

Ideally, I could set it up so that a customer can send an email, a new work item is created and assigned to one of our support personnel. They can then determine if that is something that requires a task for them (network, operational assistance, etc.), or a defect/enhancement which needs to be passed to development. They would then create a bug or enhancement and assign it to the manager for the responsible team (web/Windows). It would be put in the backlog for assignment. Once it is completed then it would be marked with the correct release/sprint number and somehow be flagged for support that it is completed.

This doesn't even go into using Repos or Pipelines, because if I can't make Boards work the way that we need, all the rest is a moot point.

Any ideas would definitely be appreciated.

Posted Sep 29, 2019, 3:05 AM UTC

24
scottley•

Edit... added a bit about Flow...

There are a bunch of tools / tutorials for how to move everyone "slowly". Some migrations would need to be a point in time cutover... kinda... you could get really fancy and connect subversion and git with post commit hooks, but I would advise against that.

I have listed quick results I found hunting for connective tissue between AzDO and the other systems you cite.

The most important callout you had was the email bit... check out Mail2Bug or as suggested, LogicApps/Flow. Customer emails, ticket created, team can then triage that area path and move it to the appropriate team / area... that should be exceedingly simple. If you use LogicApps/Flow, it should be trivial to visualize the workflow and set it up.

Mail2Bug - https://github.com/microsoft/mail2bug

Migrate subversion to git - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/repos/git/perform-migration-from-svn-to-git

Connecting AzDO and Todoist - https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/galleries/public/templates/4ad8a620f3f340029c15c973dc70260c/when-an-item-is-assigned-in-azure-devops-create-a-task-in-todoist/

Connecting AzDO and Trello - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/service-hooks/services/trello

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metalmilitia980•

I’m still learning Azure DevOps myself but it sounds like a separate ticketing system would work best for those support type tasks or emails. If it needs to be escalated to development at that point, then a bug, feature, etc. can be created and assigned to the current sprint or backlog if need be.

Regarding the rest of your post, I think Azure DevOps would work well for your company. We use quite a bit of PowerShell for releases and it’s been working great so far. To me, we haven’t even really scratched the surface of all that Azure DevOps can do since it’s so expansive and we have been using it for about three years now or so and taking advantage of a lot of features.

I’d recommend checking out some videos on it or even just signing up for a free account and creating builds/releases and just doing some testing of your own, if you haven’t already, to see if you like it and if it’ll work best for you. Just my opinion though.

1
mrohde•

If you wanted to us it as your ticketing system you could easily do that portion with Flow. If can handle the email integration from a mailbox fo creating a ticket and then handle notifications. You would like want to create a custom field for the customer email address.

I have not converted my help desk yet but eventually plan to make the shift. My developers would be all in on the change but my infrastructure and support roles are just getting familiar with DevOps for project management.

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andymsli•

By default Azure DevOps doesn't have the feature to create work items when a customer sent an email. However, we can involve external services to extend it, as mentioned by u/scottley using Mail2Bug.

In addition, you can also try other products in the marketplace, such as TMO (TFS Work Items from Outlook) which has the similar services.

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