# Leader sponsorship
Obtaining leader sponsorship of DevOps adoption initiatives helps verify that the organization's leadership is committed to and actively supports the adoption of DevOps practices. Effective leader sponsorship involves setting a clear vision and strategy for DevOps adoption, communicating expectations and goals to the entire organization, and allocating resources and budget for the necessary changes. Leaders who support DevOps adoption should model the desired behaviors and lead by example. By actively participating in and driving the DevOps adoption process, leaders can help remove barriers, facilitate change, and motivate team members to embrace new ways of working, ultimately accelerating the organization's transition to a successful DevOps environment.
**Topics**
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# Indicators for leadership sponsorship
](indicators-for-leadership-sponsorship.md)
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# Anti-patterns for leader sponsorship
](anti-patterns-for-leader-sponsorship.md)
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# Metrics for leader sponsorship
](metrics-for-leader-sponsorship.md)
# Indicators for leadership sponsorship
Promote organizational commitment to DevOps adoption with clear strategy, communication, and resources.
**Topics**
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# [OA.LS.1] Appoint a decision-making leader to own DevOps adoption
](oa.ls.1-appoint-a-decision-making-leader-to-own-devops-adoption.md)
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# [OA.LS.2] Align DevOps adoption with business objectives
](oa.ls.2-align-devops-adoption-with-business-objectives.md)
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# [OA.LS.3] Drive continued improvement through business reviews
](oa.ls.3-drive-continued-improvement-through-business-reviews.md)
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# [OA.LS.4] Open dialogue between leadership and teams
](oa.ls.4-open-dialogue-between-leadership-and-teams.md)
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# [OA.LS.5] Assemble a cross-functional enabling team that focuses on organizational transformation
](oa.ls.5-assemble-a-cross-functional-enabling-team-that-focuses-on-organizational-transformation.md)
# [OA.LS.1] Appoint a decision-making leader to own DevOps adoption
**Category:** FOUNDATIONAL
DevOps adoption requires a dedicated leader to help facilitate continued progress, make resource decisions, and gain alignment with leaders throughout the organization. This leadership role, inspired by Amazon's single-threaded leadership concept, becomes the person within the company fully dedicated and accountable for DevOps adoption. They have no competing priorities, focusing solely on DevOps adoption and driving the initiative forward.
A single-threaded leader becomes the focal point for centralizing decision-making. They have the leeway within the organization to assess areas of improvement, and the ability to organize teams to solve problems. Appoint a leader with decision-making authority. Because DevOps adoption has a broad impact that requires change to occur throughout the entire organization, the leader must have support from executives, such as the CEO, CTO, CIO, or CISO. The ideal single-threaded leader for DevOps adoption is usually a role reporting directly to senior executives. This connection helps them drive organizational decisions, structure teams, and allocate responsibilities with the proper level of authority and direct escalation channels.
The leader should work closely with enthusiastic early adopters to build momentum and support for the initiative. Open communication channels must remain open throughout the organization to foster collaboration and receive support. As progress is made, the leader regularly updates other teams and leaders of DevOps adoption initiatives and the impact DevOps is having on the business.
**Related information:**
+ [AWS Well-Architected Cost Optimization Pillar: COST01-BP02 Establish a partnership between finance and technology](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/cost-optimization-pillar/cost_cloud_financial_management_partnership.html)
+ [AWS Cloud Adoption Framework: People Perspective - Transformational leadership](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/aws-caf-people-perspective/transformational-leadership.html)
+ [A Conversation with Werner Vogels: Learning from the Amazon technology platform](https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1142065)
+ [Two-Pizza Teams Are Just the Start, Part 2: Accountability and Empowerment Are Key to High-Performing Agile Organizations](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/enterprise-strategy/two-pizza-teams-are-just-the-start-accountability-and-empowerment-are-key-to-high-performing-agile-organizations-part-2/)
# [OA.LS.2] Align DevOps adoption with business objectives
**Category:** FOUNDATIONAL
DevOps adoption should not be an isolated project within the organization. It should be aligned to broader business goals, fully supported by leadership, with other teams also adopting capabilities to streamline their individual value streams. Synchronizing DevOps adoption and the overall business strategy means that the resources and effort put into adopting DevOps are also directly improving business outcomes.
Gain an understanding of your existing DevOps capabilities by conducting a comprehensive assessment of your current software development practices. You can use the AWS DevOps Sagas indicators provided in this guidance to assess your existing DevOps capabilities against best practices. This activity should result in a prioritized list of DevOps capabilities that are missing or could use improvement within your organization. These findings should be shared with leadership and individual teams across the organization. Individual teams across the organization can progress towards adopting DevOps best practices as part of the regular planning processes.
Planning processes vary from organization to organization, so we will provide an example using Amazon's annual planning process. To kick start the yearly planning process, members of every team in the organization dedicate weeks of effort to focus on planning. The Senior Leadership team (S-Team) kicks off the process by defining business objectives. These high-level objectives are generally based on current business needs and future aspirations.
Teams build their operating plans based on the leadership-defined expectations and objectives. The first iteration of the operating plan (OP1) is a bottom-up proposal to gain alignment with other teams and approval from leadership. Operating plans should include progress towards the implementation of the DevOps capabilities from the prioritized list. Which capabilities to implement should be chosen based on alignment to S-Team goals in addition to their own individual goals. The team's operating plan should be shared with leadership and other relevant teams within the organization to promote shared knowledge and collaboration. Gaining approval from leadership helps align DevOps initiatives with the broader organizational goals. Additionally, this helps facilitate gaining the full support of leadership, including the requirements for funding, time, and resources.
Priorities, learnings, and customer needs often change over time. The second iteration of operating plan review (OP2) provides an opportunity to adapt the plan accordingly before finishing the plan. Consistently revisit the prioritized DevOps capability list at least once a year to continue progressing towards adopting DevOps best practices.
**Related information:**
+ [What We Can Learn From Amazon's Planning Process](https://academy.nobl.io/10x-thinking-and-cross-functional-goals-what-we-can-learn-from-amazons-planning-process/)
+ [This is How Amazon Measures Itself](https://www.holistics.io/blog/how-amazon-measures/)
+ [How can we make our planning process more agile and customer-centric?](https://www.kearney.com/industry/consumer-retail/article/-/insights/how-can-we-make-our-planning-process-more-agile-and-customer-centric)
+ [Predicts 2023: Collaborate, Automate and Orchestrate to Optimize Costs and Value During the Economic Crisis](https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/4020625)
# [OA.LS.3] Drive continued improvement through business reviews
**Category:** FOUNDATIONAL
While adopting DevOps, many small teams begin to form which own and operate their own value stream of the business. Teams must verify that their operations remain agile, efficient, and aligned with overarching business objectives. Leaders must be able to report on DevOps progress and outcomes. However, having many distributed teams and systems makes it more difficult for leaders to maintain full visibility across all of the value streams. It's possible to retain this visibility across a decentralized operating model by creating structured, data-driven mechanisms, such as conducting regular business review meetings and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs). The mechanisms help leaders pinpoint areas of inefficiencies, uncover opportunities to innovate, and create a culture of continual feedback, measurement, and refinement.
Begin by developing a set of KPIs that align with desired business outcomes and simultaneously demonstrates the impact of DevOps adoption on achieving them. KPIs are quantifiable metrics that are used to measure the performance of an organization or project as it progresses towards a goal. Tracking KPIs verifies that the goal is moving in the right direction and achieving desired outcomes. KPIs should be continually improved and refined over time to keep them aligned with business objectives as the organization adopts DevOps and business needs change.
Schedule frequent business review meetings to review KPIs, bringing together both technical and business stakeholders on a regular cadence. Each team should continually capture both technical and business related KPIs and make them presentable for regular business reviews. Regularly reviewing the KPIs informs leaders of the health and direction of the team's value stream. Fluctuations in the KPIs reflect the outcome of team efforts and can be a predictor of future outcomes.
Within Amazon, teams and leaders meet regularly during weekly business reviews (WBRs) to assess the validity and quality of KPIs against organizational goals. For a data-driven, systematic approach to this process, we follow the [DMAIC](https://www.isixsigma.com/dictionary/dmaic/)—Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control—improvement cycle. We recommend you adopt a similar approach to sustainable business reviews.
**Related information:**
+ [AWS Well-Architected Performance Pillar: PERF07-BP03 Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure workload performance](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/performance-efficiency-pillar/perf_monitor_instances_post_launch_establish_kpi.html)
+ [AWS Well-Architected Cost Optimization Pillar: COST02-BP02 Implement goals and targets](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/cost-optimization-pillar/cost_govern_usage_goal_target.html)
+ [What is the difference between SLA and KPI?](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/service-level-agreement/#seo-faq-pairs#sla-kpi)
+ [The Business Value of Migration to Amazon Web Services](https://pages.awscloud.com/rs/112-TZM-766/images/hackett-group-the-business-value-of-migration-to-aws-012022.pdf)
+ [Business Value of Cloud](https://pages.awscloud.com/rs/112-TZM-766/images/known-business-value-of-cloud-%20modernization-012022.pdf)
+ [Blog: Business Value is IT's Primary Measure of Progress](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/enterprise-strategy/business-value-is-its-primary-measure-of-progress/)
+ [Blog: The Importance of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Large-Scale Cloud Migrations](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/mt/the-importance-of-key-performance-indicators-kpis-for-large-scale-cloud-migrations/)
# [OA.LS.4] Open dialogue between leadership and teams
**Category:** FOUNDATIONAL
Communication in a DevOps environment is more than an exchange of information. It's about building trust, collaboration, and gaining alignment across the organization. Clear communication channels can bridge the gap between strategy and implementation.
Establish open communication channels between leaders and team members. Implement a system that gathers anonymous feedback directly from team members. Verify that this method is equally inclusive and accessible to everyone. Leaders should regularly share updates, insights, and learning back to teams to create a culture of collaboration and trust. An Amazon example is [Amazon Connections](https://amazon.jobs/en/landing_pages/hrresearch), a mechanism that captures real-time feedback and data from employees about their experiences. This provides a model for organizations to understand team perspectives.
The gathered feedback should drive decision-making at all levels of leadership to identify areas for improvement, address employee concerns, and promote a culture of open communication. Leaders must actively engage with this feedback, sharing updates and insights with teams. This action not only builds trust, but also aligns everyone with the organization's DevOps adoption progress.
**Related information:**
+ [Business Value is IT's Primary Measure of Progress](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/enterprise-strategy/business-value-is-its-primary-measure-of-progress/)
# [OA.LS.5] Assemble a cross-functional enabling team that focuses on organizational transformation
**Category:** RECOMMENDED
To spread knowledge across the organizations and help individual teams adopt DevOps capabilities, create an enabling team with expertise in DevOps culture, practices, and tools. The single-threaded DevOps owner is responsible for creating this team and providing it with the autonomy, resources, training, and tools that help them effectively support and guide other teams.This centralized team should collaborate closely with other teams to identify and address barriers to adoption, share best practices, and promote a culture of nearly continuous learning and improvement.
In many organizations, this team takes the form of the *Center of Enablement*. While this centralized team is not strictly required for every organization to adopt DevOps, we recommend it due to its potential to streamline and expedite transformation. If leadership chooses not to create a Center of Enablement, they can supplement it by fostering a strong culture of collaboration, sharing, automation, and continuous improvement. With the right support and resources being provided from leadership, teams can work together to establish their own DevOps processes. Use existing tools and resources to support these efforts.
**Related information:**
+ [AWS Well-Architected Operational Excellence Pillar: Separated AEO and IEO with centralized governance and an internal service provider consulting partner](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/operational-excellence-pillar/separated-aeo-ieo-with-cent-gov-and-partner.html)
+ [What is a cloud center of excellence and why should your organization create one?](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/publicsector/what-is-cloud-center-excellence-why-should-your-organization-create-one/)
# Anti-patterns for leader sponsorship
+ **Diluted leadership focus:** When the single-threaded leader accountable for DevOps attention has other priorities and does not dedicate their full attention, the initiative might suffer. A leader handling multiple initiatives can lead to overlooked opportunities, less time for critical decision making, and overall reduced engagement. Designate a decision-making leader whose primary responsibility is the adoption of DevOps to help provide dedicated leadership to this transition.
+ **Forcing DevOps adoption:** Single-threaded leadership should act as a supportive sponsor, rather than strict enforcers of DevOps adoption. Taking a hierarchical approach to DevOps adoption might cause teams to view it as imposed change and external demands. This can lead to resistance, de-motivation, and frustration among team members. Instead, start by engaging with enthusiastic early adopters and support them in adopting DevOps. These adopters can be an advocate for DevOps adoption within their team and show progress that inspires other teams. It's also important to gather feedback from teams and provide value and improvements to the areas that frustrate them most. This promotes a bottom-up, collaborative approach to DevOps adoption that fosters nearly continuous improvement and inclusivity.
+ **Short-term priority shifting**: Changing business priorities too frequently can undermine the long-term commitment required for DevOps adoption. DevOps transformation, as illustrated by the DevOps Sagas, is a marathon, not a sprint. It demands consistent focus, alignment, and support from not only single-threaded leadership, but also the whole organization. When this focus is interrupted due to short-term objectives or immediate business pressures, it might disrupt DevOps adoption. Disruptions can then lead to unjustified reduced confidence in DevOps ways of working, low team morale, and fragmented workflows. The executive team and single-threaded leadership must have a strategy that recognizes the long-term value of DevOps. They must be able to inspire other leaders in the organization to share an unwavering commitment to DevOps adoption.
# Metrics for leader sponsorship
+ **DevOps adoption percentage:** The percentage of DevOps capabilities that have been implemented compared to the number of desired capabilities. This metric does not indicate overall DevOps effectiveness or the performance of a specific DevOps capability. It measures the organization's total progress towards adopting DevOps capabilities that can be continuously assessed using a DevOps framework, such as the AWS DevOps Sagas. Comparing this metric to historical data or other DevOps metrics can reveal trends that indicate leadership's prioritization of DevOps initiatives and the average pace of organizational DevOps adoption. Divide the number of implemented DevOps capabilities by the number of desired DevOps capabilities. Multiple the result by 100 to get a percentage value.
+ **Employee net promoter score (eNPS):** Measure employees' engagement and satisfaction within the organization, gauging their likelihood to recommend the organization as an ideal workplace. This can provide insight into the health of the organizational culture, indicating the effectiveness of leadership in creating an inclusive, positive work environment. A higher eNPS can correlate with better productivity, lower turnover, and improved team dynamics. Track using periodic, anonymized [net promoter score](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_promoter_score) surveys that require no more that 5–7 minutes to complete. Subtract the percentage of detractors (those who score 0–6) from promoters (those who score 9–10) to get the eNPS value. Neutral scores (7–8) can be ignored.
+ **Time to fill vacancy:** The average duration from when a DevOps-related job vacancy is opened until it is filled, including the full sourcing process. This metric evaluates the organization's ability to attract and secure talent required for DevOps initiatives, providing insights into the organization's reputation and effectiveness of leadership. Extended vacancy times can affect project timelines and team morale. Creating regular feedback loops with hiring teams, improving employee net promoter score, and enhancing job descriptions can help improve this metric. Monitor the time of job posting to the acceptance of an offer by a candidate. Average these durations over a set period, such as monthly or quarterly, to determine trends.