Continuous Delivery Introduction and Overview

[Virtual Presenter] Welcome everyone. Today, we will discuss the transition to Continuous Delivery, an operating model that will provide our employees, contractors, and customers with the opportunity to learn and grow their technical and functional skills. We will explore our ability to prioritize items of highest value and ensure everyone has clear accountabilities and responsibilities. It is important for all of us to be prepared for the upcoming changes and to understand how this new model will affect our day-to-day operations. I'm excited to dive in and explore the fundamentals of Continuous Delivery today. Let's begin..

[Audio] We are going to discuss the Continuous Delivery Introduction and Overview Training. We'll start with an overview of the operating model, followed by components and roles within the model, and finally, I'll explain how work gets done with the new operating model. We'll begin by examining the operating model overview, then move on to the components of the new operating model, the roles within the model, and lastly, how work will be done within the new operating model. Let's dive in now..

[Audio] An operating model is essential for Continuous Delivery that outlines the processes and procedures on how changes and updates to a software system are effectively implemented. It goes beyond organizational structures, reporting lines, and titles and provides the essential framework for keeping the system current, maintained, and secure..

[Audio] Continuous Delivery is an operating model providing a method to efficiently perform tasks. Its goal is to create a modern approach to working with a product-oriented outlook while constantly furnishing incremental benefits, quality, and business results. Its vision is concentrated on customers and their experiences to generate products and services that fill their necessities. This operating model is not simply an organizational chart or a reporting structure, yet a perpetual loop of planning, making, and enhancing work across product teams..

[Audio] Conagra has made a change that benefits everyone, from employees and contractors to customers. Our leadership wanted to improve everyone's experiences. This change allows teams to make decisions, provides employees with more learning and growing experiences, makes it easy to prioritize tasks, and allows team members to have consistent accountabilities and responsibilities. It also helps us to better manage demand, balance workloads, maximize team capacity, and measure success. To ensure the best results, we are using the same processes and tools to deliver products and services, promoting continuous improvements, encouraging collaboration, and allowing for opportunities to experiment and innovate while delivering value. Above all, the ultimate goal of this new way of working is to enhance the experience..

[Audio] Continuous Delivery is a way of delivering value to our customers in a quick and effective way. It involves leveraging the input from product, agile, and XOps teams to create valuable products and services that meet consumer and business needs and objectives. As a collaborative framework, agile provides the structure and tools, such as Jira and CD/CI Pipelines increase an organization's ability to deliver their desired speed and quality. With Continuous Delivery, organizations can reach their consumers faster with high-value products and services..

[Audio] At Conagra Brands, we found ourselves in a place where our old ways of thinking and organizing were no longer able to keep pace with the changing business needs. We realized that we needed to evolve our approach to working, one that would bring consistency to decision making, escalation paths, architecting projects and measuring business value at a product level. After thorough analysis and strategy development, we identified our move from an inconsistent work model to one that embraces standards while still empowering teams to make decisions within clear guardrails. We also decided to drive transparency and governance through product ownership, helping us better measure business outcomes and maximize the value and investment being made. Lastly, this transformation aims to ensure the right resources are in the right place at the right time to maximize our business outcomes and plan for continuous improvement..

[Audio] Today we are here to discuss the transformation in how we deliver business value through technology. Instead of forming project teams with predetermined start and end dates, and fixed funding, we will now be forming product teams that are better equipped to provide solutions to persistent business problems. These product teams will have allocated, ongoing funding to build and run their technological solutions, and they will benefit from a continuous release cycle and a defined product life cycle. In this way, Conagra will be able to provide business features and value faster and more effectively..

[Audio] As we move on to the next step of our Continuous Delivery Introduction and Overview, lets take a look at the components of the operating model. The operating model overview includes the roles within the new operating model and how work will get done within it. This will help us better understand the new operating model and how it can be used to improve our internal processes..

[Audio] Portfolios are the top level of our model and consist of a collection of products that deliver value. An example in the new operating model is Demand Science. Each portfolio then contains products and components, each of which contains groups of services or activities. Examples of these services or activities are data and advanced analytics, enterprise architecture, and IT strategy and management. Understanding portfolios provides us with a comprehensive overview of our products, and understanding components and services ensures that all components of our organization are working together..

[Audio] Customers are essential for our organization, so recognizing the products they value is necessary. Products are our offerings, both tangible and virtual, which are characterized by the results they produce, the process they go through, and the experience they furnish. To give an illustration, in our fresh operational format, Demand UI, Demand Models, Demand Data & Reporting are all products. Knowing our products and grasping how they aid our customers is fundamental for our prosperity..

[Audio] Agile teams are typically structured with Data and Analytics, SAP Platform Services, and Corporate Platform Services forming the core components. Each team is responsible for delivering a specific portion of the project as well as ensuring business outcomes are achieved. It is essential that these teams work together cooperatively to create a successful product..

[Audio] Product teams must collaborate to be successful in the current environment. Companies use a combination of product and shared service teams to reach their goals. As an illustration, consider two teams, Team A and Team B, working together to deliver Product 1. Each team must contribute their knowledge in topics such as data and analytics, enterprise architecture and IT strategy and management to ensure the desired results are achieved. By joining forces, companies can ensure they reach their business objectives..

[Audio] Conagra has structured its operating model for success using the Continuous Delivery framework. At the highest level, there are value streams with an individual responsible for each, which contain portfolios aligned with business functions. These portfolios have agile teams that focus on a single product, although multiple teams can sometimes support one product. Additionally, there are shared services teams providing support when necessary. Governance over all levels of the model is provided by a set of teams. This structure provides Conagra's organizations with the required tools and processes to be successful..

[Audio] Continuous Delivery is a method of automating the software delivery process in order to enable organizations to develop, test, and deploy applications more speedily and with greater consistency. This module covers the fundamentals of Continuous Delivery and the various corresponding roles such as Software Developers, Quality Assurance Engineers, and Operations Engineers within the framework. Next, we will cover the components of the Conagra Brands Operating Model and how they are related to Continuous Delivery. We then move on to an overall view of the roles within the operating model, and how work will be achieved under the new model. By the end of this module, participants will have a broad knowledge of the components of Continuous Delivery, the roles and duties within the operating model, and how the work process will be conducted..

[Audio] The Conagra Brands Continuous Delivery operating model emphasizes the significance of design elements for roles. It should be noted that a HR role may not necessarily be equivalent to an assignment within an Agile team. Although an individual may have a variety of assignments, they only have one HR role. The purpose of this model is to concentrate on how the work is done and the roles that make the delivery as effective as possible. The allocation of roles will be determined by the staffing levels within each portfolio or shared service..

[Audio] Without the greetings, beginning with 'Today', and thanks, the text would be written as: This new operating model is composed of various components and roles. To understand how work will get done in this model, we need to review the four components: the type of work, the stakeholders, the workflow, and the technology. By understanding each of these components, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the new operating model..

[Audio] The Continuous Delivery Model consists of several layers, each with its own range of roles. At the portfolio level, the business owner and portfolio owner are responsible for generating products that bring value. At the product level, the product manager and delivery manager coordinate core functions and their respective business results. At the Agile team level, the product owner, Scrum Master, senior systems analyst, systems analyst, and developers work collaboratively to create the products. Lastly, shared services can be deployed separately or in conjunction with the portfolio, giving additional assistance. This gives an outline of the duties and roles of each layer in Continuous Delivery..

[Audio] Continuous Delivery enables teams to take advantage of Agile rituals and synchronize their operations through cadences. As displayed on this slide, there are three types of workflows beginning from the outer, Portfolio level to the middle, Product level and finally to the inner, Agile Team level. At the Agile Team level, a variety of ceremonies and processes are employed to push the work forward. These ceremonies and processes are carried out consistently to maximize efficiency. Additionally, the goals of the initiatives, epics, features, and stories are constantly changing. In later training sessions, we will further discuss Agile ceremonies and how to synchronize operations through cadences..

[Audio] Continuous Delivery 101 will be discussed in this module. The process begins with an Initiative that is then broken into Epics. These Epics are further decomposed into Features, containing various user stories. When all stories and sub-tasks are finished, a shippable/usable product is created based on the original Initiative. This will be covered in more detail in the upcoming Foundational Agile training..

[Audio] Features are small, vertical slices of functionality that deliver value to the customer and can be estimated into user stories..

[Audio] "'Conagra Brands' Operating Model focuses on the method by which work is accomplished with a perpetual delivery approach. We employ product portfolios, shared services, agile teams, and strategic relationships with partners to build a system which will give value and yield outcomes. For the execution of this model, we have created significant new roles at the portfolio, product and team levels, making sure that our customers and consumers are provided the solutions they require..

[Audio] Completing the quiz with a 70% passing rate is the requirement for receiving credit for taking this course. We sincerely thank you for your time and involvement, and hope that you have a successful experience with Continuous Delivery..