Anomaly management in DevOps teams

What is an anomaly?

An anomaly is any incident or event that deviates from the expected norm in a system or software. Bugs and errors are actually also considered anomalies, but here we refer to unforeseen incidents or events that can affect system performance. You can think of a sudden spike in network traffic or unexpected server downtime.

Within DevOps, anomaly management is the process of detecting, analyzing and resolving these anomalies to maintain system quality and performance. It is an ongoing process because, as a DevOps team, you are always implementing new code and the system environment is constantly changing.

Tip! You can also read about how cross-functional teams improve Agile working

So how does anomaly management effectively promote working in DevOps teams?

1. First, it encourages collaboration and communication within your team. When everyone is aware of anomalies and knows how to address them, your team can respond quickly and efficiently to solve the problem
2. It also improves time-to-market and software quality. In fact, it helps detect problems early and resolve them before they can affect the end user

Do you have to log all anomalies?

If you discover an anomaly with jet DevOps team during a sprint, share it with the team and consult together on the steps to be taken. The great thing is that anomalies that you can solve immediately, you don't even have to log. You simply work with the developer to get them out of the way quickly, and you test the solution immediately. That keeps the amount of documentation down and keeps the focus on progress.

But we want to avoid spending too much time tracking anomalies, right? That's why we have a few guidelines. You only record an anomaly in the records if:

• You cannot solve it immediately
• You and your team decide, after consultation with the product owner, to fix the anomaly in a next sprint
• You discover an anomaly during the sprint review that you cannot correct in time before the current sprint ends.

Read tip! This is how you become a software tester

Three reasons to record anomalies

1. First, you need the anomaly information to investigate and troubleshoot
2. In addition, you use this data as a foundation for retesting
3. Third, but equally important, is that you can (and should!) use the information gathered from these anomalies for process improvement. In doing so, you not only solve the current problem, but also help prevent future repetition of the same problem.

The designations for different types of anomalies

When dealing with multiple anomalies, it is important to classify them according to "severity" and "priority.

• Severity refers to the impact on the business process and is a fixed term
• Priority determines the order in which they are addressed and can change

Sometimes a serious anomaly is not addressed immediately if it does not interfere with the current sprint or there is an acceptable temporary solution. The terms "error," "defect," and "failure" are often used to indicate that something is wrong. For problems with the IT system, you then use the term "problem. An 'incident' usually indicates a problem in the live environment.

Anomaly management is essential within DevOps teams

To put it simply, anomaly management is an essential part of DevOps practice. It helps you and your team respond quickly and efficiently to incidents, improve the quality and time-to-market of your software. It also promotes team collaboration and communication. Want to learn all about this? This topic is covered in depth in our e-learning TMap Quality for cross-functional teams!

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