For many organizations, IT has historically been viewed as a cost center. However, using value stream management programs (VSMP) and value stream delivery platforms (VSDP) can help to transform IT into a value center. 

In his talk at {virtual} VSMcon 2022, Akshay Sharma, CTO at Kovair Software discussed this journey and offered some tips in order to ensure it is done in the right way.

According to Sharma, VSDPs bring the organization fully integrated capabilities in order to allow for the continuous delivery of solutions. However, obtaining value from this is an ongoing journey rather than a single destination. 

Throughout this journey, he stressed the importance of prioritizing cyber security and governance regulations as well as continuously monitoring these metrics to be sure that optimal value can be reached with minimal vulnerabilities. 

Sharma also said that VSDP solutions work to bring together several different DevOps and DevSecOps tools, including  enterprise agile planning tools, browser-based IDEs, software test automation tools, container management tools, and value stream management platforms. 

Additionally, he mentioned that by definition VSDPs integrate with version control systems, CI/CD components, test automation, and work management tools. This allows them to connect technical metrics to product and business decisions.

In his session, Sharma also discussed the platform governance benefits that come with VSDPs. These include support for single sign on, multi-factor authentication, passwordless authentication, the ability to trigger actions in response to events in the app delivery process, and the permission to grant and deny access to pipeline activities.

He went on to say that CIOs and CTOs specifically would benefit from VSMPs and VSDPs because it offers them KPI dashboards, policy controls, DRaaS, and workflow automation. 

“Having these metrics that say ‘hey, I just gained so much cost savings, so much efficiency, and I now am more productive in my delivery of the product’… this may improve my release schedules and my quality, and my revenues,” he said 

To watch the full session on demand, click here