Industrial DevOps: Build Better Systems Faster

I just finished reading the newly-released Industrial DevOps: Build Better Systems Faster by Dr. Suzette Johnson and Robin Yeman. Personally, I am passionate for topics they address in their book. Indeed, I have developed and teach two Agile-related graduate courses in the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The first one, entitled Agile Systems Engineering (EN.645.780), is taught in the Systems Engineering Department. The second, entitled Advanced Concepts in Agile Technical Management (EN.595.727), is taught in the Engineering Management Department. The superb work Johnson & Yeman have accomplished is so thoroughly well done I am initiating the process of incorporating their book into my EN.595.727 curriculum. For my systems engineering course, their Chapter 7, Architect for Change and Speed, provides the best overall summary I have seen to date for the power of deliberate system architecture. Johnson & Yeman have completely nailed concepts and processes needed for today’s technical leader engaged in highly-technical projects exhibiting complexity (i.e., emergence and the ensuing uncertainty it generates). Through 352 pages of intelligent, thoughtful prose, they address virtually all critical topics students are exposed to in my two JHU graduate courses. Even as they provide a comprehensive overview for applying Industrial DevOps to today’s most challenging projects, Johnson & Yeman cite over 190 spot-on references that span the gamut for where a technical leader needs to go to complete needed deep-dives. If you are a technical leader or manager needing to step up your game for what’s ahead, start here.

Dr. Johnson and Dr. Yemen have created an excellent resource that drives home the idea that DevOps and Lean Techniques aren't constrained to software projects but are in use across the entire portfolios of the most successful organizations to be better, smarter, and faster. This is a fun read that mixes practical examples with actionable advise on how to design and implement continuous delivery for the messy reality of cyber-physical systems. The book's anecdotes are great tools to help colleagues and leadership understand the 'why' and 'what's next' on moving to continuous delivery on your team.

Industrial DevOps extends and integrates a body of principles and practices that are universally applicable and unequivocally valuable. If you are striving to “deliver better systems faster,” read this book!

I think this book will be a good introduction to DevOps for people who don't work in software development (or at least don't just work in software development). Applying Agile, Lean, and DevOps to cyber-physical systems will become critically important to the success of organizations like manufacturers and aerospace companies, and this book seems like a great place to start learning what those things mean & how to apply them.

"Industrial DevOps" by Robin Yeman and Dr. Suzette Johnson offers a clear, actionable guide to applying DevOps in cyber-physical systems. Beyond explaining nine key principles for efficiency and agility, it concludes each chapter with "Getting Started Tips," "Questions for Your Team," and "Coaching Tips." These sections provide concrete steps for adopting DevOps, helping readers navigate the complexities of cyber-physical systems development. A must-read for practical insights into enhancing system development processes.

If you want to implement agile at large scale, this is a must read. Suzette and Robin have extensive and impressive background in running large and complex cyber and physical systems within the aerospace and space industries.They were able to draw a lot of real life examples and lessons into this book.

It provides an overview of DevOps and provides general guidance and examples on how to apply to non-software products. The authors deserve credit for trying to address how agility & DevOPS can be applied to hardware systems. However, I found that the book contains a lot of repetition and duplicates many Agile/DevOPS/Lean concepts that are better described elsewhere.It summarizes existing bodies of knowledge without going into sufficient details to make it actionable. It is (too?) closely aligned with the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and (too little?) with Project to Product (P2P) centricity and (barely) with Lean Product Development (LPD).Unless all you want is a general understanding of many of these concepts, I suggest you read the authoritative sources of knowledge instead; be it the SAFe framework, the "DEVOPS Handbook" by Gene Kim et al, the “Project to Product” book from Mik Kersten along with the “Flow Framework” and more importantly, “Principles of Product Development FLOW” book from Don Reinertsen), only to name a few.