Edit

Share via

Scale Agile practices across teams

Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2022 | Azure DevOps Server 2020

As organizations grow, Azure Boards provides scalable tools to extend Agile practices across multiple teams and projects. The platform's team-based architecture enables both team autonomy and organizational visibility, supporting everything from small startups to large organizations.

Core scaling approach

Azure Boards scales through a flexible team model where each team operates independently while contributing to larger organizational goals. This approach provides:

  • Team autonomy with dedicated backlogs, boards, and sprint planning
  • Organizational visibility through portfolio rollups and cross-team reporting
  • Flexible hierarchies that adapt to your organizational structure
  • Coordinated delivery across multiple teams and projects

Each team gets their own configurable set of Agile tools while maintaining connections to the broader organizational context. For guidance on team setup, see About teams and Agile tools.

Video: Agile at Scale

Scaling capabilities

Portfolio management

Portfolio management in Azure Boards enables executives and program managers to gain visibility across multiple teams and projects. Key capabilities include:

  • Multi-level work hierarchies from epics down to tasks across teams
  • Cross-team progress tracking with rollup reporting
  • Resource allocation visibility and capacity planning
  • Dependency management between teams and projects
  • Leadership dashboards with high-level metrics and KPIs

Portfolio views help leaders understand delivery progress, identify bottlenecks, and make informed decisions about resource allocation and priorities.

For more information, see Manage portfolios.

Delivery plans

Delivery Plans provide timeline-based coordination for multi-team environments. These interactive calendar views show:

  • Cross-team feature delivery across multiple sprints
  • Timeline visualization of planned work and milestones
  • Dependency relationships between teams and work items
  • Capacity planning and resource allocation insights
  • Release coordination for complex, multi-team deliveries

Delivery Plans help program managers coordinate releases, identify scheduling conflicts, and ensure aligned execution across development teams.

For more information, see Review delivery plans.

Multi-team dashboards

Azure Boards provides flexible dashboard capabilities for both operational and strategic reporting:

  • Team dashboards for sprint tracking and daily operations
  • Program dashboards aggregating metrics across multiple teams
  • Leadership dashboards with strategic KPIs and health indicators
  • Custom widgets for organization-specific metrics
  • Real-time data reflecting current project status

You can tailor dashboards to different audiences, from developers tracking sprint progress to leaders monitoring overall portfolio health.

For more information, see Add and manage dashboards.

When to use scaling features

Portfolio management

Use portfolio management when you need:

  • Visibility across multiple teams or projects
  • Leadership reporting on delivery progress
  • Cross-team dependency tracking
  • Resource allocation planning at scale

Delivery plans

Use delivery plans when you need:

  • Coordinated releases across multiple teams
  • Timeline visualization of feature delivery
  • Dependency management between teams
  • Capacity planning across sprints and teams

Multi-team dashboards

Use multi-team dashboards when you need:

  • Stakeholder reporting at various organizational levels
  • Real-time visibility into project health
  • Custom metrics specific to your organization
  • Automated reporting to reduce manual overhead

Scaling considerations

When implementing Azure Boards at scale, consider these organizational, technical, and cultural factors that affect success.

Organizational factors

  • Team structure: How teams are organized and their relationships
  • Communication patterns: How information flows between teams
  • Decision-making processes: Who makes what decisions and when
  • Reporting needs: What visibility different stakeholders require

For comprehensive guidance on scaling organizational practices, see Practices that scale.

Technical factors

  • Work item hierarchies: How work is broken down and organized
  • Area path strategy: How to organize work by feature or team boundaries
  • Iteration alignment: Whether teams share sprint schedules or operate independently
  • Integration needs: How Azure Boards connects with other development tools

To understand cross-team coordination approaches, see Visibility across teams.

Cultural factors

  • Agile maturity: How comfortable teams are with Agile practices
  • Collaboration patterns: How teams work together and share information
  • Change management: How the organization adapts to new processes and tools
  • Continuous improvement: How teams and the organization learn and evolve

Learn more about fostering the right mindset in Agile culture and scale. For broader organizational change, see Agile culture.

Benefits of scaling with Azure Boards

For development teams

  • Maintain autonomy while contributing to organizational goals
  • Focus on their specific work without losing broader context
  • Collaborate effectively with other teams when needed
  • Access tools that adapt to their preferred working style

For program managers

  • Gain visibility across multiple teams without micromanaging
  • Coordinate complex deliveries involving multiple teams
  • Identify and resolve cross-team dependencies
  • Plan and track progress toward larger organizational objectives

For leadership

  • Understand delivery progress and organizational health
  • Make informed decisions about priorities and resource allocation
  • Track progress toward strategic objectives
  • Maintain visibility without detailed operational involvement

Getting started with scaling features

Azure Boards scaling capabilities build upon foundational team practices. Organizations typically evolve their usage as they grow:

  1. Start with individual teams using basic backlogs and boards
  2. Add cross-team visibility as coordination needs emerge
  3. Implement portfolio management for leadership reporting
  4. Scale delivery planning for complex, multi-team releases

The platform grows with your organization, supporting both simple team workflows and complex organizational scenarios.

Whether you're just beginning to scale or looking to optimize existing practices, these resources provide deeper insights into expanding team structures and optimizing dynamics:

These resources complement Azure Boards capabilities by addressing the people and process aspects of scaling Agile practices successfully.