Auditable DevOps Automation via VSM and GQM

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive framework combining Value Stream Mapping, Goal--Question--Metric, and DevOps automation to help organizations justify and prioritize automation efforts based on strategic project outcomes.

Contribution

It presents a novel, traceable approach integrating visualization, goal alignment, and automation to improve DevOps practices and outcomes.

Findings

Framework operationalizes traceability from waste to goals.

Prioritization balances impact, confidence, and cost.

Validation protocol combines telemetry analysis and qualitative methods.

Abstract

DevOps automation can accelerate software delivery, yet many organizations still struggle to justify and prioritize automation work in terms of strategic project-management outcomes such as waste reduction, delivery predictability, cross-team coordination, and customer-facing quality. This paper presents \textit{VSM--GQM--DevOps}, a unified, traceable framework that integrates (i) Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to visualize the end-to-end delivery system and quantify delays, rework, and handoffs, (ii) the Goal--Question--Metric (GQM) paradigm to translate stakeholder objectives into a minimal, decision-relevant measurement model (combining DORA with project and team outcomes), and (iii) maturity-aligned DevOps automation to remediate empirically observed bottlenecks through small, reversible interventions. The framework operationalizes traceability from observed waste to goal-aligned questions, metrics, and automation candidates, and provides a defensible prioritization approach that balances expected impact, confidence, and cost. We also define a multi-site, longitudinal mixed-method validation protocol that combines telemetry-based quasi-experimental analysis (interrupted time series and, where feasible, controlled rollouts) with qualitative triangulation from interviews and retrospectives. The expected contribution is a validated pathway and a set of practical instruments that enables organizations to select automation investments that demonstrably improve both delivery performance and project-management outcomes.