An Evolutionary DevOps Journey at BCITO Te Pūkenga

In 2020, the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) Te Pūkenga engaged Seisma Group to embark on a transformative three year DevOps journey. By implementing agile practices, streamlining release management, and ultimately integrating Copado’s automation tools, BCITO significantly enhanced efficiency, collaboration, and innovation. The journey, challenges, and outcomes that arose from the deployment of a comprehensive solution for BCITO confirmed the need for a DevOps transformation.

BCITO selected Seisma Group for their deep expertise in DevOps transformation and their proven track record in delivering Salesforce-integrated solutions. With both organisations focused on driving operational efficiency through agile methodologies and continuous integration, the partnership was a natural fit. Additionally, Seisma Group’s existing relationship with Copado and experience with similar clients made them a trusted partner in addressing BCITO’s unique challenges.

Barriers to Operational Efficiency

Before the implementation, BCITO’s deployment processes were highly manual, leading to inefficiencies, long deployment times, and considerable stress on the team. Rosanna Kelly, Agile Team Leader at BCITO, noted,

"The landscape was chaotic; there were no product teams, and no proper software delivery process."

The GSD team was manually deploying changes into production, which created several inefficiencies:

• Manual tracking of metadata changes: Without an automated system, tracking changes was prone to errors and time-consuming.

• Manual running of tests: The lack of a shared system of record meant tests had to be run manually, increasing the risk of inconsistencies and errors.

• Inefficiencies in rolling back deployments: Rolling back changes was complex and error-prone, often leading to extended downtime.

• Lead time between development and feature in production: The process from development to production took approximately four weeks, delaying the release of new features.

• Out-of-sync sandboxes: Development sandboxes were often out of sync with production, causing unnecessary overhead and difficulties in development.

The Transformation Strategy

BCITO introduced a phased DevOps transformation strategy to address their challenges:

First Phase: Establishing a Continuous Deployment Culture
‍The initial focus was on coaching the team in agile delivery and breaking down silos. This phase involved implementing basic Scrum and Lean frameworks, which helped the team shift from being reactive to proactive in handling business requests.

Second Phase: Moving to a Unified Platform
‍The team onboarded new members prioritising mindset and adaptability, with technical skills being secondary. They also focused on improving communication and collaboration with the business, which laid the groundwork for agile practices.

Third Phase: Automating Integrations and Improving Quality
‍With a more cohesive team in place, the focus shifted to implementing automation tools and improving quality testing strategies. To ensure the best fit for BCITO’s environment, Seisma Group conducted a comprehensive evaluation in which Copado emerged as the ideal CI/CD tool due to its native Salesforce integration, existing internal expertise, and competitive cost structure. The introduction of Copado in 2022, proved essential for automating deployments and managing technical debt.

Copado Implementation

BCITO’s success with Copado stemmed from a well-supported implementation process. The organisation was assigned an implementation team and engaged in several weeks of collaboration between their delivery team and the Copado implementation team. Comprehensive training ensured that the BCITO team was well-prepared to kick off once the implementation was completed. Rosanna stated,

“Copado drastically reduced the manual steps in releases, it’s easy to use and we haven't experienced any unsuccessful releases since.”

Overcoming Challenges

Despite the successes, the transition wasn’t without its challenges. BCITO had to overcome initial resistance to new ways of working, particularly during the first year when agile practices were introduced. Shifting to a DevOps model required significant changes in culture, communication, and processes, which met with some reluctance from team members.

Another major hurdle was addressing the technical debt accumulated over time. The team’s code coverage was at a low 5% making it difficult to confidently deploy new features. This required rigorous efforts in test strategy and automation. Integrating automation tools like Copado presented its own set of challenges, particularly around aligning the new processes with existing workflows and ensuring that the team was adequately trained. However, through persistent coaching and collaboration, the team adapted, allowing them to fully leverage the benefits of automation.

Lastly, managing the balance between innovation and operational stability was an ongoing challenge. Implementing new tools and practices had to be done without disrupting existing operations, which required careful planning and phased execution.

Transforming Outcomes

The implementation of Copado delivered significant and lasting improvements for BCITO:

Faster Deployments: Deployment times were dramatically reduced from up to six hours to as little as 20 minutes, enabling quicker releases and reducing risks.

Improved Collaboration and Quality: The transition to Copado fostered a more cohesive team dynamic, with improved communication and job satisfaction. With manual processes reduced, the team could focus more on innovation and continuous improvement. Rosanna explained,

"Before Copado, all our releases were done manually, which was a nightmare, especially with large data migrations and frequent rollbacks."

Scalability and Flexibility: Copado’s automation features like metadata tracking, apex test runs, and static code analysis streamlined processes, reduced errors, and made the platform scalable to handle future growth seamlessly.

Efficient Resource Allocation: Automation allowed the team to focus on strategic tasks like refining processes and aligning better with business priorities. Bill Wu, Salesforce Consultant at Seisma Group explained,

“With Copado, we can bundle stories for deployment according to business priorities, which has streamlined the release process significantly.”

Enhanced Productivity and Team Morale: Copado reduced stress by automating repetitive tasks and keeping environments in sync, leading to a more productive and satisfied team. Rosanna highlighted,

"We no longer fear deployments; we’ve gone from working until 10 pm to finishing deployments in 30 minutes after business hours."

These benefits resulted in a DevOps environment that allowed BCITO to innovate faster, improve release quality, and better meet business needs.

From Challenges to Triumph

BCITO’s DevOps transformation, guided by Seisma Group, highlights the value of a structured and collaborative approach in driving continuous improvement. This journey demonstrated that prioritising a strong team culture, addressing technical debt early, and strategically integrating automation are key factors in achieving operational excellence.

The transformation not only streamlined BCITO’s deployment processes but also significantly boosted team morale and productivity. With faster deployment times, enhanced collaboration, and improved scalability, BCITO is now positioned to innovate more rapidly and meet evolving business demands.

This transformation journey serves as a testament to the power of agile methodologies and continuous integration in building a resilient and adaptable organisation.

As BCITO moves forward, ongoing collaboration with Seisma Group ensures they remain agile, efficient, and capable of innovating in response to changing business demands.