Microsoft Azure DevOps Reviews

We use it for automating our code builds, significantly enhancing collaboration, and accelerating our release cycles. By reducing release times, we're able to ship our product faster, thereby increasing productivity and efficiency.

We use continuous integration and continuous deployment through Azure DevOps. With CI, we gain the advantage of fully approved code merges, as demonstrated in your demo. This ensures clarity on which releases are destined for production. With continuous delivery, we seamlessly deploy to both our test and production servers.

Azure DevOps supports our agile project management and sprint planning processes. This enables us to release sets of features more efficiently and quickly within the Agile framework. Additionally, DevOps facilitates the approval of features, further streamlining our release process.

When using the Agile template, we have visibility into what tasks are available, in progress, upcoming, and completed. This comprehensive view allows higher management to easily track the current status of tasks, including which ones are being worked on and which are finished.

It significantly enhances the testing phase of our software development lifecycle. Previously, after development, we deployed our software to a common QA environment for testing. However, now with Azure Test Plans, we can create isolated environments for each solution using virtual machines. This isolation helps us identify and address issues specific to our product, without being hindered by environment-related issues. With continuous integration through CI/CD pipelines, once our build is completed and approved, it automatically deploys without manual intervention, streamlining the process further.

Since adopting Azure Pipelines, we have observed significant improvements in our release management process. Previously, the process involved various stages and multiple approval steps, leading to fragmentation. However, with Azure DevOps, the entire process is streamlined, allowing for seamless transitions from board check-in to release approval within the same solution.

Before using Azure DevOps, we couldn't release as swiftly as we can now. With Azure DevOps, our ability to release has significantly improved. This increased efficiency means we can release more versions of our product, leading to higher productivity and the shipment of more artifacts than before.

The features that have a significant impact on us include CI/CD, where we have full integration with the source code repository and Azure Pipelines. This enables us to efficiently review and approve source code for deployment and testing. Utilizing Azure Test Plans, we can deploy to virtual machines, facilitating streamlined processes in a dedicated environment.

At times, our development work encounters issues, particularly when executing numerous CI/CD processes. Occasionally, these processes may experience delays or errors, often stemming from unavailable features or functionality in the cloud environment. Improvement in this area is necessary for smoother and more reliable operations.

We have been using it for two years.

This solution is stable. However, as mentioned earlier, configuring multiple CI/CD pipelines, with numerous processes running concurrently, can occasionally lead to issues.

Being cloud-based, this product is highly scalable, offering the flexibility to scale horizontally or vertically as needed. With a relatively small team of ten to twenty users, the scalability of the product aligns well with our requirements. It is widely utilized by both developers and the QA team.

The initial setup varies depending on the complexity of the workload. Some cases are intricate and require significant time to develop the end product or work item. Conversely, there are simpler, smaller cases that can be completed quickly.

For deployment, assistance from Microsoft or a system integrator is essential. Customizing templates and processes requires their full support to tailor them to our specific requirements. Since it's a cloud-based solution, the need for managers is minimized as management becomes simpler. A team of two to three individuals is sufficient for configuring it effortlessly.

The licensing for this product is on a monthly basis. It is relatively inexpensive compared to other solutions that necessitate servers and physical hardware.

 Overall It offers a comprehensive array of features with accessibility and support for customizations and performance enhancements. Its extensive feature set covers various aspects, making it highly versatile. I strongly recommend Azure's demo for exploring CI/CD pipelines, boards, and customization options. It will undoubtedly streamline development activities, reducing effort and boosting productivity significantly. Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.

I work in a consulting firm responsible for adding, managing, and deploying government projects. We are using Microsoft Azure DevOps in one of the projects for backlog management, test planning, test execution, sprint planning, bug fixes, and enhancement requests. We use the solution for anything related to development testing.

The solution's most valuable features are backlog management, build release pipeline, and testing. They're easy, intuitive, and increase productivity. Usually, if you don't use such a solution, you end up using Excel. Then, you won't have shared documents, and there'll be no single source of growth. Everybody will keep a different document somewhere, and you will spend a lot of effort reconciling the latest status.

Using Microsoft Azure DevOps makes it really easy for us. Anytime you can see how many bugs are open, you can directly get it out of the tool. The solution's reporting is really easy. You can create ad hoc reports based on management requirements. If you are sitting in a meeting and somebody asks you the number of chain requests, bugs, or enhancements, you can create quick queries and show them the status. I think this directly affects productivity.

Microsoft Azure DevOps doesn't have an ITSM tool compared to its competitors. We also use Jira for another project, and Jira supports ITSM or ticketing. Since Microsoft Azure DevOps doesn't have this feature, we have to depend on another solution for service request management for support tickets.

The solution should include ITSM tools and security. DevSecOps are third-party security plug-ins that you can integrate with DevOps. Azure DevOps itself doesn't have anything out of the box. Enabling security so that the solution automatically starts checking things would be a really handy feature.

I have been using Microsoft Azure DevOps for three years.

We haven’t faced any issues with the solution’s stability.

I rate the solution a nine or ten out of ten for stability.

Since it's a SaaS solution, we haven't faced any scalability or performance issues, and we haven't struggled when we had a lot of users. We have gone through a curve. We started with around ten users. At the peak of the project, we had almost 50 users. Since we are in maintenance, we have come down to 10 to 15 users.

We use 100% of Microsoft Azure DevOps for our project. Everything is within Azure DevOps. If anybody says that we need to work on a feature, the first thing we do is create a DevOps item. So, we don't do anything outside DevOps.

The tool provides the features, but we haven't been able to onboard end users. We are a consultancy firm that works with system integrators and also engages with the end client. We have been able to onboard the system integrators, and we are also using it.

However, the end users still prefer sending emails and documents. If you send them a link to run a test script, they won't do it. So, the end users still prefer the old ways, such as emails and documents.

I rate the solution's scalability a nine or ten out of ten.

So far, we haven't faced any issues in terms of technical support. There is good documentation available if you are looking for support for configuration. So, you usually end up resolving your issues yourself. Since this tool is widely used, you can find help online. People are writing content about this solution, and Microsoft itself has good documentation.

On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a nine out of ten. The solution's initial setup is pretty easy, and the rollout is pretty quick. You can enable it and then keep on modifying and updating it.

It took us less than a week to deploy Azure DevOps. Since we were using a cloud environment, there was no infrastructure requirement. We went on Azure DevOps, created an organization, and then created a project. Inside the project, we selected the type of project.

There are different templates that you can follow, including the CMM-level approach or the basic approach. We selected one of the templates and copied the template. We made some modifications to the template for the project because that template is used for governing steps.

Then, we created depositories, which is pretty quick. In a week's time, we were up and running with backlog management. It took a couple of weeks to complete the automated build and deployment pipelines.

We needed one person to set up the project and one knowledgeable about the build and deployment pipelines. If you have a person who knows how to do the pipelines, you can also configure the project. So, one person is good enough to set up the entire project.

We have seen a return on investment with Microsoft Azure DevOps in terms of productivity because it really helps with the amount of time you need to consolidate reporting and planning. The status is always up to date, and the deployment is very streamlined. You can do the entire thing in Excel, but the overhead would be too much, and you would lose out on things. So, team synchronization and productivity are the return on investment with the solution.

I rate the solution’s return on investment a nine out of ten.

The solution's pricing is pretty cheap. The best part of the Azure DevOps and SaaS model is that there's no upfront cost. The tool has a per-user license. It's free for five users, and there is a price above five users. The solution's deployment and licensing costs are very cheap compared to those of its competitors.

The solution's pricing is not fixed. The solution's testing license is $50 per user. It's $15 for normal users who use backlog management. We have two people from the test team and seven from the other team. This is in maintenance.

Since we had a big testing team, we had 15 people in testing and 30 people in backlog management during peak time. You can say it has a 70:30 ratio. Most of the cost is in testing, and the backlog management is really cheap.

On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a three out of ten.

Before choosing Microsoft Azure DevOps, we evaluated other options like Jira and HP ALM. Jira is good at ITSM and backlog management, but it is dependent on third-party tools for pipeline deployment.

It's too complex to do product management with HP ALM. It's a good ITSM tool, but the process it follows for product management is very stringent, which is not very flexible for sprint planning. There is too much overhead in HP ALM to do quick sprints.

We are working with the SaaS (Software as a Service) version of the solution, which is on the cloud. Since Microsoft provides the latest upgrades and patches, it should be the latest version.

We start by creating backlog items. Whenever we get a requirement, we log it into Azure DevOps and plan the backlog. The backlog includes what features we need to develop and what tasks we need to assign to each developer. Each developer is part of the DevOps. Once you have created that backlog, we assign it to different developers based on a sprint.

Suppose we are going to run a four-week development cycle. So, we plan the development cycle, pick a few items from the backlog, assign them to that sprint, assign them to the developer, and then manage the execution of that development cycle. Once that's completed, we will transfer it to the test team so they can test it in Azure DevOps.

They have test scripts that are documented in Azure DevOps. They run tests, record videos, and capture screenshots in Azure DevOps. After the test verification, we deploy the solution. In addition to backlog management and product management, we use Azure DevOps for build and release deployment. We don't manually go and build the software.

Our code repository is also part of DevOps. As soon as we check in the new code, Azure DevOps automatically builds the solution and then deploys it in the development environment. Once it's confirmed, the same is deployed to quality and production. We use the solution to do everything end to end, other than ITSM.

Specifically, Azure DevOps is integrated with deployment for us. When we manually deploy a solution, it's prone to errors. We use Azure for website deployment and Azure DevOps for Apple app or Google app deployment.

As soon as the approval is done in Azure DevOps, apps are automatically published. It will publish an app on the Google Play Store, Apple Play Store, and Azure, which we use for web hosting. So, it is integrated with web hosting, Apple Store, and Google Play Store.

The solution does not really need any maintenance. Once you enable the testing solution, you can start creating your test plans and test scripts directly. Every time you do a deployment, you just need to run those test scripts, which is pretty easy. It's more about creating your test script than configuring the tool. Even if I do it in Excel, I need to spend time on that.

The solution's analytics and reporting are pretty easy. We use them very often on an ad hoc basis whenever we discuss and plan what to deploy and what the next steps are. It's pretty easy, and we haven't faced an issue where we weren't able to take out any reports just by doing it on an ad hoc basis. It's pretty easy, and you don't need to write code or anything.

The tool is pretty flexible and easy to use. I suggest starting with the cloud version because you can create your project easily. Since it's free for five users, organizations with budget constraints can start playing with limited users. I would say start with the cloud-based version and start playing with it. Once you get comfortable with it, you can expand it for other projects. The tool serves a wide variety of use cases.

The biggest key trend these days is fast deployments or quick releases. Given how competitive the market has become, you need to keep on adding features to your product. Azure DevOps supports the sprint methodology, which supports fast deployment.

On top of that, it supports automated build release deployment. That was a headache when I started working. Sometimes, you forget a file when deploying in production, and your system will go down. The solution's features support the latest fast or quick deployment trend.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Azure DevOps helps us automate building, testing, and deploying our code through CI/CD pipelines.

Valuable features for project management and tracking in Azure DevOps include a portal displaying test results, check-in/check-out activity, and developer/tester productivity. This portal provides options to view development and testing velocity effectively.

I don't see any major need for improvement in Azure DevOps. The only downside is that the deployment could be a little challenging but it is manageable.

I have been using Microsoft Azure DevOps for the last four years.

We have not had any stability issues with the solution.

Azure DevOps is highly scalable and fairly straightforward to scale as needed.

As a Microsoft partner, my clients range from medium to large organizations, with a focus on larger clients. However, I also serve some smaller life insurance companies.

I have received excellent tech support from Microsoft and I would rate them as a ten out of ten.

Positive

I have used Amazon and Micro Focus products in addition to Microsoft offerings, though the majority of my work has been with Microsoft. The main difference is in the documentation and available tech support, where Microsoft excelled with abundant resources compared to Amazon and Micro Focus.

Deploying Azure DevOps pipelines can be complex, but it is straightforward with careful planning and step-by-step execution. Challenges may arise from the multitude of options and design considerations, requiring expertise or guidance from experienced professionals. While there is ample learning material available online, structured examples could enhance usability by providing clearer guidance amidst the vast amount of documentation.

Microsoft's licensing and pricing for Azure DevOps are competitive within the market. While it may be expensive, it is almost the same as the pricing for comparable products in the industry. I would rate the pricing as a six out of ten in terms of costliness.

I prefer Azure DevOps over other solutions. I appreciate its intuitive YAML-based definition language and find its object model and configuration more intuitive than other systems.

We used Azure DevOps to collaborate on migrating a legacy banking application from a mainframe to a Windows platform. The project aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of migrating legacy banking systems.

Azure Repos improves code version control and collaboration by providing a centralized repository for source code. It enables multiple developers to work on the same project, track revision history, and merge code changes efficiently, essential for collaborative development environments.

Using Azure Test Plans significantly improves software quality by enabling structured test planning and automation. This ensures that code is thoroughly tested, enhancing solution integrity and mitigating risks associated with code implementation.

Integrating Azure DevOps with other tools and services is straightforward and intuitive. I found it easy to integrate monitoring and other tools with Azure DevOps.

Before implementing Microsoft Azure DevOps, new users should be aware that it is a complex software requiring careful planning and design. Conduct a proof of concept to ensure it meets your needs, and engage specialists to design your environment accordingly. Additionally, be prepared for a cultural shift in utilizing the tool effectively.

Overall, I would rate Azure DevOps as a nine out of ten. I always recommend it to all of my customers.

We use Microsoft Azure DevOps as a code repository, for task and work management, software tests, and documentation.

The most valuable feature of the solution is task management.

The solution could be made faster because it can be a little unnerving to browse through too many pages and press too many buttons.

I have been using Microsoft Azure DevOps for six years.

Microsoft Azure DevOps is a stable solution.

I rate the solution ten out of ten for stability.

Microsoft Azure DevOps is a scalable solution. In my current company, around 30 users are using the solution. In my previous organization, more than 100 users were using Microsoft Azure DevOps.

The solution makes you faster. You can organize your work in an easy and shared way. You can configure different types of access to allow some people just to read and to be able to modify some things. Since the solution gives you all the benefits of Git, you have a commit history.

We have an MPN subscription for Microsoft Azure DevOps, and it's all included.

Microsoft Azure DevOps is deployed on the cloud in our organization. The product supports our agile project management practices very well. We can configure a process, and it would give you some different types of tasks, like the epics feature, user stories, and tasks. We need very little staff for the solution's deployment and maintenance.

For source control, we use Git repositories that are perfectly integrated into our IDE, Visual Studio 2022. Everything is available, and we can create or pull requests from Microsoft Azure DevOps. We can also manage, reject, and accept the requests. I would recommend the solution to other users.

Using Azure Boards for tracking work items and bugs is clear and visually appealing. It's easy to add tasks. In our current configuration, every time I go inside the tasks and go back using the browser, it doesn't redirect me to Azure Boards, even if I am coming from there.

Since the solution is available as Software as a Service (SaaS), you won't need to do any setup, installation management, etc. It's very straightforward, and there is no particular study required. To a certain degree, the solution is configurable and can suit different use cases. It is working very well in terms of Git repositories. Microsoft Azure DevOps is also very accessible.

You can define tasks using Microsoft Azure DevOps and then reference them when you write a commit message or push code. You can open a previous commit in the browser from Visual Studio, and you can use DevOps to compare some files or to check commits done by Visual Studio. So, the solution is perfectly integrated.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

We use the solution mostly for automation, deployment, generating build, and creating virtual machines.

The build and release management features are valuable. The deployment packages are also valuable.

Requirements traceability must be customizable. It is very difficult to integrate the product with third-party tools. It is all proprietary. It's not very customizable. It should be managed better. The product is not sufficient to generate documentation automatically.

I have been using the solution for three to four years.

The tool’s stability is good. I rate the stability a nine out of ten.

We have around 60 users in our organization.

The turnaround time is high.

Positive

My team set up the solution. It took one and a half years to stabilize.

The tool helps us save reasonably.

The solution is expensive.

Overall, I rate the product a seven out of ten.

We integrate the report pipelines with Azure pipelines, automating the creation of pipelines and initiating deployments automatically. Our process includes continuous integration, deployment, and branching strategies.

The tool's most efficient feature is the integration of its services in one place. It is an easy-to-use product that improves productivity. Microsoft Azure DevOps is also user-friendly. Its documentation is clear and can be found on Google. 

Microsoft Azure DevOps should create some training materials. 

I have been using the product for more than four years. 

Microsoft Azure DevOps is a stable solution. 

The product is scalable. 

I haven't contacted the technical support team yet. 

I rate Microsoft Azure DevOps a nine out of ten. 

My clients use Azure DevOps primarily for managing code deployment pipelines. We follow a structured process of pushing code from the development environment to testing and then to production, and Azure DevOps is crucial in this workflow. We leverage its version control capabilities to maintain and track our codebase efficiently. Additionally, we make use of its dashboard service to monitor and manage employee hours, helping us keep a close eye on project timelines and resource allocation.

The most valuable aspect of Azure DevOps for me is its robust version control functionality, which is critical for our workflow. I find it particularly useful how easy it is to automate pipelines. When we push code changes, the system automatically runs the entire pipeline, and the clear visualization of logs is a great benefit. This feature allows us to quickly pinpoint issues and understand what went wrong with our processes or tools, making troubleshooting much more efficient.

While there is always room for improvement, I don't have any urgent issues or specific feature requests right now. I'm content with Azure DevOps as it is. Its functions are standard and easy to use for those familiar with such tools. However, the only thing that could be improved is the stability of the solution.

I have been using Microsoft Azure DevOps for two months.

The solution is generally stable but not entirely issue-free. While problems do occur occasionally, they have become less frequent, occurring around six times less often than before. For example, a recent issue occurred when a dependency was updated, causing the pipeline to crash. However, with the help of logs and troubleshooting, we were able to identify and resolve the problem by making adjustments to the Docker file. I would rate the stability as an eight out of ten. There is room for improvement in terms of stability, as there are occasional issues that require manual intervention to address. While progress has been made, there is a desire to achieve a level of stability where network removal is not necessary in the first place.

Azure DevOps is highly scalable and works effectively even for large-scale projects. It can handle the demands of extensive engineering work and is generally robust in terms of scalability.

The technical support is good and quite responsive.

I have experience with using GitLab. Comparing GitLab and Azure DevOps, GitLab excels in functionality and offers excellent integration capabilities with Azure DevOps. However, Azure DevOps has a more user-friendly UI. The choice between the two depends on specific project needs and preferences.

The installation of Azure DevOps is straightforward because it is a web-based platform. You don't need to create solutions or go through complex setup procedures, making it a user-friendly option. Maintenance for Azure DevOps is minimal, especially if you have automated processes in place. If your solution uses Docker and you have set up automated updates on Docker Hub, the environment can essentially upgrade itself without much proactive maintenance. However, if issues arise, you can make adjustments to the configurations as needed, allowing for a more reactive approach to maintenance.

My advice to those looking to use Azure DevOps would be to make good use of the documentation available on their website. It is a valuable resource that can help answer questions and provide clarity on various aspects of the platform. Overall, I would rate Microsoft Azure DevOps as an eight out of ten.

Being a project manager, it is necessary to create sprint, and kanban boards for management decision-making and our product life cycle. We use the solution for sprint backlog creation and bug reporting for IT department fixation. The dashboard is an interesting feature with visibility on the pending due dates. 

Since using this software, we have revoked the usage of MS Office tools and prefer to instead use Azure.

Azure is one of the few project management software solutions that provide a clear view of project standing, and sprint of product backlog as well. 

As far as my organization is concerned, we use this software for managing the project life cycle where we raise change request forms here and the IT developer provides the solution and from there we can conduct the UAT and sign off for closure. 

The entire product life cycle is being managed with task assignments so broader and a clear understanding of scope is provided by this software and the organization can better understand its current progress.

The available Kanban board is the best feature for management decisions. The sprint capabilities of the product break down the feature and characteristics of the product into steps and if any step is pending we may forward it to the backlog. 

Microsoft Azure is an Agile methodology, so multiple steps can be performed by different user segments in order to achieve the scope smoothly. 

More features can be included. We'd like to see better Kanban templates and an audio-video chat facility. 

The bug reporting facility can be enriched; there is nothing to mark "passed" "failed" the test cases. 

The dashboard can be enriched. 

Related links must be visible on the dashboard for integration purposes. 

I've used the solution for the last two years.

The stability is good.

The scalability is good.

Customer service and support are good. 

Positive

We did not use a different solution previously.

The initial setup is a little bit complex.

We worked with the vendor.

We have witnessed a good return on investment. 

This is good software for a reasonable price.

We did not evaluate other options.