Digital Readiness for Software Development Teams

Ready to Launch a Scrum Team Most people think of a Definition of Ready (DoR) as a checklist for backlog items before they enter a sprint. But before any of that matters, there’s a more fundamental readiness check - one that determines if the team itself is ready. This DoR for Team Launch establishes the organizational, logistical, and practical preconditions as a readiness checklist. Team Launch Readiness Checklist 1) Purpose Defined The team’s mission and the value stream or product it supports are clearly understood. Risk: Team flounders, completing tasks instead of delivering value. 2) Team Members Identified and Fully Allocated SM, PO, and Developers are named and available. Team members have sufficient capacity and have agreed to team norms. Risk: Accountability is vague, availability unreliable, and cohesion weak. 3) Team is Truly Cross-Functional The team has all people and skills needed to deliver end-to-end value without constant reliance on others. Risk: Work gets blocked, dependencies accumulate, and delivery slows. 4) Product Backlog Exists An initial, refined backlog is available to support the first sprint. Risk: Sprint Planning becomes guesswork, and the team wastes time. 5) PO is Empowered The PO can make decisions, prioritize work, and access stakeholders. Risk: Decisions stall, priorities shift, and the backlog becomes a job queue. 6) SM is Equipped and Authorized The SM understands their role and is empowered to protect the team’s time and focus. Risk: Interruptions cause delays, dysfunction grows, and Scrum is just more meetings. 7) Tech and Tools Are Ready All required ALM, development, testing, collaboration, and deployment tools are functional. Risk: The team spends more time waiting than building. 8) Stakeholders Engaged Key stakeholders are known, understand their role, and commit to feedback loops. Risk: Team ships with inadequate direction or validation. 9) Working Agreements Established Team norms, event cadence, and the DoD are agreed upon and documented. Risk: Misalignment breeds frustration, and "done" becomes a moving target. 10) Team Understands Its Workflow and Metrics The team understands its workflow and how value flows through it. Metrics are defined to measure and improve flow. Risk: Bottlenecks stay invisible, improvements are accidental, and value delivery can't be measured. 11) Team Training Completed Team members understand Scrum, the Agile mindset, and the tools they’ll use. Risk: Team struggles with basics, and every event becomes a training session. 12) First Sprint Planning Scheduled The team has a start date and Scrum events scheduled. Risk: Team drifts, momentum is lost, and frustration sets in before work begins. Setting up a Scrum Team for success takes discipline. Skip these readiness checks and, at best, the team will struggle. At worst, they'll abandon Scrum and blame Agile instead of addressing the conditions under which they were forced to start.

Our world has become increasingly digital. Because of this, the demand for reliable, durable, and efficient technology is at an all-time high. Luckily, performance engineering can play a role in improving tech across a wide variety of industries. At Quest Global, we believe organizations can implement a 7-step approach. This integrates performance engineering into every phase of the software development lifecycle. Abhijeet Marathe, Digital Technology Leader at Quest Global, lays out the 7 steps: 1️⃣ Early-stage performance planning: Teams must establish performance benchmarks and KPIs during the planning phase to align performance objectives with business goals. 2️⃣ Performance-centric architecture: High-performing systems begin with solid architectural decisions. This includes selecting the right frameworks and technologies that meet performance demands, such as cloud-native architectures or microservices. 3️⃣ Automated performance testing: Utilizing tools like JMeter, LoadRunner, and Gatling to continuously test the system under simulated loads. This ensures that the application can handle real-world scenarios without failure. 4️⃣ Real-time monitoring: Tools such as Prometheus, AWS CloudWatch, or Azure Monitor allow businesses to monitor application performance in production environments, identifying bottlenecks and performance degradation before they impact users. 5️⃣ Address technical debt early: Proactively managing technical debt by refactoring code and addressing quick fixes can prevent future performance issues. Regular code reviews and updates should be part of the development cycle. 6️⃣ Emerging tech adoption: Utilizing AI and machine learning for predictive analytics can help anticipate performance issues before they occur. Automation tools can also streamline testing and monitoring processes. 7️⃣ Collaboration between teams: Cross-functional collaboration between development, operations, and quality assurance ensures that performance is a shared responsibility. If you're interested in learning more about performance engineering, be sure to check out our full blog post on the subject: https://lnkd.in/dQpkBXHT #PerformanceEngineering #DigitalTransformation #SoftwareDevelopment

Digital readiness isn’t just about learning new tools. It’s about becoming the kind of person who thrives when everything around you is changing. That’s why Bruce Kasanoff and I created the Digital Readiness Self-Assessment. It’s not a test. It’s a conversation starter. A mirror. A way to understand where you stand today and what it will take to grow into tomorrow. When we introduced this framework in two recent workshops, the response was immediate. Participants started using it at once, not just personally, but also with their teams. They dove deep, and asked profound questions that we then explored together. It instantly became a tool for collaboration and truth-telling. For individuals, this tool helps clarify what to work on next. Maybe you’ve mastered a few technologies but haven’t yet built the habit of proactive adaptation. Maybe you’re curious but still waiting for permission to explore. It shows you that growth isn’t about perfection; it’s about movement. For teams, it creates a shared language. Instead of saying “we need to be more digital,” you can talk about what that actually means. Are we explorers or integrators? Are we practicing deliberate learning or connecting to purpose? Those questions lead to better conversations than general back and forth about “should we use AI?” For departments, the framework becomes a map. You can see where you’re strong and where you’re stuck. It helps you decide where to invest training time, how to design mentoring programs, and how to spread confidence across the group. And for entire organizations, it can change the culture. It shifts digital transformation from something you buy to something you become. It reminds everyone that readiness is a human quality. It grows when curiosity grows. One quality that makes this so effective is that it’s non-threatening. No one feels labeled. It’s a tool for insight, not judgment. When used well, it invites people to move forward together, with less fear and more hope. If your team or company is trying to prepare for the next chapter of this digital era, we would be happy to walk you through how this works. It’s not about catching up to technology. It’s about catching up to your own potential.