Operational Value Stream Vs. Development Value Stream
Value Streams are the basic requirements for understanding, organizing and even delivering value in Scaled Agile Framework. There are two kinds of Value Streams. They are Operational Value Stream and Development Value Stream. The former encompasses the procedures and individuals delivering value to customers. They do this using organizational solutions generated by the latter. The latter encompasses the procedures and individuals developing the organizational solutions used by the Operational Value Streams. Development Value Streams are the streams that Scaled Agile Framework improves. We are here to compare the Operational Value Stream vs Development Value Stream. But, before this comparison, it is better to know how to identify these Value Streams.
How To Identify Operational Value Streams?
When you take the case of small organizations, identifying an Operational Value Stream is easy as they encompass the products and services that a business sells. But, when it comes to large organizations, it can be hard to identify Operational Value Streams. To make this identification easier for bigger organizations, the following picture from Scaled Agile Framework Inc. provides a list of questions to ask based on the type of products that a company deals with:
Source: Scaled Agile
Finding answers to the questions in the above image based on the type of product or service a business deals with will help with identifying the Operational Value Stream.
Four Categories of Operational Value Stream:
Identifying the Operational Value Stream will become easier when you know the four categories of this Value Stream. The reason is that Operational Value Streams generally come under one of these four categories:
- The fulfillment Value Stream is a category that encompasses service or product that a company delivers in return for compensation.
- Manufacturing Value Streams encompass products that are delivered by a company to customers by taking materials and building something.
- The software product Value Stream encompasses software products and the support offered to them.
- Supporting Value Stream encompasses top-to-bottom workflows to support varied activities like offboarding and onboarding of employees.
When you look into the above four categories, you will not find that any particular department or section in an organization involves in a single category. It means that to make a single Operational Value Stream, it becomes important for many sections in an organization to work together.
Once the Operational Value Streams are identified, the next step your business will have to follow is to identify the solutions used for supporting every Value Stream. In other words, the business should identify the solutions that every Value Stream provides to customers. Also, the business should identify what teams or people should involve in each Operational Value Stream. These are individuals, who will either support or build the solutions. Also, it becomes important to know, where these people are located. It means that it should be identified whether they will operate from a particular location or virtually.
How To Identify Development Value Streams?
Once Operational Value Streams are identified, the following step is to find the steps required for bringing together the people involved and developing the solutions. The Development Value Stream is different from the Operational Value Stream. It should have a trigger and a value. For instance, let us consider that an organization thinks that it will be possible to add value to a product by including a feature. In this case, the trigger can be something like a request for the feature from a customer.
In most organizations, you will find a single Value Stream alone. This will happen particularly in organizations that deal with a single service or product. The tasks done to add worth to these services or products will be the outcome of a single Value Stream in these organizations. But, in some organizations, there will be more than a single Value Stream. Also, most of them will be completely independent in these organizations.
Once you identify the Development Value Stream and its triggers, it is time to identify the groups or people part of these streams. In some way or another, the entire organization would probably be involved in the process. For a better understanding, take the example of a software development company. This company intends to develop a fresh feature to its product for instance. In this case, the company will have an engineering team for developing the feature. Also, there will be a support team that will work with customers once the feature is out. Further, the organization will have a finance team to take care of the payments received from customers. Also, the organization will have a legal team for making sure that the product complies with regulations. In addition to all these teams, the security group will take care of the fact that data integration happens safely.
Difference between Operational Value Stream and Development Value Stream:
What Do They Represent?
When you take the case of operational Value Streams, they correlate straight to a particular value driver. Also, they represent the nature and the flow of the business. They deliver value to customers continuously as long as a company continues to provide a given service or product. Also, Operational Value Streams are always supported by Development Value Streams. They use key results and objectives not only to set but also to communicate and keep an eye on the goals.
When it comes to Development Value Streams, they support Operational Value Streams. They function as a subsystem that ensures that the Operational Value Stream can operate successfully. Development Value Streams develop and administer the systems and their knacks. These systems warrant Operational Value. These Value Streams can either be internally-facing or customer-facing. They improve capabilities and systems that the Operational Value Stream requires. The reason is that Operational Value Streams need them for proper functioning. You can gain a better understanding of the Operational vs Development Value Streams from the tabular column below:
Conclusion:
From the above table that compares Operational Value Stream vs Development Value Stream, it is understood that both of them are dependent on each other. Together they can help with adding value to your projects and their outcomes. Defining both these streams is among the crucial steps in your Scaled Agile Framework journey.
References:
- https://scaledagile.com/podcast/operational-and-development-value-streams/
- https://www.scaledagileframework.com/identify-value-streams-and-arts/
- https://blog.planview.com/operational-vs-development-value-streams-whats-the-difference/
- https://blog.planview.com/identifying-your-value-streams-frequently-ask-questions/
