There and Back Again: Seeking Balance in the Implementation of Post-agile Approaches

Post-agile approaches (e.g., DevOps) that integrate development and operations have been proposed to improve the quality and time-to-market of digital products. Notwithstanding the benefits of these approaches, we still know little about the ways they are implemented to enable integration between development and operations. Accordingly, we ask the research question “How are post-agile approaches implemented, and what are the expected benefits associated with their implementation?”. Drawing from paradox theory, we conceptualize the seamless integration between development and operations as a state of perfect tension. Interviews with 23 industry professionals reveal three main perspectives on the implementation of post-agile approaches in practice: tool-centric, actor-centric, and task-centric. We also find that the ideal tension between development and operations is typically out of balance, with a focus on the operationalization of development activities. Based on these preliminary findings, our work contributes to literature on the development and operation of digital products.