Implementing Dependency Management using Azure DevOps

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While the techniques included in this article are specifically for Azure DevOps, other Agile/Scrum tools provide similar capabilities.  Jira, from Atlassian, has a number of plug ins which can help with dependency mapping.

For Process Best Practices see Managing Dependencies on a Scaled Agile team

Azure DevOps Implementation

Azure DevOps allows users to link two work items together.  For dependency management it is best to use the Predecessor and/or Successor links.

How to create a Predecessor Link between two user stories

 Dependency 01  
  1. The user story has been assigned to a specific team
  2. The user story has been assigned to a specific iteration
  3. The user story does not have any Related Links.  
Dependency 02

Note that both user stories have different Area Paths (Teams) and Iterations.

Click on the + Add Link down arrow (#3), which will show the following menu.  Select Existing.

Dependency 03
Dependency 04Dependency 05
  1. Select the Link type
  2. Down Arrow shows link list
  3. Select Predecessor
  4. Either use the Work Item ID or search based on the title of the work item
  5. Select the appropriate work item from the list
  6. Click OK

The end result will show the new Predecessor link (see #3 above)

Dependency 06

 Useful Queries to Review Dependencies

 User Stories Dependent on another Team's User Stories

Dependency 07
  1.  Type of Query - Work items and direct links
  2. Removed User Stories are ignored
  3. The team name (Area Path)  and all items under the area path
  4. The team name (Area Path) is not included in the child portion of the query, which is why the Not Under option is used
  5. Filter on work items that match the links
  6. Return selected link types
  7. Set the link type to Successor

At the bottom is the end result of the query.

Visualizing Dependencies

At the time when this article was published (01.27.2020), there are two Marketplace tools which can be used to visualize dependencies.

Work Item Visualization - This tool will show any link type between work items, including predecessor and successor links. Visualize 01 

 Dependency Tracker (Microsoft Extension) - This tool can provide a more comprehensive view of dependencies between teams and projects.

Consuming Dependencies shows work items that are producers (predecessors) and work items that are consumers (successors) and provide a visual chart concerning the state of all of the dependencies. 

  • Grey - Not started
  • Blue - Active
  • Green - Closed
  1. Dependency Tracker menu item
  2. Blue block is a work item that is currently in an active state
  3. Green block is a work item that is current closed
  4. This column shows the team that will consume the work item
  5. This column shows the team that will produce the work item
  Visualize 02