« Blog Home

What is Value Stream Management in GitLab?

March 11, 2024 ¬ 7:24 amh.Tamir Gefen

GitLab and GitLab CI/CD offer Value Stream Management (VSM)
as a built-in feature to help organizations optimize their software development lifecycle.

Here’s a breakdown of what VSM entails within GitLab:

Core functionality:

End-to-end visibility: VSM provides a unified view of the entire software delivery process, from ideation to production. This transparency enables stakeholders across the organization, from executives to developers, to understand how efficiently value is delivered [1].
Actionable insights: By analyzing workflow metrics, VSM identifies bottlenecks that hinder development speed and delivery. This empowers teams to focus on areas that can significantly improve lead time [2].
Data-driven decision making: VSM leverages GitLab’s built-in analytics to measure software delivery performance using DORA metrics:
1. Deployment Frequency (the average number of daily finished code deployments to any given environment)
2. Lead Time for Changes (the average speed at which the DevOps team delivers code, from commitment to deployment)
3. Mean Time to Restore (the average time between encountering the issue and resolving it in the production environment)
4. Change Failure Rate (the percentage of deployments that cause a failure in production)
This data helps teams make informed decisions to optimize workflows and achieve business goals faster

Value Stream Management is available in GitLab Ultimate edition.
To learn more about GitLab editions and pricing options contact us: gitlab@almtoolbox.com or call us.

Key benefits of using VSM in GitLab:

Improved flow and time to market: By identifying and eliminating bottlenecks, VSM expedites the delivery of features and products to customers [5].
Enhanced software quality: VSM promotes continuous improvement by providing data to identify areas for process refinement, ultimately leading to better quality software [1].
Alignment between development and business goals: VSM fosters better alignment by enabling developers to see how their activities contribute to overall business objectives [4].

Overview: GitLab Value Stream Dashboard (1 min)

(We added subtitles for your convenience)

DORA Metrics in GitLab – a Technical Overview (3 min):

Overall, GitLab’s Value Stream Management empowers organizations to streamline their software delivery process, deliver value faster, and achieve better business outcomes.