Azure DevOps Overview

Azure DevOps is Microsoft's suite of development tools for planning, building, testing, and deploying software. It provides an integrated set of services that support the entire software development lifecycle, from idea to production. Whether you are a small team or a large enterprise, Azure DevOps offers the tools to implement modern DevOps practices.

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What Is Azure DevOps?

Azure DevOps is a collection of five core services, available as a cloud service (dev.azure.com) or as an on-premises product (Azure DevOps Server):

Service	Purpose
Azure Boards	Work item tracking, Kanban boards, sprint planning, and backlog management
Azure Repos	Git repositories with branch policies, pull requests, and code reviews
Azure Pipelines	CI/CD pipelines for building, testing, and deploying to any platform
Azure Test Plans	Manual and exploratory testing, test case management
Azure Artifacts	Package management for NuGet, npm, Maven, Python, and universal packages

Cloud vs Server

Feature	Azure DevOps Services (Cloud)	Azure DevOps Server (On-Premises)
Hosting	Microsoft-managed SaaS	Self-hosted on your infrastructure
Updates	Continuous (always latest)	Periodic releases
Scale	Automatic	You manage capacity
Compliance	SOC, ISO, GDPR compliant	You manage compliance
Access	Internet connectivity required	Can run in air-gapped environments

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Azure Boards

Azure Boards helps teams plan, track, and discuss work:

Work Item Types

Type	Purpose
Epic	Large body of work spanning multiple sprints
Feature	Functionality that delivers user value
User Story / Product Backlog Item	A requirement described from the user's perspective
Task	A unit of work needed to complete a story
Bug	A defect to be fixed

Key Features

• Kanban boards — visualise work in progress with customisable columns and swim lanes
• Sprint planning — assign stories to sprints, set capacity, and track velocity
• Backlogs — prioritise and groom your product backlog
• Queries — create custom queries to find and filter work items
• Dashboards — build widgets for burndown charts, velocity, and team metrics
• GitHub integration — link commits and pull requests to work items

Process Templates

Template	Best For
Basic	Simple tracking with Issues, Tasks, and Epics
Agile	Scrum-like teams using User Stories and Sprints
Scrum	Full Scrum implementation with Product Backlog Items
CMMI	Formal change management and governance

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Azure Repos

Azure Repos provides Git-based source control:

Key Features

• Unlimited free private Git repositories
• Branch policies — require pull requests, minimum reviewers, build validation, and linked work items
• Pull requests — code review with inline comments, threaded discussions, and approval workflows
• Code search — search across all repositories in your organisation
• Repository permissions — granular access control at repository and branch level

Branch Policies

Branch policies enforce quality gates on your main branch:

Policy	Description
Minimum reviewers	Require N approvers before a PR can be completed
Build validation	A CI pipeline must succeed before merging
Work item linking	Every PR must be linked to a work item
Comment resolution	All PR comments must be resolved
Merge strategy	Enforce squash merge, rebase, or merge commit

Example Branch Strategy

main (protected — requires PR with 2 reviewers + CI pass)
  ├── feature/add-payment-api
  ├── feature/update-dashboard
  ├── bugfix/fix-login-error
  └── release/v2.1

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Azure Pipelines Overview

Azure Pipelines is the CI/CD service — the engine that builds, tests, and deploys your code:

Key Concepts