To start collecting data for the Process Axis, you must configure an integration and link it to the relevant project. You only need to add the integration once to connect it to multiple projects, allowing you to evaluate different teams.
Note that, in order for the Daily Digest to function optimally, it is recommended to link the integration to a team rather than a project. In addition, Azure DevOps can be configured as an integration for both the Process Axis and the Technical Axis. If you are using this tool to track the management of your projects and code, you will need to perform both configurations in Axify.
Available integrations
- Azure DevOps
- Gitlab Issue
- Jira
To set up an Azure DevOps integration
- Select the project for which you want to start collecting data.
Psst! If you haven't added your project yet, do that first!
-
Access the Process section, and click on Link an integration.
-
In the window that opens, click Add an integration.
-
Select the Azure DevOps option, then click Next.
- A window will open. Enter your Azure DevOps login information.
- The Name of your integration helps you recognize this integration later on. This name will not be displayed anywhere other than the Settings page.
- The Name of your Azure DevOps organization must be the same as the one specified in Azure DevOps itself.
-
The Personnal Access Token must be generated beforehand directly in the Azure DevOps settings. You can refer to this official Microsoft help article for more information on this topic. Just make sure you allow read access to the "Analytics" and "Work items" options, which are required to synchronize data to Axify.
To do this:
-
Go to Azure DevOps
-
Go to user settings (silhouette icon in the upper right corner)
-
Select the Personal access tokens option at the bottom of the list
-
Click on + New Token.
Psst! It is not possible to display an existing PAT. Therefore, if you have private internal documentation where the PAT can be stored, it may be good to keep it as a note there. Also, since the PAT has an expiration date, it is advisable to select the longest period possible (i.e., one year) and schedule a reminder to update it (in your or the team's calendar). At the time of the update, you will simply need to unlink the existing integration, generate a new PAT in Azure DevOps and re-link the integration. Don't worry; the data synchronization is retroactive, meaning that data synchronized in the past is still accessible in Axify.
-
- Add the generated PAT in the Personal access token field.
Once the fields are completed, click on Add Azure DevOps Integration.
That's it! Your Azure DevOps integration is set up and ready to be linked to your project to start collecting data!
Two linking options are available.
- Backlog board: When you synchronize the Azure backlog board, Axify will import the data based on the columns of the board. As soon as an item goes "in progress", the calculation of its cycle time starts. Then, the time spent in each column is calculated and considered in the global cycle time.
-
Task board (also called Sprint board): When you select the Task board, Axify will synchronize the data according to the states. Thus, the configuration of states specific to your board will be respected. For example, if you have a column named "To do" to which a "committed" state has been associated, as soon as an item goes to this column, the state will be applied and the time spent on this state will be calculated. As soon as a column changes the state (to "in progress", for example), the time spent in the previous state will stop and the time spent in the new state will be computed. Once the item is completed, the overall cycle time will be considered.
- If you want to have a simpler visualization of your workflow, you can add columns for each of your states to have a 1-1 ratio. You can refer to Microsoft's official documentation here.
Psst! Depending on the volume of data, the synchronization of the Process Axis can take several minutes or even several hours in the most extreme cases.