Azure DevOps Hierarchy Epic: A Comprehensive Guide

In Azure DevOps, an Epic is the highest level of hierarchy, and it's used to organize and prioritize large-scale projects. An Epic represents a high-level feature or capability that spans multiple sprints or releases.

To create an Epic, you need to have a Project Administrator or Team Administrator role. This role allows you to create and manage Epics, as well as define the hierarchy and structure of your project.

An Epic can have multiple Features, which are the next level down in the hierarchy. Features are typically smaller, more focused pieces of work that are part of the larger Epic.

Epics serve as top-level containers within Azure DevOps, facilitating the organization and management of work items. They represent significant bodies of work that can be broken down into smaller, more manageable units.

Epics have a more strategic focus than User Stories or Tasks, which are short-term and specific. They encapsulate substantial chunks of functionality or business requirements and often span multiple sprints.

Epics form the foundation of the project hierarchy within Azure DevOps, serving as the parent entities under which other work items are organized. They can contain one or more Features, which in turn may contain User Stories or Tasks.

Epics provide visibility into the progress of large-scale initiatives, enabling teams to track the status of Epics, monitor associated Features and User Stories, and assess overall project progress. This visibility enables stakeholders to make informed decisions and identify potential bottlenecks early in the development process.

Key Characteristics of Epics:

• Scope: Epics encapsulate substantial chunks of functionality or business requirements.

• Long-Term Focus: Epics have a more strategic focus than User Stories or Tasks.

• Hierarchical Structure: Epics form the foundation of the project hierarchy within Azure DevOps.

• Visibility and Tracking: Epics provide visibility into the progress of large-scale initiatives.

To effectively manage Epics, consider the following best practices:

1. Clear Definition: Ensure that Epics are well-defined and aligned with the overall project goals.

2. Prioritization: Prioritize Epics based on their strategic importance and potential business value.

3. Collaboration: Foster collaboration and communication among team members and stakeholders involved in Epic planning and execution.

4. Regular Review: Regularly review and update Epics to reflect changing requirements, priorities, or market conditions.

Epics are top-level containers within Azure DevOps, used to organize and manage work items. They represent significant bodies of work that can be broken down into smaller, more manageable units.

To create an Epic, you'll need to provide a title, description, and additional metadata such as tags, priority, and estimated effort. This ensures that everyone on the team is aligned and understands the Epic's objectives.

Once created, Epics are decomposed into smaller units of work, such as Features or User Stories. This breakdown process allows teams to define clear objectives and prioritize work items based on their importance and impact.

Teams assign Features and User Stories to Epics based on their relevance and alignment with the Epic's objectives. Azure DevOps provides built-in tracking features that allow teams to monitor progress, identify dependencies, and manage risks effectively.

As the project progresses and requirements change, Epics may need to be refined, reprioritized, or even split into smaller Epics. Continuous refinement ensures that Epics remain aligned with changing business needs and project priorities.

Here's a summary of the Epic hierarchy:

To work with Epics, you can use the following steps:

1. Create an Epic with a clear title, description, and metadata.

2. Break down the Epic into smaller units of work, such as Features or User Stories.

3. Assign Features and User Stories to Epics based on their relevance and alignment.

4. Monitor progress and manage risks using Azure DevOps' built-in tracking features.

5. Refine and reprioritize Epics as the project progresses and requirements change.

By following these steps and understanding the Epic hierarchy, you can effectively manage Epics within Azure DevOps and deliver value to your users.

To configure Epics in Azure DevOps, you need to create them with a clear title, description, and additional metadata such as tags, priority, and estimated effort. This ensures alignment and understanding among team members.

Epics are typically created by product owners or project managers within Azure DevOps. They can be broken down into smaller units of work, such as Features or User Stories, which facilitates iterative development and ensures that progress is visible and measurable.

To effectively manage Epics, prioritize them based on their strategic importance and potential business value, and regularly review and update them to reflect changing requirements or priorities.

To add details to an Epic, you can open it by double-clicking or highlighting the item and selecting Enter, and then add information such as the area of customer value addressed, relative estimate of the amount of work required, business value, and priority.

You can configure your views to show the columns you need to see on the screen. Most views allow you to add or remove fields, which is useful for discovering specific information.

It's a good idea to hide columns that are visually identified by color and symbol, like work item types. This will declutter your screen and make it easier to focus on what's important.

As you use Azure DevOps, you'll get a feel for which views to use and when. It might take some time to figure it out, but don't worry, there are usually multiple ways to accomplish common tasks.

You can add columns to your views by using a pattern, like the one mentioned in the article. This can help you create a hierarchy of levels, such as Epic, Feature, and so on.

A matrix visual is a great way to see the hierarchy in action. To add one, put the levels of the hierarchy in the rows and # Work Items in the values.

You can expand the different levels and see the 72 work items split out into features, etc. But be aware that you may get blank rows at the top of each section.

To resolve this issue, you can use a solution provided by SQLBI.

Managing Epics in Azure DevOps is a structured approach to organizing and prioritizing work items. Epics serve as top-level containers that facilitate the management of work items and represent significant bodies of work.

To create an Epic, product owners or project managers typically create a title, description, and include additional metadata such as tags, priority, and estimated effort. Clear and concise Epic descriptions help ensure alignment and understanding among team members.

Breaking down Epics into smaller units of work, such as Features or User Stories, allows teams to define clear objectives and prioritize work items based on their importance and impact. This decomposition process facilitates iterative development and ensures that progress is visible and measurable.

Teams assign Features and User Stories to Epics based on their relevance and alignment with the Epic's objectives. Azure DevOps provides built-in tracking features that allow teams to monitor progress, identify dependencies, and manage risks effectively.

Regular updates and status reports ensure that stakeholders remain informed about the progress of Epics and associated work items. Epics are dynamic entities that evolve over time, and as the project progresses and requirements change, Epics may need to be refined, reprioritized, or even split into smaller Epics.

Key steps in managing Epics include creation, breakdown, assignment and tracking, and iteration and refinement. To effectively manage Epics, consider the following best practices:

By following these best practices and key steps, teams can effectively manage Epics and ensure that their projects are aligned with business goals and user needs.

In Azure DevOps, Epics serve as top-level containers that facilitate the organization and management of work items. They represent significant bodies of work that can be broken down into smaller, more manageable units.

To create an Epic, you typically need to sign in to your organization and go to your project. Then, select Boards > Backlogs, choose the portfolio backlog that you want, and select the Epic level.

Epics have a hierarchical structure, with Features and User Stories forming the foundation of the project hierarchy. They can contain one or more Features, which in turn may contain User Stories or Tasks.

You can break down Epics into smaller units of work, such as Features or User Stories. This decomposition process allows teams to define clear objectives and prioritize work items based on their importance and impact.

Here are the key characteristics of Epics in the Azure DevOps hierarchy:

To effectively manage Epics, consider the following best practices:

You can also change the parent of multiple backlog items by multi-selecting several work items and choosing Change parent… to link the items to a parent work item.