Kanban for IT Operations | Manage Incidents & SLAs
Apply Kanban to IT operations with GitScrum. Manage incidents, requests, and changes with WIP limits and SLA tracking. Reduce chaos with structured workflows.
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IT operations teams face constant interruptions from incidents, user requests, and maintenance tasks. GitScrum's Kanban boards with WIP limits, swimlanes for work types, and SLA tracking help ops teams manage flow, maintain service levels, and avoid the chaos of unmanaged work queues.
IT Operations Work Types
| Work Type | Priority | Flow Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| P1 Incidents | Immediate | Expedite lane |
| P2 Incidents | Same day | High priority |
| Service requests | Normal | Standard flow |
| Maintenance | Planned | Scheduled |
| Improvements | Low | When capacity allows |
IT Operations Kanban Board
IT OPERATIONS BOARD STRUCTURE
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ EXPEDITE (P1 Incidents) - No WIP Limit │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ [INC-234] Production database unresponsive │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬─────────────┐
│ Backlog │ Ready │ Working │ Review │ Deploy │ Done │
│ (no WIP)│ (WIP: 3) │ (WIP: 4) │ (WIP: 2) │ (WIP: 2) │ (no WIP) │
├─────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼─────────────┤
│ [REQ] │ [INC] │ [INC] │ [CHG] │ [CHG] │ [INC] ✓ │
│ [REQ] │ [REQ] │ [CHG] │ │ │ [REQ] ✓ │
│ [CHG] │ │ [REQ] │ │ │ [CHG] ✓ │
│ [CHG] │ │ │ │ │ │
│ [IMP] │ │ │ │ │ │
└─────────┴──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴─────────────┘
SWIMLANES BY WORK TYPE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 🔴 Incidents (P2-P3) │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 📋 Service Requests │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 🔧 Changes & Maintenance │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 📈 Improvements │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Work Item Types
WORK ITEM DEFINITIONS
INCIDENT (INC):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Unplanned service disruption │
│ Goal: Restore service ASAP │
│ │
│ Fields: │
│ ├── Priority (P1-P4) │
│ ├── Affected service │
│ ├── Impact (users affected) │
│ ├── Start time │
│ └── Resolution time │
│ │
│ SLAs: │
│ P1: Response <15 min, Resolve <4 hours │
│ P2: Response <1 hour, Resolve <8 hours │
│ P3: Response <4 hours, Resolve <24 hours │
│ P4: Response <1 day, Resolve <1 week │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
SERVICE REQUEST (REQ):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Standard user request │
│ Goal: Fulfill per SLA │
│ │
│ Fields: │
│ ├── Request type │
│ ├── Requester │
│ ├── Due date │
│ └── Approval status │
│ │
│ Examples: Access request, new account, │
│ software install, hardware request │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
CHANGE (CHG):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Planned infrastructure modification │
│ Goal: Implement safely │
│ │
│ Fields: │
│ ├── Change type (standard/normal/emergency) │
│ ├── Risk level │
│ ├── Rollback plan │
│ ├── Change window │
│ └── CAB approval │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
IMPROVEMENT (IMP):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Proactive enhancement │
│ Goal: Improve operations │
│ │
│ Examples: Automation, monitoring, │
│ documentation, process improvement │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Capacity Planning
OPS TEAM CAPACITY MODEL
TEAM: 5 engineers
CAPACITY ALLOCATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Incident response: 1-2 engineers (20-40%) │
│ (rotates daily) │
│ │
│ Planned work: 3-4 engineers (60-80%) │
│ ├── Service requests │
│ ├── Changes │
│ └── Improvements │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
WIP LIMITS RATIONALE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Ready: 3 │
│ └── Half day's worth of prepared work │
│ │
│ Working: 4 │
│ └── Less than team size (5) for focus │
│ │
│ Review: 2 │
│ └── Minimize approval bottleneck │
│ │
│ Deploy: 2 │
│ └── Control change velocity │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Flow Metrics
IT OPS METRICS DASHBOARD
FLOW METRICS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Cycle Time (avg days): │
│ Incidents P2: 0.5 days Target: <1 ✓ │
│ Requests: 3.2 days Target: <5 ✓ │
│ Changes: 5.1 days Target: <7 ✓ │
│ Improvements: 12 days Target: <14 ✓ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
THROUGHPUT:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ This Week: │
│ Incidents resolved: 8 │
│ Requests fulfilled: 15 │
│ Changes deployed: 6 │
│ Improvements done: 2 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
SERVICE LEVELS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SLA Compliance: │
│ P1 Incidents: 100% (2/2 met) ✓ │
│ P2 Incidents: 95% (19/20 met) ✓ │
│ Service Requests: 92% (46/50 met) ⚠ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Best Practices
Anti-Patterns
✗ No WIP limits (everything in progress)
✗ Expedite lane for all incidents
✗ Hidden work not on board
✗ No time for improvements
✗ Ignoring blocked items
✗ No metrics on flow