Better SDLC Management via the "Glide Plane"
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The concept of a Glide Plane comes from the manner in which airplanes are coordinated during their final descent.
Within certain parameters, pilots have discretion on the management of their aircraft, but must follow increasingly strict
protocols as they approach the airport.
- Landings coordinated in waves (releases)
- Well-defined checkpoints (stage gates) to
identify out-of-place aircraft
- Increasingly tight parameters as planes get
closer to airport
- Efforts to land closest aircraft first
- Even for emergencies or accelerated landings,
glide plane is still followed
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The IT Glide Plane tracks change tickets as they move through the SDLC process. End of phase “stage gates” for
each ticket are set by working backward from target release date. Helps ensure developers are respecting the SDLC,
and highlights when projects are at-risk of missing key stage gates.
Four metrics for tracking the Glide Plane:
Stage Gate Compliance:
measures whether or not
tickets are going through
each stage of the SDLC
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Lead Times: measures
how many days before the
release date each stage
gate was reached
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Late Stage Gates:
measures which stage
gates were reached after
the target lead times
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Volatility (Churn):
measures the number of
times a ticket goes through
each stage gate (i.e.,
where work is being
repeated)
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