Inflecto | Bespoke Software Development

Azure DevOps is Microsoft’s cloud-based platform for managing the entire application lifecycle, offering integrated tools for planning, version control, CI/CD automation, testing, and artifact management. It evolved from Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) into a modular DevOps suite consisting of five core services: Azure Boards, Azure Repos, Azure Pipelines, Azure Test Plans, and Azure Artifacts. The platform supports both cloud-hosted (Azure DevOps Services) and on‑premises deployments (Azure DevOps Server), making it suitable for organizations with different regulatory or infrastructure requirements.

Benefits of Azure DevOps

End‑to‑end development lifecycle: Combines work tracking, source control, CI/CD, test management, and artifact storage into one unified ecosystem.
Flexible deployment options: Available as a fully managed SaaS or an on‑premises server for regulated industries and self‑hosted environments.
Deep integration with the Microsoft ecosystem: Works naturally with Visual Studio, Azure, Microsoft Entra ID, and other Microsoft services.
Powerful CI/CD automation: Azure Pipelines supports multi‑stage builds, tests, and deployments across any cloud or platform, with YAML pipelines for repeatable automation.
Scalable work management: Azure Boards provides backlogs, Kanban boards, sprints, reporting, and tight integration with code repositories and pipelines.
Enterprise‑grade security: Advanced capabilities such as secret scanning, code scanning, and dependency scanning through GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps.
AI‑powered productivity gains: As of 2026, Azure DevOps increasingly integrates AI-powered automation, providing intelligent pipeline suggestions and DevSecOps insights.

Typical Use Cases

Full DevOps lifecycle management for software teams using Azure Boards, Repos, Pipelines, Test Plans, and Artifacts together.
CI/CD for cloud or hybrid applications, using Azure Pipelines to build, test, and deploy across Azure, AWS, or on‑premises environments.
Version control and collaboration through Git or TFVC repositories with pull requests, branching strategies, and policy enforcement.
Enterprise QA workflows, with Test Plans supporting manual, exploratory, and automated testing tied directly to pipeline runs and work tracking.
Package and dependency management using Azure Artifacts to host NuGet, npm, Maven, and Python packages.
Modern DevSecOps practices, leveraging security scans, automated remediation, and compliance checks via GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps.
Teams committed to Microsoft technologies, particularly .NET and Azure-hosted systems, where Azure DevOps provides a natural and tightly integrated workflow.