AZ-400 Question 23
Select 2Your organization uses Azure DevOps to plan and monitor sprints. The project manager wants to accurately track the team's velocity and automatically identify any user stories that remain open at the end of each sprint, so they can roll them into the subsequent iteration. You have been asked to design and implement metrics and queries to fulfill these requirements. Which two approaches should you implement?
- A
Use the default backlog query that includes all work items for the current iteration and rely on manual filtering after each sprint closes.
- B
Create a Velocity chart in Azure DevOps using the Analytics service to measure how many user stories are completed per iteration.
- C
Install the Epic Roadmap extension to automatically track incompletions for user stories at the end of each sprint.
- D
Build a custom query that filters for 'Work Item Type = User Story,' 'Iteration Path = @CurrentIteration,' and 'State != Done' to identify incomplete user stories.
- E
Disable the built-in velocity chart in Azure DevOps because it only tracks tasks and not user stories.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answers: B, D
Explanation
To support project planning effectively, Azure DevOps provides out-of-the-box Analytics capabilities to measure velocity and custom queries to track incomplete work. Velocity charts help you gauge how many user stories your team completes each sprint, indicating team capacity and productivity. Custom queries filtering on work item type, iteration path, and state ensure straightforward, reliable tracking of open user stories at the end of a sprint cycle. For more details, see the official Microsoft documentation on Azure DevOps Analytics and Boards Queries (https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/devops/report/analytics/overview and https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/devops/boards/queries/queries).
- A. Incorrect.
Option 1: Incorrect. While the default backlog query can list work items in the current iteration, it offers limited flexibility. Reliance on manual filtering makes tracking incomplete user stories cumbersome and is not a best practice for automated or repeatable sprint tracking.
- B. Correct.
Option 2: Correct. The built-in Velocity chart in Azure DevOps Analytics is specifically designed to track how many user stories (or other work items) are completed in each sprint. This is a recommended approach to measure and visualize team velocity.
- C. Incorrect.
Option 3: Incorrect. The Epic Roadmap extension focuses on higher-level planning across epics or larger themes rather than tracking incomplete user stories at the end of a sprint. It does not directly measure velocity or automatically handle open user stories.
- D. Correct.
Option 4: Correct. A custom query that filters by work item type (User Story), iteration path (current iteration), and state (not done) will effectively identify which user stories remain incomplete at the end of each sprint, enabling rolling them over to the next iteration.
- E. Incorrect.
Option 5: Incorrect. Disabling the built-in velocity chart is counterproductive as it provides valuable insights into team performance and doesn't exclusively track tasks. The chart can be configured to focus on user stories as well.