Setup Guide & Implementation Plan

Version	Modified By	Approver	Date	Changes made
V1.0	Daniel McAulay	Daniel McAulay	17/09/2024	Document Creation

7. Implementation Plan

The Implementation Plan outlines the step-by-step process for setting up Azure Boards for future Redback Operations project teams. This plan is designed as a blueprint for designing/creating your own project team, sub-teams, boards and integrations etc.

While this implementation plan is designed for the Redback Cyber Security team, other project teams can follow these instructions and modify the relevant steps for their own purposes.

Step 1: Initial Setup and Project Creation

1. Create the Azure Boards Project:

   • Set up the project named Redback Operations Cyber Security Team.

   • Choose Git for version control and Agile for the work item process.

   • Keep the project visibility Private until the structure and permissions are fully configured.

2. Define Area Paths for Sub-Teams:

   • Create area paths under Project Settings > Areas for:

     • SecDevOps

     • Blue Team

     • Infrastructure Team

     • Red Team

     • GRC Team

   • This ensures tasks are organized and aligned with each team's specific responsibilities.

3. Assign Teams to Area Paths:

   • Create separate teams for each sub-group in Project Settings > Teams.

   • Assign each team to the corresponding area path to give them autonomy in managing their tasks, while maintaining visibility across the organization.

4. Permissions and Access Control:

   • Grant access based on the role and team assignment, ensuring only authorized team members can access their specific areas.

   • Review role-based access control (RBAC) policies to maintain data security and ensure proper task visibility within and across teams.

Step 2: Configure Boards for Each Sub-Team

1. Create Custom Boards for Each Team:

   • Configure custom boards for each team to reflect their workflows.

   • Columns to include: To Do, In Progress, Review, and Done.

   • Adjust columns based on team workflows, adding categories like "Testing" or "Waiting for Approval" as needed.

2. Use Swimlanes to Categorize Work Items:

   • SecDevOps: Separate tasks by security testing, code reviews, and pipeline automation.

   • Blue Team: Categorize by incident response priority and threat-hunting activities.

   • Infrastructure: Differentiate between network management, server patching, and user management.

   • Red Team: Split tasks for internal/external pentesting and vulnerability assessments.

   • GRC Team: Organize tasks by compliance audits, risk assessments, and policy development.

3. Visual Workflow Tracking:

   • Ensure each team's board provides a clear visual representation of their work items moving through stages.

   • Use work item rules to automatically transition tasks to the next stage based on completion criteria (e.g., after a code review or security test).

Step 3: Set Up Work Items and Task Templates

1. Define Work Item Types:

   • For each team, define custom Epics, Features, User Stories, Tasks, and Bugs.

   • Create work item templates for recurring tasks such as penetration testing, security audits, code reviews, and infrastructure patching.

2. Create Task Templates:

   • Standardize task creation with predefined templates for:

     • SecDevOps: CI/CD pipeline setup, automated code scanning, and deployment validation.

     • Blue Team: Incident response, security alerts, and monitoring.

     • Infrastructure: Firewall configuration, patch deployment, and system monitoring with Nagios.

     • Red Team: Penetration test scheduling, vulnerability documentation, and follow-up tasks for mitigation.

     • GRC Team: Policy drafting, compliance audits, and risk reporting.

3. Assign Priorities and Dependencies:

   • Assign priority levels to tasks based on urgency, with critical tasks marked for immediate attention.

   • Link related work items to reflect dependencies (e.g., a vulnerability task that depends on a successful pentest).

4. Use Automation for Recurring Tasks:

   • Set up automation to create recurring tasks at the start of each sprint, ensuring workflows like security audits or patch cycles are consistently executed.

Step 4: Sprint Setup and Backlog Management

1. Configure Iterations (Sprints) for Each Team:

   • Create sprints under Project Settings > Iterations with a typical two-week cycle (e.g., Sprint 1, Sprint 2).

   • Assign these sprints to each sub-team to provide clear timelines and deliverable tracking.

2. Backlog Setup and Prioritization:

   • Organize each team's backlog into Epics, Features, and Tasks.

   • During sprint planning, the team leads will prioritize tasks and move them into the sprint backlog, ensuring alignment with sprint goals.

   • Large tasks (Epics) should be broken into smaller tasks to fit within the sprint timeframe.

3. Track Sprint Progress:

   • Monitor team progress via the sprint board, ensuring that work items move fluidly across stages.

   • Use burndown charts to visualize task completion and remaining workload, adjusting workloads as necessary to avoid sprint overrun.

4. Automated Notifications for Sprint Deadlines:

   • Set up alerts for nearing sprint deadlines or overdue tasks to ensure team members complete work on time and adjust as necessary.

Step 5: Integration with External Tools

1. Integrate GitHub with Azure Boards:

   • For SecDevOps and Red Team, integrate GitHub with Azure Boards to track commits, pull requests, and code reviews directly from the board.

   • Link work items to specific code branches and ensure that pull requests undergo automated security testing.

2. SonarQube Integration (SecDevOps Team):

   • Automate security checks by integrating SonarQube with Azure Boards, allowing results from security scans to be captured as work items for review and remediation.

   • Set up alerts and notifications to track code quality issues automatically.

3. Nagios Integration (Infrastructure Team):

   • Integrate Nagios alerts with Azure Boards so that system incidents (e.g., server downtime or network issues) are automatically created as tasks for the Infrastructure team.

4. SIEM Tool Integration (Blue Team):

   • Integrate SIEM tools with Azure Boards to automate incident creation when security threats are detected. This allows the team to manage and respond to threats in real-time from a central location.

Step 6: Onboarding Process for New Students

1. Create Onboarding Tasks for New Students:

   • Set up an onboarding task list for each new student joining the team. Tasks will include company registration, GitHub access, and reviewing the Azure Boards project.

   • Use the WorkItem Clone tool to replicate these tasks each trimester for new student onboarding.

2. Assign Sub-Team Responsibilities:

   • Based on the team they are joining (SecDevOps, Blue Team, etc.), students will be assigned relevant onboarding tasks and introduced to project documentation.

   • Each student should also review previous sprint goals and completed tasks to familiarize themselves with ongoing work.

3. Onboarding Materials:

   • Provide access to user guides, video tutorials, and team-specific documentation to help new students understand how to use Azure Boards.

   • Mentorship assignments for each student will provide additional guidance during the onboarding period.

Step 7: Monitoring, Queries, and Reports

1. Custom Queries for Each Team:

   • Set up queries to track important work items, such as open tasks, high-priority bugs, or tasks nearing deadlines.

   • For example:

     • Blue Team: Track security incidents by severity.

     • Infrastructure Team: Query open patch management tasks.

     • SecDevOps: View code reviews pending approval or sitting in backlog.

2. Build Dashboards:

   • Create real-time dashboards for each team, displaying metrics such as task completion rates, sprint progress, and backlog health.

   • Customize dashboards to meet the needs of different stakeholders, providing insights into ongoing projects and team performance.

3. Automate Reports:

   • Set up automated reports in Azure Boards to provide weekly or sprint-end summaries for stakeholders. Reports should cover metrics such as:

     • Sprint completion percentages

     • Outstanding incidents or vulnerabilities

     • Security testing results (SecDevOps)

     • Audit and compliance status (GRC Team)

4. Review and Optimize Workflows:

   • Conduct post-sprint retrospectives with each team to review successes and areas for improvement.

   • Document feedback in Azure Boards as actionable items for future sprints.

Step 8: Final Testing and Support

1. Pilot Testing with Teams:

   • Before fully rolling out Azure Boards to all sub-teams, conduct a pilot test with one team (e.g., SecDevOps). Gather feedback on the workflow, task tracking, and integrations.

   • Use the results to refine the setup for other teams and make any necessary adjustments to the board configurations, sprint structures, or task templates.

2. Continuous Monitoring:

   • Use Analytics Views to monitor team performance and workload distribution across all sprints.

   • Regularly evaluate the use of Azure Boards to identify areas for improvement, such as optimizing task prioritization or enhancing dashboard functionality.