Based on years of working towards and achieving continuous delivery (routine 1+ daily production deploys) with hundreds of teams and thousands of Engineers worldwide, we have created a living model to help organisations assess and understand what constraints are the best problems to solve across architecture, cloud-native, development, operations, engineering culture, operating models, governance and team experience.
The Hierarchy of Engineering Needs (HoEN) model combines Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory with industry research and our combined lived experience to galvanise action. Just as Maslow’s theory suggests that fundamental human needs must be met before pursuing higher level growth, the HoEN framework outlines the Basic Needs for releasing and deploying software, upon which higher order engineering needs are built in the pursuit to optimise the flow of high quality valuable software.
Investing in the maturity of lower level needs should take priority before advancing to more complex practices. For example, a well established Version Control system is essential before effectively implementing Deployment Solutions. By progressively strengthening each layer, organisations can drive continuous improvement to optimise the flow of high quality valuable software.
However lower level Engineering Needs do not need to reach full maturity before a higher level need may become a constraint or a focus for an organisation. And vice versa, the organisation will need to continue some investment in maturing basic needs as organisation performance increases. The intensity of the needs at the different hierarchies as performance increased can be shown to be more like this overlapping graph. The level of maturity required for each is often organisation dependent.
Using HoEN
So many good ideas. Too many good ideas.
Higher software delivery and operational performance are proven advantages for software-producing organisations. Yet, daily commitments and longstanding limitations often make the ocean of good ideas in the software industry seem unattainable.
We created the Hierarchy of Engineering Needs model to help understand and sequence good ideas for our software delivery systems.
The model has proven effective in helping or simplifying the following:
- 🔸 Jump-start Engineering strategy
- 🔸 Justify Engineering enablement
- 🔸 Prioritise competing initiatives
- 🔸 Communication with stakeholders
- 🔸 Shared responsibility modelling
Foundations Matter
Higher-level capabilities depend on lower needs being satisfactorily met.
A key principle of the HoEN model is the importance of dependencies between needs. Lower level needs serve as building blocks for higher order capabilities, meaning that attempting to implement advanced practices without a solid foundation can lead to inefficiencies, instability, or failure. For example, a well established Version Control system is essential before effectively implementing Deployment Solutions, just as robust Quality Engineering Practices must be in place before achieving Continuous Delivery.
Each need definition includes an example signal (📶) of high maturity for the need in a typical, long-running or multi-team software delivery organisation.
Prioritisation Guidelines
#1 Basic Needs First
Some needs are more fundamental than others.
#2 Enduring Needs
Technology evolves quickly, but the needs it supports are more stable.
#3 Foundations Matter
Higher-level capabilities depend on lower needs being satisfactorily met.
#4 Contextual Importance
The importance of a need varies by organisation and over time.
#5 Prioritise Lower Needs
Improving lower needs gaps over higher ones generally has more impact.
#6 Holistic Initiatives
Efforts in people, processes, and technology can improve multiple needs simultaneously.