Expediting Critical Bug Fixes in Azure DevOps
🤔 Context: Your team uses Azure DevOps to manage development tasks, bugs, sprints, and releases. It's a fast-paced workflow with constant updates and tight deadlines.
But even with all the tools in place, critical bugs sometimes stay too long in states like "Active" or "In Review" — and no one notices until it’s already impacting customers.
🌧️ User Problem: As a project manager, I need to accurately measure how long, on average, tasks spend in specific states to understand workflow bottlenecks and improve the efficiency of our processes. By having precise insights into these durations, I can make informed decisions to optimize our workflow and meet project goals more effectively.
☔ Solution: Implementing SLA Time Goals for "Time in State"
Using the "Time in State" functionality in Azure DevOps, enhanced with SLA time goals, team can automate the monitoring for critical bug fixes.
How it works:
Create Query: configure a specific query to list all the work items categorized as "Bug" with "Severity: Critical."
Define SLA rule: configure a specific rule work items categorized as "Bug" with "Severity: Critical."
2. Set SLA Rules in Time in State
SLA Name | State | Time Goal | Alert Color | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Critical Bug – Active (Warning) | Active | 1d 4h | Yellow | Early alert if bug isn’t progressing |
Critical Bug – Active (Critical) | Active | 2 business days | Red | Escalation if bug is stuck too long |
Critical Bug – Review (Warning) | In Review | 6 business hours | Orange | Catch delays in code review |
Critical Bug – Review (Critical) | In Review | 1 business day | Red | Flag items overdue for merge |
💡 You can easily set these thresholds in the SLA panel of the Time in State report, right from the grid view.
Configure Working Hours: The team's working calendar (Monday-Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM) would be configured to ensure only working hours are counted towards the SLA.
Real-time Monitoring & Visual Cues:
In the Time in State app, work items (critical bugs) would visually change color (yellow, orange, red) as they exceed their defined time goals in the specified states.
This provides an at-a-glance overview for the project manager and the entire team, making it immediately clear which critical bugs require urgent attention.
If you need help or want to ask questions, please contact SaaSJet Support or email us at support@saasjet.atlassian.net
Haven't used this add-on yet? Try it now >>> Time in State for Azure DevOps