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Introducing the New IBM DevOps Loop: Smarter Insights, Unified Delivery

By Cassidy Rimer posted 9 hours ago

  

By: Chris Haggan, Oz Burucu

 
We’re excited to introduce the latest evolution of our IBM DevOps Loop platform - a significant step forward in unifying and empowering every stage of your software delivery lifecycle. With this release, Loop becomes more than a concept - it’s the actionable framework that connects your data, tools, and teams with intelligent insights and expanded capabilities. 
 

Introducing Loops 

At the heart of this release are Loops: a holistic, connected approach to DevOps. 

  • Loops serve as the foundation of platform cohesion - aggregating data from across your delivery pipeline. 

  • Loop Dashboards provide real-time visibility across your delivery lifecycle - issues, builds, tests, and deployments - all in one connected view. Teams can quickly assess progress, spot trends, and identify blockers with charts and metrics tailored to their Loop. 

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  • The DevOps AI assistant known as Loop Genie is now available in Tech Preview, enabling Loop tasks such as: 

    • Search & Summarize issues across the delivery cycle, using contextual awareness to offer insight-rich summaries and answers. 

    • Execute administrative tasks via chat, like adding a new repo to an existing Loop. 

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Below is a summary of what’s new across the platform, with each functional area seeing targeted, high-impact upgrades. These improvements not only strengthen individual features but make them work better together as a seamless system. 

 
Plan: Smarter Planning, Seamless Flow 

Our planning tools are now more agile, flexible, and user centric. 

  • Aha! Integration: Now fully two-way - plan and reflect across systems. 

  • Inline Rich Text Editing and Single-Click Work Item Subscription improve usability for common tasks. 

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  • Jira Migration Asset eases transitions from Jira to Plan. 



Build: Modern, Containerized, Secure 

Build is now aligned with the Loop interface and powered by scalable, containerized deployment. 

  • UI Alignment with Loop using left-hand navigation for a consistent experience. 

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  • Keycloak Authentication enhances secure access control and is pre-integrated with Loop SSO. 

  • Container-based installation via Helm Charts for Kubernetes platforms. 

  • Support for IBM JDK v11, v17, v21 future-proofs your build pipeline. 

  • Enhanced Build APIs and plugins: 

    • Improved control of source management. 

    • Lifecycle visibility for builds. 

    • Richer deployment plugin integrations. 


Test: Accelerating Quality Through Innovation 

Testing workflows become more intuitive, more powerful. 

  • UI Test Authoring from DevOps Test Hub is now generally available. 

    • Simple, intuitive, web-based test designer – build your test from recorded events or from your captured SmartShot catalog 

    • Comprehensive actions pallet to build full UI automations 

    • Apply and manage verification points with ease, use simple rules, or complex JavaScript, whatever you require to achieve your goal 

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  • Schema-based Data Fabrication enables more accurate test data generation. 

    • Connect and learn about your databases, or define custom schema from scratch 

    • Combine static data with queried results and dynamically generated for maximum flexibility 

    • Push data directly to your system of record, or export for use with external solutions 

    • Leverage pre-built generators or customise and build your own catalog 

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  • Test Generation from Mock-ups and Screenshots (Tech Preview) offers an early glimpse into next-gen visual-to-test capabilities. 

  • Customer-driven enhancements continue to refine usability and productivity. 

     

Deploy: Smarter, AI-Powered Delivery 

Deployment automation is now smarter, more secure, and deeply integrated. 

  • Deployment Genie offers context-aware, AI powered, deployment failure assistance. 

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  • Dedicated Plugin Integration Page simplifies extensibility. 

  • Certificate-Based Vault Integration strengthens secret management. 

  • Mainframe Enhancements: 

    • Merge versions across external repos. 

    • Partial artifact rollbacks. 

    • Java 21 support for z Agents. 

  • Process as Code (PAaC) Enhancements: 

    • Now supports tag names, deployment/operational process types, and property configuration. 

  • Z Artifacts Search Enhancements powered by Zinventory. 

Find out more here: Introducing IBM DevOps Deploy 8.1.2 which includes a new AI assistant called the Deployment Genie

Velocity: Deliver Insights with Agility 

Velocity delivers even deeper insight into flow and failure metrics. 

  • New Metrics: 

    • Agile Churn – tracks scope changes mid-sprint. 

    • Change Failure Rate – a core DORA metric. 

    • Flow Efficiency – surfaces process bottlenecks and waste. 

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What's Next? 

This release builds a strong foundation - each capability is enhanced and ready to stand on its own, while also contributing to the bigger picture. Stay tuned for dedicated deep dives that explore each of these areas in greater detail. 

Want to accelerate your software delivery while boosting reliability and security? Book a live demo with our DevOps experts to explore tailored solutions for your team. 

Stay ahead of the curve in software delivery. We host DevOps Summits and Bootcamps worldwide—join our mailing list to get updates on upcoming events near you. 

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