This reading path introduces the Technology Delivery Manager role in Lean-Agile.

The Technology Delivery Manager (TDM) is responsible for managing the delivery of the technology solution of a business increment and the flow and continual delivery of the program or value stream producing it.

The Technology Delivery Manager is the person responsible for ensuring and managing the Business evolution of the system – that is, building the system oriented around quick delivery of Business value increments. The Technology Delivery Manager is responsible to maintain the functional integrity of the system throughout its development and deployment. The Technology Delivery Manager is responsible for risks associated with delivery.

This includes:

• A focus on who owns the functional integrity, who extends it, who maintains it
• Understanding the technical risks that are present
• Understanding the technical boundaries between internal and external components that are present
• Understanding the limitations that are due to technology (such as an old IDE) and what we are going to do about those limitations, what the risks that are inherent
• When to involve shared services
• Status of the project (except for status on value)

In a nutshell, the Technology Delivery Manager role is about the timing of delivery and the Application Development Manager role is about the content.

The Technology Delivery Manager interacts with the Business to assure the right work being done at the right time to achieve a Business objective: prioritization, decomposition, impediments and cross-impacts being addressed, is work ready to be pulled by the team. The TDM is empowered to make decisions about work prioritization based on technology requirements that affect flow.

The Technology Delivery Manager is the only person to go to for status of the project. While the Product Owner can answer questions about whether we are delivering value to the Business, the Technology Delivery Manager gives status on everything else such as:

• What is the timeline for delivering features?
• Will we make the timeline?
• What is getting in the way?