Blended Development Overview & Resources
- Michelle Philbrick (Do Not Use) (Deactivated)
Blended Development is thoughtfully pairing internal edX product delivery resources with external Open edX development Community capacity on clearly scoped projects in a way that accelerates our delivery timelines, ensures quality development practices, improves platform health, and improves our ability to get Open edX ecosystem help in the future. Blended Development can help with additional capacity or needed skills for a project which in turn can help get high-quality / high-value work to the finish line faster and more efficiently.
Making optimal use of the Open edX community ideally lets us get valuable work into and through the pipeline on a more accelerated and budget-friendly scale. The Community encompasses a vast range of expertise, and understands the inner workings of our software just as much--if not more--as we do.
Blended Benefits and Value
The Open edX squad and extended Community have your back!
edX is investing in blended development in a big way to improve capacity and lead time for product delivery and platform maintenance and improvements.
Open edX now has additional support and staffing to be able to handle more of the logistical/admin support of a blended project, making it easier for teams like yours to get started and stay on track.
Funding available to get blended projects rolling NOW!
It is expected that blended development will continue to be a huge asset in our future with 2U.
Blended development can help you and your team(s) improve lead time and get more items to the finish line!
Blended helps teams increase capacity leading to faster project completion.
Acceleration of roadmap items, leaving room for getting more projects rolling.
It’s a great way to get ownership and maintenance work done.
A simplified blended process takes a chunk of the logistical support off your shoulders.
We have access to an amazing Community of developers that want to help!
Blended work supports our open-source strategy by strengthening and growing our network and maintaining platform health.
There is a literal wealth of expertise in the Community and a deep understanding of our platform that in some instances exceeds our own!
Our community has become well-versed in edX’s blended work, and with support from the Open edX squad, there’s no need for extensive onboarding.
How do I know if my project is a candidate for Blended Development?
Does your project fall into any of these categories? If so, blended development may be appropriate:
Your project has [or will soon have] clear platform requirements for product + technical direction.
Your project consists of upgrades and/or maintenance work.
Your project closes key T&L platform gaps or technology debt that limits T&L advancement.
The platform area has [or will soon have] clear internal owners, both Product and Technical, and a support model.
The blended project brief (which all teams fill out), along with these operating principles may also help guide your decision.
NOTE: You can always reach out directly to the Open edX team and ask for guidance as well!
How do I get started?
Reach out to blended-development@edx.org and the Open edX team will get you and your team oriented and setup to start.
We’ll help you with getting your project set up in the blended pipeline.
We can help you with your project SOW and reaching out to the appropriate provider(s).
We’ll provide you with automated tools and support during your project and can help escalate any issues if needed (note that the providers are well-versed in our process and have the tools already, so they should be good to go!).
Start completing your Project Brief. This will be the document that helps to guide the rest of the process as far as what you may need as far as knowledge, capacity and budget. Submit it to blended-development@edx.org.
Resources and Extras
Take a look at our internal blended process. This shows the flow in more detail, along with what each team is accountable for. The providers have their own version of this document, so they are aware of the process.
Have a peek at more of the projects in the blended pipeline to see what kinds of things are currently being done via blended.
Check out the blended development project pages on Confluence (more detail on these in the blended process linked above).
Check out our blended providers: OpenCraft, EduNext, Edly, Raccoon Gang, Overhang.io., Perpetual NY, DRC Systems
Check out this blended success story!
Contact
Questions? Feedback? Reach out to Michelle Philbrick, Ed Zarecor and/or blended-development@edx.org.
You can also ask questions in the #blended-development Slack channel.