DevOps-Foundation PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6 Exam Question and Answers

ChatOpsis the practice of conducting operational work directly through chat platforms (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams) integrated with automation and tooling. In this case:

Teams from multiple locations are collaborating in real-time via Slack.

They are running commands and queries directly from the chat to the delivery and monitoring systems.

This allows shared visibility, immediate context, and rapid action during incident resolution.

WhileA(Swarming) describes a collaborative incident response, it does not specifically imply integration with chat-based tools.C(Incident Management) is the overall process, andD(IT Support) is a function, but neither capture the specific ChatOps approach.

Thus,B – ChatOpsis the most accurate answer here.

When work is delayed due to resource availability or local optimizations causing global degradation, the issue relates toThe First Way—maximizing flow from left to right.

Organizations should analyze and remove bottlenecks in the delivery pipeline (e.g., in testing).

Extract-style reference:

“Optimizing the flow of work requires eliminating bottlenecks, delays, and handoffs that slow the movement of changes from development to operations.”

—The Phoenix Project

DevOps Foundation courseware discusses value stream mapping and the First Way as critical tools for diagnosing and correcting such issues.

The “Three Ways” are foundational principles in DevOps:

The First Wayfocuses on increasing the flow of work from left (development) to right (operations). It is about optimizing the entire system for fast delivery, limiting bottlenecks, and enabling a rapid flow of features and fixes to customers.

The Second Wayis about amplifying feedback loops so corrections can be made early.

The Third Wayemphasizes continual learning and experimentation.

Extract-style reference:

“The First Way emphasizes the performance of the entire system, as opposed to the performance of a specific silo of work or department. The goal is to maximize the flow of work (value) from Development to Operations to the customer.”

—Gene Kim, The Phoenix Project / DevOps Handbook

PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6highlights this in the section on "Principles and Practices," emphasizing The First Way as critical to accelerating flow.

According to PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6, theSecond Wayof DevOps focuses on creating and amplifyingfeedback loops. The primary purpose of shortening these loops is toaccelerate the flow of work and informationbetween all stages of the delivery pipeline, especially between Development and Operations.

When feedback loops are short, defects, performance issues, and risks can be identified and resolved earlier in the process, preventing costly delays and large-scale rework. This supportsfaster, safer releasesand improves the organization’s responsiveness to customer needs.

WhileA(learning) andD(knowledge sharing) are important benefits of feedback loops, they aresecondaryoutcomes. The main, direct effect is improvingflow efficiency—ensuring that handoffs between Dev and Ops happen smoothly, quickly, and with higher quality.

OptionC(value stream mapping) is a useful Lean practice to identify delays and bottlenecks, but it is adiagnostic tool, not the primary improvement gained from shortening feedback loops.

Thus, the correct answer isB—shortened feedback loops primarily improve IT performance by ensuringfaster flowbetween Development and Operations.

Cycle Timein Agile and DevOps measures the time taken for work to move from thestart of active work (“in progress”) to completion (“done”). It reflects the efficiency of the development process and helps identify bottlenecks in active work.

BandCdescribeLead Time, which includes the time spent in the backlog before work starts.Dis a subset metric related to build/test time, not the full cycle time.

Shorter cycle times indicate more efficient processes and faster delivery of value. Monitoring cycle time enables continuous improvement by highlighting delays within active work.

ChatOpsis the integration of chat platforms with tools and workflows, allowing teams to manage operations and incidents directly through chat.

Using anAPI (Application Programming Interface)is the correct, scalable way to transfer incident-related data automatically from chat clients to ITSM (IT Service Management) tools, preserving traceability and reducing manual errors.

Why not manual cut/paste?

Manual processes are error-prone and slow; DevOps aims for automation and integration.

Extract-style reference:

“APIs enable seamless transfer of information between ChatOps platforms and ITSM tools, supporting automation, accuracy, and auditability in incident management.”

—DevOps Handbook;ChatOps: Managing Operations and Collaboration in the Cloud, Jason Hand

PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6:Promotes APIs for integration, automation, and collaboration.

Reducing delays in launching projects requires eliminating manual, time-consuming tasks in the delivery process:

A: Continuous Integration (CI) with automated builds speeds up integration and reduces defects.

B: Test-Driven Development (TDD) ensures quality from the start, reducing rework and post-development bug fixing.

C: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) enables rapid, repeatable provisioning of environments, avoiding manual setup delays.

All three practices contribute to faster, more reliable project starts. As PeopleCert notes, combining these practices creates a strong automation foundation, enabling organizations to move from idea to delivery quickly.

Therefore,D—All of the above—is correct.

Cultural debt—not just low trust or poor leadership—best describes the scenario of entrenched silos and combative Dev/Ops relations.

Cultural debt leads to resistance to new ways of working, lack of cooperation, and a focus on individual rather than collective success.

Why not the others?

Low trustandpoor leadershipare symptoms of cultural debt.

Change fatigueoccurs after repeated failed initiatives; here, the core issue is cultural stasis.

Reference/Extract:

“DevOps transformation often fails without addressing cultural debt. Breaking down silos, building shared understanding, and changing incentives are essential for sustainable change.”

—DevOps Handbook,State of DevOps Report, PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6 Section 3.4

Poor communication and collaboration slow incident resolution. DevOps emphasizes fast, transparent communication channels between Dev, Ops, and other stakeholders. Implementingchat platforms(e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams) that integrate with monitoring, alerting, and deployment tools enables:

Real-time collaboration across geographically distributed teams

Immediate sharing of incident context and system data

Faster decision-making and coordinated action

A(alerting more people) risks causing noise without improving targeted response.B(social media) is not secure or appropriate for enterprise incident management.C(self-help tools) benefits end-users but does not address Dev–Ops collaboration.

Thus,Dprovides the most direct and effective improvement in communication for faster incident resolution.

The scenario describes entrenched silos and resistance to change—managers are protective of their domains and don’t see the value of DevOps.

This is a textbook example ofcultural debt: the gap between the organization’s current culture and the adaptive, collaborative culture needed for DevOps success.

Cultural debt, like technical debt, accumulates over time and “must be paid back” for transformation to succeed. It creates friction, slows delivery, and blocks cross-team collaboration.

Why not the others?

Organizational changeis what’s needed, not what they’re suffering from.

Change fatiguearises when people are burned out bytoo muchchange, not resistance.

Low trustis a symptom, but the core problem here is ingrained culture.

Reference/Extract:

“Cultural debt is accrued when organizations fail to evolve their culture to match new ways of working, like DevOps. It manifests in resistance to collaboration, entrenched silos, and leadership unwilling to change.”

—DevOps Handbook, Ch. 2, and PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6 Syllabus Section 3.4

Epics deliveredis asoftware/process metric, not a business performance metric.

Business performance metricsinclude financial and market indicators: earnings, cashflow, market share, revenue growth.

Why not the others?

Earnings, Cashflow, Marketshare:Directly tied to business health.

Extract-style reference:

“Business performance metrics focus on outcomes such as earnings, cashflow, and marketshare. Agile metrics like epics delivered measure team output, not business value.”

—Project to Product, Mik Kersten

PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6:Distinguishes business impact from process metrics.

Agile funding is flexible and adapts to the iterative, incremental nature of Agile and DevOps projects.

It can be fixed cost for some work, continuous cost for ongoing value streams, and is reviewed frequently to align with evolving priorities.

All three characteristics are true, so D (“All of the Above”) is correct.

Extract-style reference:

“Agile funding models support continuous review and adaptation, providing the flexibility required for digital transformation and DevOps ways of working.”

— Project to Product, Mik Kersten

PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6: Advocates funding models that encourage agility, experimentation, and rapid value delivery.

TheSite Reliability Engineer (SRE)role originated at Google and is now widely recognized. SREs apply software engineering principles to IT operations to create systems that arescalable, reliable, and highly available. Their responsibilities include:

Designing reliability into systems (SLIs, SLOs, SLAs)

Automating operational tasks to reduce toil

Building monitoring and alerting systems

Performing capacity planning and disaster recovery exercises

A(Site resilience engineer) is not a standard industry term.C(Software engineer) focuses on developing applications but not specifically on operational reliability.D(Product Owner) is a role in Agile frameworks that manages product backlog and priorities, not system reliability.

Thus, the correct answer isB – Site Reliability Engineer.

When teams have experienced frequent top-down mandates without adequate involvement, they may feel change fatigue and resist new initiatives. PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6 emphasizes the importance ofengagement and empowermentto build buy-in and ownership for DevOps transformation.

Empowering people means involving them in decisions, encouraging contribution of their ideas, and making them active participants in shaping the DevOps adoption plan. This approach builds trust, reduces resistance, and taps into collective knowledge, leading to solutions that are practical and widely accepted.

OptionsA,B, andCcan support DevOps adoption but do not address the root cause of low enthusiasm—lack of involvement. Empowerment fosters intrinsic motivation, which is essential for sustained cultural change.

Thus,Dis the most effective choice.

TheImprovement Katais a structured, scientific approach to continuous improvement. It uses small, iterative steps to move from the current state toward a target condition, testing hypotheses along the way.

In the DevOps context, the Improvement Kata helps teams experiment with process changes, measure outcomes, and adapt quickly—reducing risk while fostering a learning culture. It is especially useful for improving ITSM processes incrementally.

AandBare valuable techniques but serve different purposes—Agile Service Management adapts ITSM to Agile principles, and Value Stream Mapping visualizes and analyzes workflow. While they can complement Improvement Kata,Cis the direct experimental framework for small, incremental improvement.

Thus, the correct answer isC.

Change fatigue occurs when employees experience too many changes without clear purpose or connection to business value. The most effective way to reduce resistance is to ensure that DevOps adoption isaligned with strategic business goalsand clearly demonstrates how it supports organizational priorities.

When teams see thedirect business impactof their work—such as improved customer experience, faster delivery of products, or increased competitiveness—they are more likely to embrace change.

OptionsA,B, andCmay have short-term benefits but do not address the underlying need for strategic alignment and purpose.

Thus,Dis the most effective way to minimize change fatigue during DevOps introduction.

The most effective approach to tool selection in DevOps is to establish a toolchain—a set of integrated tools that support the end-to-end lifecycle (planning, coding, building, testing, releasing, deploying, operating, and monitoring).

This encourages consistency, automation, and traceability, while still allowing flexibility for teams.

Why not standardize on one vendor?

This reduces flexibility, can cause vendor lock-in, and doesn’t support the varied needs of Dev and Ops teams.

Encouraging independent selection (C) increases fragmentation.

Focusing solely on testing (D) ignores the broader lifecycle.

Extract-style reference:

“Establishing an integrated toolchain provides end-to-end visibility and automation across the software delivery pipeline, aligning tools with process and cultural change.”

— State of DevOps Report; DevOps Handbook

PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6: Recommends a toolchain approach for supporting collaborative DevOps practices.

Automationbrings multiple key benefits in DevOps:

Higher quality:Automated tests and deployments catch errors earlier, reduce human error, and ensure consistency.

Faster recovery:Automated monitoring and remediation help restore services quickly after incidents.

Other options either decrease quality, increase errors, or make releases less predictable—contradicting DevOps goals.

Extract-style reference:

“Automation reduces errors, increases quality, accelerates lead time, and shortens recovery by ensuring repeatable, reliable processes.”

—DevOps Handbook

PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6:Automation is a pillar of DevOps, referenced throughout the syllabus as a key driver for speed and reliability.

DevOps shifts the focus fromactivity-based metrics(outputs) toimpact-based metrics(outcomes and value). Measuring outcomes means assessing whether work delivers the intended business or customer benefit.

Outputslike lines of code, number of deployments, or velocity measure activity but not whether value is being delivered. PeopleCert emphasizes that outcomes should align with business objectives—such as improved customer satisfaction, revenue growth, or reduced failure rates.

Therefore,B—Outcomes and value—is preferred for guiding meaningful improvements.

DevSecOps is about integrating security into every stage of the software delivery lifecycle rather than treating it as a separate, post-development activity. PeopleCert DevOps Foundation v3.6 stresses that security mustshift left—moving testing, vulnerability scanning, and compliance checks earlier in the process.

Security as Codemeans embedding security policies, controls, and checks directly into infrastructure and application code. This includes:

Automated vulnerability scanning in CI/CD pipelines

Infrastructure-as-code with integrated security configurations

Policy-as-code to enforce compliance automatically

Static and dynamic application security testing (SAST/DAST) integrated into build pipelines

WhileAincorrectly says “shift right” (testing later in production), DevSecOps emphasizes shifting left.B(post-deployment audits) andC(external testing) can complement DevSecOps but don’t fully embed security into the delivery workflow.

Therefore,D – Security as codeis the most direct enabler of DevSecOps practices.

The State of DevOps Reports show thatLOW performing organizations have higher change failure rates, meaning a larger percentage of changes lead to incidents, outages, or degraded service. In contrast, high performers have more frequent deployments, faster lead times, and quicker recovery from incidents.