Value Stream Transformation for Eliminating Friction to Drive Software Delivery Efficiency

/ Application Development, DevOps, Digital Transformation, Prodacity 2025
Value Stream Transformation for Eliminating Friction to Drive Software Delivery Efficiency

Friction is often the hidden enemy of efficient software delivery. At Prodacity, Karen Martin tackled value stream transformation, explaining how unintentional friction—miscommunication, misalignment, and delays—creates chaos and slows down mission outcomes. Her core message? Stop optimizing in silos and start thinking systemically.

Why Friction Slows Software Development

In software engineering, friction is rarely intentional—yet it shows up everywhere:

  • Loss of time – Delays between development, testing, and deployment.
  • Miscommunication – Lack of clarity on requirements, leading to rework.
  • Workload imbalance – Some teams working ahead while others are stuck waiting.

These inefficiencies don’t just waste money—they slow down innovation. A study by McKinsey found that software teams spend up to 42% of their time dealing with technical debt and inefficiencies instead of delivering new features.

Martin emphasized that the root cause of these problems isn’t people—it’s the system they work within. Instead of blaming individuals, organizations should examine the structures, processes, and workflows that contribute to delays.

Optimizing the Whole, Not Just the Parts

One of the biggest modernization mistakes? Optimizing a single process without considering its impact on the larger system.

Martin illustrated this with an example from healthcare:

  • In the 1980s-2000s, hospital labs reduced test turnaround times, expecting this to speed up patient discharge.
  • However, emergency departments remained overcrowded—because faster lab results didn’t solve bottlenecks elsewhere in the system.

This siloed optimization problem happens in software too:

  • Developers may write perfect code, but if it’s stuck in a testing queue, delivery speed doesn’t improve.
  • Automating deployments won’t help if upstream bottlenecks in feature planning still exist.
  • Improving one team’s efficiency doesn’t mean the entire system will run better.

The lesson for developers and engineering leaders: Look at the entire value stream, not just isolated processes.

What Is a Value Stream?

Martin differentiated between value streams, processes, and steps:

  • Value Stream – The entire workflow from request to delivery.
  • Processes – The major components within the value stream (e.g., coding, testing, deployment).
  • Steps – The individual tasks needed to complete a process.

Understanding the full value stream provides visibility into bottlenecks. A Value Stream Mapping (VSM) approach—which involves storyboarding and visualizing workflows—can reveal unseen inefficiencies.

According to industry research, companies that implement value stream management frameworks improve software delivery speed by up to 30% while reducing waste and rework.

Eliminating Friction: The Continuous Improvement Loop

Value stream transformation isn’t a one-time fix—it’s a continuous cycle:

  1. Map the current state – Identify where bottlenecks and delays occur.
  2. Design the future state – Define how work should flow more efficiently.
  3. Measure improvement – Track key metrics to ensure progress.
  4. Iterate and refine – Continuously optimize workflows to sustain long-term efficiency.

Martin emphasized that visualizing friction makes it actionable—once you see where the system is breaking down, you can fix it.

Analyst Takeaway: Why Value Streams Matter for Developers

For developers and engineering teams, value stream thinking is critical to delivering software faster and with fewer obstacles.

Key Implications:

  • Stop optimizing in silos. A high-performing development team means nothing if downstream workflows slow things down.
  • Remove hidden inefficiencies. Seeing the full value stream helps eliminate redundant steps and optimize workflows.
  • Continuous improvement is the goal. Software modernization isn’t about a one-time fix—it’s about making systems evolve smoothly over time.

Final Thought

Software delivery shouldn’t feel like a game of whack-a-mole—fixing one problem only for another to emerge. By eliminating friction, improving workflow visibility, and embracing value stream transformation, teams can deliver better software, faster.

When developers, testers, and operations teams work at the same pace, toward the same goal, modernization stops being chaotic—and becomes an enabler of mission success.

Authors

  • Paul Nashawaty, Practice Leader and Lead Principal Analyst, specializes in application modernization across build, release and operations. With a wealth of expertise in digital transformation initiatives spanning front-end and back-end systems, he also possesses comprehensive knowledge of the underlying infrastructure ecosystem crucial for supporting modernization endeavors. With over 25 years of experience, Paul has a proven track record in implementing effective go-to-market strategies, including the identification of new market channels, the growth and cultivation of partner ecosystems, and the successful execution of strategic plans resulting in positive business outcomes for his clients.

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  • Bringing more than a decade of varying experience crossing multiple sectors such as legal, financial, and tech, Sam Weston is an accomplished professional that excels in ensuring success across various industries. Currently, Sam serves as an Industry Analyst at Efficiently Connected where she collaborates closely in the areas of application modernization, DevOps, storage, and infrastructure. With a keen eye for research, Sam produces valuable insights and custom content to support strategic initiatives and enhance market understanding. Rooted in the fields of tech, law, finance operations and marketing, Sam provides a unique viewpoint to her position, fostering innovation and delivering impactful solutions within the industry. Sam holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems and Business Analytics from Colorado State University and is passionate about leveraging her diverse skill set to drive growth and empower clients to succeed.

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