Azure DevOps and GitHub CI/CD Pipeline Implementation
Azure DevOps and GitHub CI/CD Pipeline Implementation stands up a working software delivery platform for your development team — on Azure DevOps, GitHub, or an agreed combination of the two. The engagement covers repositories with branch policies and pull-request workflows, automated build and release pipelines using Azure Pipelines or GitHub Actions, environment promotion with approval gates, secret-free deployments to Azure through OIDC workload identity federation, and an infrastructure-as-code baseline in Bicep or Terraform. Fixed price of $3,950 per project, delivered in about 2 weeks. The fixed scope covers one platform and CI/CD for up to two applications, with every pipeline pattern documented so your team can onboard the next application without us.
What this engagement is
This service is built for SMB software teams that write good code but have no dedicated platform engineer: deployments happen from someone's laptop, credentials live in config files or a shared vault nobody rotates, and the main branch has no protection. IT Partner implements the delivery platform around your existing code — organization and project setup, migration from legacy source control (TFVC, Subversion, or another Git host), branch policies and pull-request workflows, YAML-defined CI builds, release pipelines with environment approval gates, and deployments to Azure that authenticate through Microsoft Entra workload identity federation instead of stored secrets. Where infrastructure definitions are in scope, we establish a Bicep or Terraform baseline so environments are reproducible. Platform choice is part of the engagement, not an assumption: as of 2026 Microsoft concentrates its AI and agentic-DevOps investment (GitHub Copilot, coding agents) on GitHub while Azure DevOps remains a fully supported enterprise delivery platform, and hybrid patterns — GitHub repositories with Azure Boards, or Azure Repos with GitHub Actions — are legitimate options. We recommend based on your team, licensing, and roadmap, then implement the choice. Writing or changing application code is explicitly out of scope.
Success criteria
What you receive
How the work unfolds
Review team workflow, existing source control, target environments, and licensing; agree Azure DevOps vs GitHub vs hybrid and confirm the in-scope applications.
Create or harden the organization, projects and repositories; apply least-privilege permissions and branch policies.
Migrate in-scope repositories from TFVC, Subversion, or another Git host; validate builds from the migrated code.
Author YAML build pipelines with pull-request triggers, existing-test execution, and artifact or container publishing.
Configure environment promotion with approval gates and deploy the in-scope applications to the agreed Azure targets.
Set up OIDC workload identity federation to Azure, move residual secrets to Key Vault, and enable push protection where licensed.
Establish the Bicep or Terraform baseline for in-scope deployment targets and wire it into the pipelines.
Run end-to-end deployment validation, deliver the runbook and pattern documentation, and hold the team handover session.
Prerequisites
Who does what
IT Partner
- Lead the platform decision with a written recommendation covering licensing, workflow fit, and Microsoft's current platform direction.
- Configure the organization, projects, repositories, permissions, and branch policies to the agreed design.
- Perform the in-scope source-control migrations and validate the results.
- Author, test, and document the CI/CD pipelines, environment gates, and OIDC federation to Azure.
- Establish the in-scope infrastructure-as-code baseline and integrate it with the pipelines.
- Deliver documentation and the handover session, and raise any risks, scope changes, or platform constraints discovered during delivery.
Your team
- Provide access to Azure, Microsoft Entra ID, and existing source control needed for the engagement.
- Procure the platform licensing (Azure DevOps user licenses and parallel jobs, or GitHub seats and Actions capacity) identified at kickoff.
- Make platform, branching, and environment-approval decisions when options are presented.
- Ensure developers are available for the migration cutover and the handover session.
- Approve changes that affect production deployment paths and own pipeline operation after handover.
What's not included
Limitations & technical notes
Frequently asked questions
What does the Azure DevOps and GitHub CI/CD Pipeline Implementation include?
The service implements a complete delivery platform for up to two applications: repositories with branch policies and pull-request workflows, YAML CI pipelines that build and run your existing tests, CD pipelines with environment approval gates, OIDC workload identity federation for secret-free deployment to Azure, an infrastructure-as-code baseline in Bicep or Terraform, migration of up to five repositories from legacy source control, and documentation plus a handover session. It runs on Azure DevOps, GitHub, or an agreed hybrid of the two.
Should we choose Azure DevOps or GitHub?
It depends on your team, and the decision is part of the engagement. As of 2026, Microsoft concentrates its AI investment — GitHub Copilot, coding agents, and the agentic-DevOps tooling — on GitHub, which makes GitHub the default recommendation for most new teams. Azure DevOps remains a fully supported platform with strengths in work-item management (Boards), enterprise process control, and existing organizational investment. We put the recommendation in writing with the licensing implications so you can decide with clear eyes.
Can we mix the two platforms?
Yes. Hybrid patterns are common and supported: GitHub repositories and Actions with Azure Boards for work-item tracking, or Azure Repos with GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps. If a hybrid pattern fits your team better than a single platform, we implement one agreed hybrid design within the fixed scope.
Do you migrate our existing repositories, and is commit history preserved?
Yes — migration of up to five repositories from TFVC, Subversion, or another Git host is in scope. Git-to-Git migrations preserve full history. TFVC and Subversion migrations preserve history to the extent the migration tooling supports for your repository's shape; we assess each repository and confirm the achievable history fidelity with you before cutover rather than promising full history everywhere.
How do the pipelines authenticate to Azure?
Through OIDC workload identity federation with Microsoft Entra ID. The pipeline requests a short-lived token at run time and exchanges it for Azure access under a federated credential — there is no client secret stored in the pipeline platform to leak, rotate, or expire. Any remaining application secrets are held in Azure Key Vault and referenced at deploy time, and we enable secret-scanning push protection where your licensing includes it.
What does the $3,950 fixed price cover, and what would cost extra?
The fixed price covers one platform (or one agreed hybrid pattern), up to five migrated repositories, CI/CD for up to two applications, one Azure subscription as the deployment target, the infrastructure-as-code baseline, and documentation with handover. Additional applications, repositories, subscriptions, work-item or wiki migration, GitHub Advanced Security rollout, and self-hosted runner fleets beyond one agreed pool are quoted separately. Platform licensing and Azure consumption are always your costs.
What licenses do we need?
For Azure DevOps: user licenses (Basic) for team members beyond the free tier, plus Microsoft-hosted parallel jobs for concurrent builds. For GitHub: organization seats on the appropriate plan, plus Actions minutes or runners beyond the included allowance, and GitHub Advanced Security if you want the full security suite. Exact needs depend on team size and build volume — we map them in the platform decision record at kickoff. License costs are not included in the service fee.
Do you write or fix our application code?
No. This is a delivery-platform engagement: the applications must build successfully from documented steps before we automate them, and any automated tests we wire into CI must already exist and pass. If a build breaks for application-code reasons during the project, fixing the code is your team's task — though the pipeline will now tell you about it immediately, which is rather the point.
Do you use Bicep or Terraform for infrastructure as code?
Either — the choice follows your context. Bicep is the natural fit for Azure-only estates with no prior IaC investment; Terraform makes sense if your team already knows it or you need multi-cloud coverage. We establish the baseline for the in-scope deployment targets in whichever language is agreed at kickoff and wire it into the pipelines so infrastructure changes flow through pull requests like code.
How long does the implementation take?
About 2 weeks. That assumes access and licensing are in place at kickoff, the applications build from documented steps, and approvals arrive without long waits. Repository migrations with complex TFVC history or slow client-side approvals are the usual sources of delay — they extend the calendar, not the fixed price.
Do you set up security scanning in the pipelines?
We enable the secret-protection features included in your existing licensing — such as secret-scanning push protection — and configure branch policies that enforce review before merge. A full rollout of GitHub Advanced Security or GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps (code scanning, dependency review across the estate) is a separate engagement, and we will tell you honestly whether you need it.
What happens after handover?
Your team owns the platform, with a runbook and documented patterns designed for self-service — onboarding the next application should not require us. If you want help anyway, additional applications are quoted as small fixed-scope add-ons, and ongoing pipeline operations, monitoring, and 24/7 support are available as optional extra-cost add-ons through IT Partner's NOC and support partnerships.