Scrum projects often prioritize the delivery of business value through frequent, incremental product releases. However, there are times when development teams must shift focus from feature delivery to technical infrastructure work — such as platform upgrades or technology refreshes. These activities may not appear to add direct value to end-users in the short term, but they are essential to sustaining the product’s long-term viability and performance.

Balancing these upgrades with ongoing product development can be challenging. This post explores how Scrum teams can effectively plan, track, and execute tech refreshes and platform upgrades without compromising delivery goals or team morale.

---

Why Platform Upgrades and Tech Refreshes Matter

Technical upgrades can involve:

• Migrating to a newer version of an operating system or database

• Moving to a modern cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Azure)

• Replacing deprecated APIs or SDKs

• Updating frameworks, libraries, or CI/CD tools

• Decommissioning legacy environments

Without timely upgrades, products may face:

• Security vulnerabilities

• Performance degradation

• Compatibility issues

• Higher maintenance costs

• Lack of vendor support

These risks make tech refreshes not just optional, but necessary.

---

Common Challenges in Scrum Projects

Handling upgrades in Scrum introduces unique challenges:

• Non-functional nature: Stakeholders may not immediately see value.

• Invisible effort: Work may go unnoticed if not communicated clearly.

• Interruptions to velocity: Upgrades can reduce capacity for feature work.

• Uncertainty: Lack of clear DoD (Definition of Done) for upgrade-related tasks.

Scrum teams must manage these hurdles while keeping the product roadmap on track.

---

Integrating Upgrades into the Product Backlog

One of the best ways to handle upgrades in Scrum is to treat them as first-class citizens in the product backlog. Rather than creating separate streams, all technical work should be:

• Estimated like any other story

• Prioritized based on risk, cost, and impact

• Tracked with acceptance criteria and completion metrics

Product Owners should collaborate closely with the team to understand the technical debt implications and plan upgrades as part of the release strategy.

Want to learn more about backlog refinement techniques? Our Certified Scrum Master training includes detailed modules on managing non-functional requirements and technical work.

---

Sprint Planning for Upgrades

If the team is planning a major version upgrade (e.g., Angular 12 to Angular 17 or Java 11 to Java 21), it's best to break it down across sprints:

• Spike stories: Use them to explore unknowns and reduce risk.

• Feature toggles: Deploy in phases with rollback options.

• Integration testing: Allocate time for automated and manual tests.

• Rollback planning: Always include a recovery strategy.

Platform upgrade stories should include clear acceptance criteria like:

• All test cases pass across target environments

• Zero breaking changes for existing users

• All deprecated packages removed

Scrum Masters play a key role here, ensuring team alignment, removing blockers, and protecting the team from external pressure during complex refactorings. Learn more about these responsibilities in our SAFe Scrum Master certification program.

---

Sample Story Breakdown for a Platform Upgrade

Here’s how a Scrum team might break down an upgrade of a cloud deployment pipeline from Jenkins to GitHub Actions:

Story Title	Type	Description
Spike: Explore GitHub Actions capabilities	Spike	Compare performance, config, secrets handling
Setup CI config in Dev branch	Story	Create `.yml` workflows, replicate build process
Migrate deployment pipeline	Story	Replace Jenkins deploy with GitHub Actions
Decommission old pipeline	Story	Remove Jenkins jobs, archive configs
Validate success	Story	Run regression, confirm parity with old pipeline

This format ensures upgrades are visible, measurable, and demo-able.

---

Tracking Progress and Risk

Handling tech upgrades requires a disciplined approach to tracking:

• Use technical dashboards to visualize upgrade completion and impact.

• Run technical reviews in Sprint Reviews to show progress.

• Tag stories in Jira or Azure DevOps to filter platform-related tasks.

Scrum teams can also use burndown charts or cumulative flow diagrams to monitor upgrade progress and ensure it doesn't derail delivery.

Looking to improve your tracking techniques? CSM training dives deep into Scrum metrics and how to use them effectively.

---

When to Schedule a Dedicated Hardening Sprint

In cases where the upgrade is extensive, and co-delivery of features is risky, Scrum teams may choose to schedule:

• A dedicated “hardening” sprint for final integration testing

• A tech-only sprint if product features can be paused

While not a standard Scrum practice, these sprints can help reduce the risk of customer-facing issues during major platform transitions. This requires agreement between the Product Owner and Scrum Team, based on business context and technical complexity.

---

Communicating the Value of Platform Work

Upgrades should never feel like hidden work. Teams must communicate:

• Why the upgrade is critical (e.g., EOL support, performance, scalability)

• What risks it mitigates

• How it aligns with long-term business goals

For example, migrating to a cloud-native stack might enable faster deployments, reduce infrastructure costs, and support scalability — all of which are outcomes stakeholders care about.

Referencing the SAFe framework’s technical agility principles, such communication aligns well with building and maintaining a strong architectural runway. Explore this more in SAFe Scrum Master training.

---

Final Thoughts

Scrum isn’t just for product features. It's a powerful framework to handle infrastructure changes, platform upgrades, and tech refreshes — provided the team integrates them into the backlog, communicates clearly, and aligns with stakeholder goals. Upgrades done right reduce risk, improve performance, and keep teams agile in the face of change.

Whether you're managing a cloud migration or upgrading your framework dependencies, the key is transparency, collaboration, and proper technical planning. Scrum offers the cadence and structure to do this without sidelining innovation.

To take your skills further, explore our hands-on Certified Scrum Master training or go deeper with SAFe Scrum Master certification for scaling technical excellence across teams.

 

Also read - Tracking Technical Debt with Definition of Done in Scrum

Also see - Integrating Security (DevSecOps) Practices into Scrum Teams