The Solution Board in Kendis serves as the essential high-level planning view for managing large-scale initiatives that span multiple Agile Release Trains (ARTs) or Program Boards. It aggregates work, typically at the Capability level (often referred to as Portfolio Epics), from several contributing Program Boards into a single, comprehensive timeline. This allows Product Managers and Solution Managers to visualize and align work that is one level higher than the Features planned in their respective PI Planning sessions.
Key Benefits of the Solution Board
Feature | Description | Contextual Information |
High-Level Portfolio Planning | Plan and prioritize Capabilities by dragging them into specific Iterations/PIs. | Capabilities can be linked directly to Objectives (via the More menu) for strategic alignment. |
Unified Multi-ALM Visualization | Visualize work items and their dependencies across multiple disparate ALMs (e.g., mixing Jira and Azure DevOps instances) on a single board. | Dependencies between items from different ALMs are managed as Kendis-Only Dependencies. |
Aggregated View & Visualization | Consolidate the view of multiple Program Boards (ARTs) that are contributing to a single solution. | This board often sits within a Solution Area, which is a higher-level organizational container. (See the Solution Area help article for details.) |
Cross-Program Dependency Tracking | Provides a high-level view of dependencies between Capabilities, acting as a crucial indicator for schedule risk across ARTs. | For detailed filtering, creation, and tracking of dependencies, please refer to the Solution Board: Detailed Dependency Management guide. |
Detailed Navigation Guide: Setup, Planning, and Visualization
This guide details the end-to-end process, starting with Solution Board creation and moving through visualization.
1. Creating and Configuring a New Solution Board
The Solution Board is managed from the central Solution Boards page.
Navigate to Solution Boards: From the left-hand navigation menu, click the Solution Boards icon (a stack of cards).
Create a Board: Click the + Create Board button next to a desired Solution Area (or the main button at the top).
Edit Board Settings: Once created, click the Board Settings link on the top-right of the board and select Edit Board Settings. This modal has five key configuration tabs:
A. Configuration Tab:
Board Name and Board Prefix: Set the name and a short, colored prefix for the Solution Board. You can customize the prefix color using the color picker.
Parent Type and Child Type (Terminology): Customize the terminology used on the board. By default, the Solution Board uses Parent Type (Capability) and Child Type (Feature). You can rename these items (e.g., changing "Capability" to "Portfolio Epic" or "Theme") and select the card and text colors for each.
B. Program Boards Tab:
Add Program Boards (ARTs) as Sources: This is where you select which Program Boards will contribute their Features and Capabilities to this Solution Board.
Crucial Step: These Program Boards form the Vertical Lanes (Swimlanes) of your new Solution Board.
For each selected Program Board, you can define a Short Name (Prefix) and set the Board State (e.g., Draft or Tracking).
C. Content from ALM Tab
This section is used to define the actual Capability/Epic content that appears in the Capability List on the left side of the board.
Saved Filter / Queries: You can link specific filters (like Jira JQL or Azure DevOps Queries) to pull in items that should be treated as Capabilities on this Solution Board.
D. Azure DevOps Projects Tab (or equivalent for other ALMs):
This tab is for linking and mapping data when working with specific ALM connections, ensuring fields like Estimate and Due Date sync correctly between the ALM and Kendis.
E. Additional Settings Tab
ALM Enable Dependencies: Toggles dependency visualization and creation on or off for the board.
Link Types: Configures which specific ALM dependency link types (e.g., "blocks," "relates to") are active and visible when creating same-ALM dependencies.
Configuration for Dependency Arrow: Sets the visual direction of dependency arrows (e.g., "From Outward To Inward").
Set Time Box: Ensure the Solution Board's time box (Iterations/PIs) aligns with the planning horizon of the included Program Boards.
2. Accessing the Solution Board
Locate the Board: Find the Solution Area (e.g., "Digital Services") that contains your newly created board.
Select the Board: Click on the name of the desired Solution Board (e.g., "Solution Board PI#3") to open the planning view.
3. Visualizing Capabilities and Features (Default View)
The Solution Board defaults to the By Capability View, providing a high-level planning perspective.
Layout and Hierarchy
Left Panel: The Capability List, containing all Capabilities ready to be scheduled. Capabilities can be dragged and dropped into the iteration columns.
Vertical Lanes (Swimlanes): These represent the contributing Program Boards or ARTs that you added during setup (e.g., "Webstore Q2 2024," "UX Team").
Horizontal Columns: These are the scheduled Iterations or PIs.
Feature Structure and Placement:
Nested Features: If a Feature is linked to a parent Capability, the Feature will be visible within the Capability card when you expand the card's details dropdown.
Orphaned Features: Features that have no parent Capability will be grouped under a card labeled "Features without Parent Epic." This ensures all scheduled work is visible, regardless of portfolio alignment.
Feature Placement Logic (Phoenix Mode): A Feature (whether nested or orphaned) is placed on the Solution Board in the Iteration column that corresponds to the last iteration it is scheduled in on its respective Program Board. This alignment is consistent with the "Phoenix Mode" planning pattern used for feature delivery across multiple sprints.
Drill-Down and External Links:
View Features: Click the dropdown arrow on a Capability card to view the specific Features scheduled within that Iteration/ART. These features are only related to the swimlane (ART) they are in.
ALM Deep Link: Clicking on any item's ID or key (e.g., "CAP-5," "40," "FEA-76") will automatically redirect you to the corresponding work item within your connected ALM tool.
4. Switching to Feature View (Execution Focus)
For a detailed view of all execution-level work, you can switch the board from Capability focus to Feature focus.
Switch the View: Click the By Capability View dropdown (top-right of the board) and select By Feature View.
View Changes:
The Capability List on the left is removed.
The main board view now shows individual Feature Cards laid out across the Iteration columns.
Vertical Swimlanes are retained, meaning you still see exactly which Program Board/ART is responsible for each Feature.
Using Grouping Options (By Feature View):
Accessing Groups: Click the No Group dropdown button (next to Dependency).
Available Groups: The dropdown will display default fields (e.g., By Teams, By Project) as well as custom fields defined in your connected ALMs (e.g., By Assignee, By Business Priority).
Applying Groups: Selecting a group (e.g., "By Assignee") reorganizes the board horizontally. Features are displayed in new horizontal rows labeled by the selected grouping value (e.g., the assignee's name), allowing for specific horizontal analysis within each ART's vertical swimlane.
5. Managing Cross-ALM Dependency Visualization
A key benefit of the Solution Board is managing dependencies between items across different ALMs, which is visually represented as follows:
Dependency Roll-Up: If a dependency exists at a lower level (Story or Feature) between two teams, Kendis will automatically display the dependency line between the parent Capability cards as well, providing a high-level rollup of risk even if the dependency isn't formally defined at the Capability level in the ALM.
Cross-ALM Dependency Handling: Dependencies between items from different ALM systems (e.g., Jira and Azure DevOps) are handled as Kendis-Only Dependencies. This means the dependency is created and tracked within Kendis but does not write back to either external ALM.
6. Accessing Related Tools
This section covers the quick-access tools available via the More button and the general maintenance options.
More Menu: Click the More dropdown (top-right).
Dependencies: Opens the Centralized Dependency Tracking View for advanced filtering, reporting, and management of all board dependencies. (For full details, see the Solution Board: Detailed Dependency Management guide).
Analytics: View performance metrics, flow efficiency, and other data related to the scheduled Capabilities.
Objectives: Link Capabilities to higher-level company Objectives for strategic alignment.
Risks Register: Access the risk management tool to review and link risks across the Solution Board and its connected Program Boards.
Collab Board: Opens a real-time collaborative view for facilitating PI Planning sessions.
Maintenance Options (Board Settings Link): Click the Board Settings link on the far top-right.
Edit Board Settings: Use this link to access the full setup options detailed in Section 1. Creating and Configuring a New Solution Board above.
Resync Board: Manually triggers a synchronization of the data from the connected ALM tool.