Top-down DevOps initiatives are when a CTO, director, or senior manager have to buy in from the company to make changes to the operational model. These changes are required as the incumbent operational model is deemed suboptimal and not set up to deliver software at the speed of competitors, which inherently delays new products or crucial fixes from being delivered to market.
When doing DevOps transformations from a top-down management level, it is imperative that some ground work is done with the teams involved, if large changes are going to be made to the operational model, it can often cause unrest or stress to staff on the ground.
When implementing operational changes, upper management need to have the buy in of the people on the ground as they will operate within that model daily. Having teams buy in is a very important aspect; otherwise, the company will end up with an unhappy workforce, which will mean the best staff will ultimately leave...