[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":820},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/en-us/blog/gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab":3,"navigation-en-us":40,"banner-en-us":450,"footer-en-us":460,"blog-post-authors-en-us-Lee Tickett":701,"blog-related-posts-en-us-gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab":715,"blog-promotions-en-us":758,"next-steps-en-us":810},{"id":4,"title":5,"authorSlugs":6,"authors":8,"body":10,"category":11,"categorySlug":11,"config":12,"content":16,"date":20,"description":17,"extension":25,"externalUrl":26,"featured":14,"heroImage":19,"isFeatured":14,"meta":27,"navigation":28,"path":29,"publishedDate":20,"rawbody":30,"seo":31,"slug":13,"stem":35,"tagSlugs":36,"tags":38,"template":15,"updatedDate":26,"__hash__":39},"blogPosts/en-us/blog/gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab.yml","GitLab Heroes Unmasked: How I am elevating my company using GitLab",[7],"lee-tickett",[9],"Lee Tickett","_A key to GitLab’s success is our vast community of advocates. Here at GitLab, we call these active contributors [\"GitLab Heroes\"](https://contributors.gitlab.com/docs/previous-heroes). Each hero contributes to GitLab in numerous ways, including elevating releases, sharing best practices, speaking at events, and more. The \"GitLab Heroes Unmasked\" series is dedicated to sharing their stories._\n\nLee Tickett, director at IT development and support consultancy Tickett Enterprises Limited, is a GitLab hero and Core team member who continuously contributes to GitLab and provides exceptional feedback. In late 2020, he [wrote a blog](/blog/lee-tickett-my-gitlab-journey/) about how he came upon GitLab and began to use it as his company's platform.\n\nAt that point, his company was using GitLab in the following ways:\n\n- for version control\n- with a custom merge request approval process\n- as a custom UI for streamlined/standardized project creation\n- as an integration with our bespoke helpdesk platform\n- as a Windows runner with fairly basic CI\n\nThis blog picks up where that blog left off and gives insight into how Tickett Enterprises is making the most of GitLab's One DevOps Platform for its helpdesk, CRM integration, CI/CD, and more.\n\n## Migrating the helpdesk\n\nQuite some time ago, I decided to migrate from the bespoke helpdesk platform and use GitLab for issue tracking. Here's [an epic](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/5323) I created just over two years ago to start discussing my plans.\n\nI built a bespoke migration tool using C#, which connects directly to the existing\nhelpdesk database and pushes the data into GitLab using the API. This includes:\n\n- groups (each company in our helpdesk will become a group in GitLab with a single `Helpdesk` project)\n- issues (every ticket in our helpdesk will become an issue in GitLab, estimates will be included and quotes converted to weights)\n- notes\n- attachments\n- time logs\n- labels (type, class, department, and \"status\" will be migrated to labels)\n\n### Helpdesk workflow\n\nAfter discussing different approaches with the GitLab team and the community, we came up with the first iteration of our workflow process. The status of tickets in our helpdesk system becomes scoped labels in GitLab. It looks similar to the following:\n\n![Workflow Issue Board](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/workflow-issue-board.png)\n\nWe have two relatively small teams so we can also leverage boards to distribute and manage\nwork within the team:\n\n![Department Issue Board](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/department-issue-board.png)\n\nWe will be leveraging the [GitLab Triage](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/ruby/gems/gitlab-triage)\nRubyGem and [Triage Ops](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/triage-ops) project to handle\nreactive and scheduled automation, such as:\n\n- opening pending issues once they reach their due date (this field has been slightly repurposed)\n- nudging users when issues have been pended, but no due date has been assigned\n- nudging the team when issues have not been triaged (labeled, estimates/quotes attached, etc.)\n\nGitLab triage will run as a scheduled pipeline from inside of GitLab, and Triage Ops (formerly known as Triage Serverless) will run as webhooks in AWS Lambda (triggered by webhooks). We may potentially transition some of our existing customizations from C# to GitLab Triage/Triage Ops, too.\n\n## Building out CRM\n\nOne of the biggest challenges moving our helpdesk over to GitLab was the inability to tie issues to Customers. So, roughly a year ago, I decided to start building out a [Customer Relations Management](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/crm/) (CRM) feature.\n\nYou can see some of the work that has gone into the CRM so far: [CRM Merged MRs](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests?scope=all&state=merged&label_name[]=CRM).\n\nIt’s surprising how much work is needed for what seems like a mostly simple feature. Despite careful planning, there were many surprises that caused significant headaches. I was hoping to formally release this in December 2021, but it looks like June 2022 is more feasible now.\n\n### Reporting\n\nCompared to our previous bespoke SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) report suite pulling directly from our helpdesk, reporting is very limited. We tried using SSRS with a SQL Server linked to our GitLab Postgres server, but kept hitting walls. We are now moving forward using Google Data Studio (with a direct database connection).\n\nAlthough we still have a way to go, we've managed to achieve some really great results.\n\n![Scheduled Pipelines Report](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/scheduled-pipelines-report.png)\n\nHere's an example of a report we've started to build to increase the visibility of our scheduled interfaces now that we're leveraging CI/CD more.\n\n### Challenges\n\nOne obstacle we were faced with was the inability to achieve a lot of our goals at the instance level. Some GitLab functionality is at the project level, some at the group, and some at an instance. As a result, we had to create a temporary single root group and create all groups beneath it.\n\n## Moving to Linux/Docker for CI/CD pipelines\n\nWe have almost moved completely to Linux/Docker for our CI/CD pipelines, using several custom images:\n\n- our [custom .NET image](https://gitlab.com/tickett/dotnet.core.selenium) simply adds chromedriver to the default `mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/core/sdk:latest` image to add Selenium support for UI testing\n- our [custom Android/Gradle image](https://gitlab.com/tickett/docker-android-gradle) provides a stable build environment for our Clover apps (which require v1 APK signing no longer supported in Android Studio).\n\nYou can see sample `.gitlab-ci.yml` templates in the relevant projects.\n\nWe now have our test summary and [coverage visualization](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/testing/test_coverage_visualization/) displayed in merge requests, which is a total game changer!\n\n## GitLab for intranet\n\nWe've been using SharePoint for as long as I can remember, and I'm not a fan.\n\nAs great as a WYSIWYG interface is, I believe it brings with it:\n\n- a lack of consistency\n- a pretty awful audit trail\n- no review/approval process\n\nSo let's try and learn from the best. Can we use GitLab pages? Absolutely!\n\nWe picked Hugo purely as it seems the most popular (most forked GitLab pages project template). Similarly, the [Relearn theme](https://themes.gohugo.io/themes/hugo-theme-relearn/) seems to be the most popular for docs.\n\nIt's still a work in progress, but we’re exploring a structure similar to:\n\n```text\nClients\n-Client A\n--System A\n--System B\n-Client B\n--System C\n--System D\nInternal\n-Process A\n-Process B\n```\n\nNot too dissimilar to GitLab, but hugely amplified, we want to pull multiple projects, not just our Hugo repo.\n\nThe following  is our `.gitlab-ci.yml`:\n\n```yaml\nimage: registry.gitlab.com/pages/hugo:latest\nvariables:\n GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: recursive\ngrab-docs:\n tags:\n   - docker\n image:\n   name: ruby:2.7.5-slim\n script:\n   - cd ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}\n   - gem install gitlab\n   - ruby grab_docs.rb\n artifacts:\n   untracked: true\n\ntest:lint:\n tags:\n   - docker\n image:\n   entrypoint: [\"\"]\n   name: davidanson/markdownlint-cli2\n script:\n   - cp $MARKDOWN_LINT_CONFIG ./.markdownlint-cli2.jsonc\n   - markdownlint-cli2 \"content/**/*.md\"\n needs:\n   - grab-docs\n\ntest:\n tags:\n   - docker\n script:\n   - apk add --update --no-cache git\n   - hugo\n except:\n   - master\n needs:\n   - test:lint\n\npages:\n tags:\n   - docker\n script:\n   - apk add --update --no-cache git\n   - hugo\n artifacts:\n   paths:\n     - public\n only:\n   - master\n needs:\n   - grab-docs\n   - test:lint\n\n```\n\nThe first `grab-docs` step runs a custom Ruby script to:\n\n- interrogate our GitLab instance, looping through all groups and projects\n- grab the `README.md` and `/doc` folder\n- add frontmatter for last update date and link to the repo\n- update and fix all markdown paths\n\n```ruby\n#!/usr/bin/env ruby\n\nrequire 'fileutils'\nrequire 'gitlab'\n\n$api = Gitlab.client(endpoint: ENV['PRODUCTION_API_ENDPOINT'], private_token: ENV['GITLAB_API_TOKEN'].to_s)\n$projects = $api.projects(per_page: 50)\n\ndef grab_files(project)\n file = $api.file_contents(project.id, 'README.md')\n return unless file&.start_with?('\n","devsecops",{"slug":13,"featured":14,"template":15},"gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab",false,"BlogPost",{"title":5,"description":17,"authors":18,"heroImage":19,"date":20,"body":10,"category":11,"tags":21},"Tickett Enterprises Limited Director Lee Tickett shares the details of his ongoing journey to use the DevOps platform to its fullest.",[9],"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749667569/Blog/Hero%20Images/heroestickett.jpg","2022-05-12",[22,23,24],"community","contributors","user stories","yml",null,{},true,"/en-us/blog/gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab","seo:\n  title: 'GitLab Heroes Unmasked: How I am elevating my company using GitLab'\n  description: >-\n    Tickett Enterprises Limited Director Lee Tickett shares the details of his\n    ongoing journey to use the DevOps platform to its fullest.\n  ogTitle: 'GitLab Heroes Unmasked: How I am elevating my company using GitLab'\n  ogDescription: >-\n    Tickett Enterprises Limited Director Lee Tickett shares the details of his\n    ongoing journey to use the DevOps platform to its fullest.\n  noIndex: false\n  ogImage: >-\n    https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749667569/Blog/Hero%20Images/heroestickett.jpg\n  ogUrl: >-\n    https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab\n  ogSiteName: https://about.gitlab.com\n  ogType: article\n  canonicalUrls: >-\n    https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab\ncontent:\n  title: 'GitLab Heroes Unmasked: How I am elevating my company using GitLab'\n  description: >-\n    Tickett Enterprises Limited Director Lee Tickett shares the details of his\n    ongoing journey to use the DevOps platform to its fullest.\n  authors:\n    - Lee Tickett\n  heroImage: >-\n    https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749667569/Blog/Hero%20Images/heroestickett.jpg\n  date: '2022-05-12'\n  body: >\n    _A key to GitLab’s success is our vast community of advocates. Here at\n    GitLab, we call these active contributors [\"GitLab\n    Heroes\"](https://contributors.gitlab.com/docs/previous-heroes). Each hero\n    contributes to GitLab in numerous ways, including elevating releases,\n    sharing best practices, speaking at events, and more. The \"GitLab Heroes\n    Unmasked\" series is dedicated to sharing their stories._\n\n\n    Lee Tickett, director at IT development and support consultancy Tickett\n    Enterprises Limited, is a GitLab hero and Core team member who continuously\n    contributes to GitLab and provides exceptional feedback. In late 2020, he\n    [wrote a blog](/blog/lee-tickett-my-gitlab-journey/) about how he came upon\n    GitLab and began to use it as his company's platform.\n\n\n    At that point, his company was using GitLab in the following ways:\n\n\n    - for version control\n\n    - with a custom merge request approval process\n\n    - as a custom UI for streamlined/standardized project creation\n\n    - as an integration with our bespoke helpdesk platform\n\n    - as a Windows runner with fairly basic CI\n\n\n    This blog picks up where that blog left off and gives insight into how\n    Tickett Enterprises is making the most of GitLab's One DevOps Platform for\n    its helpdesk, CRM integration, CI/CD, and more.\n\n\n    ## Migrating the helpdesk\n\n\n    Quite some time ago, I decided to migrate from the bespoke helpdesk platform\n    and use GitLab for issue tracking. Here's [an\n    epic](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/5323) I created just over\n    two years ago to start discussing my plans.\n\n\n    I built a bespoke migration tool using C#, which connects directly to the\n    existing\n\n    helpdesk database and pushes the data into GitLab using the API. This\n    includes:\n\n\n    - groups (each company in our helpdesk will become a group in GitLab with a\n    single `Helpdesk` project)\n\n    - issues (every ticket in our helpdesk will become an issue in GitLab,\n    estimates will be included and quotes converted to weights)\n\n    - notes\n\n    - attachments\n\n    - time logs\n\n    - labels (type, class, department, and \"status\" will be migrated to labels)\n\n\n    ### Helpdesk workflow\n\n\n    After discussing different approaches with the GitLab team and the\n    community, we came up with the first iteration of our workflow process. The\n    status of tickets in our helpdesk system becomes scoped labels in GitLab. It\n    looks similar to the following:\n\n\n    ![Workflow Issue\n    Board](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/workflow-issue-board.png)\n\n\n    We have two relatively small teams so we can also leverage boards to\n    distribute and manage\n\n    work within the team:\n\n\n    ![Department Issue\n    Board](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/department-issue-board.png)\n\n\n    We will be leveraging the [GitLab\n    Triage](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/ruby/gems/gitlab-triage)\n\n    RubyGem and [Triage Ops](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/triage-ops)\n    project to handle\n\n    reactive and scheduled automation, such as:\n\n\n    - opening pending issues once they reach their due date (this field has been\n    slightly repurposed)\n\n    - nudging users when issues have been pended, but no due date has been\n    assigned\n\n    - nudging the team when issues have not been triaged (labeled,\n    estimates/quotes attached, etc.)\n\n\n    GitLab triage will run as a scheduled pipeline from inside of GitLab, and\n    Triage Ops (formerly known as Triage Serverless) will run as webhooks in AWS\n    Lambda (triggered by webhooks). We may potentially transition some of our\n    existing customizations from C# to GitLab Triage/Triage Ops, too.\n\n\n    ## Building out CRM\n\n\n    One of the biggest challenges moving our helpdesk over to GitLab was the\n    inability to tie issues to Customers. So, roughly a year ago, I decided to\n    start building out a [Customer Relations\n    Management](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/crm/) (CRM) feature.\n\n\n    You can see some of the work that has gone into the CRM so far: [CRM Merged\n    MRs](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests?scope=all&state=merged&label_name[]=CRM).\n\n\n    It’s surprising how much work is needed for what seems like a mostly simple\n    feature. Despite careful planning, there were many surprises that caused\n    significant headaches. I was hoping to formally release this in December\n    2021, but it looks like June 2022 is more feasible now.\n\n\n    ### Reporting\n\n\n    Compared to our previous bespoke SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) report\n    suite pulling directly from our helpdesk, reporting is very limited. We\n    tried using SSRS with a SQL Server linked to our GitLab Postgres server, but\n    kept hitting walls. We are now moving forward using Google Data Studio (with\n    a direct database connection).\n\n\n    Although we still have a way to go, we've managed to achieve some really\n    great results.\n\n\n    ![Scheduled Pipelines\n    Report](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/scheduled-pipelines-report.png)\n\n\n    Here's an example of a report we've started to build to increase the\n    visibility of our scheduled interfaces now that we're leveraging CI/CD more.\n\n\n    ### Challenges\n\n\n    One obstacle we were faced with was the inability to achieve a lot of our\n    goals at the instance level. Some GitLab functionality is at the project\n    level, some at the group, and some at an instance. As a result, we had to\n    create a temporary single root group and create all groups beneath it.\n\n\n    ## Moving to Linux/Docker for CI/CD pipelines\n\n\n    We have almost moved completely to Linux/Docker for our CI/CD pipelines,\n    using several custom images:\n\n\n    - our [custom .NET image](https://gitlab.com/tickett/dotnet.core.selenium)\n    simply adds chromedriver to the default\n    `mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/core/sdk:latest` image to add Selenium support for\n    UI testing\n\n    - our [custom Android/Gradle\n    image](https://gitlab.com/tickett/docker-android-gradle) provides a stable\n    build environment for our Clover apps (which require v1 APK signing no\n    longer supported in Android Studio).\n\n\n    You can see sample `.gitlab-ci.yml` templates in the relevant projects.\n\n\n    We now have our test summary and [coverage\n    visualization](https://docs.gitlab.com/ci/testing/test_coverage_visualization/)\n    displayed in merge requests, which is a total game changer!\n\n\n    ## GitLab for intranet\n\n\n    We've been using SharePoint for as long as I can remember, and I'm not a\n    fan.\n\n\n    As great as a WYSIWYG interface is, I believe it brings with it:\n\n\n    - a lack of consistency\n\n    - a pretty awful audit trail\n\n    - no review/approval process\n\n\n    So let's try and learn from the best. Can we use GitLab pages? Absolutely!\n\n\n    We picked Hugo purely as it seems the most popular (most forked GitLab pages\n    project template). Similarly, the [Relearn\n    theme](https://themes.gohugo.io/themes/hugo-theme-relearn/) seems to be the\n    most popular for docs.\n\n\n    It's still a work in progress, but we’re exploring a structure similar to:\n\n\n    ```text\n\n    Clients\n\n    -Client A\n\n    --System A\n\n    --System B\n\n    -Client B\n\n    --System C\n\n    --System D\n\n    Internal\n\n    -Process A\n\n    -Process B\n\n    ```\n\n\n    Not too dissimilar to GitLab, but hugely amplified, we want to pull multiple\n    projects, not just our Hugo repo.\n\n\n    The following  is our `.gitlab-ci.yml`:\n\n\n    ```yaml\n\n    image: registry.gitlab.com/pages/hugo:latest\n\n    variables:\n     GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: recursive\n    grab-docs:\n     tags:\n       - docker\n     image:\n       name: ruby:2.7.5-slim\n     script:\n       - cd ${CI_PROJECT_DIR}\n       - gem install gitlab\n       - ruby grab_docs.rb\n     artifacts:\n       untracked: true\n\n    test:lint:\n     tags:\n       - docker\n     image:\n       entrypoint: [\"\"]\n       name: davidanson/markdownlint-cli2\n     script:\n       - cp $MARKDOWN_LINT_CONFIG ./.markdownlint-cli2.jsonc\n       - markdownlint-cli2 \"content/**/*.md\"\n     needs:\n       - grab-docs\n\n    test:\n     tags:\n       - docker\n     script:\n       - apk add --update --no-cache git\n       - hugo\n     except:\n       - master\n     needs:\n       - test:lint\n\n    pages:\n     tags:\n       - docker\n     script:\n       - apk add --update --no-cache git\n       - hugo\n     artifacts:\n       paths:\n         - public\n     only:\n       - master\n     needs:\n       - grab-docs\n       - test:lint\n\n    ```\n\n\n    The first `grab-docs` step runs a custom Ruby script to:\n\n\n    - interrogate our GitLab instance, looping through all groups and projects\n\n    - grab the `README.md` and `/doc` folder\n\n    - add frontmatter for last update date and link to the repo\n\n    - update and fix all markdown paths\n\n\n    ```ruby\n\n    #!/usr/bin/env ruby\n\n\n    require 'fileutils'\n\n    require 'gitlab'\n\n\n    $api = Gitlab.client(endpoint: ENV['PRODUCTION_API_ENDPOINT'],\n    private_token: ENV['GITLAB_API_TOKEN'].to_s)\n\n    $projects = $api.projects(per_page: 50)\n\n\n    def grab_files(project)\n     file = $api.file_contents(project.id, 'README.md')\n     return unless file&.start_with?('\n  category: devsecops\n  tags:\n    - community\n    - contributors\n    - user stories\nconfig:\n  slug: gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab\n  featured: false\n  template: BlogPost\n",{"title":5,"description":17,"ogTitle":5,"ogDescription":17,"noIndex":14,"ogImage":19,"ogUrl":32,"ogSiteName":33,"ogType":34,"canonicalUrls":32},"https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab","https://about.gitlab.com","article","en-us/blog/gitlab-heroes-unmasked-elevating-my-company-using-gitlab",[22,23,37],"user-stories",[22,23,24],"HS-x6J5-Q9TDQifIMUJRNnm3hCUaPjd1Y4KhQiUhpQs",{"data":41},{"logo":42,"freeTrial":47,"sales":52,"login":57,"items":62,"search":370,"minimal":401,"duo":420,"switchNav":429,"pricingDeployment":440},{"config":43},{"href":44,"dataGaName":45,"dataGaLocation":46},"/","gitlab logo","header",{"text":48,"config":49},"Get free trial",{"href":50,"dataGaName":51,"dataGaLocation":46},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_source=about.gitlab.com&glm_content=default-saas-trial/","free trial",{"text":53,"config":54},"Talk to sales",{"href":55,"dataGaName":56,"dataGaLocation":46},"/sales/","sales",{"text":58,"config":59},"Sign in",{"href":60,"dataGaName":61,"dataGaLocation":46},"https://gitlab.com/users/sign_in/","sign in",[63,90,185,190,291,351],{"text":64,"config":65,"cards":67},"Platform",{"dataNavLevelOne":66},"platform",[68,74,82],{"title":64,"description":69,"link":70},"The intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps",{"text":71,"config":72},"Explore our Platform",{"href":73,"dataGaName":66,"dataGaLocation":46},"/platform/",{"title":75,"description":76,"link":77},"GitLab Duo Agent Platform","Agentic AI for the entire software lifecycle",{"text":78,"config":79},"Meet GitLab Duo",{"href":80,"dataGaName":81,"dataGaLocation":46},"/gitlab-duo-agent-platform/","gitlab duo agent platform",{"title":83,"description":84,"link":85},"Why GitLab","See the top reasons enterprises choose GitLab",{"text":86,"config":87},"Learn more",{"href":88,"dataGaName":89,"dataGaLocation":46},"/why-gitlab/","why gitlab",{"text":91,"left":28,"config":92,"link":94,"lists":98,"footer":167},"Product",{"dataNavLevelOne":93},"solutions",{"text":95,"config":96},"View all Solutions",{"href":97,"dataGaName":93,"dataGaLocation":46},"/solutions/",[99,123,146],{"title":100,"description":101,"link":102,"items":107},"Automation","CI/CD and automation to accelerate deployment",{"config":103},{"icon":104,"href":105,"dataGaName":106,"dataGaLocation":46},"AutomatedCodeAlt","/solutions/delivery-automation/","automated software delivery",[108,112,115,119],{"text":109,"config":110},"CI/CD",{"href":111,"dataGaLocation":46,"dataGaName":109},"/solutions/continuous-integration/",{"text":75,"config":113},{"href":80,"dataGaLocation":46,"dataGaName":114},"gitlab duo agent platform - product menu",{"text":116,"config":117},"Source Code Management",{"href":118,"dataGaLocation":46,"dataGaName":116},"/solutions/source-code-management/",{"text":120,"config":121},"Automated Software 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software development the easy way using GitLab","Learn how University of Washington lecturer Stephen G. Dame uses GitLab for Education to manage student assignments, distribute course materials, and provide inline code feedback at scale.\n",[721],"Rod Burns","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749659537/Blog/Hero%20Images/display-article-image-0679-1800x945-fy26.png","2026-04-29","For instructors teaching software development, one of the biggest logistical challenges is assignment distribution and feedback at scale. How do you give large groups of students access to course materials, keep solution code private, and still deliver meaningful, contextual feedback without lots of administrative overhead?\n\nThe **[GitLab for Education program](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/)** provides qualifying institutions with free access to **GitLab Ultimate**, enabling instructors to build professional-grade workflows that mirror real-world software development environments. In this article, you'll learn how Stephen G. Dame, a lecturer in the Computing and Software Systems department at the University of Washington, Bothell, uses simple workflows in GitLab to manage everything from course materials to student feedback across multiple classes.\n\n## From aerospace to academia: Bringing GitLab to the classroom\n\nDame came to academia with years of experience as a chief software engineer at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, where GitLab was used for aerospace projects. As an adjunct professor, he became an early advocate for GitLab within the university, joining the GitLab for Education program to access the full feature set needed to run structured, scalable course workflows.\n\n> **\"GitLab provides the greatest way to organize multiple classes, student assignments, lectures, and code samples through the use of Groups and Subgroups, which I found to be unique to GitLab compared to other repository platforms.\"**\n>\n> - Stephen G. Dame, University of Washington, Bothell\n\n## Set up groups: Build the right structure before writing a line of code\n\nThe foundation of an effective GitLab-based course is a well-planned group hierarchy. GitLab's **[Groups and Subgroups](https://docs.gitlab.com/tutorials/manage_user/#create-the-organization-parent-group-and-subgroups)** allow instructors to model the natural structure of a university department institution, course, and role with precise, inheritable permissions at every level.\n\nDame's structure places the university at the root (`UWTeaching`), with each course occupying its own subgroup (e.g. `css430`). Within each course sit repositories for `lecture-materials` and `code`, alongside dedicated Subgroups for `students` and `graders`. Instructor materials remain private, while student and grader subgroups are configured with controlled permissions so that assignment briefs and solutions are visible only to the right people.\n\n![Screenshot of GitLab group hierarchy — institution, course subgroup, and per-student subgroups](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1777463673/dpxfnitv76pdmvcqtgag.png)\n\nPermissions cascade downward through the hierarchy via **Manage > Members**, allowing Dame to add students to a course's `students` subgroup with `Reporter` access and an expiration date tied to the end of the academic quarter. Students can clone and pull from assignment repositories but cannot push — keeping solution code firmly under instructor control.\n\nStudents are guided to set up SSH keys across all their working environments (local machines, cloud shells, virtual machines) so they can clone repositories and receive weekly updates via `git pull`. They copy relevant code into their own private repositories to manage their own version history.\n\n**Tip for large classes:** For larger cohorts, adding students by hand is impractical. GitLab's REST API lets you automate subgroup creation and membership from a list of usernames. Below is a sample Python script that handles this:\n\n```python\n    import gitlab\n    from datetime import datetime\n\n    # Connect to your GitLab instance\n    gl = gitlab.Gitlab('https://gitlab.com', private_token='YOUR_PRIVATE_TOKEN')\n\n    # Target parent group ID (e.g., the ID for \"css430 > students\")\n    parent_group_id = 12345678\n\n    # Set expiration: typically the beginning of the next month after quarter end\n    expiry_date = '2025-01-01'\n\n    # List of collected student usernames\n    student_list = ['alice_css430', 'bob_css430', 'carol_css430', 'dave_css430', 'eve_css430']\n\n    for username in student_list:\n        try:\n            # 1. Create a personal subgroup for the student\n            subgroup = gl.groups.create({\n                'name': username,\n                'path': username,\n                'parent_id': parent_group_id,\n                'visibility': 'private'\n            })\n\n            # 2. Add student to the new subgroup with Expiration\n            user = gl.users.list(username=username)[0]\n            subgroup.members.create({\n                'user_id': user.id,\n                'access_level': gitlab.const.REPORTER_ACCESS,\n                'expires_at': expiry_date\n            })\n            print(f\"Success: Subgroup created and student added for {username}\")\n        except Exception as e:\n            print(f\"Error processing {username}: {e}\")\n```\nThere is also an [open source project that automates class management](https://gitlab.com/edu-docs/class-management-automation) published by GitLab that provides additional tooling for this workflow.\n## Give feedback where the work actually lives\n\nOnce the structure is in place, the feedback workflow is where GitLab's value becomes most apparent to students. Dame asks students to submit assignments by opening a **[merge request](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/merge_requests/)** in their repository. This gives instructors an immediate, clean diff of everything the student has written.\n![A GitLab merge request showing inline code comment function for an instructor](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1777467468/icclzyglbkwlvfysggbi.png)\nInstructors can click any line of code and leave an **inline comment** — not just flagging what is wrong, but explaining why, and pointing to what to look at next. Students receive this feedback in direct context with their code, which is far more actionable than a comment at the bottom of a submitted document.\n\n## Join GitLab for Education\n\nSetting up your first GitLab assignment takes some initial effort, but once the structure is in place it largely runs itself. The real payoff goes beyond organization: Students graduate having worked daily in an environment that mirrors professional software development, building habits around [version control](https://about.gitlab.com/topics/version-control/) and [code review](https://docs.gitlab.com/development/code_review/) rather than learning them as abstract concepts.\n\nIf you are just getting started, keep it simple. Begin with a single course group, one assignment template, and a basic pipeline. The structure will grow naturally alongside your confidence with the platform.\n\nMake sure to **[sign up for GitLab for Education](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/join/)** so that you and your students can access all top-tier features, including unlimited reviewers on merge requests, additional compute minutes, and expanded storage.\n\n> [Apply to the GitLab for Education program today](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/join/).",[623,726],"open source",{"featured":14,"template":15,"slug":728},"teaching-software-development-the-easy-way-using-gitlab",{"content":730,"config":742},{"description":731,"authors":732,"heroImage":734,"date":735,"title":736,"body":737,"category":11,"tags":738},"AI-generated code is 34% of development work. Discover how to balance productivity gains with quality, reliability, and security.",[733],"Manav Khurana","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767982271/e9ogyosmuummq7j65zqg.png","2026-01-08","AI is reshaping DevSecOps: Attend GitLab Transcend to see what’s next","AI promises a step change in innovation velocity, but most software teams are hitting a wall. According to our latest [Global DevSecOps Report](https://about.gitlab.com/developer-survey/), AI-generated code now accounts for 34% of all development work. Yet 70% of DevSecOps professionals report that AI is making compliance management more difficult, and 76% say agentic AI will create unprecedented security challenges.\n\nThis is the AI paradox: AI accelerates coding, but software delivery slows down as teams struggle to test, secure, and deploy all that code.\n\n## Productivity gains meet workflow bottlenecks\nThe problem isn't AI itself. It's how software gets built today. The traditional DevSecOps lifecycle contains hundreds of small tasks that developers must navigate manually: updating tickets, running tests, requesting reviews, waiting for approvals, fixing merge conflicts, addressing security findings. These tasks drain an average of seven hours per week from every team member, according to our research.\n\nDevelopment teams are producing code faster than ever, but that code still crawls through fragmented toolchains, manual handoffs, and disconnected processes. In fact, 60% of DevSecOps teams use more than five tools for software development overall, and 49% use more than five AI tools. This fragmentation creates collaboration barriers, with 94% of DevSecOps professionals experiencing factors that limit collaboration in the software development lifecycle.\n\nThe answer isn't more tools. It's intelligent orchestration that brings software teams and their AI agents together across projects and release cycles, with enterprise-grade security, governance, and compliance built in.\n\n## Seeking deeper human-AI partnerships\nDevSecOps professionals don't want AI to take over — they want reliable partnerships. The vast majority (82%) say using agentic AI would increase their job satisfaction, and 43% envision an ideal future with a 50/50 split between human and AI contributions. They're ready to trust AI with 37% of their daily tasks without human review, particularly for documentation, test writing, and code reviews.\n\nWhat we heard resoundingly from DevSecOps professionals is that AI won't replace them; rather, it will fundamentally reshape their roles. 83% of DevSecOps professionals believe AI will significantly change their work within five years, and notably, 76% think this will create more engineering jobs, not fewer. As coding becomes easier with AI, engineers who can architect systems, ensure quality, and apply business context will be in high demand.\n\nCritically, 88% agree there are essential human qualities that AI will never fully replace, including creativity, innovation, collaboration, and strategic vision.\n\nSo how can organizations bridge the gap between AI’s promise and the reality of fragmented workflows?\n\n## Join us at GitLab Transcend: Explore how to drive real value with agentic AI\nOn February 10, 2026, GitLab will be hosting Transcend, where we'll reveal how intelligent orchestration transforms AI-powered software development. You'll get a first look at GitLab's upcoming product roadmap and learn how teams are solving real-world challenges by modernizing development workflows with AI.\n\nOrganizations winning in this new era balance AI adoption with security, compliance, and platform consolidation. AI offers genuine productivity gains when implemented thoughtfully — not by replacing human developers, but by freeing DevSecOps professionals to focus on strategic thinking and creative innovation.\n\n[Register for Transcend today](https://about.gitlab.com/events/transcend/virtual/) to secure your spot and discover how intelligent orchestration can help your software teams stay in flow.",[739,740,741],"AI/ML","DevOps platform","security",{"featured":28,"template":15,"slug":743},"ai-is-reshaping-devsecops-attend-gitlab-transcend-to-see-whats-next",{"content":745,"config":756},{"title":746,"description":747,"authors":748,"heroImage":750,"date":751,"body":752,"category":11,"tags":753},"Atlassian ending Data Center as GitLab maintains deployment choice","As Atlassian transitions Data Center customers to cloud-only, GitLab presents a menu of deployment choices that map to business needs.",[749],"Emilio Salvador","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750098354/Blog/Hero%20Images/Blog/Hero%20Images/blog-image-template-1800x945%20%281%29_5XrohmuWBNuqL89BxVUzWm_1750098354056.png","2025-10-07","Change is never easy, especially when it's not your choice. Atlassian's announcement that [all Data Center products will reach end-of-life by March 28, 2029](https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/atlassian-ascend), means thousands of organizations must now reconsider their DevSecOps deployment and infrastructure. But you don't have to settle for deployment options that don't fit your needs. GitLab maintains your freedom to choose — whether you need self-managed for compliance, cloud for convenience, or hybrid for flexibility — all within a single AI-powered DevSecOps platform that respects your requirements.\n\nWhile other vendors force migrations to cloud-only architectures, GitLab remains committed to supporting the deployment choices that match your business needs. Whether you're managing sensitive government data, operating in air-gapped environments, or simply prefer the control of self-managed deployments, we understand that one size doesn't fit all.\n\n## The cloud isn't the answer for everyone\n\nFor the many companies that invested millions of dollars in Data Center deployments, including those that migrated to Data Center [after its Server products were discontinued](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/atlassian-server-ending-move-to-a-single-devsecops-platform/), this announcement represents more than a product sunset. It signals a fundamental shift away from customer-centric architecture choices, forcing enterprises into difficult positions: accept a deployment model that doesn't fit their needs, or find a vendor that respects their requirements.\n\nMany of the organizations requiring self-managed deployments represent some of the world's most important organizations: healthcare systems protecting patient data, financial institutions managing trillions in assets, government agencies safeguarding national security, and defense contractors operating in air-gapped environments.\n\nThese organizations don't choose self-managed deployments for convenience; they choose them for compliance, security, and sovereignty requirements that cloud-only architectures simply cannot meet. Organizations operating in closed environments with restricted or no internet access aren't exceptions — they represent a significant portion of enterprise customers across various industries.\n\n![GitLab vs. Atlassian comparison table](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1759928476/ynl7wwmkh5xyqhszv46m.jpg)\n\n## The real cost of forced cloud migration goes beyond dollars\n\nWhile cloud-only vendors frame mandatory migrations as \"upgrades,\" organizations face substantial challenges beyond simple financial costs:\n\n* **Lost integration capabilities:** Years of custom integrations with legacy systems, carefully crafted workflows, and enterprise-specific automations become obsolete. Organizations with deep integrations to legacy systems often find cloud migration technically infeasible.\n\n* **Regulatory constraints:** For organizations in regulated industries, cloud migration isn't just complex — it's often not permitted. Data residency requirements, air-gapped environments, and strict regulatory frameworks don't bend to vendor preferences. The absence of single-tenant solutions in many cloud-only approaches creates insurmountable compliance barriers.\n\n* **Productivity impacts:** Cloud-only architectures often require juggling multiple products: separate tools for planning, code management, CI/CD, and documentation. Each tool means another context switch, another integration to maintain, another potential point of failure. GitLab research shows [30% of developers spend at least 50% of their job maintaining and/or integrating their DevSecOps toolchain](https://about.gitlab.com/developer-survey/). Fragmented architectures exacerbate this challenge rather than solving it.\n\n## GitLab offers choice, commitment, and consolidation\n\nEnterprise customers deserve a trustworthy technology partner. That's why we've committed to supporting a range of deployment options — whether you need on-premises for compliance, hybrid for flexibility, or cloud for convenience, the choice remains yours. That commitment continues with [GitLab Duo](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo-agent-platform/), our AI solution that supports developers at every stage of their workflow.\n\nBut we offer more than just deployment flexibility. While other vendors might force you to cobble together their products into a fragmented toolchain, GitLab provides everything in a **comprehensive AI-native DevSecOps platform**. Source code management, CI/CD, security scanning, Agile planning, and documentation are all managed within a single application and a single vendor relationship.\n\nThis isn't theoretical. When Airbus and [Iron Mountain](https://about.gitlab.com/customers/iron-mountain/) evaluated their existing fragmented toolchains, they consistently identified challenges: poor user experience, missing functionalities like built-in security scanning and review apps, and management complexity from plugin troubleshooting. **These aren't minor challenges; they're major blockers for modern software delivery.**\n\n## Your migration path: Simpler than you think\n\nWe've helped thousands of organizations migrate from other vendors, and we've built the tools and expertise to make your transition smooth:\n\n* **Automated migration tools:** Our [Bitbucket Server importer](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/import/bitbucket_server/) brings over repositories, pull requests, comments, and even Large File Storage (LFS) objects. For Jira, our [built-in importer](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/import/jira/) handles issues, descriptions, and labels, with professional services available for complex migrations.\n\n* **Proven at scale:** A 500 GiB repository with 13,000 pull requests, 10,000 branches, and 7,000 tags is likely to [take just 8 hours to migrate](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/import/bitbucket_server/) from Bitbucket to GitLab using parallel processing.\n\n* **Immediate ROI:** A [Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ study commissioned by GitLab](https://about.gitlab.com/resources/study-forrester-tei-gitlab-ultimate/) found that investing in GitLab Ultimate confirms these benefits translate to real bottom-line impact, with a three-year 483% ROI, 5x time saved in security related activities, and 25% savings in software toolchain costs.\n\n## Start your journey to a unified DevSecOps platform\n\nForward-thinking organizations aren't waiting for vendor-mandated deadlines. They're evaluating alternatives now, while they have time to migrate thoughtfully to platforms that protect their investments and deliver on promises.\n\nOrganizations invest in self-managed deployments because they need control, compliance, and customization. When vendors deprecate these capabilities, they remove not just features but the fundamental ability to choose environments matching business requirements.\n\nModern DevSecOps platforms should offer complete functionality that respects deployment needs, consolidates toolchains, and accelerates software delivery, without forcing compromises on security or data sovereignty.\n\n[Talk to our sales team](https://about.gitlab.com/sales/) today about your migration options, or explore our [comprehensive migration resources](https://about.gitlab.com/move-to-gitlab-from-atlassian/) to see how thousands of organizations have already made the switch.\n\nYou also can [try GitLab Ultimate with GitLab Duo Enterprise](https://about.gitlab.com/free-trial/devsecops/) for free for 30 days to see what a unified DevSecOps platform can do for your organization.",[574,567,754,755],"product","features",{"featured":28,"template":15,"slug":757},"atlassian-ending-data-center-as-gitlab-maintains-deployment-choice",{"promotions":759},[760,774,785,796],{"id":761,"categories":762,"header":764,"text":765,"button":766,"image":771},"ai-modernization",[763],"ai-ml","Is AI achieving its promise at scale?","Quiz will take 5 minutes or less",{"text":767,"config":768},"Get your AI maturity score",{"href":769,"dataGaName":770,"dataGaLocation":244},"/assessments/ai-modernization-assessment/","modernization assessment",{"config":772},{"src":773},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/qix0m7kwnd8x2fh1zq49.png",{"id":775,"categories":776,"header":777,"text":765,"button":778,"image":782},"devops-modernization",[754,11],"Are you just managing tools or shipping innovation?",{"text":779,"config":780},"Get your DevOps maturity score",{"href":781,"dataGaName":770,"dataGaLocation":244},"/assessments/devops-modernization-assessment/",{"config":783},{"src":784},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138785/eg818fmakweyuznttgid.png",{"id":786,"categories":787,"header":788,"text":765,"button":789,"image":793},"security-modernization",[741],"Are you trading speed for security?",{"text":790,"config":791},"Get your security maturity score",{"href":792,"dataGaName":770,"dataGaLocation":244},"/assessments/security-modernization-assessment/",{"config":794},{"src":795},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/p4pbqd9nnjejg5ds6mdk.png",{"id":797,"paths":798,"header":801,"text":802,"button":803,"image":808},"github-azure-migration",[799,800],"migration-from-azure-devops-to-gitlab","integrating-azure-devops-scm-and-gitlab","Is your team ready for GitHub's Azure move?","GitHub is already rebuilding around Azure. Find out what it means for you.",{"text":804,"config":805},"See how GitLab compares to GitHub",{"href":806,"dataGaName":807,"dataGaLocation":244},"/compare/gitlab-vs-github/github-azure-migration/","github azure migration",{"config":809},{"src":784},{"header":811,"blurb":812,"button":813,"secondaryButton":818},"Start building faster today","See what your team can do with the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps.\n",{"text":814,"config":815},"Get your free trial",{"href":816,"dataGaName":51,"dataGaLocation":817},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_content=default-saas-trial&glm_source=about.gitlab.com/","feature",{"text":506,"config":819},{"href":55,"dataGaName":56,"dataGaLocation":817},1777493636659]