Tenant Scale: Improve Feature Flag Management

Problem to Solve

• Currently, we do not have a unified approach for feature flag management across Gitlab teams.
• Please see the full epic here for more details and data 👉🏾 here

Propose Solution

• Collaborate with 20 teams across GitLab, which account for 74% of the company's feature flags, to implement a three-step solution for each team. Your team has been selected to participate in the effort.
• Develop a standardized feature flag management process that encompasses three key steps: DRI assignment, feature flag auditing and cleanup, and process improvements.

✨ Please see details on each of the three steps below 👇🏾

✅ - Done

🚧 - In Progress

⚪ - Not Started

Step	Action	Status
1 - DRI Assignment	Assign a Directly Responsible Individual (DRI) Collaborate with the teams to identify a DRI to lead feature flag audit, cleanup, and process improvement efforts.	✅ - Done DRI: @sissiyao.
2 - Audit . Cleanup	Conduct a thorough audit and cleanup Review feature flags associated with the team. Decommission feature flags that are no longer being utilized or provide justification for their retention, including a timeline for future (decommissioning) actions.	🚧 - In Progress
3- Process Improvements	Define and implement process improvements Establish a consistent feature flag management process. Update handbooks to transparently share the feature flag creation and sunsetting process.

Feature Flag Analysis - Current State Of Tenant Scale

• The Tenant Scale team owns 30 feature flags. This accounts for ~4% of all GitLab feature flags
• 77% of Tenant Scale feature flags are disabled by default.
• There are 22 feature flags associated with milestones 16.9 or earlier
• There are 8 feature flags associated with milestones 16.9+ or later

References

• 🗒️ Tenant Scale Team Data 👉🏾 Team Feature Flag Analysis
• 🗒️ Data Source: Here is a link to our full 👉🏾 Gitlab Global Feature Flag Data Analysis