Report Epic and Feature progress from finished child work, not from a status field someone remembered to update, and give every date as a range with a confidence level. In Azure DevOps you can do this with the Epic Analytics and Feature Analytics views in Agile Analytics, then hand leadership one page with the Exec Report.
What stakeholders actually ask
Questions about big work come down to three: how far along is it, when will it land, and what is stuck? Screenshots of dashboard widgets and hand-built Power BI pages take effort every cycle and usually show state counts without saying whether the work is moving. A better update shows progress rolled up from child items, a forecast from the team's recent pace, and a clear list of what has stalled.
Before you start: hierarchy and scope
Epic Analytics needs the Epic work item type, with work organised as Epic → Feature → Story. Both views are in the Measure group of the Agile Analytics hub.
- Epic Settings, in Epic Analytics: if your Epics live in another project, add it there.
- Feature Filters, in Configuration: they set the scope of Feature Analytics.
- Workflow Mapping, in Tools, Configuration: Done is the first state mapped as Done, so a wrong mapping skews every progress bar.
Epic Analytics: one row per Epic
Each Epic gets a row with Epic, State, Progress, Features, Stories, SP and Landing forecast, and each Epic and Feature shows its Started and End dates. "Started in March, still in flight" says more in a stakeholder meeting than a percentage on its own.
- In flight for a weekly delivery review.
- Delivered for a quarterly look back.
- Not started when someone asks why their Epic has not begun.
- All progress for the full picture.
Lead with stalled work
The view marks Epics that are "stalled (in flight, no recent movement)". Put those at the top of your update: they are usually the real topic of the meeting.
Read the landing forecast honestly
The Landing forecast gives two dates: a midpoint, and the date the Epic is 85% likely to land by. Under it is its basis: "Based on n completed items at recent pace".
- Quote the 85% date to people who plan around you, and keep the midpoint for the team.
- Read out the "based on" line. A forecast built on a handful of finished items deserves less weight than one built on many, and saying so builds trust.
- An Epic with no recent completions has no pace-based date. The view says "Set a Target Date to plan it into a quarter". Treat that as a planning gap to close, not a number to invent.
The Roadmap card
The Roadmap card places each Epic by plan (its Target Date) or by forecast, and lists the ones with neither as Unscheduled. Use it as your "what lands when" slide: comparing plan with forecast shows where a Target Date has drifted from what recent pace supports, and the Unscheduled list shows which commitments have no date yet.
Feature Analytics: delivery by team
Epics answer the portfolio question; Features answer "which team is carrying what?" Feature Analytics shows:
- Features, Done (by state), In Progress and Completed SP at the top.
- A Quarterly SP Completion Trend chart, for when leadership asks whether output is steady.
- A Feature Delivery table per team with Total, Done, In Progress, Not Started, Cycle p50, Cycle p85 and Completion.
One page for leadership: the Exec Report
Epic and Feature tables suit delivery leads; executives usually want one page. The Exec Report is a one-page leadership summary of forecast, risks, delivery trend and DORA, and it can cover several teams, including teams from other projects in the same organisation. Share it as a PDF, a copied summary or copied email text, which is the easiest way to reach people who do not open Azure DevOps. It is built in your browser and sends nothing to Baytek.
A simple monthly routine
Once the scope is set, the update takes minutes.
- Open Epic Analytics, filter to In flight, and note the stalled Epics and any without a pace-based date.
- Check the Roadmap card for Epics whose forecast has moved past their plan.
- Open Feature Analytics and look at Completion and Cycle p85 per team.
- Build the Exec Report for the teams involved and share it as a PDF or email text.
- In the meeting, lead with stalled work and dated risks, then show progress.
Try it
Agile Analytics runs on Azure DevOps Services (cloud). The 30-day free trial starts on install with no credit card, and everyone in the organisation has full access while it runs. More on reporting is on the Azure DevOps reporting page, and the extension is on the Azure DevOps Marketplace.
Related: Azure DevOps reporting · Pricing