Custom software development process gets more complicated amid rising challenges. However, advancing technology introduces new approaches to make software development ready to meet the complexities of modern businesses. DevOps is one such approach that enables developers to ensure fast and frequent releases of stable software. Simply put, DevOps is a key set of ideas and software development practices that can improve automation and bring transparency.
What is DevOps?
DevOps is an acronym consisting of two different terms- Development and Operations. As a proven set of practices, DevOps can ensure effective collaboration and communication between the software development and IT operations teams. As a result, the process remains seamless and enterprises can get customized software on time. DevOps can improve all aspects of software development including testing, deployment, management, and maintenance.
The DevOps approach consists of various methods. These methods include process automation, Continuous Delivery (CD), Continuous Integration (CI), IaC (Infrastructure as Code), configuration management, and continuous deployment. It supports agile development and facilitates developers to come up with tailored solutions in a short time.
Read on to know the key principles and benefits of DevOps implementation.
Key DevOps Principles
Let’s face it. Every company has unique requirements and a different set of challenges. Thankfully, DevOps implementation is flexible enough to meet the differences in goals, processes, and cultures.
Here are some of the core principles of DevOps that remain common as companies can get a collaborative environment based on mutual trust, problem-solving approach, and sharing of ideas.
- It establishes end-to-end accountability among teams and eliminates the chances of pointing fingers between developers and ops experts
- It brings automation in the software development to streamline the process, enhance productivity and improve dependability
- It enables the team to implement a client-centric strategy with rapid feedback on customer requirements and expectations
- It focuses on continuous improvement based on evolving technologies and customer feedback
- It enables professionals to take lessons from mistakes and nurturing the environment of healthy competition that convert difficulties into opportunities
DevOps approach can successfully remove ‘silos’ between development and operations teams. At times, both these teams combine into one to manage the entire application development lifecycle ranging from development to deployment and testing to operations. In some models, the QA department and IT security team also associate with the DevOps team. In such a scenario, a DevOps team focuses more on software security and this approach is known as DevSecOps.
Importance and Benefits of DevOps Implementation
One of the biggest advantages of DevOps are it enables different teams in a software development company to work in sync. It has a positive impact on delivery time and overall performance.
Let’s dig deep into the most significant DevOps benefits for enterprises and software development companies.
1. Innovative Approach
Innovation and creativity hold the key to success in a competitive business scenario. DevOps promotes innovation as both teams work together on common issues and objectives. As a result, companies can get speedier product delivery and a competitive edge. The DevOps environment also enables the team to share and implement ground-breaking ideas in real-time so that an innovative solution to various issues becomes possible.
2. Reduced TTM (Time to Market)
Faster delivery is the need of the hour. Be it a product or service, people want quicker delivery every time. DevOps can enable the team to make customized software faster with improved procedures and enhanced release planning. It brings automation to the entire development process with effective communication. All you can get is a shorter time to market with a customer-focused product.
3. More Reliability
There is no exaggeration in mentioning that the entire development cycle is vulnerable to errors. As DevOps brings a continuous testing approach, development companies can make all the processes more reliable and accurate. The team can identify any inconsistencies or issues quickly and resolve them before they can affect the process. In other words, DevOps makes it possible to address issues swiftly by supporting quick and effective communication.
4. Enhanced Customer Experience
This is another important advantage of DevOps. As a customer-oriented approach, DevOps ensures a shorter time to market and continuous improvement based on regular feedback. Altogether, companies can improve customer experience with the help of high-quality software and reach their goals more effectively over the period.
5. Higher Efficiency
DevOps can save a lot of time for developers in performing mundane tasks. It brings automation in several processes to minimize manual labour. Continuous integration, parallel workflows, and acceleration tools can ensure more efficiency in the process. DevOps facilitates professionals to give their best with higher efficiency by streamlining development and deployment processes. Enterprises can get a boost in productivity with the rapid deployment of high-quality software.
Future of DevOps
DevOps has a promising future because of its capability to bring changes in organizational techniques and promote automation in processes.
DevOps, at its core, supports IT teams in becoming more agile and responsive to gain bigger goals of modern enterprises. DevOps transformation will become possible with automation and AIOps (Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations). AIOps brings machine learning, anomaly detection, automated root cause analysis, performance baselines, and predictive insights under one roof. It gives IT teams the potential to transform various operations while tracking activities and fixing issues.
What’s more, DevOps will put a larger emphasis on the usage of cloud technology moving forward. The DevOps team will focus more on cloud optimization to get the benefits of automation and higher productivity. Cloud technology can give a centralized platform for DevOps automation for the production, testing, and deployment of software. It is fair to mention that regardless of changing requirements of enterprises and increasing competition in business, the DevOps approach will contribute to achieving goals and addressing expectations in coming years.
Wrapping Up
The DevOps paradigm has successfully brought real results. With over 30 per cent cost reduction through an agile approach and optimum usage of IT resources, DevOps can offer many benefits to organizations and software development companies alike. It can reduce time to deployment while assisting professionals to come up with smarter solutions.
In a nutshell, in a competitive business scenario, where a company’s success is measured by speed, accuracy, and efficiency in offering new products, DevOps can be a game changer.
About Author
Vipul Makwana is a Digital Marketing Strategist at Silver Touch, a leading enterprise software development company that provides end-to-end DevOps consulting, digital transformation, AI/ML, Blockchain, and Big Data solutions.
