The development process and other business operations were isolated from each other for quite some time. Two separate teams worked on developing a product and its deployment. The communication between those two groups was limited and because of that, the information flow was poor and it took a long time to receive useful feedback about the technology being produced. Does your company still work using this traditional model? It is time to adopt the DevOps model!
Development + Operations – What is DevOps?
DevOps is an organizational approach to business processes whose main goal is to enable the efficient development of high-quality applications. To do it, the company needs to strengthen relations between teams of developers and other employees to improve communication and collaboration. DevOps is not only the technology used to do this, but also the culture, principles, and best practices that increase an organization’s ability to deliver better applications and services in a shorter time.
DevOps is all about removing the barriers between the teams working in your company, and it is getting more and more popular. Modern, mature organizations make sure that their developers and operations teams are working side by side through the whole application life cycle. Would you like to learn more about the DevOps principles and tools you can use to make your development process more efficient?
Company culture – DevOps principles
Collaboration makes work easier. Experts can share their opinions on products, suggest modifications, and spot and solve problems earlier. If you consider adopting the DevOps model, here are the most important rules your company should follow:
Cooperate and communicate well on a daily basis
Your developers and infrastructure operations teams should stay in touch and share information day-to-day as they work. You can equip them with special tools that will make the exchange of information easier. This supports transparency, which is very important. There are fewer problems if everyone in your company understands each other’s needs and expectations.
Share responsibility and tasks on the project wisely
All team members should feel a part of the development process and be equally responsible for a project’s success. This means that even when one person’s task is done, they should think about ways to support other members or focus on other matters.
Resolve issues before they’ll become actual problems
Early problem-solving makes it possible to secure a high level of user experience – instead of fixing problems after a project’s release, your team should try to spot them earlier and deal with them as soon as possible.
DevOps tools you should know about
Advanced DevOps tools allow you to automate a lot of processes in your company and therefore help your teams work more easily and efficiently. The result of implementing new systems in your company will be shorter time-to-market and better control of the development process.
You can choose from various server configuration tools, automation systems for CI/CD stages, platforms of containerization and orchestration, and applications for monitoring and alerting. Each company invests in the tools that best suit its needs.
If you are not sure which tools will be the best for your organization, you should talk to experienced consultants that will analyze your company’s needs and tell you all about the best tools and the differences between them (read here about terraform vs ansible and other DevOps tools).
Benefits of adopting the DevOps model
Changing from the traditional model of running an organization into DevOps is a process that will take time. You need to learn how to use new tools and introduce new principles, practices, and processes to your employees. Some benefits of adopting DevOps will be seen in a short time and others you will observe after a longer period.
Short-term advantages
- Better user experience – early problem solving improves UX
- Shorter time-to-market, thanks to good communication and cooperation
- Improved product quality
Long-term advantages
- More time for innovations – many processes will be automated, so your employees will have time to deal with really important matters like improving their work or inventing more smart solutions for the business.
- Flexibility – the market is like a living creature. It changes dynamically. Companies that work in the traditional model cannot adapt fast. Those using the DevOps model will find it easy.
- Increased employee satisfaction – efficient processes equal project success. DevOps makes daily work easier. Your workers will appreciate that.
Don’t work hard – work smart.
