Nine Best Practices for DevOps Teams
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Never Do Anything Twice
If any task has to be repeated manually, immediately see if it can be automated. -
Standardize Processes
Standardization ensures that tasks will be executed at their best every time, without deviations from peer-reviewed code that augment processes for the whole team. -
Allow Room for Experimentation
Standardization shouldn't constrain team members from being creative and taking calculated risks—as long as they're solving real problems as opposed to pursuing personal agendas. -
Build a Culture of Overlap
Meaning the software development folks should also get involved with product support so they know what it's like to do their job. -
Establish Transparency
When everyone knows what everyone else is doing, it fosters open communication and collaboration, which can improve overall outcomes. -
Hire Business-Minded Individuals
You need DevOps team members who understand business needs and efficiencies, as opposed to simply how software works. -
Embrace Cross-Training
Teams should train together throughout various departments, so they fully understand how technology serves key organizational functions. -
Resist Quotas
Team members shouldn't be evaluated based upon how much code they write. Their performance should be tracked according to their accomplishments toward the company's mission. -
Promote the Golden Rules
These would include being treating others the way you would like to be treated, being humble and fair, and maintaining integrity. Model these qualities for your DevOps teams to emulate.
It is a phrase that neatly combines the words "development" and "operations." And it holds much promise to overhaul the way IT teams produce software. In this case, we're referring to "DevOps," a concept which focuses on product features, tests and delivery in the interest of rapid turnaround time with greater quality and reliability. The new e-book from Rackspace, "The DevOps Mindset: Real-World Insights from Tech Leaders," reveals a wide range of associated challenges, and CIOs should realize that overcoming them requires more than a standard "tech" response. "The speed-to-market benefits of DevOps are becoming widely known, and more companies are interested in adopting such a system as part of their own infrastructure—if they haven't done so already," according to the book. "You might think some new piece of hardware or software is what you need. Yet the agility that companies seek isn't a tangible product." To address this, we're providing the following list of nine best practices, as adapted from the book. They were compiled from interviews with accomplished IT industry professionals such as Jim Kimball of HedgeServ, James Kenigsberg of 2U, Jeff Hackert of Chef/Riot Games, and Bharat Krish of HBO Latin America. For more about the book, click here.