Key DevOps Principles & Practices for Success

The term DevOps is a combination of Development and Operations. It is the name for a set of practices that not only integrate, but also automate the processes of both Development and Operations. Software development teams plan, build, and test software, while those in IT deploy and maintain that software.

In the DevOps framework, these two groups work together in a continuous feedback loop to churn out quality products more quickly. Ultimately, this creates a stronger infrastructural backbone for the company.

Read more: Continuous Delivery vs Deployment: What Are Key Differences?

What Are DevOps Best Practices?

  • Automation: It’s important, especially for large DevOps teams, to automate configuration, deployment, infrastructure, and testing, among other processes.
  • Collaboration: Unlike the traditional Development and IT silos, working together is key in successful DevOps.
  • Customer Focus: Like Agile, DevOps keeps the end user in mind. Teams continue to build, test, release, and monitor new software to keep internal and external users happy.
  • Improvement: Gaining insight from Agile methodology, DevOps keeps improving and optimizing its processes and workflows through continuous monitoring and testing.

What Is the Difference Between DevOps and Agile?

Agile methodology breaks down a project into smaller parts, ensuring that a software product is released iteratively. Agile is also self-reflexive, so the workflow continuously improves over time. DevOps principles are certainly woven into this process of project management and continuous improvement, but DevOps is different from Agile methodology.

The primary difference is that Agile addresses communication gaps between the clients/end users and the developers. DevOps, on the other hand, addresses internal communication gaps between developers and the IT team. The two therefore differ primarily in relation to which part of the product lifecycle they’re targeting. 

Read more: Best Agile Project Management Tools for 2021

Who Is on a DevOps team?

The DevOps team can be quite large. It is usually made up of teams of designers, developers, testers, engineers, production staff, and operations staff. They all work together to launch and maintain new software.

DevOps teams have to work cross-functionally, making the whole team greater than the sum of its members to ultimately deliver more value to the customer.

Read more: Top 10 Paying IT Jobs in 2021

Future of DevOps

DevOps is here to stay. Here are some of the key trends to watch out for.

  • The timeline from product development to rollout will become increasingly shorter to meet customer demands for availability, speed, and performance.
  • DevOps will continue to be a valued skill among employers hiring IT personnel.
  • DevOps engineers will play an increasingly important role within DevOps teams.
  • DevOps teams will become increasingly multidisciplinary. Members will have to train in skills outside of their wheelhouse, like automation, functional knowledge, soft skills, etc.
  • As more parts of a business move to the cloud, security will be of greater importance for DevOps. Expect DevOps to use more AI, ML, and threat modeling to proactively address security threats.
  • There will be less and less human intervention in DevOps, as Artificial Intelligence Operations (AIOps) is on the rise and will increasingly partner up with DevOps.
  • We’ll see DevOps play a bigger role in business-level decisions and strategy.

Why It’s Important to Implement DevOps

In the DevOps framework, developers and IT work together on development, testing, integration, deployment, and monitoring. DevOps are becoming one of the primary driving forces for delivering value — not just for a product, but to the customer.

DevOps gets software to market more quickly and efficiently, especially if you adopt the best DevOps practices and keep an eye on emerging DevOps trends.

Read next: Biggest Challenges & Rewards of Enterprise SaaS

Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen is a writer for TechnologyAdvice, covering IT strategy and trends, enterprise networking, and PM software for CIOInsight.com, enterprisenetworkingplanet.com, project-management.com, and technologyadvice.com. When she's not writing about technology trends, she's working out or spending time with family.

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