What is DevOps? Why Implement DevOps Model in a Corporation
What is DevOps?
DevOps refers to development and operations. It is a series of practices and cultural philosophies. Which aims at the improvement of collaboration and communication between software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) teams. The goal of DevOps is to increase an organisation’s ability to deliver applications and services at a high velocity. This in turn offers evolving and improving products at a faster pace than traditional software development processes.
In simpler words, DevOps is an organisational model, which synchronises the fields of development and operations in order to increase the company’s efficiency.
Key principles and practices:
- Automation
- Continuous Integration (CI)
- Continuous Deployment (CD)
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
- Monitoring and Logging
- Collaboration and Communication
- Microservices Architecture
DevOps Benefits
- Faster Time to Market – DevOps encompasses automating processes and implementing continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. This enables organisations to release software updates and new features more frequently, reducing time to market.
- Increased Collaboration – DevOps promotes collaboration and communication between development, operations, and other teams. As such, breaking down silos and fostering a culture of shared responsibility. This alignment leads to smoother processes and faster issue resolution.
- Enhanced Quality – continuous integration and deployment practices (and automated testing) help catch bugs and errors earlier in the development process. Consequently, leading to higher-quality software.
- Greater Scalability – infrastructure as code (IaC) and containerisation enable organisations to scale their infrastructure and applications more easily and efficiently. This scalability allows businesses to respond quickly to changing demand and market conditions.
- Cost Savings – while there may be initial investments in tools and training, DevOps practices ultimately lead to cost savings. This occurs through increased efficiency, reduced downtime, and improved resource utilisation.
- Competitive Advantage – organisations that embrace DevOps can respond to market demands more rapidly, innovate faster, and deliver better customer experiences. As a result, businesses gain a competitive edge in their industries.
- Enhanced Customer Satisfaction – faster delivery of new features and updates, along with higher-quality software, results in improved customer satisfaction. DevOps enables organizations to respond more effectively to customer feedback and changing market demands, driving greater loyalty and retention.
- Improved Reliability and Stability – DevOps practices such as monitoring, logging, and automated rollback mechanisms help ensure the reliability and stability of applications and infrastructure. Organisations can detect and resolve issues quickly, minimizing downtime and disruption to users.
- Reduced Risk – infrastructure as code and automated testing help mitigate risks associated with manual errors, configuration drift, and deployment failures. Therefore, resulting in more stable and reliable systems.
- Continuous Feedback and Improvement – DevOps emphasizes a feedback loop where teams receive feedback from users and stakeholders continuously. This feedback loop drives iterative improvements, allowing organizations to adapt quickly to changing requirements and market conditions.
DevOps Lifecycle
The DevOps lifecycle encompasses a series of interconnected stages, each contributing to the efficient and iterative development, deployment, and maintenance of software products. Specific implementations may vary depending on the organisation and project requirements. The following is a typical lifecycle model.
- Plan: In this initial stage, teams define project goals, requirements, and timelines.
- Code: During the coding phase, developers write and review code based on the project requirements.
- Build: In the build phase, automated build processes are employed to compile code, run tests, and package the application or service.
- Test: Testing is an integral part of the DevOps lifecycle, encompassing various types of tests, including unit tests, integration tests, and acceptance tests.
- Deploy: Deployment involves releasing the application or service into production or staging environments.
- Operate: Once deployed, the application or service enters the operational phase, where it is monitored, maintained, and supported in production environments.
- Monitor: Continuous monitoring is essential for maintaining the health and performance of the application or service.
- Feedback: Feedback is solicited from users, stakeholders, and operational teams throughout the DevOps lifecycle.
