While DevOps software development is comparatively a new concept compared to Agile development, it is little surprise that IT organizations have a range of experiences in Agile approaches. Agile and Devops are complimentary, so you can keep everything good from Agile and simultaneously apply some of the learnings from early DevOps adopters.
The motivation that drives the DevOps integration is the frustration behind releasing and maintaining software systems across teams that have opposing goals. As a result, DevOps hopes to bring in an understanding and practice that software isn’t done until it has delivered successfully to the user -meeting their expectations in regards to availability, performance, reliability and faster delivery. Here are some points to consider for implementing DevOps where Agile is the norm –
Tone at the Top is Crucial
There should be an agreement or an acceptance early on from the senior leadership regarding the change. You should make sure to collaborate with the middle management in order to ensure alignment. Since this is not a one-off investment- it involves people, communication and integration; the company must be committed wholly for the DevOps implementation to be successful.
Employing Systems Thinking
The second step of DevOps software development requires considering employing “services thinking’ and ‘systems thinking’ in order to help in the breakdown of complex systems into simple components and modular services allowing rapid and incremental changes.
Identify Systems Waste
The third step in DevOps software development approach involves identifying the waste, bottlenecks and the delays in the SDLC. This process involves mapping all the stages and handoffs and measuring the time it takes for work to move through the cycle. Once you have detected the man points of failure and the waste, you can start to automate individual components accordingly.
You can use the automation tools for software testing, configuration automation trials- consider leveraging continuous integration and deployment (CI and CD) tools to integrate work done in a given period of time and scan for integration errors early and often.
Invest in your People
The staff involved in DevOps software development need to augment their skills for the better a collaboration with each other, with project managers and business programs. Both the development and operations team must build new skills that will add to their core skills in a DevOps environment. When this cross-pollination begins to occur, new skills will emerge which you will need to identify and plan for.
Measure DevOps Success
At this stage, you must focus beyond the lower costs and high speed that is brought on by DevOps. You need to recognize that there are more substantial benefits that can be possible with the successful implementation of DevOps software development.
Conclusion
If you give it a chance, DevOps can bring a step-change in your IT department by regaining the trust of your business and an opportunity to start aligning your entire product lifecycle to take advantage of the many talented resources and tool available to us.
