What is DevOps and Is Enterprise DevOps Any Good?

A Major Division in the Industry

There are many forms of divides in the tech industry. DevOps concepts solve this one in particular. Therefore, to understand and fully appreciate DevOps we first need to focus on this dispute. Within any software company, there has long been a divide between the development and operations teams.

Development teams are responsible for creating feature-rich, seamless integrations that have varying requirements with each new customer. They’re responsible for changing user requirements, maintenance, and continuous development activities. The takeover at the start of the SDLC development cycle.

On the other hand, Operation teams are primarily responsible for system stability and accessibility. They come in towards the end of the process where handover of a software release is given. Their responsibility is reviewing implementations by the development teams and ensuring the system is accessible and stable, and recommend changes if necessary.

To break the silos between Dev and Ops DevOps takes a few leaps, enabling better collaboration and performance.

What is DevOps?

The agile admin defines DevOps as,

DevOps is the practice of operations and development engineers participating together in the entire service lifecycle, from design through the development process to production support.

The term “Dev” is an umbrella term for not only developers, but any person included in the development of the product. So, this can include QA engineers, SR engineers, and other disciplines as well. Essentially, the “dev” team are the makers of the product.

Secondly, the term “Ops” covers all operations staff including systems engineers, system administrators, release engineers, network engineers, and all other relevant disciplines. The “Ops” team is responsible for the product after its development is complete.

In conclusion, operations engineers need to adopt the same methods adopted by developers and vice versa. DevOps extends Agile principles beyond just the development stage. Rather it extends it over the boundary of development and onto the entire process up till delivery.

Is Enterprise DevOps Any Good?

Since the advent of DevOps, SMBs (Small Medium-sized Business’s) are most widely use its approaches and tools. A report suggests that a rounded 70 percent of SMBs are now adopting DevOps.

To be honest, most of the tools and approaches in DevOps are functional in SMBs because of the size of their teams and the simplicity of their operations. Whenever the question on the applicability of Enterprise DevOps has risen it is met with mixed answers. Realistically, for Enterprises, a shift from their traditional methods to DevOps is a lot harder than SMBs.

                                Source: https://www.rightscale.com/lp/devops-trends-report

Enterprises have big teams, operational complexity, departmental regulations, and internal and external constraints. Atop these problems, the need for Enterprises to adopt DevOps is very real. Competitors are constantly shifting while undergoing changes in their teams, plans, and software management. They have to deal with these constraints, and that is why in order for Enterprise DevOps to be functional, a few factors should be kept in mind.

Value Confidence Among All Departments

When Enterprise DevOps is introduced across the organization it leaves room for a lot of confusion. People are used to the way things were. While this change is aimed to introduce innovative approaches, it may because of concern for many. It can introduce unnecessary risks because of sudden change and effect customer relationships with the organization.

Preplanning things before problems arise can help in preventing them. To make this shift comfortably, the organization should value overall consistency and security for new and existing software for the very start. Additionally, even though the system is transitioning, quality and constancy standards should still be the same. This maintains the confidence of the employees and the existing customers in the organization.

Don’t Replace What Works

An enterprise takes years of hard work to build a name for itself, and be as functional as it is. Enterprise DevOps Applications can bring greater benefits but that does not mean that successful practices should be replaced. When shifting to Enterprise DevOps it can be very tempting to change everything new and upcoming, but it is not always the best practice.

Introducing the necessary changes and keeping tried and tested approaches is the best possible approach to shift properly. Instead of starting fresh, the focus should be directed towards building on what’s already working. It leaves very little room for uncalculated risks and can be incredibly efficient. The organization will not have to go through trial methods for each approach again, thus maximizing efficiency and profit metrics through this approach.

Elimination of Operational Inefficiencies

While DevOps focuses on introducing a flow of changes organization wise some operations may become inefficient. Eliminating any such operations that interfere with DevOps objective makes it easier for teams across the organizations to meet demands and deliver results. The collaboration of the development and operation teams is necessary for identifying these issues. Not just these, elimination requires the collaboration of every part involved ranging from vendors to departments to enable an effective transition to DevOps.

Consider Hiring a Few Designated DevOps Engineers

There’s a misconception among people that a DevOps Engineer is an ordinary developer writes code and is also responsible for the work of a System Engineer. But that is not how it works! A proper DevOps Engineer works with developers and the IT staff to oversee the code releases. They are either of the two: A developer who gets interested in deployment and network operations or A sysadmin writing scripts and code and who moved into the development side.

Either way, a DevOps Engineer understands the Software Development Lifecycle and has the outright understanding of various automation tools for developing digital pipelines (CI/ CD pipelines). For a successful and long-lasting transition, you need to hire one or more DevOps Engineers. Enterprise DevOps needs effective management and a professional can do a far better job than employees who have just been introduced to the approach. You can also choose to invest in your employees and have them trained specifically in DevOps.

Emphasize Security

It is no surprise that with the added pressure of deadlines, limited collaboration between teams, and the newly introduced transition security is not given its due importance. As a result, organizations don’t have the time or the resources to emphasize the importance of security within their systems and development approaches among their development and operation teams.

                                                   Source: Devops.com

But to properly transition to DevOps you need to concentrate on security because it is very different than IT Ops.  According to DigiCert’s Inviting Security into DevOps Survey, 98 percent of organizations are integrating security teams into their DevOps procedures. Organizations need to introduce new software tools as well along with predefined security configurations as security directly affects the efficiency of software development and customer experience.

Track Progress

Organizations need to introduce metrics that track the progress of the new approaches that they have taken on. The organization-wide introduction of these metrics streamlines operations as the teams move towards the completion of software projects. Tracking the work process of each project creates further reference material for further use in case the need arises.

These resources can act as a standard for the employees who can then improve them as the requirements change. It’s all about making the system more efficient. Every change accommodates previously ignored aspects of these standards.

Conclusion

Many organizations have successfully transitioned to Enterprise DevOps. Their case studies serve as proof that it is applicable in Enterprises as well, not just SMBs. Of course, change does not happen overnight, this is an enterprise we’re talking about. You need to keep in mind that organizations that successfully transitioned took anywhere from one to two years. While contemplating your own transition, you need to keep this time frame and a set budget in mind.

This change is necessary now, a report shows that 81 percent of enterprises have already shifted to DevOps. It is necessary that organizations stay competitive while meeting customer requirements and deadlines. Following these steps and developing a proper strategy before you transition can make it easier for your organization to adopt Enterprise DevOps.

Novateus is a custom software development company that deals with the development of innovative solutions. We have over 15 years of working and developing software solutions in the industry. If you need any help understanding anything or have a query please leave a query or contact us.