An Overview of DevOps
The term “DevOps” comes from combining two different words, “development” and “operations.” And just like its name, DevOps seeks to combine two different sets of IT practices — software development and software operations, the work of the developer and the system administrator, respectively.
The DevOps Methodology Merges Software Development and Operations
Despite the rise of the agile software development model, development and operations teams acted independently for years. A considerable level of dysfunction existed, making development and deployment a hassle for organizations. As concerns emerged in discussions in online forums, developers, engineers and system administrators began to design solutions that could create seamless development and deployment of code.
DevOps innovation continues as organizations create urgency in its adoption. Automation and cloud use are becoming increasingly important in the software development lifecycle. Although many teams are adopting the DevOps model, only a fraction of its capacity is engaged.
According to the State of DevOps 2021 report by Puppet, 65% of mid-evolution companies are adopting public cloud use, yet only 20% are using the cloud to its full potential.
What Does the DevOps Pipeline Look Like?
Continuous integration, delivery, and deployment should be the components of a DevOps pipeline. Every pipeline is unique. However, similar fundamental components are employed in the pipeline:
- Continuous Delivery (CD) — The CD concept prioritizes source codes being in reasonable states at all times, able to launch anytime at the push of a button. With continuous delivery, the pre-production environment closely mirrors the production environment.
- Continuous Integration (CI) — CI entails the improvement of existing codes and the ability to integrate changes between new and existing codes swiftly.
- Continuous Deployment — Traditional deployment methods required engineers to manually update and test codes. This method often took weeks or even months due to testing for bugs and other vulnerabilities with the code. With continuous development, the testing and operations process is expanded to a point that new versions of the software are validated and deployed automatically. CI/CD enables advanced teams to deploy runnable codes multiple times a day rather than once in weeks or months.
DevOps Tools Simplify Software Implementation
DevOps is often considered among the tools and tech stacks that organizations use for continuous integration of development and operations teams. However, the DevOps culture revolves around the practice and processes that improve the DevOps lifecycle.
“Adopting DevOps doesn’t start with adopting DevOps tools — it starts with adopting the underlying values of the DevOps community,” Katy Farmer wrote.
Tools such as servers, software, platforms, and applications used in DevOps solutions only aid facilitation and implementation. According to Up Guard, highly evolved organizations experienced a 63% increase in the quality of their deployments.
As the DevOps model evolves and pivots, DevOps technologies that make up the DevOps toolchain should adopt new developments and trends in order to remain competitive.
DevSecOps Combines Security and DevOps
DevSecOps is a combination of Development, Operations, and Security processes. It’s an approach that requires security to be integrated alongside DevOps processes. In the past, security was the job of a specific team at the end of the software development process. While that could have sufficed when deployment took weeks or months to be completed, it is not feasible now with fast and frequent software releases being the focus of DevOps teams. Securing the development process as codes are built and tested is necessary in preventing malware. Security should be built alongside software and should not be bolted on when DevOps is completed.
Securing the DevOps process has become the new direction for DevOps discussions. DevOps evangelists are preaching that security frameworks that identify potential threats and make every team member accountable should be built at the same scale as the software development process. Engineers must adapt the way software is created, ensuring that codes and end-user software are secure as they are written and deployed.
Simplifying DevSecOps is vital in maximizing the output and productivity of each team. Attempts to secure the software development lifecycle should not hamper team progress or become more tedious than manual deployment. Administering standard tests, having optimal cloud vulnerability scanners, and specified security goals are simple ways to secure the DevOps lifecycle.
DevOps Software Implementation Challenges
Although there have been recent developments and improvements in DevOps practices, there are certain challenges that need to be addressed to ensure seamless integration between teams.
Barriers to DevOps adoption include:
- Adapting organizational culture to enhance DevOps teams
- Identifying and synchronizing tool kits for DevOps teams
- Adopting more efficient tools and processes
- Moving from traditional infrastructure to microservices architecture
DevOps is gaining rapid traction. It has become widely adopted among decision-makers and influencers. Highly evolved firms are making extensive DevOps automation a focus. In a survey by Delphix, nearly all of the 2,000 companies surveyed said they were already practicing DevOps or plan to adopt it within the next 24 months.
Organizations that adopt innovative technologies and grow with new DevOps trends will continue to have an edge. Empowering DevOps teams to handle arising challenges and improve DevOps processes is the best way to maintain relevance.
Find out more about current DevOps trends, challenges, and opportunities with articles in this category.
