Weekly Top 10: Mapping the DevOps Journey

2016 is shaping up to be the year of DevOps in the mainstream, as enterprises across every industry – from FinServ and Retail to Automotive and Telecom – adopting DevOps practices.
However, many still have lingering questions about what this DevOps thing is and the best ways to begin implementation. Continue reading to learn best practices on how to map your DevOps journey and whatDevOps trends are permeating in the software delivery world. More experienced in your DevOps practice? There are still plenty of stories for you about compliance and the increasing complexity of the CIO role .
As always, stay tuned to all the news coming from @ElectricCloud on DevOps and Continuous Delivery throughout the week and retweet/favorite to get your top news items featured in our weekly recap!

1What is this DevOps Thing?

By Peter Brookes-Smith | Published on @ITProPortal http://www.itproportal.com/2016/03/23/what-is-this-devops-thing/
For the last couple of years I’ve been struggling a bit with the idea of devops. At the root of it, was my own lack of clarity about what devops is. My question remained unanswered and it wasn’t for the want of trying. I went to conferences, attended talks, read articles and met with people in our business. I gathered logically inconsistent lists of things that it was and wasn’t. In the end, I concluded that there isn’t a consensus so I had to work out what devops means to me.

What is this #devops thing? https://t.co/bZvOP0W8Vy @ITProPortal pic.twitter.com/HQLfNN1dCJ

— DOES16 London (@DOESsummitEU) March 23, 2016

2Continuous Lifecycle: Making a Big Noise About Microservices

By @regwatcher | Published on @TheRegister
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/23/microservices_at_continuous_lifecycle/
They may be small, but microservices are having a real impact on the way real world organisations are developing, deploying and maintaining their software. That’s why we’ve got thought leaders and real world users discussing the impact of microservices architectures at Continuous Lifecycle London from May 3 to 5. CloudBees’s Anders Walgren will be examining Continuous Delivery of Microservices: Patterns and Processes. He’ll be discussing modern requirements for creating, deploying and managing multiple microservices, particularly as part of a continuous delivery strategy.

More on @anders_wallgren 's #microservices talk at @ConLifecycleLon @regwatcher https://t.co/o8qA6m6qRn @TheRegister pic.twitter.com/S48HNazD7U

— CloudBees (@electriccloud) March 23, 2016

310 Essential Steps to Mapping Your DevOps Journey

By @editingwhiz | Published on @eWEEKNews http://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/slideshows/10-essential-steps-to-mapping-your-devops-journey.html
DevOps (a mash-up of the terms "development" and "operations") is a business process aimed at overcoming complexities that IT, systems administrators and developers face daily. With DevOps, developers and line-of-business operations are able to work together to develop faster-than-traditional methods of developing software by integrating all organizational systems, simplifying testing and quality assurance, and providing faster access to feedback. This allows the continuous delivery of apps through more intelligent use of app analytics, better management of projects, increased ability for market tests and a more rapid release schedule of new features.

10 Essential Steps to Mapping Your #DevOps Journey https://t.co/CfMpDioft6 @eWEEKNews @editingwhiz #DOES16 #IT pic.twitter.com/TUVCJtLLsk

— DOES16 London (@DOESsummitEU) March 22, 2016

4CIOs vs Robots: What's the Best Way to Use Automation in Business?

By @mark_samuels | Published on @ZDNet http://www.zdnet.com/article/cios-vs-robots-whats-the-best-way-to-use-automation-in-business/
The evidence points to the increased role of automation in the workplace: as many as 70 per cent of executives plan to significantly increase their investments in AI-related technologies, according to consultant Accenture. What's the best way to take advantage of robotics, automation, and AI? And how can CIOs help the business to evaluate these opportunities and create a boost in productivity and performance? Read on for advice from a range of IT leaders.

CIOs vs robots: What's the best way to use automation in business? https://t.co/GfLgLDaPwl #IT #business #CXO @ZDNet pic.twitter.com/zecDDFJnfE

— CloudBees (@electriccloud) March 21, 2016

55 DevOps Trends Businesses Should Adopt this Year

By Rajesh Sethu | Published on @ITBusinessEdge http://www.itbusinessedge.com/slideshows/5-devops-trends-businesses-should-adopt-this-year.html
DevOps – a cultural and professional IT movement focused on changing the mindset of how organizations function – will no doubt make a significant impact across many companies this year. Whether it is more stable operating environments, faster delivery of product features, quicker resolution of problems, or continuous software delivery, DevOps can benefit a company's product lifecycle, its competitive advantage, and its ability to more quickly meet customer needs. Yet for all of its benefits, DevOps is still in its early phases, because it's about making a significant cultural shift in how an organization works – and what tools it uses to improve its products. Rajesh Sethu, director of DevOps at Replicon, identifies five key trends organizations should watch in 2016, as well as tips on how these trends should be used to ensure DevOps success in your business.

5 DevOps Trends Businesses Should Adopt this Year https://t.co/TVuXQDQ13E @ITBusinessEdge #DevOps pic.twitter.com/n5W40Pp0d7

— CloudBees (@electriccloud) March 22, 2016

6Box CIO Says IT Needs to Loosen its Grip

By @PaulChapmanBox and @mattkapko | Published on @CIOonline
http://www.cio.com/article/3046077/it-industry/box-cio-says-it-needs-to-loosen-its-grip.html
The modern workforce demands a new style of IT, according to Paul Chapman, CIO of cloud storage provider Box. Today's IT professionals must take the "friction out of how we get things done," he says, to enable workplace productivity and empower employees. This concept may sound simple, but the necessary changes often don't come easy for IT, Chapman says. "Smart people are figuring out pretty quickly what they need to do and why they need to do it, but they really struggle with 'How do we get there? How do we do this?'"

Box CIO says #IT needs to loosen its grip https://t.co/ig9hIGUyNc @CIOonline @PaulChapmanBox @mattkapko pic.twitter.com/WLlutnwE9f

— Steve Brodie (@stbrodie) March 21, 2016

7Does DevOps Help or Hinder Compliance?

By @GetTechSpective | Published on @devopsdotcom http://devops.com/2016/03/18/devops-help-hinder-compliance/
DevOps tools and principles have revolutionized IT across many industries in recent years. But companies saddled with requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), for example, tend to be more cautious when it comes to adopting cutting-edge solutions. There are specific industries—health care and finance are two—that are strictly regulated and more reluctant to change. But even beyond those industries, there exist various compliance frameworks under which the rapid pace of change associated with DevOps may be seen as a risk. The flip side of that coin is that the agility and automation associated with DevOps actually might streamline and simplify compliance.

Good question worth asking from @GetTechSpective : Does #DevOps Help or Hinder Compliance? https://t.co/0313Ye23i9 pic.twitter.com/kVsLu9ksAb
— Anders Wallgren (@anders_wallgren) March 21, 2016

8 Why Data Center Managers Should Care about DevOps

By Yevgeniy Sverdlik | @DataCenterWorld http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2016/03/16/why-data-center-managers-should-care-about-devops/
While developers and IT operations professionals have been excited about the concept of DevOps, data center operators, the people who run the infrastructure for the teams upstream, haven’t generally been involved in the conversation. Jack Story, distinguished technologist at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, thinks that is a mistake. And people make that mistake because there is a lot of confusion about what DevOps is and isn’t. In a session at this week’s Data Center World Global conference in Las Vegas, Story attempted to make the case that data center operators should be part of the DevOps process and explain what it is.

Why Data Center Managers Should Care about #DevOps : https://t.co/8YXGuYTZcx @DataCenterWorld #IT pic.twitter.com/V0jIgos22c
— Avantika Mathur (@avantika_ec) March 21, 2016

9DevOps, Huh? Show Me the Money. Show Me the MONEY!

By Rachel Wilcox | Published by @TheRegister http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/21/devops_flash_in_pan_or_here_to_stay/
As career buzzwords go, you’d struggle to find one that trumps DevOps judging by the number of conferences, software tools and books flooding the market. DevOps certainly seems to offer plenty of opportunities, straddling, as it does, disciplines across technology and management from building and managing apps to running and provisioning infrastructure, managing service levels and relationships with suppliers to IT delivery. But for ambitious, career-hungry techies planning their next move, the question remains: how much of a genuine demand for DevOps specialists is there? Is this buzzword here for the long term destined to become part of the mainstream IT or more of a flash in the pan? And what the heck does it actually mean in terms of the kinds of roles on offer, the salaries they demand and the kinds of skills you would be expected to possess?

How much of a demand is there really for #DevOps specialists? https://t.co/vvit0pNqEr @TheRegister pic.twitter.com/WqNezh4D41
— CloudBees (@electriccloud) March 21, 2016

105 Things DevOps Is Not

By Yaniv Yahuda | Published on @DZone
https://dzone.com/articles/5-things-devops-is-not
For those starting out with DevOps, it can be overwhelming with the amount of changes that need to happen to have it run smoothly. This list by Shelbee Smith-Eigenbrode from DevOps.com chose to list 5 highlights that DevOps is NOT in order to give us a better understanding on how to approach it.

We know what #DevOps is, but have you ever thought what it isn't? https://t.co/VfjQIng1AI @DZone
— CloudBees (@electriccloud) March 23, 2016