Weekly Top 10: The Nuances of Delivering Software

In the journey to make software delivery faster, more predictable and increasingly streamlined, complexity still creates barriers for practices such as Agile and DevOps to become standardized across an organization. Throw into the mix the rise of containers , microservices, and the complexities of different stages along the delivery pipeline - from CI to release automation, plus the scalability and cultural challenges faced by the enterprise, and suddenly it’s not just simply Agile or DevOps anymore. This week’s top 10 stories lay out best practices for some of the more complex processes and concepts that are arising, as well as offer a helping hand to any C-Suiter looking to undergo the task of a full-scale digital transformation .
Continue reading for more on the latest DevOps news and trends, and, as always, stay tuned to all the news coming from @ElectricCloud on DevOps and Continuous Delivery throughout the week.

1The Dev-astating Truth: What's Left to Develop? Send In The Machines

By @maxcooter | Published on @TheRegister http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/01/is_there_anything_after_agile/
Historian Francis Fukuyama in 1992 reckoned with the fall of the Iron Curtain and the replacement of Communist systems behind it with liberal democracies, we had reached the end of history. Can we say the same about software development? Has the arrival of the age of Agile meant that we can now talk about a similar full-stop? Is this the final word in software development? And if it's not, what's going to come after it? Perhaps the starting point should be whether Agile has truly penetrated deep into workplaces. Can we really talk about Agile as the dominant force within organisations? According to some observers, there's still some way to go.

The dev-astating truth: What's left to develop? Send in the machines https://t.co/XnsFe7bIvX @TheRegister @maxcooter pic.twitter.com/kexPsiKvyW

— CloudBees (@electriccloud) August 1, 2016

2How Enterprise Architects Can Help Ensure Success With Digital Transformations

By @OliverBossert and Jürgen Laartz| Published on @McKinsey http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/business-technology/our-insights/how-enterprise-architects-can-help-ensure-success-with-digital-transformations
Most CEOs understand the potential upside of a digital transformation. If they can get it right, their companies can be more efficient, more agile, and better able to deliver innovative products and services to customers and partners through multiple channels. About 70 percent of executives say that over the next three years, they expect digital trends and initiatives to create greater top-line revenues for their businesses, as well as increased profitability.

How #enterprise architects can help ensure success with digital transformations https://t.co/l0l76GRjXc @McKinsey @OliverBossert

— CloudBees (@electriccloud) August 8, 2016

3An Even More Modern Continuous Integration

By @HoardingInfo | Published on @devopsdotcom http://devops.com/2016/08/04/even-modern-continuous-integration/
It would be strange for me to tell you that there is an even newer new approach to release automation, as if the processes of continuous integration (CI), continuous delivery (CD), continuous deployment and canary releases were not modern enough. And it would be even stranger to say that the open-source tool Jenkins, which dominates more than 60 percent of all release automation processes, is not enough for some, according to Salesify. But right now, I’m going to make the claim that all of the above is true.

An Even More Modern Continuous Integration https://t.co/iuNItxCU3B @devopsdotcom @HoardingInfo pic.twitter.com/JaemrvUjrX

— CloudBees (@electriccloud) August 4, 2016

4Gartner Names CloudBees Leader in their 2016 Magic Quadrant for Application Release Automation

By @anders_wallgren | Published on @SYSCONmedia http://anders-wallgren.ulitzer.com/node/3886709
Gartner, a respected industry analyst firm, recently completed a comprehensive study of key vendors helping organizations automate manual software releases. These findings were published as part of their inaugural Magic Quadrant for Application Release Automation (ARA).
Gartner subscribers use the MQ to assess the performance of various solutions using an easy-to-read chart that highlights the relative strength of a company’s product vision, as well as their ability to execute on that vision.

.@Gartner_inc Names @electriccloud Leader in 2016 Magic Quadrant for Application Release Automation https://t.co/D499UrfZ6m @SYSCONmedia
— Anders Wallgren (@anders_wallgren) August 8, 2016

5Planning for DevOps? Here Are 5 Key Traits Your Team Will Need to Succeed

By Ash Ashutosh | Published on @ITBrief https://itbrief.co.nz/story/planning-devops-here-are-5-key-traits-your-team-will-need-succeed/
According to Gartner, a quarter of Global 2000 organizations will deploy it by the end of this year. I’m talking about everyone’s favourite new buzzword: DevOps. A lot is being said about it. But what exactly is DevOps? For me, DevOps is made up of four key elements: speed, quality, control and cost. Speed is fundamental to fighting your competitive and market positioning. Quality is critical for successful implementation and long-term viability. Control, the command of data use, security, access and process is crucial. And cost, as we all know, is one of the most important factors when making a business decision.

5 key traits your team will need to succeed in #DevOps : https://t.co/hfqpkijBwh @ITBrief pic.twitter.com/J3TUyuUGHG
— CloudBees (@electriccloud) August 10, 2016

6Automotive Industry is Driving Innovation With DevOps

By @samueldfell | Published on @ITProPortal http://www.itproportal.com/2016/08/10/automotive-industry-is-driving-innovation-with-devops/
Detroit, Michigan has been the center of the American auto industry since the turn of the 20th century, when Henry Ford churned out a few cars each day at his Mack Avenue factory. Nowadays, in addition to Ford, Buick, Cadillac and the rest of the GM family call Motor City home. Behind all the horsepower and sheet metal of the production line, car manufacturers also employ numerous software applications and tools from various vendors as part of their business. One such organisation in the automotive industry that you may not have heard of is Detroit-based Urban Science – a company that is changing the way the car industry does business.

Automotive industry is driving innovation with #DevOps https://t.co/Nq9yj2nq4K @ITProPortal @samueldfell pic.twitter.com/0huxiG6hX4
— CloudBees (@electriccloud) August 11, 2016

7Doing Continuous Delivery? Focus First On Reducing Release Cycle Times

By @davefarley77 |Published on @TechBeaconCOM http://techbeacon.com/doing-continuous-delivery-focus-first-reducing-release-cycle-times
It is all too easy to define a metric that drives the wrong behavior. That's true not just when it comes to DevOps and continuous delivery, but in all walks of life. Dan Pink, an expert on the research into human motivation, provides a memorable example of this when he tells the story of a nursery school that hoped to eliminate late child pickups by enforcing a fine. But the nursery school ended up with more late parents because it had removed the social stigma of arriving late by replacing it with a monetary transaction.

Doing continous delivery? Focus first on reducing release cycle times https://t.co/oi1l3byHbH via @TechBeaconCOM #DevOps
— CloudBees (@electriccloud) August 1, 2016

8Containers Debunked: DevOps, Security and Why Containers Will Not Replace Virtual Machines

By @JamesNunns | Published on @cbronline http://www.cbronline.com/news/enterprise-it/software/containers-debunked-devops-security-and-why-containers-will-not-replace-virtual-machines-4977492
The tech industry is full of exciting trends that promise to change the face of the industry and business as we know it, but one that is gaining a huge amount of focus is containers. However, problems lie with the technology and threaten to root itself deep in the mythology about it, namely the misconceptions over what the technology is, what can be done with it, and the idea that they replace virtual machines.

#Containers debunked: #DevOps , security and why containers will not replace virtual machines https://t.co/5PLGE7eWJ0 @cbronline
— CloudBees (@electriccloud) August 11, 2016

9Agile Is Too Slow: Why You Should Try Continuous Deployment

By @MindaZetlin | Published on @4enterprisers https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2016/5/agile-too-slow-why-you-should-try-continuous-deployment
At enterprise translation platform Smartling, developers strive for continuous deployment, rather than a six-month waterfall, or even two-week agile cycle. But why is this better? And how do they actually make it work? In the second part of a two-part interview with The Enterprisers Project, CTO Andrey Akselrod provides some answers.

#Agile is too slow: Why you should try continuous deployment https://t.co/iVUUW8zls4 @MindaZetlin @4enterprisers pic.twitter.com/jhnMCaPN7L
— Anders Wallgren (@anders_wallgren) August 3, 2016

10Effective App Security: The Importance of Collaboration Throughout the Command Chain

By Ryan O’Leary | Published on @InfosecurityMag http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/opinions/effective-app-security/
Effective data security spans every level of an organization and involves many different internal teams working together. Making sure the right information is traveling up and down the command chain is a key component of this, but it can often be easier said than done. With an increasing amount of business now done online, web app vulnerabilities are becoming more and more problematic. Failure to remediate them quickly can lead to significant data loss, website defacement or denial of service, yet the disconnect between parties within the command chain often hinders the development of efficient security practices.

Effective #App #Security : the Importance of Collaboration throughout the Command Chain https://t.co/01TvP7k5Y7 @InfosecurityMag
— Anders Wallgren (@anders_wallgren) August 10, 2016