Weekly Top 10: (Re)Defining DevOps

This week’s top DevOps news stories from around the web, shared via @electriccloud and @DOESsummit , highlight an ongoing discussion in the DevOps world – all of us are still trying to define what it means and why should you care. In our top news story this week, DevOps Isn’t a Job. But It’s Still Important , Klint Finley debates this very idea with DevOps leader Jon Hendren (@devops ). CloudBees’s CEO, Steve Brodie (@stbrodie ), was also published in TechBeacon (@TechBeaconCom ) this week discussing the evolution of software delivery and how DevOps and Continuous Delivery fit into the scope of that progression.
Lots of people joined the discussion and offered answers to this question, which was exciting to see! Articles and interviews such as DevOps is 90 change and 10 technology help newcomers better understand these methodologies they hope will help drive their business, as it does at T-Mobile . Real insights into the true value of these were provided to us by the 2015 State of the Software Supply Chain Report , “A lack of discipline, focus, and visibility around the software supply chain has resulted in mountains of technical debt, unnecessarily context switching, and outdated sourcing methods that wasted over 3.3 million build days last year alone.”
All in all, it’s obvious that DevOps can take many forms, depending on your context. It seems to be a well-understood concept from an industry perspective, but as evidence suggests it truly means different things to different people and their organizations. Perhaps then, there should not be a limit to just “one” definition of the term that stands above the rest, but rather a shared appreciation of the diverse value that DevOps brings to the table. It is within this appreciation that we can all share a common understanding of why DevOps matters, which is most important.
To read more of the top news from the community this week, check out the links below, and as always, be sure to follow and engage with us on twitter to have your voice heard.

1 DevOps Isn’t a Job. But It’s Still Important

By @klintron | Published on @WIRED **** http://www.wired.com/2015/05/devops-isnt-job-still-important/
Traditionally, companies have at least two main technical teams. There are the programmers, who code the software that the company sells, or that its employees use internally. And then there are the information technology operations staff, who handle everything from installing network gear to maintaining the servers that run those programmers’ code.

What Does #DevOps Actually Mean? Thoughts from @Devops @dominicad & more: http://t.co/1RN3j0BEf2 via @WIRED | #Agile pic.twitter.com/jmfjQCls79

— DOES Summit (@DOESsummit) June 15, 2015

2 From agile to DevOps to continuous delivery: An evolution in software delivery

By @stbrodie | Published on @TechBeaconCom http://techbeacon.com/agile-devops-continuous-delivery-evolution-software-delivery
Many organizations have succeeded in implementing agile methodologies to speed up software delivery. Agile, which started in the development organization, has gradually expanded into other areas downstream, namely IT and operations. Teams, then teams of teams, have streamlined processes, improved feedback loops, and driven a much faster pace of innovation into IT departments, which has had profound effects on the entire organization. To build on this success, DevOps and continuous delivery (CD) have emerged to help connect development with IT operations (mainly through the introduction of automation) to support and amplify agility, responsiveness, and faster time to market throughout the software delivery life cycle.

From agile to #DevOps to continuous delivery: An evolution in #software delivery: http://t.co/DGvViNiyKa @stbrodie pic.twitter.com/CqPWe5d9Gj

— CloudBees (@electriccloud) June 18, 2015

3 Developers, Security Experts Are in High Demand, IT Jobs Report Finds

By @donreisinger | Published on @eWEEKNews
http://www.eweek.com/it-management/slideshows/developers-security-experts-are-in-high-demand-it-jobs-report-finds.html
The U.S. IT jobs market is one of the hottest in the nation's economy, and by the look of things, that's not changing anytime soon. A new study from digital marketing firm Mondo shows that not only are IT jobs in high demand, but companies are increasingly willing to pay whatever it takes to find the right employee for the job. And with IT security worries on the rise, demand is rising for information security officers who will keep an eye on corporate networks and put in the defenses necessary to prevent data breaches. More than anything, the Mondo jobs report shows that the IT space is evolving rapidly and companies are adapting by hiring people with varied skill sets to fill mission-critical positions.

4 DevOps is 90 change and 10 technology

By @i_robin | Published on @opensourceway https://opensource.com/business/15/6/interview-jen-krieger-redhat
Jen Krieger used her first computer in the early 80s and maintained a strong interest in technology ever since. She started her career as a financial analyst and eventually moved into IT where she gained expertise in software development and releases. Jen has worked with many development methods, from waterfall to Agile.

#DevOps is 90 change and 10 #technology per @mrry550 : https://t.co/XpZIS1fO9B @opensourceway @i_robin pic.twitter.com/HRx5BHRjBI

— CloudBees (@electriccloud) June 16, 2015

5 DevOps Progress At T-Mobile

By @TheEbizWizard | Published on @Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2015/06/18/devops-progress-at-t-mobile/
Because of T-Mobile’s position in the cutthroat US mobile telephony marketplace, business agility is unquestionably strategic for the company, and it looks to its IT organization in large part to drive the agility they need to remain competitive. (T-Mobile USA is publicly traded but Deutsche Telekom AG owns about two thirds of the company.)

6 2015 State of the Software Supply Chain Report

By @weekstweets | Published on @devopsdotcom http://devops.com/2015/06/12/2015-state-of-the-software-supply-chain-report/
In the best organizations, the research revealed developer net productivity increasing by up to 40. Just imagine applying that time to more innovation, rather than to rework and maintenance efforts. At the same time, the report touches on inefficiencies and complexities that are creating a huge drag on the velocity software development teams are aiming to achieve. A lack of discipline, focus, and visibility around the software supply chain has resulted in mountains of technical debt, unnecessarily context switching, and outdated sourcing methods that wasted over 3.3 million build days last year alone.

Sneak peak - "2015 State of the #Software #SupplyChain Report" http://t.co/nterH86Ck7 via @devopsdotcom | #DevOps pic.twitter.com/ox11IEWmC6

— CloudBees (@electriccloud) June 15, 2015

7 Does DevOps Reduce Technical Debt – or Make it Worse?

Published on http://swreflections.blogspot.com/ http://swreflections.blogspot.com/2015/06/does-devops-reduce-technical-debt-or.html
First, building a Continuous Delivery/Deployment pipeline, automating the work of migration and deployment, will force you to clean up inconsistencies and holes in configuration and code deployment, and inconsistencies between development, test and production environments. And automated Continuous Delivery and Infrastructure as Code gets rid of dangerous one-of-a-kind snowflakes and configuration drift caused by making configuration changes and applying patches manually over time. Which makes systems easier to setup and manage, and reduces the risk of an un-patched system becoming the target of a security attack or the cause of an operational problem.

8 Top 4 obstacles to effective agile methods within DevOps

By @philsimon | Published on @TechBeaconCom
http://techbeacon.com/top-4-obstacles-effective-agile-methods-within-devops
Why do boards of directors typically consist of seven people? Why are boards with 20 members or more realizing they need to pare down? The answer isn't rocket science: larger groups face greater difficulties making quick decisions, and DevOps is no exception. The right team size is critical for agile projects to succeed. It's difficult to achieve the benefits of agile methods with 50 or 100-person teams.

Top 4 obstacles to effective agile methods within #DevOps : http://t.co/7n6Vyp3dag @philsimon @TechBeaconCom pic.twitter.com/NegVxQSTdL

— DOES Summit (@DOESsummit) June 16, 2015

9 DevOps people love container technologies, survey confirms

By @joemckendrick | Published on @ZDNet **** http://www.zdnet.com/article/devops-people-love-container-technologies-survey-confirms/
Managers and professionals engaged in DevOps say container technologies are the best thing since sliced bread.
That's the finding of a new survey conducted by DevOps.com, which finds that 38 percent of respondents use containers in their production environments at this time, and at least 65 percent expect to do so over the next 12 months. Containers in this sense are abstractions implemented at the operating system layer of the stack to support highly distributed applications.

10 Testing Will Never Be Automated

By @NoelWurst | Published on @devopsdotcom
http://devops.com/2015/06/09/testing-will-never-be-automated/
Here’s what today’s brightest and hardest working testers want you to know. “Test automation applies tools to testing.” They do not automate testing, and they certainly won’t ever replace it. There’s simply no such thing as automated testing. And I’m part of the problem. I wrote a column just last year, titled, “Automated testing’s ROI is right under your nose.” I’m somewhat embarrassed that I told the world something that doesn’t even exist provides an immediate ROI—though at least no one went out and bought a completely fictitious tool off of my suggestion.