This is part three of a five part series where we will look at DevOps and the solutions that can be gained by its implementation.
Since the realities (mentioned in the two previous blog entries) have been in place for years, why is there such newfound momentum towards integrated DevOps procedures? The answer can be found in a series of business and technology-oriented fundamentals that have particular urgency today.
Business dynamics
Nearly every enterprise is facing extraordinary competitive pressures. This is a major cause behind the move to Agile practices. Yet at the same time, no business can afford to speed up their software delivery process only to regularly implement unreliable, sluggish, buggy applications.
In the past, software was delivered relatively infrequently. This gave operations teams ample time to prepare and meet the inherent performance and stability mandates for enterprise-grade applications. Today, Agile practices have completely disrupted the traditionally leisurely pace of deploying software. Ops teams are now placed in the unenviable position of serving as a bottleneck to business agility.
Technology dynamics
Developing software today means juggling more platforms, teams, tools, and infrastructure than at any point in history. Meanwhile, Agile practices often translate into hundreds of delivery iterations per month.
In reaction, many Dev teams have invested in powerful infrastructure to support the software release process. These solutions provide highly desirable benefits, including:
Holistic and coherent enterprise-wide processes
End-to-end visibility
Capturing and disseminating best practices
Close loop analysis and reporting
Consistent security policies
For their part, Ops teams are leveraging the power of virtualization and cloud computing to seek out new efficiencies. No longer is infrastructure holding up delivery of applications: instead, it’s now up to the teams themselves to work together to quickly get applications to production.
Finally, with the growing need for audit and compliance, it is critical that Dev and Ops have complete visibility into each other’s processes. Businesses now demand answers to challenging questions such as:
What changes went into this application?
Who approved these alterations?
What packages comprise this application?
Without complete understanding of the entire Dev and Ops process, it’s not possible to conclusively answer these inquiries. Clearly, the time has come to bridge the gap between the Dev and Ops teams, which is what we describe next week.
Come back next week for the fourth installment of the 5 week series entitled Three Reasons to Concentrate on Dev in a Well-Planned DevOps Strategy.