DevOps: what it is, how it works, and why it’s the future!

The beginning: What is DevOps?

‍
In short, DevOps is a method of integrating development (Developers) and operations teams (Operations). At its core, DevOps focuses on merging software development with software operation. In DevOps, developers no longer just throw a piece of software "over the wall" and never deal with it again. The team that builds the software is also the team responsible for deploying the software live. This seems logical now, but it wasn’t organized like this for a long time.

‍

The origin of DevOps

‍
As we use more and more software and demand more from it, the speed of software development needed to increase. This was made possible in part by agile software development.

While there are many different agile methodologies, they all share the same core principles: iteration and continuous feedback. With these two ingredients, software is constantly tested, used, and improved throughout the development process. The main advantages of this are greater flexibility and higher quality of the delivered software. These practices also enable faster and more effective collaboration in a team.

Initially, agile teams consisted primarily of developers. However, as these teams became more effective, it became clear that this wasn’t ideal. From this realization, DevOps was born.

In DevOps, the agile method is extended further. Building, testing, deploying, and delivering: all fall under the responsibility of the same team. Within these ‘’DevOps teams’’, there is a strong emphasis on collaboration, ensuring that people in different roles can work together efficiently.

‍

No more "over the Wall"

DevOps teams aim to standardize development environments and automate various processes as much as possible. This increases predictability, efficiency, security, and control. These ideals give developers more control over the production environment and deeper insight into the associated infrastructure.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is that developers no longer "throw over the wall" when it’s time for the software to go live. DevOps teams manage the software themselves, so they are highly invested in ensuring that everything runs, like it was built to run.

‍

A day in the life of a DevOps professional

How does a typical day look like for a DevOps professional? Generally, it’s made up of the same tasks: writing code, testing, rolling it out, and testing again. Software development in DevOps is an iterative process, so you’ll often switch between code configuration and implementation, fix bugs, and describe what the next iteration will look like.

But DevOps also requires a different mindset. It can only be successful if there’s a culture of collaboration focused on continuous improvement. So, you take values from agile methods and combine them with tools that automate manual processes. This mindset also is present in the way you collaborate: everyone must actively contribute to the success of the project as a whole and be open to feedback from team members.

At the same time, DevOps teams are fully autonomous. You’re likely under significant time pressure, so you can’t afford to wait for decisions from management above. Developers and operations staff must be able to make strategic decisions.

Overall, DevOps provides a better working environment for developers and operations staff. Communication and collaboration is better in the team, more responsibility is taken, and people in the team gain more trust. As a result, room to experiment with new ideas and methods is created, this can lead to better results.

‍

DevOps Components

‍
When you read about DevOps, you will face several concepts that are related to this term. Here are a few terms that you probably will find:

‍

• Continuous Integration (CI)‍

With continuous integration, you test and integrate new code into your codebase once a day. This allows you to immediately see what works and what doesn’t

‍

• Continuous Testing‍

By using tools to automatically test your software, you ensure that tests are always triggered. In this way you can’t forget to do these tests. With continuous testing, this process happens continuously. As a result errors will be prevented and progress won’t be hindered.

‍

• Continuous Provisioning‍

With the rise of the usage of the cloud, it’s easy to create new environments. Virtual servers are available that you can configure in minutes and only pay for what you use. This makes it easier to create different environments for testing, development, and production.

‍

• Configuration Management‍

Configuration management involves storing (server) configurations in code. Instead of making ad hoc changes, everything is modified through configuration files. With configuration management, you realize that software runs consistently across various environments. When adjustments are needed, the configuration is changed and re-executed. After this, the environment is automatically set up based on the new configuration.

‍

• Continuous Delivery (CD)‍

Continuous delivery extends continuous integration and testing. It’s about being able to continuously release changes in your software to production.This doesn’t mean they must be deployed immediately, but the capability is there; this allows new features to reach end users directly, as soon as they are ready.

‍

5 Reasons why DevOps is the future

It’s not a surprise that DevOps is becoming an increasingly popular way of working. There are some major advantages to working with DevOps (teams)!

‍

1. It’s more efficient

‍There are several ways to automate tasks in DevOps, such as code testing. Once this no longer needs to be done manually, developers can fully focus on more important tasks.

There are also tools available that speed up the work. With cloud hosting, development teams have all the computing power they need within reach. Testing and deployment become much faster. By working with continuous delivery, parallel workflows can be created, so no one has to wait for others to continue with their tasks.

‍

2. Better communication and collaboration‍

Combined teams, as in DevOps, are happier and more productive. This is because the focus is placed more on the collective end product, rather than individual goals. A development team doesn’t just throw a product "over the wall" to an operations team to see what happens; they’re both responsible for the outcome.

‍

3. Faster development, faster innovation‍

When development and operations teams work in isolation, it’s harder to see when an application is ready for production. In a traditional setup, developers simply "throw over the wall" and the operations teams waste time getting it into production. According to a Red Hat estimate, applications go 60% faster into production when DevOps is used. This results in more time for innovation, giving a company a competitive advantage.

‍

4. Fewer erros

‍Many issues in software development arise from coding errors. Due to shorter development cycles in DevOps, errors in the code are detected much sooner, making them easier to fix.

‍

5. Lower costs, less personnel needed

Ultimately, all the benefits of DevOps lead to lower IT costs and fewer IT staff needed. It’s estimated that DevOps can lead to a cost saving of around 30%, and you’ll need 35% fewer employees.

‍

Final notes

DevOps isn’t just important for speeding up software development but also for improving its quality. By combining a new mindset, agile practices, and smart tools, DevOps achieves this. DevOps also helps in spotting issues and errors early on, improves communication among team members, and provides a more cost-effective way to develop software. What more could you ask for?

Did you know that with GitLab, you can set up your entire DevOps process? We’d be happy to tell you more about this!