There are a lot of talks about DevOps implementation. You might face the idea of DevOps as a panacea for all problems, so let’s find out what the benefits it can bring to your company.
At first, we should know what is the DevOps itself. DevOps services make the whole process of software development more efficient and clear. Before the DevOps approach software development looked like a tangled mess of tasks. Just imagine the common process of software development. We have three basic roles in this cycle: developer, QA engineer and IT Operations. The first writes the code, the second makes the tests and the third one deploys the successfully tested code.
So, they get the new task, for example, to create a new feature in the application. Developer starts writing the code, QA engineer makes tests for the previously delivered code and IT Operations manages the infrastructure. At some point, the developer finishes the next batch of the code and gives it for testing. Developer starts working on a new task, while a QA engineer should pay attention to this new portion of code.
He/she asks the IT Operations engineer to deploy the required testing environment. IT Operations specialist is forced to distract from managing the infrastructure and create the environment for tests. When the QA gets the necessary environment, he/she starts performing new tests. In a best-case scenario, QA engineer has already finished doing the previous tests, but usually, he/she does it in parallel. Then he/she has to give the code back to the developer for a bugfix, then tests it anew, distracting IT Operations to push it to the staging server. After the successful testing there, the code goes to the IT Operations team, which deploys it to the production.
Thus said, the whole development cycle looks very ragged and inconvenient for the team. Every person in the team might be distracted at any time and should be ready to pause current tasks for the urgent one. The business is also suffering from this situation. Rare releases, worried team and totally inefficient processes.
DevOps is a problem-solving tool for team and business
DevOps has arisen nearly 10 years ago and still is the most efficient approach to software development. It helps make the development cycle smooth and clear. We described the work of the common Git flow-based development cycle, let’s see the DevOps cycle.
At first, DevOps engineer or IT Operations creates the testing environment with the ability to change some parameters for testing and teaches the developer and QA engineer to use this environment. After that DevOps engineer can manage the infrastructure until the application should go to the production. So, we have at least one specialist without disturbs during the project.
At the same time, a developer writes code and tests it immediately thanks to the ready environment and automated tests he wrote before. Thus, his/her work doesn’t interrupt either.
What about QA? He/she does current tasks and makes the final tests before the deployment on the prod.
This is how the DevOps approach works in simple words. As a result, we have a satisfied team that works quite efficiently without excessive actions and distractions.
As for the business benefits, you receive improved processes that lead you to higher competitiveness on the market. Faster releases allow you to collect feedback from end-users faster and make updates almost immediately. The DevOps approach also brings business cost-efficiency because of continuous work, smooth processes and, again, faster releases.
Wrap up: DevOps is a great business decision
As you can see, the DevOps approach really makes things better. There is one more thing. When your internal processes are good, your reputation on market increases and you become a desired employer and the most talented specialists come to you.
Considering the profit, investments to the DevOps approach return very quickly and you receive bigger income.