The industry is rapidly transitioning to DevOps which is currently all in rage. Whether you are a tech startup or an enterprise level business, adopting DevOps methodology is something that needs to exist on your manifesto.
What is DevOps?
Contrary to the popular belief, DevOps isn’t just a set of technologies or a cultural shift in mindset. It is an organizational pattern that needs to be followed in order to break down the silos between the development and operations teams.
It isn’t a goal but rather a journey. By bridging the gap between engineering and operations, DevOps promotes greater collaboration among the stakeholders.
DevOps requires rethinking the existing organizational roles and reorienting them around continuous delivery of software. The existing principles of agile development remain the same and are accentuated by business focus instead.
Why shift your business to DevOps?
There isn’t a predefined set of tools that businesses can use in order to shift to DevOps. Every organization can follow the DevOps principles and apply them as they see fit. While the implementation may appear different in different business scenarios, the benefits of DevOps remain the same nonetheless.
Devops results in a better working relationship between the development and production leading to a reduction in lead times and improved productivity. Since DevOps is created on the premise of continuous delivery, it boosts the communication and collaboration between the different teams to ensure frequent and automated delivery of quality tested software.
Understanding the DevOps Architecture
Software development following the DevOps model goes through different phases in close iteration forming a continuous feedback loop. The cross-discipline teams work together to ensure configuration management, continuous integration, continuous delivery, continuous deployment and continuous monitoring using the different DevOps tools available to them.
As the software moves through the different phases, having the right team becomes as important as having the right tools and mindset. The key difference between normal functioning DevOps teams and high-efficiency teams is the leadership.
The agile, collaborative approach to software development always yields better results when the efforts are spearheaded by strong visionary leaders that excel in communication and collaboration themselves and DevOps companies streamline the entire implementation process.
The following roles are pivotal to a successful DevOps implementation in any organization.
- DevOps Architect
- Release Manager
- Automation architect
- Integration specialist
- Database Engineer
- Software developer and tester
- Project manager
- Security engineer
Having the right people working in the DevOps environment matters more than the technology itself. Having the right people to fill these roles, getting them to work together and having the right leadership at the top results in an effective transition into the DevOps culture.
The role of the DevOps architect
The responsibilities of a DevOps architect is similar to that of a DevOps engineer with added leadership role. He owns the architecture, design and development processes and is expected to spearhead innovative solutions to build and maintain the software architecture and ensuring the smooth operation of the continuous integration and continuous delivery pipeline.
In order to ensure smooth and efficient flow of the release pipeline, the DevOps architect must possess the following skill set
- Strong cross-functional leadership skills to ensure successful collaboration among the development and operations teams
- Rich experience working on DevOps solutions and implementing continuous delivery cycles.
- Expertise in DevOps tools adopted by the organization like Docker, Jenkins, Puppet, Chef, MongoDB or any other NoSQL database.
- Experience working with scripting languages such as Perl, Python etc and having worked in Linux/Unix environments.
- Ability to redefine the existing software architecture within the organization by examining the existing systems and executing new practices.
- Build new communication channels between the team to ensure that the systems are secure, scalable and reliable
- Automate the existing processes, execute initiatives to reduce failure and troubleshoot issues across the entire infrastructure stack.
Adopting the DevOps architecture
DevOps significantly simplifies the software development lifecycle. It not only makes development a streamlined process but it also creates a culture of accountability within the organization. Ideally DevOps allows for formation of a silo-free environment where the development can thrive and operational requirements can be acquired with relative ease resulting in a faster and frequent delivery.
The success of DevOps implementation depends on how well the development and operations teams can work together collaboratively and the DevOps engineer plays a major role in making this happen. The value of DevOps only compounds with time and the efforts that the architect puts in only get more results from a long term perspective.
The question isn’t whether you need a DevOps architect. What you should be asking instead is how soon should you get a DevOps architect onboard. The answer to the latter is pretty straightforward, as soon as possible!
If you new to DevOps, Arkenea’s end-to-end software development service is designed just for you. Our experienced DevOps consultants are the partner you need while making the transition who provide tailored solutions that are the best fit for your organization. Feel free to get in touch with us.