DevOps – a cultural and professional IT movement focused on changing the mindset of how organizations function – will no doubt make a significant impact across many companies this year. Whether it is more stable operating environments, faster delivery of product features, quicker resolution of problems, or continuous software delivery, DevOps can benefit a company’s product lifecycle, its competitive advantage, and its ability to more quickly meet customer needs.
Yet for all of its benefits, DevOps is still in its early phases, because it’s about making a significant cultural shift in how an organization works – and what tools it uses to improve its products. Rajesh Sethu, director of DevOps at Replicon, identifies five key trends organizations should watch in 2016, as well as tips on how these trends should be used to ensure DevOps success in your business.
5 Key DevOps Trends for 2016
Click through for five key DevOps trends organizations should watch in 2016, as well as tips on how they should be used to ensure DevOps succeeds in your business, as identified by Rajesh Sethu, director of DevOps at Replicon.
A Modular Approach
Trend #1: DevOps will increase modular approaches to system building.
Previously, IT organizations created monolithic products for their customers. However, the best practice today is to employ small and nimble teams to manage individual applications. While this can sound dysfunctional, companies that embrace the chaos to drive future growth will thrive.
TIP: The crux of DevOps success is in breaking activities into bite-sized chunks. For any new product that an organization launches, DevOps teams should always approach the application with a modular approach in mind, and have a clear plan on how to break down existing monolithic products in the same fashion.
Programmable Infrastructure
Trend #2: DevOps will enable further advances in programmable infrastructure/Infrastructure as a Code.
The idea of automating things is not new, but the ability to provision infrastructure easily and seamlessly is. As DevOps and the open-source software movement is more readily accepted, infrastructure can be programmed so that teams can develop the software and operate its environment simultaneously. Expect that companies will continue to push more agile, software-based methods when it comes to infrastructure operations.
TIP: In the past, it was fair to think about automation after a product was developed. Now, businesses should prioritize automation considerations from the onset, and integrate it as part of the initial development phase.
Product Lifecycle Ownership
Trend #3: Developers will take more ownership of the entire product lifecycle.
As DevOps-ready tools see more adoption and out-of-the-box functionality, the traditional silos between developers and operations will dwindle. As teams focus on continuous delivery and continuous improvement, this means greater accountability and ownership from developer teams to build and run their solutions.
TIP: DevOps leaders need to keep developers involved in the performance of the application and any issues that occur – as well as communicate that their job doesn’t end after the application has been delivered. Developers will need to be part of the entire lifecycle, and have complete visibility into its progress.
Reduced Deployment Time
Trend #4: DevOps will dramatically reduce the time to deploy a feature to production.
This trend is already happening, as product methodologies transition from traditional waterfall to more agile ways of working. As this transformation occurs, so too will systems be more risk tolerant. Any changes are less likely to negatively impact the entire system – and time to production will be reduced to mere minutes, rather than days or weeks.
TIP: Companies should start with measuring how long it takes to deliver a bug fix or a feature to production, and monitor this on a weekly basis. This is a clear metric that can help monitor DevOps success.
The Role of Operations
Trend #5: DevOps will eliminate the role of operations.
Previously, if you had a big monolithic system, it would take years to overhaul. Today, the time to change or switch out the technology stack is taking mere days to accomplish. Expect to see more pronounced changes in how companies look at investing in their legacy systems, and as a result, how the role of operations will diminish or be eliminated entirely in the next five years.
TIP: As the traditional technology refresh cycle is upended, companies looking to revise this process should start with something small that has less impact, then work their way up toward major components such as databases, networks, etc. For operations professionals, it is imperative to look at how they can adjust their skills as DevOps increasingly becomes the norm in organizations.
Conclusion
While many companies today are still in the early stages of DevOps, it is increasingly becoming the de facto standard for how teams operate. More and more organizations are upending traditional processes and cultivating a culture that unites people, processes, workflows and technologies to bring tangible returns to the business. Companies that fall behind in embracing DevOps risk facing a competitive disadvantage that will affect how they do business.
