What Should an Efficient DevOps Framework Look Like?

For any traditional organization, the work (and subsequent success) of development and operations teams is assessed by different results. Developers pay close attention to the number and quality of the delivered updates, but the operations team focuses on maintaining the health of the system. The marked division between these interests can interfere with the long-term health of the company, as organizations need both in order to deliver new features while maintaining stability. To this end, DevOps is a solution. 

Proven Results 

Within a successful DevOps environment, an organization is more likely to experience faster recovery times, more frequent deployments, and lower change failure rates. The overall purpose of this framework is to establish cohesion between development and operations teams. However, you can’t just expect your employees to know what they are doing and why it matters. To truly understand DevOps and how to develop an efficient methodology within your organization, you need to work with specialized consultants that offer customized IT assessments that help you visualize your company’s current environment and understand the path to your ultimate IT goals. 

Highly Specialized Input 

The last few years have shown a marked increase in the number of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) adopting DevOps methods within their production software development environment. DevOps is a skillset; your company needs trained and experienced individuals to monitor the process. There are many aspects to this framework, making a complex infrastructure that must be navigated with care and understanding. For this reason, many companies choose to work with consultants because they bring highly-specialized input to the forefront of the process. Expert guidance can give you an edge over the competition. For the most efficient framework—one built on best practices—here are five key suggestions: 

1. Ensure seamless integration of changes with careful consultation, planning, execution and evaluation.
2. The demands of the project should allow for teams to move collaboratively and transparently through several stages, with allowances for continuous improvement and iteration in each stage.
3. Teams should have the flexibility to adapt to any recommended changes or to deal with exceptional circumstances that arise during development.
4. The company culture should promote good communication and increase focus on teamwork and collaboration.
5. Put a shared knowledge management system in place to let all teams assess and track information with DevOps projects.

Adaptable Culture 

When your company has decided to move forward with DevOps, you will reach optimal efficiencies in your processes when your company embraces the changes that need to be made. If you choose not to use consultants for your DevOps needs, make sure your company has experts on staff that have dual skills in development and operations. This can reduce a lot of headaches with miscommunication and a slow roll-out. Clearly define your teams, making them small and highly independent. Small teams make a project more manageable, as documentation is generally more detailed and accurate. Realize that DevOps is more of a journey than a destination and be prepared to evaluate tools and methods regularly to take advantage of opportunities to improve the quality and speed of the software delivery.

DevOps is a progressive process that takes time. No two companies are alike, and each brings their own technology, expertise and challenges to the table. An effective DevOps transition requires partnering with experienced professionals and incorporating industry best practices. In order to ensure long-lasting, favorable outcomes, it’s going to take planning, logistics and the right mindset for true success. 

Let us know if you would like to discuss this more. We have a lot of ideas!