What is DevOps? DevOps Explained

If you are new to the software development field or while exploring different programming techniques, you may have come across many other programming-related terms. These phrases or words can be confusing, and you may feel a bit overwhelmed as you're just setting foot into the programming world.

A term that you have come across more than once in the programming area is DevOps. But what exactly is it? What does DevOps do? How does it help programmers? Should I take this as a career?

Today's blog is just for you, breaking the ice lingering around DevOps with a detailed explanation of its definition and working methods.

What is DevOps?

DevOps expert - Patrick Debois, in 2009 coined the term DevOps. Its significant potential is to increase software development and delivery speed, efficacy, and security compared to standard processes. 

The best explanation given to DevOps is people working together to obtain, create and deliver secure software at the highest speed. A thing to remember is that DevOps is not a technology. Its practices enable developers and operation teams to ramp up delivery via fast feedback, automation, iterative enhancement and collaboration. 

DevOps is one of several practices used by software workforces to perform IT projects to meet business demands. It can coexist with ITIL, Lean & Six Sigma methodologies, Agile software development, etc.

However, some IT-savvy says that a simple integration of Dev and Ops is not enough. Instead, merging several other terms such as business (BizDevOps) and security (DevSecOps) must be included.  

What are DevOps Phases?

The complexity of DevOps is driven by two factors which are:

Companies to microservices architectures. As the method evolves, organizations need more DevOps tools for each project. More projects and tools (per project) had a drastic increase in the number of project-tool integrations, leading to a transformation in the adoption of the DevOps tool. This resulted in the following 4 phases:

1. Bring Your Own DevOps

In this phase, each project handling team is given a choice to choose its own DevOps tools. But what happened is that it caused problems when teams started working together. The reason is that one group may not be familiar with other team tools and vice versa.

2. Top DevOps

Companies moved to the second phase to address the challenges faced by teams using different tools. They can standardize on the same toolsets, with a preferred tool for each DevOps lifecycle stage. This aids teams in collaborating with one another. However, this phase too had an issue - moving software changes through the tools for each lifecycle stage.

3. Do-it-yourself (DIY) DevOps

To address the problem seen in phase two, companies adopted DIY DevOps, building on top of and between their tools. Here teams can perform several customized works to merge their DevOps point solutions.

Since these DIYs were independently created, they never were suitable. For many firms, maintaining these tools was a crucial effort and expensive, with engineers controlling tooling integration than operating on essential software products.

4. DevOps Platform

A single-application platform method enhances team experience and business efficacy. The organization obtains visibility and control over the entire DevOps lifecycle stages by replacing the 3rd phase (DIY DevOps) with the final step - DevOps Platform.

The DevOps Platform is built on a single codebase with a unified data store that allows companies to solve the vulnerabilities and anomalies of unpredictable DIY tools.

As the organizations are expanding and being more agile these days, every firm looking forward to modernized software deployment and delivery do need a DevOps Platform.

The Core of DevOps

Though the DevOps definition is significantly an evolution in IT culture, it's also vital to understand the technical root of DevOps. In the case of software development, DevOps tends to use Agile methodology. This being a significant part was also a compelling reason for DevOps creation.

These days, it has been highly uncommon to practice Agile without DevOps due to the lack of efficiency DevOps as a single entity offers.

Another significant part when it comes to DevOps creation is the System Admins. Since then, it has incorporated some top-notch Enterprise Systems Management (ESM) approaches. Some of the approaches for better software development efficiency include automation and system monitoring.

You may also like: 6 Prominent Agile Certifications

DevOps Explained

While DevOps can't be described using a single definition, few of the general principles behind the approach can be found in The Agile Manifesto. Besides, the nucleus of any successful method is the DevOps Trinity. 

DevOps Trinity includes:

• Practices and Procedures: Agile and DevOps go collectively. By adopting Scrum, Agile or Kanban followed by Automation, companies can smoothen the procedures predictable and repeatable.
• People and Culture: This indicates the breaking down of traditional silos between organizational teams and working closely to achieve a business goal. The objective is to get better or quality software to the end-user at a swift turnaround time.
• Techs and Tools: DevOps is not a feasible model without suitable tools and techs. These enable configuration management, releasing, Automation, monitoring, orchestration, continuous integration, testing and packaging.

You may also like: Familiarizing with Scrum Methodology

Why Leverage DevOps?

The Internet and Software have transformed the industries, from shopping to internet banking. Software is no longer a mere thing supporting a business but a core element of every business sector.

Teams who implement the DevOps method tend to complete their project rapidly. There are very few miscommunications, and improvements or other needed changes are made in a blink of an eye.

DevOps method encourages more collaboration between development and operational teams, and everyone's targets get more organized. When an organization doesn't leverage DevOps, the teams may find that the overall project isn't efficient and end up late more often.

What are DevOps Practices and How They Help?

What are DevOps Application Lifecycle?

DevOps influences the application lifecycle throughout its phases:

• Plan
• Develop
• Deliver
• Operate

Each stage relies on the others, and the steps aren't role-specific. In an authentic DevOps culture, each role is involved in each phase to an extent.

Plan

• DevOps teams ideate, define and describe potentials and features of systems and applications they are developing.
• Progress tracking at low- and high-level granularity
• How do teams plan agility and visibility? By Creating backlogs, tracking bugs, managing Agile software development with Scrum, using Kanban boards and visualizing progress with dashboards.

Develop

• Includes all aspects of coding like writing, testing, verifying and integrating.
• Building of codes into build artifacts for implementations into several environments
• DevOps teams do rapid innovation without sacrificing productivity, quality and stability. 
• Highly productive tools automate mundane and manual procedures, and iteration in small increments are done.

Deliver

• Applications are deployed into production environments reliably and consistently.
• Includes configuration of entirely governed fundamental systems that make up production environments.
• The team defines a release management process with precise approval stages.
• Setting up of automated gates for the applications to move between steps until made available to customers.

Operate

• Involves controlling, monitoring and troubleshooting applications in production environments
• Teams ensure system reliability, top availability and focus for zero downtime.
• Groups seek to determine issues before they impact customer experience.
• Swift mitigation of problem when it occurs.

What's It Like to Work with DevOps Approach

People who have never worked in a DevOps environment might be curious about what it's like to work with DevOps. Automation is a critical component of DevOps. Its users depend on a wide range of tools for various operations throughout the software development lifecycle.

DevOps leverages an Agile methodology; its users will collaborate with the programmer's work more frequently. This is often consistent and can help reveal any issues in the earlier phase.

The users can also continuously check their code to avoid unnecessarily long QA sessions with numerous automation techniques. This helps in a drastic reduction of project time.

As a DevOps practitioner, it's also important to understand that working independently without entirely welcoming teamwork goes against what DevOps is all about. The success of the DevOps approach heavily relies on the integration between all team employees involved in a specific project.

Who Leverage DevOps?

DevOps is not just for software operators or developers, instead of practiced by different individuals in areas like IT, security and support of an organization. In one way or another, professionals like project managers, system admins and test engineers find themselves getting involved in the DevOps process. Even executives might be involved in this process or fully embrace it because of its efficient delivery.

Join DevOps Training Course and Be a Part of Talent Pool

Now we have seen what DevOps is and how it works, you may want to know in-depth how to master the DevOps approach. If you are looking to shift into a new career field that's the latest boon and can lead to several innovative doors, consider working in DevOps. Due to the high demand for DevOps practitioners, this industry can be just what you are trying to pursue better career growth.

Whether you are an experienced DevOps professional or a beginner wanting to start new programming life, here we are. iCert Global's DevOps Certification Training Course is just what you need to upskill your career potential. From scratch to advance techniques, we cover it all.

Why waste time thinking about whom to choose when you are on the right page. Learn more about our flexible course options and sign up for the courses now!

About Us

iCert Global is a one-stop solution offering certification training courses in a wide variety of techniques that will give you a head start in this competitive world. Visit our website to find out the DevOps Training Course.

https://www.icertglobal.com/ 

Our company conducts both Instructor-led Live Online Training sessions and Instructor-led Classroom training workshops for learners across the globe.

We also provide Corporate Training for enterprise workforce development

Project Management courses

• PMP Certification
• CAPM Certification
•  PgMP Agilist Certification

Quality Management Training

•  Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt (LSSYB) Certification Training Courses
•  Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB) Certification Training Courses
•  Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSSBB) Certification Training Courses

 DevOps Training

• DevOps Certification Training Courses

Business Analysis Training

• ECBA (Entry Certificate in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses
• CCBA (Certificate of Capability in Business Analysis) Certification Training Courses
• CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) Certification Training Course