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The Goal of DevOps in Software Development

Table of Contents
Goal of Devops

If you’re looking for a software development team, you might wonder how different teams work to complete a project. How do they turn an idea into a minimum viable product (MVP) and then refine it based on feedback until it’s ready for release?

Most software development teams use the DevOps methodology. This approach has been around for over two decades and has grown in popularity. But what makes DevOps so popular? What does the process involve, and what goals does it aim to achieve?

In this article, you’ll learn what DevOps is, how it works, its goals, and the best practices to consider when choosing a DevOps team for your project.

What Is DevOps?

DevOps combines ‘Development’ and ‘Operations’ into a single term. It’s a methodology aimed at streamlining the development process by breaking down silos between departments, promoting continuous feedback and collaboration, prioritizing security throughout design, programming, and testing, and integrating automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline tasks.

DevOps isn’t just about tools or technologies; it’s a cultural mindset that fosters innovative approaches to solving complex problems. It encourages ongoing communication, collaboration, and feedback at every stage of development. DevOps operates in iterative sprints, typically lasting two to three weeks or longer, where each department strives to meet specific goals. At the end of each sprint, the team reviews progress, gathers feedback, and identifies areas for improvement to enhance performance in the next sprint.

This iterative cycle continues until the project is completed, with flexibility to adjust scope, priorities, and features based on evolving project needs. This adaptability is one reason why DevOps has gained widespread popularity, enabling development teams to swiftly respond to changes in scope, budget, and project requirements.

Read more: DevOps And Agile | Everything You Need To Know

How Does DevOps Work?

DevOps operates differently from traditional software development methodologies like Waterfall.

Under Waterfall, teams are segmented into separate departments, each focusing on their tasks without considering how their work impacts the final product until completion. A typical Waterfall pipeline includes these steps:

  1. Requirements: Define technical specifications such as programming languages, frameworks, and tools.
  2. Design: Develop the logical and physical structure of the software, including schemas.
  3. Implementation: Programmers follow specifications to write code for the software.
  4. Verification: Customer feedback is collected and integrated into the project to address issues and enhance the product.
  5. Maintenance: Continual monitoring, updating, and bug fixing post-release.

In contrast, DevOps offers a more flexible and adaptive approach. The DevOps pipeline is dynamic and less linear, accommodating changes in project scope effectively. Here’s an example of a typical DevOps pipeline, though approaches can vary across teams:

Defining Requirements

Similar to the waterfall approach, DevOps teams thoroughly analyze client requirements. This includes goals, target audience, technical needs, pain points, and other specifics.

At EZtek Software, we enhance this process by creating user stories and documenting them in our project management system. This ensures our entire team comprehensively understands your audience, enabling us to deliver tailored solutions that meet your specific needs.

Designing UX

After setting the business goals and technical requirements, the team focuses on creating the user experience (UX). This involves mapping out the journey that end users will take when interacting with your software application, aiming to achieve specific desired outcomes.

UX design also covers attracting new users, including developing advertising materials and instructional content. Using clear language and timely information is crucial for new users to understand your product’s functionality and its potential applications.

Development and Testing

Following this, the next step involves developing and testing the product. Programmers write the code, while the testing team conducts various tests over time, including unit testing (to test individual software components) and integration testing (to ensure seamless communication between these components).

Security remains a critical focus throughout the DevOps process. Every team member—from designers and programmers to testers—adheres to best practices to integrate security at every stage of product development, rather than treating it as a last-minute concern. This proactive approach enhances the final product’s safety and security, reducing the time spent on addressing vulnerabilities that should have been largely mitigated during the design and coding phases.

However, not every product will be flawless upon entering testing, which is when the final quality assurance step occurs before launch.

Release and Maintenance

Once both the team and client approve the final software application, it is prepared for launch on the appropriate platforms and devices at agreed-upon times. Following the release, the team remains dedicated to enhancing the product throughout its post-launch lifecycle, as predetermined.

During this phase, the team handles feedback and resolves issues, introduces new features, removes outdated ones, enhances performance, and fortifies security to safeguard against emerging threats.

Read more: DevOps Maturity Model: A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing

What Are the Goals of DevOps?

The primary goal of DevOps is straightforward: It aims to enable software development teams to deliver higher-quality software more quickly, surpassing customer expectations.

Moreover, DevOps streamlines the entire development process by promoting continuous communication, collaboration, and feedback among team members and clients. This ensures alignment on the product’s target audience, functionality, and desired outcomes. Recognizing the challenges associated with DevOps also facilitates the identification of potential obstacles and the formulation of effective solutions.

These are the core objectives that effective implementation of the DevOps methodology can help any software development team accomplish.

Enhance Communication and Collaboration

In today’s competitive business landscape, delivering higher-quality products quickly is crucial for success. DevOps plays a pivotal role in achieving these goals by emphasizing continuous communication and collaboration.

In this approach, every team member, irrespective of their role and responsibilities, shares equal accountability for various project aspects. This fosters a collective commitment to meeting milestones punctually, ensuring seamless product delivery. By dismantling departmental barriers and promoting unity, team members can regularly exchange feedback, suggestions, and insights. This facilitates prompt issue resolution and enables identification of growth opportunities.

Engage in Continuous Feedback

Effective communication is vital in a successful DevOps workflow. It ensures that every team member’s voice is heard throughout the software development cycle. DevOps achieves this by integrating ongoing feedback into each phase, particularly during and after every sprint. At the end of each sprint, team members from all departments convene to evaluate its outcomes.

What worked well? What didn’t? What were the achievements? And how can we enhance processes next time? Asking and addressing these questions helps teams pinpoint areas for improvement and devise solutions for better outcomes. This method also allows clients to share their insights and feedback, which the team can use to enhance the final product’s quality.

Client input is especially valuable as it often offers deeper understanding of their audience’s needs and expectations compared to the development team. Therefore, developers should prioritize listening to client feedback and incorporating relevant suggestions to make significant software enhancements.

Speed Up Development

DevOps teams aim to expedite project delivery by swiftly addressing issues, especially prioritizing security early in development stages. This approach potentially enables faster project completion compared to traditional waterfall methods.

However, achieving faster results isn’t guaranteed solely by adopting DevOps tools and technology. It requires embracing a broader cultural shift, restructuring team dynamics, roles, and fostering collaborative problem-solving among software development teams.

Continuous Delivery and Continuous Integration play crucial roles in accelerating development times. These practices involve iterative sprints where teams achieve milestones and efficiently release software. Automation in DevOps further enhances this process, automating manual tasks in building, testing, and deploying software, thereby achieving quicker outcomes.

Read more: DevOps Explained | All About DevOps

Enhance Product Scalability

Scalability is a critical consideration in modern software development using the DevOps approach. It specifically addresses the software’s ability to expand after its release. For instance, scalable software allows developers to seamlessly incorporate new features, functionalities, and services without extensive modifications to the original source code.

Cloud-based infrastructures benefit greatly from scalability, offering diverse functionalities within a unified ecosystem, akin to a compact operating system for accessing a range of products. Scalable applications also empower developers responsible for post-launch support to effectively manage unexpected spikes in traffic resulting from successful viral marketing campaigns.

This emphasis on scalability has led many companies to adopt microservices, where applications are divided into independent services. This approach enables development teams to work on individual components autonomously, enhancing efficiency without disrupting the entire application.

Choosing a DevOps Team: Essential Tips

Understanding DevOps’ primary objectives provides insight into selecting the ideal team to execute your software project effectively. If you have a concept for a software application, ensuring it comes to fruition requires assembling the appropriate team. DevOps offers a versatile framework for most software development endeavors, yet implementing this workflow varies widely.

Consider these tips when selecting your DevOps team:

Inquire About Automation and AI Usage

When evaluating a DevOps team, it’s crucial to understand their approach to automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

How do these tools enhance the team’s efficiency? What measures are in place to ensure these tools deliver as expected? Ideally, a proficient DevOps team will have specialists dedicated to deploying and monitoring these technologies, ensuring they are well-suited and calibrated for optimal performance. Moreover, they should articulate how AI benefits their DevOps practices in real business terms, rather than simply listing features.

A trustworthy software development company will transparently discuss their automation and AI strategies. Beware of exaggerated claims about AI capabilities; while valuable, these tools still require ongoing oversight by skilled professionals to achieve reliable results.

Adaptability and Structure

Adaptability is fundamental in DevOps, enabling teams to respond swiftly to evolving conditions. Changes in market demand, spurred by regulatory shifts, industry trends, or evolving user preferences, necessitate prompt adjustments without disrupting ongoing workflows.

When evaluating a DevOps team, inquire about their approach to change management. What mechanisms facilitate adaptability? How flexible is the process for accommodating client requests? Are there constraints on the number or scope of changes? Understanding these aspects will gauge how effectively the DevOps team can accommodate changes while meeting your specific needs.

Team Roles and Responsibilities

In DevOps, shared responsibility across teams is pivotal. Every team member, whether a leader, designer, or developer, plays a role in prioritizing security within their workflows. This involves integrating secure solutions, like secure coding practices, to safeguard applications from emerging threats. Such collaboration exemplifies the shared duties within a DevOps setup.

While shared responsibilities can yield significant benefits, they can also lead to confusion and disputes. To mitigate these risks, inquire about the specific roles and responsibilities of each team member when engaging with development and operations teams. Additionally, seek insights into how teams maintain clarity and cohesion across departments.

At EZtek Software, our DevOps teams foster a culture of knowledge sharing. This practice deepens understanding across departments, influencing each team member’s contributions within their respective roles. As a result, our teams not only focus on their individual tasks but also consider the broader impact on team dynamics, promoting collaboration and enhancing project efficiency.

Choose EZtek Software for Your DevOps Needs

When it comes to developing new software or enhancing existing applications, EZtek Software is your trusted partner. With nearly twenty years of experience, our expert team leverages DevOps principles to deliver cutting-edge solutions that prioritize quality and innovation.

Our approach emphasizes ongoing communication and collaboration, ensuring a streamlined delivery process where clients remain engaged from inception to completion. We stay abreast of the latest DevOps trends in 2024, keeping your projects ahead of industry standards.

Through continuous refinement of our DevOps pipeline, we have boosted team productivity, efficiency, and communication, resulting in faster project deliveries and increased project volume.

Discover how EZtek Software’s DevOps teams can support your project today by contacting us.

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