Here at Prodera Group, we have a lot of conversations with clients about that phrase… yes, that’s right – DevOps! We have found that some IT leaders believe that the DevOps methodology is the answer to their prayers and results in a truly flexible and successful IT organisation quickly. However, they all face the same challenge – where to start! The DevOps movement, as it’s known in the community, is emerging as the new face of corporate IT but it does leave some leaders dazed and confused once they embark on implementing the cultural change required to make it successful in the modern enterprise.
DevOps is essentially the combination of numerous engineering, development and operational practices that were born from new school of thinking which many agile approaches have surfaced over the last few years, focusing on the value of collaborative ways of working among different disciplines in the traditional IT organisation. As a technical consulting organisation, agile practices have become extremely important within our consulting practice and is at the heart of what we do every day – so it’s safe to say that we are a big fan of agile thinking and appreciate its value. DevOps introduces a new concept that was unheard of only a few years ago – the idea of combining development functions and operational functions together in a more harmonious environment with the end-to-end IT lifecycle in mind and encouraging more collaboration across a range a of technical disciplines seemed a bit radical back then.
So, the question that many IT leaders are asking right now… is DevOps really the future of IT? The reality is that DevOps means different things to different organisations but there is one common goal that is usually shared – achieving greater value to the business by delivering new IT capabilities quicker. This concept has evolved dramatically in recent years as agile pioneers publicise their success stories. Netflix are a great example of this kind of success with DevOps, where they have made agile practices the cornerstone of their operation and used it as an enabler to do things faster, more efficiently with greater success.¹ This is further complemented by their adoption of enterprise cloud computing, which is something they probably wouldn’t have been able to achieve without ripping up the traditional IT rulebook and writing their own.
Of course, the model that Netflix have adopted isn’t the answer for every organisation’s operational challenges but is certainly a good way to model success based on a clear strategy that underpins well-defined outcomes and objectives by leveraging agile practices. We believe that DevOps builds on the best agile practices to encourage greater flexibility and better performance of IT teams and is certainly something that is changing the landscape for the better. We do however, always advise our clients to take a measured and structured approach to implementing such methodologies that requires strong leadership and focus. Adopting DevOps can definitely make a different quickly by breaking down barriers but it needs to be controlled in a way that doesn’t increase risk and technical debt as a result.
Is it really all about agility?
Some organisations have already adopted some of the core practices of DevOps from utilising agile methods such as Continuous Delivery through to removing silos between developers and engineers to encouraging collaboration and shared responsibilities. For companies want to start their journey to introducing DevOps, we believe that there are a number of principles that should be adhered to from the onset to be successful. The principles defined by the Agile Manifesto were initially written with software development practices in mind back in the early 2000s but can be applied to any part of the modern enterprise IT lifecycle.² For any leaders looking to start adopting DevOps practices, it’s a great place to start and create a strategy based on these principles.
The value of a technology strategy.
Developing a future technology strategy for any organisation is never an easy task and requires huge amounts of consideration and time; but it’s an important part of ensuring the success of every organisation as it sets the direction that IT departments should take. It gives every member of that team something to get behind and deliver real business value. DevOps can be a significant part of this approach and can help build a thriving ecosystem within your organisation’s IT department that helps everyone work better, faster and achieve more. Business value can be measured in many ways, but we think the most important way is by encouraging continuous improvement and harbouring innovation through better working practices that fulfil clear and achievable outcomes that everyone in the business shares. DevOps could drive that future!
If you are thinking of transforming your organisation through the adoption of agile practices including DevOps, then Prodera Group can help with transforming your IT operations, management and development practices to unlock new possibilities and new potential. Our specialist Enterprise DevOps practice is a good place to start.
Credits:
- NetFlix Blog: http://techblog.netflix.com/search/label/devops
- Agile Alliance – 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto: https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/12-principles-behind-the-agile-manifesto/