For those (mainly software) businesses looking to not only continually improve their product offerings, but also their entire processes, DevOps could well be an effective solution. It involves disrupting/overhauling the development and operations departments in the business, changing the way they work each other.
It is a new process which has seen success in a number of different businesses, and is likely to be adopted by many more in the years to come. Here is some useful information on DevOps and its benefits.
What is DevOps?
DevOps is essentially the blending of the development and operations department in a business to make a new, more versatile department which operates in a far smoother, more dynamic way. It involves developments and operations workers coming together in a close knit team in order to ensure their objectives and results are perfectly aligned.
Not only does this massively speed up the process of developing products and getting them out to the market, but it also helps the two previously separate teams develop a stronger, more effective relationship. It also allows them to learn from each other, and avoid any potential errors in communication.
How Can A Business Employ DevOps Practices?
Most businesses will want to use a specialist company like Sogeti to help them implement DevOps into their structure. DevOps is based around people, processes and technology, and making these three elements work together effectively can be a challenge in itself.
Continual Testing is a significant part of the DevOps process, as it helps to save costs by identifying any problems early and preventing the need for fixes further down the line, so looking at how this can be implemented could be a good start.
How Can it Benefit Your Business?
DevOps brings with it numerous advantages which almost every business could benefit from. As previously mentioned, one of the main benefits is speed, as it helps to ensure that every process in development and operations is as smooth and efficient as possible. Another major advantage is that it stimulates business growth, given that it allows businesses to release more quality products at a much faster rate.
It also stimulates an incredibly positive philosophy within the business. Key to DevOps culture is avoiding blame and rewarding success, so that all workers involved can focus on achieving their objectives together. Not only is this good for motivation, but it means that each worker is likely to become ever more valuable to the business, whilst they are also far more likely to want to remain in such a positive, productive environment.
It is likely that DevOps will become common practice in the years to come as more and more business begin to see the benefits. Be sure to consider implementing it in your business if you want to accelerate growth, success and improve your processes.