How to Successfully Implement DevOps Techniques into Your Project
Any innovation should start with a solid business case, and DevOps is not an exception. Why should businesses invest in the changes needed to implement DevOps? In this article, we will answer this question and discuss how to effectively implement DevOps methods in a project.
Setting the stage for DevOps implementation
IT technologies have a huge impact on the development of modern businesses. These changes are described in detail in Why Software Is Eating The World by Marc Andreessen. It’s not hard to cite a few examples of tech startups that have already made a significant contribution or even changed the entire industry. For this purpose, one can simply look at the radical changes in the retail, transportation, and hospitality industries, which were caused by software innovations from companies such as Amazon, Uber, and Airbnb.
The focus on streamlining workflows and shortening the delivery lifecycle with IT is powerful leverage in business development. But if you improve only business processes, neglecting the convenience of customers, all efforts will be in vain. A manager needs to think about both the optimization of the development process and the quality of the product that the user will receive.
DevOps is an approach aimed at optimizing the product lifecycle and its delivery to the consumer. Not only the application itself but also the processes of its development can be subject to changes. According to Jeffrey Moore, communication systems can evolve quickly, but this rule doesn’t apply to the budget. This is due to the fact that financing systems can’t be rebuilt quickly. Money distribution is a delicate process, so changes should be made with extreme caution.
Benefits of implementing DevOps
First and foremost, you need to focus on the value of the business itself. An application is just a tool, the aim of which is to increase or maintain business value. You need to evaluate the optimization program and identify its benefits in monetary terms. It is recommended to determine the hourly profit that this program is able to generate.
The task of DevOps is not only to optimize an application but also to speed up its development. By eliminating post-release completions and changes, DevOps accelerates all processes, which results in increased profits. In the contrary case, constant alterations of existing systems can lead to large losses.
Alongside assessing the profit, it is also necessary to determine the amount of lost benefit. To identify this value, you need to calculate how many times a year there were disruptions in your software. It doesn’t matter why they happened: due to unstable program operation or due to its modifications. In addition, you need to calculate the losses in monetary terms and then analyze how DevOps can stop the leakage and contribute to increasing profits.
DevOps helps to assess the quality of work of all employees and teams — managers, programmers, BAs, testers, etc. For example, at Andersen — a company engaged in software development for hundreds of businesses worldwide — our standard is to include DevOps engineers in all teams larger than 5 people. A set of DevOps capabilities provides for the detailed study and planning of all elements of the business, as well as their contribution — both positive and negative.
Benefit evaluation
DevOps can have a significant impact on net profit. But if you procrastinate the implementation of DevOps, you may be left with no profit at all. After all, one must not forget about competitors who may be more decisive.
The argument that DevOps is good is simply not enough. You should understand how important it is for your business, not just for its development but for its existence as well.
You can start with a pilot version of a DevOps design to get a rough idea of its benefits. We wouldn’t recommend just waiting for the right moment for development — the right moment is now. Growing and changing must be the daily routine of your business; otherwise, you cease to be competitive. To realize how weighty these words are, remember how many projects stopped existing for failing to heed this advice.
