There’s a lot of talk about DevOps, the seamless combination of software development, continuous production, and maintenance, but what are the core benefits? What will the company miss if it continues with a linear, sequential implementation model for its software work? In this blog post, we highlight three key benefits of DevOps.
The motivation to make the DevOps transition often comes from one or more identified development issues. DevOps helps in situations where, for example, exporting changes from development to production takes several days, exporting to production takes a lot of manpower and resources, or additional errors occur in exporting to production due to human, manual errors. Sometimes the motivation is that the activities are fragmented, i.e. communication between developers and production is not optimal.
Moving to a DevOps operating model can bring a wide range of benefits to a company. We have picked out three of them to discuss in this blog post, which can benefit all types of businesses, regardless of their sector.
1. DevOps is fast and agile
DevOps is about seamlessly combining software development, rapid deployment to production, and ongoing maintenance. The underlying idea behind the method is therefore that these different stages are no longer thought of as separate, sequential stages. Updates and functionalities made to the software today can therefore be made available to users quickly – in a couple of days or even during the same day, at best.
As the DevOps approach is closely related to lean thinking, it also aims to skip the unnecessary steps from the process. At the same time, automation is added to every possible step of the process. This keeps the overall value chain as short as possible and makes software work as fast and agile as possible.
2. DevOps improves customer satisfaction
Like software work in general, DevOps is first and foremost about meeting the needs and desires of users. Regardless of whether the target audience for the software work is internal clients, external clients, or a combination of both, an effective DevOps approach results in a better overall service for users.
The seamless cycle from software development to production, maintenance, further development, production, maintenance and so on, results in faster launches of new functionalities and updates. Because DevOps migration often also involves replacing manual work with automation, the number of errors in code is reduced, and the remaining errors are identified more quickly. This improves quality and increases the overall value of the service in the eyes of clients.
3. Rethinking the software process opens up opportunities
As a by-product of the DevOps transition, the way software work is done is inevitably rethought. The transition requires a kind of process walk, in which the steps of the current software workflow are reviewed one by one, the related parties, deliverables and tools are examined, and improvement areas are considered together. What can be streamlined? Which steps can be automated? Where could closer communication between the software team improve the outcome?
Rethinking and breaking down the ways of doing things often creates a whole new kind of discussion and common thinking between the people involved in software work. Best of all, the transition often also creates new channels and operating models that enable closer communication and collaboration between development and maintenance teams.
A competent partner to help with DevOps migration and continuous service
By transitioning to a continuous DevOps delivery model for software development and maintenance, you can create synergies for your business that are not possible with a traditional linear approach. If your organization’s resources or expertise are not sufficient for a smooth DevOps transition or ongoing implementation, contact a competent DevOps partner. We at Pinja can help with one-off precision projects as well as provide ongoing service.
For example, we have helped EasyOpp, a client providing ERP services, to apply the principles of the DevOps operating model. Our partnership enabled them to manage their system development more efficiently, increase automation, and optimally allocate their team’s time.
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