DevOps – a word that you may have come across on the internet, social media, or maybe heard from someone. It is the biggest buzzword that is driving the IT industry crazy. But, do you know what DevOps is? Even if you know it, then also you should check out this blog. Let’s dive deep and understand the fundamentals of DevOps right now!

What Is DevOps?

First thing first! The initial impression one can get from DevOps is the word DevOps itself. DevOps is the blend of two words Dev and Ops. Dev stands for Development, and Ops stands for Operations. These two jobs combined to make the software development process a seamless experience.

 

 

“DevOps is a standard set of practices that promotes automation in software development and integrates the work between development and operational teams.“

 

DevOps improves the software development process and makes it more reliable, accurate, and accentuated.

 

 

Significance of DevOps Symbol 

The symbol of DevOps is a continuous loop that represents the phases of the life cycle. It means there is a need for collaboration and improvements during the process. There are six phases of the DevOps lifecycle. The left side of the loop represents the development, while the right side is for operations.

 

 

Why DevOps Is Essential To The Organization?

Prior DevOps, development and the operational team works differently. There was no coordination and communication, which led to more bugs. DevOps bridges the gap between these two teams and promotes an effective way to develop software quickly. Let’s take a glimpse of the need for DevOps in the Organization right below:

 

Rapid Software Development

DevOps automation has changed the face of the software industry. DevOps services accelerate the tempo of delivering software by making adequate changes through automation in the app. It allows monitoring of the app for any software changes or glitches over its whole development cycle.

 

 

Promotes Innovation

DevOps also promotes innovation. However, it is an underrated advantage that goes unnoticed. Innovation is all about brainstorming new ideas and implementing them in real-time to ensure a better and seamless workflow. Innovation brings out something new, which replaces the old and outdated methods. DevOps cultivates and promotes an atmosphere where developers are not bound by guidelines. It ensures the reach of every project remains available to changes as long as the end goals are met.

 

 

Ensures Quality

The quality of the application is critical, and DevOps will help you optimize this quality. It alters the way companies do conventional software testing. It elevates testing to a key component of the SDLC, delegating liability to all developers concerned. It encourages exploratory research, which will improve product consistency by identifying appropriate ways to assess various facets of completed software.

 

 

Offers Reliability

A significant benefit of a successful DevOps strategy is reliability. Simply put, reliability refers to a system’s ability to operate consistently under its environmental constraints. The implementation of DevOps enhances service efficiency, improving service compatibility and networking necessary for the smooth operation of a company.

 

 

Exploring The DevOps Lifecycle

Continuous Development 

The first phase of the DevOps lifecycle involves designing and coding the application. The strategy includes understanding the project’s vision and designing software built on these perceptions. Planning does not need the use of any major tools, but code maintenance necessitates the use of a variety of DevOps tools. Choosing a programming language to develop the source code for an application is the first step.

 

 

Continuous Integration

This is the core stage of the DevOps lifecycle. The source code gets changed several times, and these revisions occur often. Modified codes that enable add-on functionalities are designed and implemented into the current code in continuous integration. Bugs are usually found at this stage in the source. Developers use tools for unit testing, code analysis, integration testing, compilation, and packaging to create new code that adds more functionality to the program. The continued incorporation of this new code into the source code aims to represent the updates that end-users can see as the code is modified.

 

 

Continuous Testing

Here, the built program is thoroughly checked for bugs regularly. Using Docker containers, a prototype environment is replicated. By automatic testing, developing companies save time and effort, generally wasted in manual testing. Automated test reports enhance the test assessment process. It becomes simple to analyze the missed test cases. The resulting test suite is simplified and bug-free after a period of user acceptance testing. Some of the DevOps tools used for automated testing are TestNG, Selenium and JUnit. They can also plan test cases in a pre-set schedule. It ensures the application’s perfect functionality and networking. Finally, the checked version is forwarded again to update the source code at the continuous integration level.

 

 

Continuous Feedback

Continuous feedback is a unique phase in analyzing the changes in continuous maintenance and continuous integration. The results of these changes can be measured on the finished product by developers. Overall, consumers who have checked these apps will share their experiences. In certain situations, the step of the implementation process in the DevOps lifecycle is a turning point. The feedback is quickly evaluated, and developers get to work on the latest updates. Customer feedback becomes more favorable to pave the way for the release of future versions of the product.

 

 

Continuous Monitoring

For web developers, monitoring the success of an application is important. During this process, developers collect data on how the app is used and constantly track each feature. Continuous checking helps to maintain the application’s provision of resources. The risks and root causes of recurrent system failures are also determined. Security vulnerabilities are overcome and problems are found and corrected automatically. If significant problems in this step are observed, the program is reapplied quickly in all the previous phases of the DevOps life cycle. This is how it gets easier in this process to solve all kinds of problems.

 

 

Continuous Monitoring

The finalized program code is deployed to the production servers in this process. The detailed implementation of application code on all servers is carried out by Configuration Management, which is crucial in this step. The application’s performance and functional requirements are defined and curated for consistency. The code is deployed to the servers, and updates are planned for all of them. These installations are maintained during the development process. Ansible, Puppet, and Chef are some of the most used DevOps tools for Configuration Management, where they are commonly used to install new code quickly and continuously.

 

 

Continuous Operation

The shortest and least complex step of the DevOps life cycle. Continuous service has the aim of automating the process of launching an application and subsequent updates. Continuous operations provide shorter development times, enabling developers to continually improve the application’s time-to-market.

 

 

Core DevOps Principles

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Automation

Automation is an eminent part of DevOps cultures. Provisioning, building, testing, rollout, feedback, and security audits are all activities that DevOps engineers can automate wherever possible. This will not only reduces waste but also boosts performance and cost-effectiveness. It further improves the effectiveness of systems such as safety and monitoring responsible for bottlenecks in IT services.

 

 

Encourages Collaboration

Regardless of the business model, companies seeking to change their DevOps culture should consider the apps they build as a commodity rather than a service. Also, it is necessary to not compromise with reliability and efficiency just because of quick delivery. Create a conversation flow that includes the exchange of thoughts and ideas at regular intervals. Such conversations foster a mentoring relationship and a recognition that operations issues are development issues too. When the development and deployment phases converge into one, the chances of things going in the wrong direction minimizes.

 

 

Continuous Improvement

The IT field keeps changing now and then. To get success in this field, you must mold yourself accordingly. The world’s most competitive DevOps companies hold a close watch on emerging technologies, applications, regulations, and, most notably, customer demands. All these to maximize CI/CD, cost-effectiveness, and anything else that creates or retains value. Incorporating changes within the organization is never easy but, if the changes are for good, it must continue, doesn’t matter how many times it gets failed.

 

 

Meet Customers’ Demands

DevOps principle is based on the customer-first approach, and the companies must take the appropriate steps to ensure that. Organizations must actively innovate and adapt if they fail to implement an action plan. The team can not only focus on data and business parameters but also needs to have a close eye on the demand of customers. The team must aim for a good balance between evolving market conditions and consumer demands.

 

DevOps is the need of the hour. Nearly every IT company is going after it. However, to adopt a DevOps culture you need to work hard and smart.

 

 

Thanks for reading! Hope it will help you out.