Fast, secure, unified — DevOps and your digital transformation

Organizations across the globe are increasingly turning to DevOps in order to speed up delivery of software and services. This agile technology is changing everything  — and no one better understands that the "The Godfather of DevOps," Patric Debois, who created the movement. 

“The cultural aspect of collaboration gives everyone an equal seat at the table; both Dev and Ops are important," Debois said in a recent interview. "The biggest advantage is the insight that we work in a system. We have to optimize for the whole system and not just for the silo. By optimizing for the whole, we are improving for the business, not just for IT.”

What Is DevOps?

In a nutshell, this combination of software development (Dev) and software operation (Ops) is a relatively new practice in the world of software engineering. It centres on the concepts of monitoring and automation, every step of the way — from integration to testing, all the way to post-deployment management.

The DevOps culture brings with it numerous benefits associated with acceleration, including briefer development cycles and more frequent deployment. For organizations seeking change, DevOps is one disruptor that can help them reap rewards.

The goals of DevOps

Essentially, DevOps can be boiled down to three critical ingredients.

First, it focuses on speed. “The goal of DevOps is to create a working environment in which building, testing and deploying software can occur rapidly, frequently and reliably," wrote tech journalist Jason Hiner in a recent article.

Another advantage centers on improved cybersecurity. In a world where breaches make headlines on a near-daily basis, DevOps empowers organizations to better find and fix their vulnerabilities. It also simplifies the process of providing patches and security updates and helps prevent unwanted intruders. 

Finally, DevOps helps IT departments collaborate better. While many professionals focus on a single specialty or skill, this new culture encourages them to put their heads together — a practice vital for success in virtually any organisation.

How DevOps makes the difference for your digital transformation

The key to DevOps is improving delivery of applications and services. The secret weapon is speed, especially as a business tackles the migration of data, communications and services to the cloud.

“Digital transformation strategies are evolving because there are so many technology changes, so you have to react fast," Kamal Anand from Tech Pro Research told ZDNet in an interview.