If you think that your development (software development, UI/ UX designers, QA analysts) and operations (systems administrators, IT operations, and maintenance) teams are not communicating as efficiently as they should, you need DevOps!
DevOps services promote a collaborative DevOps culture, leading to more efficient communication and troubleshooting across departments. They automate code integration, testing, and faster deployment with CI/CD pipelines alongside numerous other performance-boosting strategies to facilitate efficient performance.
Read on to find what DevOps experts suggest for accelerating your software delivery service.
Expert Tips on Modernizing Delivery Pipeline with DevOps
Automation
Automation is one of the key elements of DevOps, enabling development and operations teams to collaborate effectively by streamlining processes without requiring manual processing repeatedly. When thinking of automation, the big question is, “Which tasks can be automated for improved performance?”
With DevOps, you can automate coding, deployment, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) environment replication, backups, etc. It reduces the chances of errors and speeds up the process to ensure prompt delivery of the software.
DevOps experts also suggest automating the testing process as it can be time-consuming with chances of human error, which may result in unresolved issues. Automated tests can run on multiple systems at once, offering quick feedback compared to manual testing. It enables the team to detect and fix the bugs earlier and minimize the cost of troubleshooting major issues later for a streamlined process.
Automation might seem a little heavy on the pocket initially, but the ROI exceeds the investments by making way for increased production.
- Microsoft Teams
- Slack
- Jira
- Trello
- Notion
- GitHub
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
Continuous Integration (CI) in DevOps is a practice where developers merge (or integrate) the code into a shared project frequently to ensure everything works fine. Tools like GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Circle CI, or Jenkins automatically run tests and check for errors. This allows developers to fix bugs in early stages to avoid disturbing the cycle later and delaying the project’s delivery.
Similarly, continuous delivery (CD) finalizes the project for you automatically, so you do not have to do it manually. The system automatically packages it, prepares it for deployment, and makes it ready to go live after code integration. It builds the app, runs tests, packages the software, and prepares it for release. Continuous delivery also enables businesses to release new features and updates seamlessly.
CI/ CD helps reduce bugs in production, reduces manual work, and facilitates software release with minimal manual effort to ensure faster deployment.
Efficient Communication and Collaboration
DevOps experts focus on accelerating project completion by ensuring smooth workflows between development and operations teams through efficient communication and collaboration. DevOps bridges the distance between teams to promote a healthy environment and more streamlined working processes. Improving communication among developers, testers, IT operations, support team, and other stakeholders in the project can offer the best results.
There are numerous tools for collaboration and communication among teams, but there is no ‘one model fits all’ solution. Consider your needs and your teams’ convenience and pick the most suitable one from numerous options, including:
- Microsoft Teams
- Slack
- Jira
- Trello
- Notion
- GitHub
Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
If you have been thinking, “Work would be so much faster if I had a genie who did infrastructure deployment,” Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is that genie!
Developers can manage their software infrastructure automatically with IaC to manage code without human error, by easily accessing all the essential resources. Reduced errors by optimizing the process to ensure a secure and streamlined workflow.
IaC reduces infrastructure management time, improves consistency, and facilitates business scaling. Modules and templates can help ensure uniformity across multiple environments for efficiency. DevOps experts recommend using resourceful tools, such as AWS CloudFormation, Ansible, Puppet, or Terraform, to implement Infrastructure as Code and speed up the delivery process. Make sure that your selected tool supports your cloud providers and is compatible for integration with your CI/CD pipelines.
Always test your infrastructure code and implement safety measures to avoid issues during or after deployment.
Continuous Monitoring and Feedback
While automation, CI/CD, collaboration, and IaC are critical to DevOps, it’s incomplete without monitoring and feedback. When designing DevOps strategies and practices, it is important to monitor them, detect issues through real-time DevOps feedback loop, and modify them to meet the organization’s needs. Integrate automated feedback mechanisms to stay updated on loopholes in the systems and troubleshoot them timely. Monitoring and feedback tools also give you insights into user behavior and system metrics. This eventually leads to better processes and systems for dynamic business growth.
Final Words
If you want to accelerate your business growth by eliminating hindrances between the development and operations teams, DevOps services are the solution to all your worries. DevOps experts suggest process automation, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), collaboration, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and continuous real-time monitoring and feedback to ensure system reliability and faster deployment.
Get in touch with our team to discuss the best DevOps practices required for your specific needs.
