What is DevOps?
Software projects tend to require lots of administration in order to result in successful deliverables. This includes planning, development, deployment, testing, monitoring, and more. DevOps is the integration of tools and services that are required in the development lifecycle of software projects. DevOps is the combination of development and operations to improve both collaboration and productivity. Utilizing DevOps can not only simplify the management of project developments, but also tends to result in faster, higher quality deliverables. By utilizing DevOps, users can implement the automation process that manages infrastructure, testing and workflows within a project. Doing so will improve the efficiency and streamline tasks that would otherwise be complicated to manage or implement.
Key DevOps Practices
DevOps as a concept can be tough to fully understand as the implementation can differ between projects, depending on its specific goals and stakeholders. However, this does not mean that there are no best practices that should be followed in most, if not all, software projects. The following is a short list of some best DevOps practices that should be adhered to in order to improve the efficiency of deliverables:
- Test and deployment automation – When testing or deploying changes, it is most efficient to do so with minimum user intervention. By using scripts to automate these processes, changes can be sent out faster with few errors.
- Environmental variability reduction – Typically, a project will contain multiple environments. Ideally, it is best to design and keep the differences between environments at a minimum in order to reduce the chances of environment-specific bugs or issues that can bottleneck progress.
- Consistent code updates – All changes to code should be kept up-to-date, typically on a daily basis, so that newer code is not lost or forgotten and all changes, even minor ones, are recorded.
- Independent architecture – When promoting changes to environments, the goal is to only have to test what was changed rather than the whole environment at large. This is most simply done by designing and implementing the architecture in such a way that each part of the architecture remains as independent as possible.
- Utilize the proper tools for any requirement/task – When picking tools to perform tasks within a project, users need to make sure that their selection has the right functionality for the job. Users should not use “popular” applications just because of their reputation, but instead look into what tool provides all of the features required that has the lowest impact on the project itself.
- Embedded teams – All stakeholders of a project should be collaborating with one another at every stage to ensure everyone is on the same page.
How can Tenthline help?
Tenthline has the knowledge and experience required to design, create, and implement a DevOps strategy that will suit any kind of project. We will work with your team, your budget, and your timeline to deliver cost-effective solutions based on DevOps best practices.
