How To Build a DevOps Culture
The DevOps trend is very popular just now and that’s because there are enormous potential benefits when development, testing, and IT operations work more closely together. DevOps will go mainstream this year as a strategy employed by 25% of Global 2000 organizations, according to Gartner.
More and more companies are seeing the sense in integrating teams and encouraging greater collaboration, but it can be a real challenge. Finding experienced DevOps engineers can prove tricky, and it takes time for cross-training to show results. What steps can you take to create a solid foundation for DevOps and transform your company’s culture?
If you expect to successfully break down those silo walls and manage conflicts of interest, then you need a leader with the right vision. CIOs should have knowledge of the latest DevOps practices and the authority to remove obstacles and ensure that teams in development, testing, and operations can work together in harmony.
A solid buy-in from the top, with clear expectations, and confidence in the efficacy of DevOps can go a long way towards securing a solid base to start from. The specific skills that your organization needs may not exist – you may need to create them through training.
Working together
Your best chance of success is to find willing candidates looking to broaden their skillsets. Find developers of system admins with a desire to improve themselves and start there. Put them together and let them build a genuine understanding of each other’s roles. Direct communication will encourage learning and break down traditional barriers and lingering rivalry.
Everyone should have a clear picture of progress and regular meetings should offer an opportunity to suggest ideas that might improve systems and streamline processes. The key is to make sure that everyone shares the same end goal. A positive, problem-solving attitude and the room to suggest improvements can lead to real optimization in your development pipeline.
The right tools
In a practical sense, centralized documentation can be helpful. Disseminate specialist knowledge with step-by-step guides and employ a project management platform to increase visibility. Self-documenting software is a good way to create a clear audit trail and reduce the documentation burden.
Software engineers should look at infrastructures and review system requirements to find the right blend of DevOps tools. Automation for testing and deployment, and some kind of configuration management is essential for DevOps to work smoothly.
There are so many different processes, technologies, and ideas that you really have to sit back and assess what’s the best fit for your project or team right now. Creating an open collaborative culture will help you succeed with DevOps regardless of the specifics of your approach.
Let KMS help you build a DevOps culture at your organization.
