What Is DevOps?

Prakash | Aug 15, 2023 min read

If you want to build better software faster, DevOps is the answer. Here’s how this software development methodology brings everyone to the table to create secure code quickly by combining and automating the work of software development and IT operations teams.

INTRODUCTION

DevOps (a portmanteau of “development” and “operations”) is a methodology in the software development and IT industry. Used as a set of practices and tools, DevOps integrates and automates the work of software development(Dev) and IT operations(Ops) as a means for improving and shortening the systems development life cycle

DEFINITIONS

AWS

DevOps is the combination of cultural philosophies, practices, and tools that increases an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity: evolving and improving products at a faster pace than organizations using traditional software development and infrastructure management processes. This speed enables organizations to better serve their customers and compete more effectively in the market.

Atlassian

DevOps is a set of practices, tools, and a cultural philosophy that automate and integrate the processes between software development and IT teams. It emphasizes team empowerment, cross-team communication and collaboration, and technology automation.

GitLab

DevOps combines development and operations to increase the efficiency, speed, and security of software development and delivery compared to traditional processes. A more nimble software development lifecycle results in a competitive advantage for businesses and their customers.

TechTarget

DevOps is a philosophy that promotes better communication and collaboration between these teams – and others – in an organization. In its most narrow interpretation, DevOps describes the adoption of iterative software development, automation, and programmable infrastructure deployment and maintenance. The term also covers culture changes, such as building trust and cohesion between developers and systems administrators and aligning technological projects to business requirements. DevOps can change the software delivery chain, services, job roles, IT tools and best practices.

Microsoft

DevOps combines development (Dev) and operations (Ops) to unite people, process, and technology in application planning, development, delivery, and operations. DevOps enables coordination and collaboration between formerly siloed roles like development, IT operations, quality engineering, and security.

IBM

DevOps outlines a software development process and an organizational culture shift that speeds the delivery of higher quality software by automating and integrating the efforts of development and IT operations teams – two groups that traditionally practiced separately from each other, or in silos.

While DevOps is not a technology, DevOps environments generally apply common methodologies. These include the following:

  1. continuous integration and continuous delivery or continuous deployment (CI/CD) tools, witan emphasis on task automation;
  2. systems and tools that support DevOps adoption, including real-time monitoring, incident management, configuration management and collaboration platforms; and cloud computing, microservices and containers implemented concurrently with DevOps methodologies.

A DevOps approach is one of many techniques IT staff use to execute IT projects that meet business needs. DevOps can coexist with Agile software development; IT service management frameworks, such as ITIL; project management directives, such as Lean and Six Sigma; and other strategies.

Some IT professionals believe that the simple combination of Dev and Ops is not enough, and the term DevOps should explicitly include business (BizDevOps), security (DevSecOps) or other areas.

CONCLUSION

Basically, DevOps is a collaborative software development approach that integrates development (Dev) and operations (Ops) teams, aiming to enhance the entire software lifecycle. By automating processes, continuous integration, and continuous delivery (CI/CD), it accelerates development, testing, and deployment while improving communication and feedback loops between teams. This methodology emphasizes agility, quality, and efficiency, fostering a culture of shared responsibility and rapid iteration to deliver software reliably and at a faster pace.