The DevOps momentum continues to increase each year and for a good reason. Today, over 50% of organizations have begun implementing DevOps—and the trend will only grow as more and more companies continue to embrace digital transformation.
But, what exactly is DevOps, and why is it making waves in the software development space? Keep reading to find out more about this new trend.
What Is DevOps?
DevOps is a software development practice focused on collaboration, agility, and automation within IT and development team processes. Coined from two words, “Development and Operations,” DevOps defines an agile relationship between development and operations.
Simply put, DevOps is a practice that allows a single team to manage the entire application development process— from requirement definition and design to software development, testing, deployment, and delivery.
Before DevOps, these processes were handled separately, with development and operations working independently within their teams. There was a lack of collaboration between developers and operation engineers, which created an environment rife with miscommunication and delays.
DevOps was created to bridge the gap between development and operations. By unifying all teams, DevOps helps to improve collaboration and create streamlined processes that lead to faster and efficient delivery.
From conceptualization to deployment, the software development process is lengthy and complex. Seeking the services of a reputable DevOps consulting firm, like RTS Labs, can help you accelerate your development cycle and drive efficiency.
Understanding the DevOps Lifecycle
Your knowledge of DevOps is undoubtedly incomplete without understanding the DevOps lifecycle. Here are the seven phases of the DevOps lifecycle.
This is the first phase of the DevOps lifecycle and involves planning and coding the software. In this phase, the project’s vision is decided, and developers begin working on the code for the application. No DevOps tools are required at this stage, but many tools may be required for maintaining the code.
Continuous integration is the heart of the entire DevOps lifecycle.
In this phase, the source code is modified frequently, and these changes could happen daily or weekly. Typical activities in this stage include building new codes that support add-on functionalities and integrating them into the existing code.
In this phase, the QA team runs tools like Selenium to identify and fix bugs in the new code. The testing process gives more information about different aspects of the application while highlighting the areas that need improvement.
In this phase, key information about the application usage is recorded and carefully analyzed to find trends and identify bugs. Continuous monitoring enhances the operational efficiency of a software product to ensure flawless performance in a live environment.
The application development is improved by investigating the outcomes from the operation of the products. The continuous feedback phase enables developers to gauge the outcome of the changes on the final product.
Users who tested the applications share their experiences with the development team. In the event of negative feedback, developers analyze the feedback and begin working to improve the product further.
In this phase, the final application code is deployed to the production servers. The deployment of the code is done in a careful way to ensure the changes done to the code don’t affect the functioning of a high-traffic website.
The final phase of the DevOps lifecycle is the shortest and least complicated one. The essence of this phase is to automate the process of releasing the final product and the subsequent updates. The DevOps phases are carried out continuously and in a loop, until a perfect application is created and ready for use in a live environment.
Wrapping Up
The adoption of DevOps continues to increase, and it has quickly captured the attention of the IT industry for many reasons.
With the fast-paced, ever-changing work environments, faster delivery in the software development space is critical for the growth of any organization. DevOps happens to deliver results, thanks to its agility, faster deployment, efficiency, and reliability.