In The Digital World, DevOps Is The Key To Survival – Part Two

This two-part blog provides an assessment of how the continual development, innovation, and testing at the core of the DevOps is something to be considered by any company trying to weather the digital storm.  Daniel Carnes is our guest blogger for this series.  Dan has more than 20 years of experience, including 15 years with First Data, leading teams of developers, engineers, and testers overseeing mobile and internet payment solutions, VAS Exchange, mobile security initiatives, identity management and card vaulting.

This final installment will speak to how DevOps is making it possible for organizations to be more responsive to the needs and wants of customers while running their businesses effectively and efficiently,  pleasing customers and stakeholders as they go.  It may be no surprise to learn that these impacts are being demonstrated and realized in multiple places throughout the companies choosing to use this approach. 

4. Agility

DevOps complements lean business models and agile development methodologies to achieve Digital Transformation possible.  A key contributor to the effectiveness and efficiency is dividing work into manageable projects.  By breaking up the work, teams can achieve results faster.  Putting results into clients' hands expedites the feedback loop and allows the teams to adapt to client needs faster and with less disruption.

5. Risk Management

Digital Transformation, like all change, involves an element potential risk.  The risks can range from security vulnerabilities and process issues to software flaws or rebranding complications that were created or exacerbated by the change.

DevOps minimizes risk by incorporating security best practices into each phase of the solution lifecycle.  It also minimizes risk by simplifying processes, so there are fewer chances for issues to arise.  Reliance on agile development methodologies is critical to the successful reduction of software and delivery based risks.

6. Scalability

DevOps scales to meet the challenges of organizations of all size. It can be used to implement projects ranging from greenfield  applications to overhauls of legacy systems.  DevOps is agnostic to the technology base impacted by the change, which makes it a powerful tool for Digital Transformation

7. People Friendly

People are the most important asset any organization has when implementing Digital Transformation. Employees are the foundation of the Triple Bottom Line (Employees, Clients, Profit).  Happy employees make for happy clients.  Happy clients lead to profit!

To keep employees happy, organizations must engage and empower them.  DevOps promotes employee satisfaction because it focuses on innovation, collaboration and leads to greater success.  The sense of satisfaction employees achieve through DevOps is a force multiplier which leads to greater retention and recruitment.

Practical DevOps

In large companies, innovation and Digital Transformation can be challenging.  Like an aircraft carrier, large companies do not react quickly to change.  Traditionally, their size was a benefit, but in modern times it has proven a detriment, as smaller, more agile competitors erode their leads.  DevOps allows organizations of all sizes and complexities to accelerate the progress of Digital Transformation and innovation.

Editor's Note:  In a short time the world of software development has been struggling to evolve with the demands of the market to be more responsive to the needs of consumers and businesses around the world.  The speed at which things have moved is remarkable but for software development to match speed with consumer demand it alone is not enough.  In addition, the various players in the value chain must deliver relevant innovations the improve convenience, efficiency and effectiveness.  This ups the ante considerably.  As a company focused on advanced, modern testing methodologies and tools for a financial services company, we are committed to helping our customers optimize their Dev/Ops model with continuous testing.  Continuous testing in a Dev/Ops environment is a critical step for ensuring the innovations they deliver are not only relevant to the needs of the market but are built to work without fail in the increasingly complex IT environments that are emerging in the ongoing digital revolution.