Faster software development to keep up with shifting consumer demands has become essential. To achieve this, there must be a union between development and operations teams.
A DevOps strategy embraces both philosophical and technical practices. These practices aid greatly in improving the speed of development lifecycles. The state of software development will only continue to evolve.
In this article, you will learn about 4 key steps for implementing DevOps at your own institution.
Four Steps for Implementing DevOps
When it comes to using DevOps at your own business, there are many factors to keep in mind.
The following four steps will help you to overcome the main obstacles when implementing DevOps. For each of these steps, we will elaborate further and include actionable tips for you to follow.
It can be very useful to also connect with an experienced team of DevOps engineers when starting out. Having a DevOps expert on hand to help build your own DevOps strategy will help ensure all your bases are covered.
1. Remove Internal Collaboration Barriers
Collaboration is a core component of DevOps. For this strategy to work it is fundamental to ensure your team has clear lines of communication. DevOps utilizes all areas of a business to enable continuous delivery and development. This means your teams will need to work across departments and embrace cross-functionality.
A good strategy to pair with DevOps is Omnichannel communications and development. With an Omnichannel strategy, you heighten your business’s ability to share information. Making sure all services available across all channels of communication improves customer satisfaction. Your teams also learn to work together more efficiently.
There are three key reasons to focus on developing an Omnichannel strategy:
Reduced Operational Costs
Omnichannel strategies make good use of AI and predictive technology. This helps to automate many customer interactions and essential tasks. As a result, the operational cost of customer service can be greatly reduced.
Improved Customer Service
Customers have come to expect personalized experiences. Universally accessible products and services give customers a sense of personal choice.
Decreased Wait Times
As your business scales up, so does your contact with customers. You will have more customers waiting to hear back from you as the business grows. With an omnichannel strategy, you can ensure much faster response times.
Making your products and services accessible across all channels is key. Whether they are calling, shopping online, or visiting in person, customers come first. Plus, employees will be better equipped to meet the customer’s needs.
2. Migrate to the Cloud
To successfully use DevOps, your business is going to need its own server and network. Businesses use private servers for sharing and updating information. Having a server specifically for your business helps keep your entire team up to speed.
However, setting up a physical server and infrastructure in an office is costly. Plus, maintaining the equipment can be both time-consuming and frustrating. Luckily, there is an easy and widely-used solution for this issue: the cloud.
Cloud computing has become increasingly popular over the past decade. Rather than using physical equipment, the cloud is entirely virtually based. This eliminates the need for businesses to invest in expensive equipment.
There are 3 key benefits to migrating your business operations onto the cloud:
Centralized Information
The cloud stores information and files in one central location. Because this is a virtual location, authorized personnel can access it at all times. As a result, your team can collaborate even when they are not in the same office space.
Increased Scalability
DevOps inherently works to increase your scalability. When operating from the cloud, this scalability sizes up even more. The cloud can easily handle fluctuating business levels and traffic.
Greater Accessibility
The cloud helps support both your customers and employees. Your team can constantly monitor software development in real-time. Meanwhile, your customers have satisfactory access to their accounts and purchases.
The cloud and DevOps are truly an optimal pairing. Migrating to the cloud will enable your business to take your services and products to the next level.
3. Follow the Agile Principles for Development
DevOps deals directly with the overall culture of a business. Agile is a separate but closely related method that focuses on project developments.
Agile inherently helps to enable DevOps. While DevOps works to create an end-to-end solution, Agile helps bridge the gap between development and design.
The Agile methodology is made up of 12 main principles:
- Always prioritize customer satisfaction with continuous deliveries
- Welcome changing requirements even in the late stages of development
- Deliver working software frequently and keep the timescale as short as possible
- Encourage business people and developers to work together daily
- Utilize motivated team members and provide them with trust and support
- Prioritize face-to-face exchanges of information between your team
- Use working software as the main measurement of progress
- Create processes that promote sustainability and can maintain a constant pace
- Pay continuous attention to both technical excellence and good design
- Simplify the work process to minimizing the amount of work need to reach the desired result
- Self-organizing teams produce the best results
- Carry out team reflections and analyses at regular intervals
Together, DevOps and Agile help you to create an incredibly customer-centric experience.
4. Get Feedback from Your Audience and Community
Every industry is different. Depending on what area of business you fall into, you will face differing customer expectations. A crucial element for implementing DevOps in your business is to ask for feedback. The best answers about what is or is not working will come directly from your customers.
Moreover, your employees will go through an adjustment period as well. As they learn how to operate under new DevOps guidelines, it is important to ask them for feedback as well.
The key to creating a highly collaborative environment is to encourage communication. Letting your team know you are seeking out feedback and willing to hear them out is fundamental.
Conclusions
The world only continues to become more digitally oriented. As this technological evolution progresses, it is more important than ever for businesses to embrace DevOps.
DevOps combines both technical and philosophical elements of software development. In doing so, the methodology impacts both the capabilities and culture of a business.
Implementing DevOps into your own business structure is essential. It will help your team to become more collaborative and embrace a customer-centric perspective.
DevOps is the key to providing faster and continuous deliveries without sacrificing quality. If you are looking for a reliable system to help boost your digital success, then DevOps is for you.
Primary source: softwaresuggest.com