devops-principles

DevOps is a system that helps an organisation's development and operations teams work together. But, it is more than just a collaboration between these two teams. It is a cultural shift, a mindset, where teams follow new methods of working.

In an organization that follows the DevOps culture, the Developers get closer to the users. In turn, developers will be able to better understand users' needs and requirements.  In the same way, operations teams work closely with the development teams and engage in the development process and add maintenance needs as per the needs of customers. It means that following the DevOps principles listed below will help the DevOps teams to deliver processes and applications quicker with the best quality compared to organizations that use the traditional software development model.

7 Principles of DevOps:

The 7 principles of DevOps help organizations follow this approach to achieve better with it. Here are the details about these 7 principles:

1. Collaboration:

DevOps is the association of development and operations teams in its purest form. In other words, collaboration is the central part of DevOps. Otherwise, you can consider it the foundation of DevOps. When these teams work together, the development team will be in a better position to configure the code or software in the development process for the operations phase. In the same way, the operations team can test the code or software earlier to make sure that it meets the requirements of customers.

Good information-sharing practices should be in place when teams collaborate. The operations team should log an error adequately whenever they identify it when deploying an application. Only then will the development team be able to account for the error when they engage in code development in the future. 

Similarly, feedback should be shared all across the team. When this happens, positive feedback will improve the morale of the development team. The team members will start understanding why their work is crucial. Negative feedback is equally important to make sure that the development team follows continuous improvement in the programs they work on.

2. Imposing End-To-End Responsibility:

When you take the case of the traditional software development model, members of the operations and development teams have different roles to play separately. But, when it comes to DevOps, the members of both departments work together as a team. This DevOps team will be entirely responsible for the application from start to end. One of the DevOps core principles is the control and responsibility of services from beginning to completion. When it comes to the traditional software development model, the Developers write codes.  Thereafter, the responsibility of deploying the code comes to the operations team. The problem with this approach is that it leads to different inefficiencies, from differences in production to performance issues and unpredictable atmospheres. These issues are entirely eliminated in DevOps as the teams work together.

3. Automation:

One of the key principles of DevOps is to automate things. Automation should be done by DevOps teams as much as possible. With automation, the operations can benefit in different ways like software deployment, functionality testing, security compliance verification tests, infrastructure provisioning and continuous delivery/continuous integration. DevOps practices suggest that the more things are automated, the quicker and safer can the product release happen that too with complete dependence.

4. Frequent Releases:

One of the important DevOps principles is that the code must be committed in the version control repository at frequent intervals. Also, it suggests that the code should be evaluated and released to production at regular intervals. This is part of the DevOps culture to amalgamate all the phases in the DevOps lifecycle. In turn, the chances of bugs and errors will reduce. With the release of every code, the errors and bugs are rectified. Above all, the bug and error fixing is done in the early stage and the base of the code is refined. As a result, quicker release becomes possible.

5. Observability:

Observability is the ability of the DevOps team to evaluate, monitor, and track the state of their operations and items in the pipeline. When they do not observe things, DevOps engineers will not be aware of what works and what does not. In other words, they will end up moving towards an unknown spot. So, DevOps teams should closely observe things. Most users refer to this principle as continuous monitoring.

6. Actions Must Be Customer-Centric:

It is crucial nowadays to have short feedback loops. These feedback loops should be established with end-users or real business customers. Only then, will it be possible to make sure that all activities in the development of information technology products and solutions are centred around end-users? Customers will find software solution useful only when it meets their requirements rightly. Experts recommend that to be able to deliver programs as per customer requirements, DevOps organizations should be ready to act as lean startups. Only when an IT organization considers itself new to the business, it will continue to innovate. Also, this approach will help the development team pivot when a particular strategy does not work out anymore.  DevOps recommends continuously working and constantly investing in services and products that will get customers the utmost level of delight. Many organizations follow customer centricity as one of the 7 core DevOps principles.

7. Do Not Be Afraid of Mistakes:

One of the 7 principles of DevOps suggests that teams should not be afraid of mistakes. Rather, they should be prepared to learn from their mistakes. Naturally, humans do not like failures. But, DevOps recommends that against treating failures as a personal blow, DevOps team members will have to change their attitude and should start seeing a failure as a chance to learn new things. Mistakes are not avoidable. As against looking for ways to avoid them, it would be better to start seeing them as stepping stones for success, suggests DevOps.

In addition to these DevOps core principles, which can provide the foundation for any new team implementing DevOps, DevOps teams follow certain other practices. These practices help them stand out from organizations that follow the traditional software development model.

Other Key Practices of DevOps:

1. Production Readiness:

The basic idea behind Continuous Delivery and Quick Release of code, which are key principles of DevOps, is to deliver releases that are production-ready on demand. In this state, the application code will always stay ready for production. This practice does not essentially mean that the application should be deployed to production frequently. It denotes having the ability to retain the code as and when it is required.

It will be possible for any business to achieve a lot of benefits with continuous deployment and continuous delivery. The most important benefit is that it eliminates the risk of major bugs and downtime. Again, it provides the power organisations need to easily release high-quality features. In turn, it becomes possible to achieve a quicker time to market. Even, it helps with bringing down the fixed costs connected with the deployment process.

2. Continuous Deployment:

When modifications are implemented to the code after feedback, they have to get through the DevOps workflow. Then, the code is delivered to customers. DevOps always insist on quicker delivery. So, in an organization that follows the DevOps approach, the production and the evaluating environment function closely. This helps with achieving better stability in releases as well.

Also, for continuous deployment, cross-autonomy is followed by DevOps teams. This is where teams communicate with each other. However, they have the liberty to plan their progress themselves. So, DevOps also recommends that the development and operations teams have the liberty to decide on certain things. This is facilitated by continuous deployment. The development teams in organizations that follow DevOps can work at the speed they feel required for releases. Here, the operations team need not have to feel more concerned about the logistics of each release. 

3. Create With Result in Mind:

Again, this DevOps practice involves thoroughly understanding customers' requirements. Thereafter, the DevOps team should create products or services that solve real customer issues. DevOps teams should not develop codes on assumptions. Rather, they should think about how customers will use the software. Right from the creation to the implementation, the DevOps teams should have a holistic understanding of the software solution. 

Also check: Why DevOps is Important?

Conclusion:

DevOps is a cultural shift that merges development and operations teams for enhanced collaboration and efficiency. The seven core principles of DevOps include collaboration, end-to-end responsibility, automation, frequent releases, observability, customer-centric actions, and learning from mistakes. Additionally, practices like production readiness, continuous deployment, and creating with results in mind further support DevOps' effectiveness. Embracing these principles and practices allows organizations to deliver high-quality software more quickly and efficiently.
Simpliaxis offers a DevOps Foundation® Certification Training to help individuals and teams adopt these principles effectively.