Research by Grand View forecasts that DevOps is becoming one of the go-to options for organizations today because the market is all set to cross USD 12.85 billion in the next four years, growing at a CAGR of 24.7% during this period. DevOps’ popularity is rising at a high pace – thanks mainly to the usefulness of the approach. DevOps is being increasingly associated with efficient deliveries and faster working. Digitalization is the new face of enterprise transformation. Artificial Intelligence, Analytics, and Machine Learning are set to disrupt development and operations. With this, the popularity of DevOps is set to move on further from here.

In the days when the pandemic created a furor, businesses across the world adopted remote working. The use of cloud-based systems and microservice architecture has become the need of the hour. With the changing times, DevOps need to be futuristic, scalable, reliable, and secure. DevOps mindset needs to be an integral part of a progressive work environment, accelerating DevOps adoption like never before.
 

What is DevOps?
 

It is a collaborative effort between Development and Operations, which helps in connecting the two teams. Rather than working as silos, they collaborate for Continuous Integration or CI and Continuous Delivery or CD. DevOps is one of the best approaches for producing and delivering high-quality development faster, bringing enhanced customer experience and augmented profits.

In this write-up here, we will talk about the top DevOps trends in 2021.
 

DevOps latest trends in 2021
 

1. DevSecOps that integrate security with DevOps is trending lately:
 

DevSecOps comes with enhanced data privacy. In 2021, this will become an integral part of DevOps with a focus on EU GDPR rules. The emphasis will be now on automating security into DevOps from the very beginning. Doing so will help create a secure setup that is robust and fortified from cyberattacks and threats. As a result, the software meets all the required security standards and is geared with the latest security tools.
 

2. Enhanced adoption of DevOps this year as a major DevOps trend:
 

The pandemic has pushed most of us into the remote-working zone. Across the world, if there is one thing that has supported smooth transitioning into the new zone and enabled seamless working was technology. Working with microservice architecture apps have become complex, though. Therefore, it is predicted that in 2021, the DevOps mindset needs to be adopted on a large-scale so that organizations can take advantage of features like scalability and security.
 

3. AI is going to play a significant role in DevOps:
 

DevOps has derived certain key techniques from Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for optimized results. Some of the major areas where AI and ML are helping include saving time between different processes, enhancing test cases, etc. DevOps teams are now using such advanced technologies to arrive at optimized solutions and best results.
 

4. IaC or Infrastructure as Code is one of the DevOps future trends:
 

IaC is used to manage IT infrastructure – networks, servers, on-the-premise storage devices, and cloud devices – through configuration files. The entire infrastructure can be installed or set up with the help of the code, and all of this makes the process fast, secure, and highly efficient during the SDLC.
 

5. Rise of multi-disciplinary or cross-functional teams:
 

DevOps uses cloud-based platforms, accelerations tools, and parallel workflow processes to reduce repetitive tasks, limit hardware usage, and encourage innovation. DevOps will focus your attention on tasks that are not the routine and monotonous ones that automation could have handled but those that require your specific skill set.
 

6. Cloud-based DevOps will become even more important:
 

For the effective use of cloud computing processes, cloud-native working will gain more prominence this year. The demand for Kubernetes is on the rise, and one of the main reasons behind this is. Cloud-native technologies were adopted to a great extent in 2020, and in 2021, more and more DevOps processes will get managed and executed via such apps.

7. Serverless Architecture:
 

DevOps is going to shift from traditional hosting methods to serverless computing, also known as Function-as-a-Service. Examples of this innovative technology have been proved by technical giants like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.  The technology helps in boosting productivity and brings in an enhanced element of scalability with faster deployment services.
 

8. GO by Google will become the first choice of DevOps:
 

GO is the brainchild of Google, and there has been a rapid adaptation of the language within the developers’ community in the last year. The language has lots of pros – it is light and is open-source. It supports serverless architecture, works faster and with enhanced accuracy. More and more DevOps tools are now using the Go language.
 

9. Low Code DevOps:
 

Lowing level coding is what DevOps is focusing now on. The drag and drop feature, Graphic User Interface, low coding, visual programming, automated generation of code, and user-friendly interface help DevOps speed up the development process and bring in a better collaborative effort between the development and operations team.
 

10. The use of automated testing:
 

Automation in testing in terms of software tools will become more active than ever before. The use of automated testing helps deliver error-free software. There is a growing trend to integrate DevOps with automated testing tools, increasing the process’s efficacy and seamlessness.
 

11. Growth of container registry:
 

In the years gone-by, container registries have attracted a lot of attention. In 2021, this trend is going to catch up fast. The increase in demand for cloud-native apps and technology has led to an increasing need for container registry and related services.
 

12. The importance of Observability:
 

This year will see the distinction between Supervision and Observability will get more obvious and well-defined this year. DevOps make the mistake of confusing and overlapping the meaning of both terms. But, this year, the definitions are going to get clearer.
 

13. SRE as a DevOps future trend:
 

The dependency on SRE or Site Reliability Engineering will be remarkable this year even though the concept is old. With SRE, it is expected that the division of work and tasks between operations and development can be done seamlessly. Division of work becomes important because of the extensive and huge infrastructure.
 

14. GitOps:
 

Since working with microservice architecture has proved a challenge, there is a need for a declarative model like GitOps. It can be synced at the source. Especially with features like merge and pull requests, the GIT repository can work as a single source of truth.GitOps can facilitate easier adoption of DevOps because of features like – a single source of truth, established workflows, and a secure repository.
 

15. New tools for Kubernetes as a DevOps trend:
 

While universally Kubernetes is adored as the go-to solution for DevOps teams, the technology is new, and therefore the tools are new too. 2021 will witness the creation of new tools and the evolution of the old ones. It is expected that the newer tools will be focused on data science, visibility, and secrets management. Even though there are power-driven tools like Hashicorp Consul and Vault are there, the pace at which Kubernetes is being adopted will make way for the adoption of new tools.
 

16. Hybrid structure:
 

DevOps is going to see the use of hybrid design more elaborately this year. The Pandemic has pushed most companies to work from home, and 2021 has seen many companies still functioning with a scattered workforce. Therefore, organizations would need to use hybrid models to make work seamless and smooth for employees.
 

17. The growing importance of edge computing:
 

In 2021, edge computing will be more extensively used like never before. With this kind of computing, apps can dynamically respond where data is served at the edge of the network. It means that data and application assets need to be present at the edge, implying that infrastructural changes need to be implemented. However, edge computing will enable DevOps to respond faster and effectively towards goals and make things flexible and scalable.
 

18. The decrease in the use of internal platforms and increased use of self-service capabilities:
 

The use of internal platforms will decrease this year. It is because such platforms take time and a lot of customization for effective working. Plus, there is a lack of standardization in these platforms.
 

19. DevOps will adopt Chaos Engineering:
 

Chaos Engineering is based completely on making a system robust-enough to endure and survive through unexpected turbulence and situations. It is expected that after Covid-19, organizations will need to build-in this type of technical aspect in their DevOps framework. Experts predict that Chaos Engineering could become the fourth or the fifth level in the conventional maturity model.
 

20. The use of Application performance monitoring is fast becoming one of the latest DevOps future trends:
 

APM or application performance monitoring is used for gathering feedback from developers simultaneously, during deployment. It is expected that APM will be used this year in the effective reduction of Meantime to Repair or MTTR. The objective and focus will be on enhanced user experience – that is why APM software is expected to be an integral part of infrastructure monitoring and analysis.

APM or application performance monitoring is used for gathering feedback from developers simultaneously, during deployment. It is expected that APM will be used this year in the effective reduction of Meantime to Repair or MTTR. The objective and focus will be on enhanced user experience – that is why APM software is expected to be an integral part of infrastructure monitoring and analysis.
 

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Conclusion
 

DevOps is a field that has evolved tremendously in the past few years and will further evolve, going further. Many things are trending now in DevOps, which will eventually become the top trendsetters of 2021, remains to be seen. DevOps teams should be focused on security and managing the ever-increasing IT assets effectively at the end of the day.