# Exploring the Benefits of Combining DevOps and Agile
## 5 Discussion  
Although Agile and DevOps are widespread and different concepts, they can be combined and offer relevant benefits to organizations. As reported in [45], companies have problems in the process of implementing and releasing new software versions because most of the time this is a process performed manually. In addition, this approach leads to a high quantity and frequency of errors [46]. To reduce the incidence of problems and increase flexibility and automation, non-operational resources can be used and in environments that are not in production. The combined adoption of Agile and DevOps allows the developer to gain greater control over the environment, infrastructure, and applications. The seamless integration between Agile and DevOps generates a more collaborative and Agile framework. This approach leads to a simplification and automation of model processes to make them more rational and efficient. A classic example of this benefit is given by [PERSON] [47] when highlighting the reduction in delivery cycles, endowing small development packages with a previously unrecognized value. [PERSON] et al. [48] also highlight the role of orchestration, which consists of automating tasks to optimize the process and reduce repetitive steps that add little to the development cycle. Finally, automated testing along the Agile and DevOps chain allows the reuse of tests between environments and makes them more sustainable [49]. Team communication is recognized in [PERSON] and [PERSON] [50] and [PERSON] et al. [51] as the main cause for product delivery failures. By starting to work together, teams can more easily track the evolution of processes from their inception, which fosters the emergence of process improvements. [PERSON] et al. [52] recognize that the great differentiator of DevOps lies in its ability to optimize communication between the teams involved and the customer. This allows, for example, the team to involve the operations team, which enables the implementation of the ITOps model [53]. This enables it to provide a sufficiently secure development environment. However, interconnecting it with an organization's Agile teams offers more potential. For example, the marketing and sales departments can be involved in the activities covering the delivery of the releases, which allows companies to add even more value to the product by using the full potential of their available resources. The findings further revealed a very diverse number of benefits, such as increased visibility over processes, better identification and mitigation of risks, or increased software quality. The integration of the two paradigms fosters consolidation, which allows project managers to have greater visibility of both the work of the teams and the interdependencies between them [54]. Furthermore, iterative planning between teams makes it easier to adapt in case of changes, and continuous customer feedback generates value from the beginning of the project, lowering the risks associated with development and operation [55]. In the joint Agile and DevOps paradigm, both teams share responsibility for producing functional and quality code and need to work together to achieve these common goals. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Benefit** & **CS1** & **CS2** & **CS3** & **CS4** & **CS5** & **CS6** & **CS7** & **CS8** & **CS9** & **CS10** & **CS11** & **CS12** & **Ranking** \\ \hline BF1 & X & & X & & & X & & X & & & & & & \#3 \\ BF2 & X & X & & & X & & X & & X & X & X & X & \#1 \\ BF3 & & X & & & X & & X & & X & & & & & \#2 \\ BF4 & & X & & X & & & & & & & & & & \#4 \\ BF5 & & & X & & X & & & & & & & & & \#5 \\ BF6 & & & & X & & & & & & & & & & & \#5 \\ BF7 & & & & X & & & & & & & & & & & \#10 \\ BF8 & & & & X & & & & & & & & & & & \#10 \\ BF9 & & & & & & X & & X & & & & & & & \#5 \\ BF10 & & & & & & X & & & & & & & & \#5 \\ BF11 & & & & & & X & & & & & & & & \#10 \\ BF12 & & & & & & & & & X & & & & & \#5 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Comparative analysis of benefits and ranking.