How Important is QA for DevOps?
Tags: DevOps, Quality Assurance

DevOps has become a catchphrase in the field of software development. And, a drastic increase in DevOps adoption over the past few years states its significance in the process of ensuring quick release and smooth delivery of software. So, how does Quality Assurance in DevOps fit in?

A fitting extension to the Agile methodology in software development, the right DevOps services make the philosophy of bringing the development and operations teams together for ensuring the most efficient product testing and release processes.

But, how does QA or Quality Assurance come into the ‘DevOps’ of it all? We explore that!

DevOps Terminology

Multiple definitions are lined up on search engines that describe this practice. In simple terms, DevOps is a philosophy that fosters collaboration between the development and operations teams, thus making sure that software always stays updated and in a deployable condition with these updates.

The biggest feature of DevOps is how it makes everybody -from Junior Engineer to Project Manager, Developer and Quality Analysts, equally responsible and accountable.

Now since you have got an idea about what DevOps is, let us go through the basic terminologies associated with DevOps-

CI refers to Continuous Integration, where code implementation takes place at a very high frequency. There are use cases where this implementation happens even on an hourly basis.

This term has two contexts: Continuous Delivery, which ensures that any piece of code is always up and ready for deployment. In other words, all kinds of code updates- bug fixes, new features, new configurations can always be deployed to the production ecosystem.

It also means Continuous Deployment, where every change gets automatically transferred to production.

Continuous Testing refers to a cluster of automated tests that bring executable code every time a new code build gets sent to the repository. Whenever a new code is deployed, a series of tests verify this code for any kind of errors before they get sent to production.

With Continuous Testing, software gets verified at the initial stages with the developers and the testing of code. Systango ( DevOps Consultancy, London) utilizes the practice of continuous testing to find out bugs that may have the potential to affect production at the later stages.

Moving on, let’s explore the role of QA in DevOps.

Role of QA in DevOps

With the Quality Assurance in DevOps ecosystems, the lines between QA and development have started becoming more blurred than ever before. This only means that a major portion of the quality assurance process blends well with DevOps, building a strong foundation of product development as a whole.

The role of QA in DevOps has more to do with the situation that generally prevails in the non-DevOps scenarios, where the developer teams are not aware of issues that generally plague the Operations and QA teams.

The entire premise of DevOps services revolves around ensuring that the QA and developers are aware of everything that takes place in the phases of software development. It’s a contrast when compared to organizations working without DevOps practices in place, where the entire process is just the responsibility of a specific team.

Reasons Why QA is Inevitable for DevOps

Everyone is a witness to the kind of intense competition that organizations today have with each other. This is a big reason why companies are also competing with time to make their products reach out to the customers as quickly as possible. Customer expectations too have changed dramatically, and now they expect nothing but the best in everything they look at.

DevOps brings immense business growth in these market situations by making them adapt to quickly changing markets in real-time. Consequently, DevOps allows organizations to attain a competitive advantage that allows growth. In other words, QA blends with DevOps at every stage.

As a renowned DevOps consultancy in London, our DevOps engineers at Systango analyze market scenarios for clients and bring in the most appropriate QA measures for better DevOps functioning.

Here are some important reasons why QA is very important for DevOps-

1- DevOps as a Strategist

In DevOps situations, both the developers and testers play an important role but the separation between them becomes a little confusing. DevOps encourages collaboration between the development and operations teams to create top-notch software. QA then plays more of a strategic role in such situations by ensuring that quality is considered a responsibility by both the development and operations teams.

With equal sharing of responsibilities for teams, if the QA strategy is not clearly defined, then continuous testing and its related aspects of quality and pace fail to get met.

Professional DevOps service providers like Systango ensure that QA fits in this strategic role to appropriately make the DevOps implementation realize its full potential.

2- Quicker Bug Detection with QA

When we talk about the traditional approach to software development, the role of QA is putting processes in place that help in the detection of bugs. With DevOps in the midst, QA is elevated to the next level, where it not only looks after just the processes but also assists in detecting these bugs early too.

It’s a must in a setup where quick delivery is a priority, and updates get released in a matter of a few hours.

Consult the best DevOps service providers and witness how QA can work wonders with DevOps in your development and deployment process.

3- QA Brings Development & Operations Together

DevOps does bring both development and operations together, but it is QA that brings a certain business value to it. QA does it because, despite every segregation or categorization, quality is of utmost importance.

In all DevOps operations and processes, Testing and QA will keep playing pivotal roles, all with ensuring the quality during every stage of the development process.

4- QA Makes Achievement of DevOps Objectives a Reality

The benefits of DevOps are numerous, which is a big reason why companies are adopting it at an exponential pace. As a result, the corporate world is arriving at a stage that allows for accelerated build cycles and testing following customer demands and expectations. At the same time, it’s also important to choose the right set of DevOps services for the best results.

As a result, consistent quality checks become a priority, as quality is something that’s ingrained within the core DevOps ethos as a whole and not separately. Exactly where choosing Systango will pay handsome dividends for your organization.

Here’s a case of a client among many that experienced many positive changes with our services.

How Systango Helped Waitlist Leverage DevOps?

They required our technical experience in converting their MVP into a full-fledged Queue Management platform that worked on the SaaS philosophy, while also revamping their iOS and Android applications.

Did we go through?

Absolutely! The waitlist has been a client since the year 2012, where we have been looking after their Google Cloud environment, iOS and web apps, and some other integrations too. Approaching a decade of association, Systango is well-aware of the philosophies and core values that drive Waitlist.

Quality Assurance in DevOps is an intricate process, but given our experience over the years, Systango can undoubtedly assist you in your DevOps endeavors. As a DevOps service provider, we use effective tools for quality assurance to help you achieve better resilience to volatility. We also focus on continuous integration, continuous deployment, client collaboration, proactive monitoring, and regular process improvement to help enterprises of all sizes optimize their IT operations. Leverage our hands-on experience on tools Jenkins, Docker, and Kubernetes to get robust systems that drive results. Get in touch with our DevOps engineer today!

After all, our service quality truly makes us a DevOps consultancy in London to watch out for.