DevOps. Culture, idea or just a fad?
Tags: devops, cicd, softwaredevelopment, softwareengineering
Published: 2024-03-20 19:32:20

DevOps is a relatively new concept that has rapidly gained popularity in many organizations and companies worldwide over the last decade. Despite the efforts of numerous individuals to develop good practices, establish rules, document guidelines, deliver speeches and even record YouTube tutorials, it is still not entirely clear for everyone how should we label this phenomenon. Therefore, my primary question is: What exactly is DevOps?

When conducting CI/CD & DevOps courses as an introduction, I always ask participants this exact question and I receive variety of answers. Some people perceive it as a methodology, while others view it as an idea of automating everything. Occasionally, attendees jokingly refer to DevOps as just a guy who works late. As all of the above are actually correct, we can come to a certain paradox here, which manifests itself in the fact that the attempt to describe DevOps by each of them individually will not give us a complete or accurate picture. From my experience many people - especially those who are new to DevOps - tend to associate development and operations role only to specific place in the project or company business approach, which is understandable. However, we must question where this confusion comes from and why is it so challenging to determine the exact position of DevOps within a project? 

In my opinion, as a person who graduated from IT processes management studies, this confusion may stem from engineers' average knowledge of implemented processes not being sufficient to make them aware of the little mechanisms vital for a project's success. Without adequate training, bootcamps, or at least the exchange of views and ideas within the team, any implementation becomes just another tool.

My golden rule is that everyone who takes part in the process should be aware of the steps, risks, and benefits of using, working and thinking in DevOps way. However, referring to DevOps as merely a process is not entirely accurate. This brings us to the answer to the question posed in the title of this article. DevOps is not just a process or a different approach to development. It is an idea, probably even a significant fad as well, but above all, it is a cultural shift. When implemented correctly, DevOps becomes deeply ingrained in the team's structures and influences everything from product design to project management, software development and testing. Moreover, it alters the common way of thinking and behaving at every stage from ideation to product release.

Allow me to share a story from my career when I was hired by a financial industry company to lead their DevOps team. To my surprise, on my first day I didn't meet anyone from my newly formed department. As manager later explained, they did not hire me to innovate or seek improvements because their processes have been functioning effectively for many years. However, it be-came fashionable in the market to have DevOps engineer onboard.

In conclusion, DevOps is not just a passing trend or a set of practices - it represents a fundamental shift in organizational culture and mindset. Embracing DevOps requires commitment, understanding, and a willingness to adapt to new ways of working. Only then its true potential can be realized.

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