Key DevOps Strategies and Tools
Tags: devops, aws, cloud, kubernetes
Published: 2023-07-10 17:38:29

Gone are the days when a developer used to write a code for days and then have to wait for hours to get it deployed. 

**DevOps** has been the game-changer in optimizing the entire effort of building and deploying the code.

Adopting DevOps strategies provide a long list of benefits. Not only to the software development process, but to the organization's culture as well. It's a full transformation for the companies that implement DevOps. 

## Benefits of DevOps Strategies

✓ Faster code build (Continuous Integration)
✓ Faster code deployment (Continuous Deployment)
✓ Faster delivery
✓ Better product quality
✓ Reduced time to market
✓ Better productivity
✓ Better collaboration and teamwork

## Key DevOps Strategies

There are a few fundamental DevOps implementation strategies can be used to enable DevOps in any organization. Let’s take a look at all the ‘DevOps Enablers.’

**1. Infrastructure-as-a-code and Automation**

Infrastructure-as-a-code (IaC) is a blessing in disguise for IT administrators. Whether it is infrastructure management, provisioning, or configuration management, IaC is a compelling methodology to achieve automation in your IT infrastructure. 

The key objective of implementing IaC is to maintain the infrastructure in your desired state. Any deviation from the current steady-state should be handled automatically by the IaC solution. 

**Tools:**  Terraform, Amazon CloudFormation, Ansible, Puppet, and Chef are some popular IaC tools to enable infra-level automation in your organization.


![IaC Tools for DevOps implementation](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vhpjyqvu3y3xnokc52ik.png)

Which are the two most popular IaC tools? Learn about them with [this blog](https://www.clickittech.com/devops/terraform-vs-cloudformation/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=referal).

**2. Continuous Integration**

CI is a robust practice to automate the operational tasks in development. Through CI, you can automate the integration of code changes and code build. Fast and automated systems are the core principles of a DevOps implementation strategy. Continuous integration allows developers to merge the code frequently and have more frequent code build and merge. 

One of the significant benefits of adopting CI is that you will save ample time in the development cycle. It is also a great way to reduce the amount of time spent on fixing regression bugs and emphasize good code quality. Overall, a promising CI pipeline helps you better understand the codebase and the features that you are developing for the customers. 

**Tools:** Jenkins, Gitlab, TeamCity, CircleCI.

**3. Continuous Delivery**

Continuous delivery or CD is a robust software delivery methodology that enables teams to develop high-quality software in a brief period. Continuous Delivery pipelines ensure that the software is released as per your schedule with minimum manual intervention. CD is a powerful DevOps release strategy aimed at building, testing, and releasing software with improved speed and frequency. 

**Tools:** Continuous Delivery is not dependant on tools but a set of tools. Below is the list: 

✓ Container: Docker
✓ Build: Ant, Maven
✓ CI: Jenkins, Bamboo
✓ Code Quality: SonarQube
✓ IaC: Terraform, AWS CloudFromation
✓ Monitoring: Nagios, Kibana (ELK)
✓ Testing: Cucumber, JMeter

**4. Microservice architecture**

Microservices is a new trend in the software market. They are small deployable services that are modeled around complex applications. A Microservice is nothing but a newer version of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Microservices communicate with each other using different techniques, and they also have the advantage of being technology agnostic.

**5. Kubernetes Clustering/Container Management System**

Containerized application is the new normal DevOps release strategy as products move away from virtualized systems to containerized systems. Docker is a popular tool that helps DevOps engineers to build containers, and Kubernetes helps them orchestrate. Kubernetes is a potent tool that helps in managing the containers in the infrastructure. SaaS is one of the most favorable cloud models adopted across various industries. Kubernetes is a crucial player in enabling multi-tenancy on SaaS platforms. 

Kubernetes also helps a lot in adding scalability factors to the infrastructure. Through Kubernetes, you can easily up-scale and down-scale your infrastructure, both vertically and horizontally. 

Learn more about[ Kubernetes and other container management tools.](https://www.clickittech.com/devops/kubernetes-alternatives/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=referal)

**6. Rapid Feedback**

DevOps is a culture, not a role. On top of everything, DevOps practices enable quick feedback loops between business, development, testing, and IT operations. DevOps enables the teams to be faster and more agile. This pace of development and operations ultimately manifests into a great product, and feedback loops are an irreplaceable part of the process. Rapid Feedback improves not only the products but also the processes. 

Let’s discuss this with an example: A CI/CD pipeline is a simple example of a rapid feedback loop. Any change can be deployed immediately to the respective environment. When this CI/CD pipeline is integrated with testing, the feedback loop becomes more robust. Developers can keep a close eye on the defects and can fix them on the go. Eventually, this helps in reducing the overall turnaround time in the product delivery.


![DevOps cycle ClickIT](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ow4bazo9vcg5ctwtvc5o.png)


The adoption of DevOps is a whole process that adapts to the needs of each organization. How are you implementing DevOps?

Read the full blog on how to implement your own DevOps Strategy here: https://www.clickittech.com/devops/devops-strategy/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=referal

Check out [ClickIT's latest blogs](https://www.clickittech.com/blog/?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=referal&utm_content=cta) on DevOps and Software Development.