At the latest, when the competition implements online shop functions in hours instead of days, company managers prioritize increasing IT flexibility and speed. The means to an end is often the introduction of DevOps. However, the cultures of development and operations often collide. Medium-sized companies with a long-standing market presence, in particular, struggle with the integration of DevOps, as their development (Dev) and operations (Ops) teams traditionally operate in isolation. Seven tips show how implementation in SMEs can still be a success.
Implementation Tip 1: Define a Clear and Shared Vision
Everyone involved must work towards the same goal—and know it. This may sound obvious, but it is not. This is because many companies still consider it more efficient to inform individual employees only to the extent that seems necessary for their part of the project. This is one of the main reasons why Dev and Ops still often work at cross purposes.
Anyone who lives DevOps needs a common vision. Components of such a target vision could be to shorten time-to-market, improve product quality, reduce IT costs through automation, or increase customer satisfaction. The target picture should be formulated as clearly and concisely as possible and linked to specific company goals.
Implementation Tip 2: Measure, Analyse, Improve
An essential part of DevOps is to establish effective feedback processes: whether the software you are developing is well received or not, and whether processes are really helping the defined goal.
Appropriate metrics are an indispensable means of measuring how much a company is already working according to DevOps principles and how well newly introduced processes are working. Clarity about the current situation makes it much easier to react to changing circumstances. The motto is to measure in order to change.
Ideally, the metrics are derived directly from the common target image or the company’s objectives. This could include, for example, improving the maintainability and responsiveness of software development to changes in the market. A corresponding example of measurement could be the time it takes to get from the development of a function to its deployment in the production environment.
Implementation Tip 3: Start Pragmatically with Real Improvements
Often, established IT and development processes are not perfect, but they do offer significant potential for rapid and tangible improvements. DevOps itself can be seen as a versatile toolbox that encompasses a wide range of practices. This allows teams to select the approaches that best suit their individual requirements.
A key step in accelerating the introduction of DevOps is to take stock of the initial situation as quickly as possible. On this basis, potential areas for improvement and specific measures can be quickly identified and implemented. The flexibility of DevOps is thus used to efficiently bring about positive change in a targeted manner and to advance the introduction at an accelerated pace.
Implementation Tip 4: Leveraging Automation Potential
Automation is a central component of the DevOps philosophy and plays a crucial role in increasing efficiency and minimizing errors in medium-sized companies. Ideally, companies start with a thorough analysis of the development and deployment processes to identify areas that can be improved through automation. This can range from code deployment and test automation to the automation of operating processes.
One key practice is to introduce CI/CD into software projects. CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment. It is an approach in software development in which code changes are continuously integrated into a common code base and automatically tested and deployed. This enables teams to deliver high-quality software faster and more frequently, as human errors are minimized and development cycles are shortened.
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In many cases, it makes sense to have a digitalization service provider like q.beyond by your side as a travel companion during the initial stages of implementation. This enables the orchestration and automation of development processes and automated operations based on best practices in a short period of time.
Implementation Tip 5: Enable Cross-Team Collaboration
It is important to break down firmly established and thus encrusted structures—both virtual and physical. How can this be achieved? For example, by eliminating data silos that only a certain group of employees can access. Or by literally tearing down walls: where development and IT operations used to be physically separate, it can now make sense to break down these walls to promote communication.
Another positive influence can arise from standardising the tools and processes used in the context of DevOps. The common processes and tools established in this way can accelerate the breaking down of silos. For example, teams can plan together in one place and exchange information much more easily. This improves communication, increases transparency about what is going on in the company, and can make technical coordination much easier.
Implementation Tip 6: Promote a Positive Error Culture
Experience shows: Those who punish mistakes lose. Traditional medium-sized companies, where zero-error tolerance is considered a quality feature, need to rethink and change direction. In most companies, entire process chains, team rules, and even remuneration issues are based on the principle of the ‘blame game’: first, responsibility for errors must be clarified; the solution comes second.
DevOps thinking is diametrically opposed to this approach. In fact, a particular error is often welcomed because it advances a project according to the principle of trial and error. After all, it is from our mistakes that we learn the most.
In IT projects, always wanting to do everything right often proves counterproductive because it means that anyone who makes a mistake is pilloried. In the end, glitches are covered up—instead of learning from them. Instead, a successful DevOps implementation follows the principles of developing, optimising, improving, and trying out.
With this in mind, IT managers, for example, could launch initial test balloons to introduce DevOps principles in their area of responsibility and then approach them holistically with the entire IT department. This alone will automatically break down existing silos and pave the way for a broad DevOps rollout.
Implementation Tip 7: Promote Embedding in the Corporate Culture Holistically
To successfully integrate DevOps into a company, it is crucial to approach the integration into the corporate culture and the necessary cultural change holistically. DevOps is more than just a technological change; it is a fundamental attitude towards collaboration and workflow.
However, DevOps is not applicable. Top-down pressure is never enough to drive change holistically. It must also be lived at the team level. It is helpful to start with small practical projects that immediately demonstrate the advantages of agile working methods to the teams. This makes it easier to win over multipliers for the topic within your own company.
Another factor is a wide range of training courses in which new techniques and tools are applied in practice, thus addressing the teams holistically. This also increases the general acceptance of new processes. Workshops, in which not only the necessary knowledge is directly imparted, but also in which direct practical applications and improvements are implemented team-specifically in a short time, have proven to be effective.
What Mistakes Should Be Avoided When Implementing DevOps?
- Ignoring resistance to cultural change
- Lack of communication between Dev and Ops
- Not defining clear goals and metrics
- Lack of management support
- Implementing too quickly and in an uncoordinated manner
- Neglecting training and professional development
- Delayed or irrelevant sense of achievement
