DevOps, Agile Operations, and Continuous Delivery

by Silvia Mazzetta Date: 26-09-2019 devOps agile development

 

Source: Pixabay

 

Companies and enterprises across the globe have successfully implemented the Agile methodology of developing software and witnessed many benefits regarding smaller development times. Agile also helped to streamline the processes in various multilevel software development teams. The methodology creates feedback loops all while driving the peace that goes with innovation.

As time passes, DevOps along with continuous delivery have emerged as more upgraded and wholesome methods of managing the SDLC – software development life cycle – with the ability to improve the speed to market, to enhance quality, and to reduce errors.

Here you can learn about the development of Agile, the way it grew and extended into DevOps and eventually, continuous development

 

The “Agile” Boom

 

Many people don’t remember the Agile Manifesto. This was an ideology that changed the landscape of software development in 2001. Methodologies related to Agile focus on teaching developers how to brake software down into smaller chunks, which are referred to as user stories. The benefit was the acceleration of feedback loops and help ensuring software products are aligned with the market’s needs.

Agile was first adopted by small software startups for developing new software. The methodology was focused on helping teams work smartly, quickly, and efficiently, which helped startups compete against their large, yet lethargic competitors. The idea started spreading, reaching market leaders and that’s when everyone seemed to begin using the Agile methodology. Unfortunately, that’s when scaling issues occurred.

 

Agile’s Broken Promises

 

Agile offered an array of advantages for developers who were trying to create quality software code; however, the impact was muffled when it was looked at in relation to the entire lifecycle of software development. Processes like user and functional acceptance testing, release, and deployment creating silos that didn’t allow Agile’s benefits be seen. What users discovered was that Agile software development delivered speedy development for shorter interactions; however, it doesn’t deliver the speed to market desired.

 

The Introduction of Continuous Delivery

 

With all the issues arising, many people were searching for solutions, which is when continuous delivery was created. The goal was to treat the entire software development lifecycle as a single, large process and to focus on automation as much as possible.

These ideas were used by startups and larger companies and provided a significant boost for Agile initiatives while helping to put software delivery in a position of strategic business initiative. Agile helps with the delivery of quality work quickly, and continuous delivery has a much larger scope.

 

 

Source: Pixabay

 

The Creation of IT Challenges with Agile and Continuous Delivery

 

With the continued innovations in the Agile methodology, many parts of the SDLC were able to be automated. The concept of “continuous delivery” is focused on producing codes quickly, in a way that lets the software be released for production at any time. The goal was to reduce risks, cost, and time of software deployment by allowing different incremental changes in bug-free, basic software. During this time, tools also emerged to help with checking for bugs, and ensuring the seamless launch of software. You can click here to learn about IIS Log Parser – Cloud IIS Logging Tool, which is an example of one of these tools.

 

Agile and DevOps

 

There are many organizations that are already using DevOps. However, there are many that are still using Scrum and Kanban with the assumption they are on the road to DevOps. There are other companies that only understand DevOps in relation to continuous development, testing automation, infrastructure automation, and continuous integration. The problem is, companies need to look at DevOps and Agile as being two separate methods of improving their SDLC practices. Agile is all about breaking down the walls, not building new ones.

DevOps helps to extend Agile’s scope beyond code check-ins to include operations and systems. It’s suggested by DevOps that the operational stakeholders need to be part of the team which includes testers, developers, and designers.

 

They Work Better Together

 

Through the years, Agile has been helping software developers look beyond just fast development. It is no shock that it has moved to multifunctional processes like DevOps and end-to-end automation, like in continuous development.

 
by Silvia Mazzetta Date: 26-09-2019 devOps agile development hits : 3848  
 
Silvia Mazzetta

Silvia Mazzetta

Web Developer, Blogger, Creative Thinker, Social media enthusiast, Italian expat in Spain, mom of little 9 years old geek, founder of  @manoweb. A strong conceptual and creative thinker who has a keen interest in all things relate to the Internet. A technically savvy web developer, who has multiple  years of website design expertise behind her.  She turns conceptual ideas into highly creative visual digital products.