• by Vikram Gajjala

Adoption of Enterprise-wide Agile and DevOps

Since the early days of software development, business people have been looking for ways to improve the speed and efficiency of producing software. In recent years, several movements have gained traction within the industry that is designed to do just that – Agile development and DevOps. While both have been around for some time, their adoption has seen a significant uptick in recent years.

A recent study found that the adoption of agile methodology and DevOps is on the rise in businesses of all sizes. In fact, a full 74 % of companies are now using at least one agile methodology, and 50 % have adopted DevOps as their standard for software development. So what does this mean for business people? It means that if you're not already using agile or DevOps, you're likely falling behind your competitors.

Both agile and DevOps can help you speed up your product delivery, improve collaboration between teams, and increase customer satisfaction. If you're interested in learning more about these methods, keep reading. We'll discuss the benefits of Agile and DevOps and how to get started adopting them in your own business.

What Is the Big Deal About Agile and DevOps?

Before highlighting why these two methodologies are essential, it is necessary to go over what exactly Agile and DevOps mean.

Agile

Agile can be referred to as a modern way or methodology that a business adopts to create successful and impactful products and services by launching a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) into the market. It evaluates the arising feedback and makes the necessary modifications to suit existing market trends and customer needs continuously throughout the life of the product.

Agile is therefore characterized by consistent efforts to provide customers with the products and services that align with customers’ evolving purchasing trends and needs. Agile is necessary because:

1). It focuses more on the firm’s ability to respond fast to changes in market trends and the needs of its consumers. This is as opposed to a rigid approach of a pre-made plan.

2). It creates a platform where customers’ contributions are given a lot of weight. Valuable insight from consumers is considered in the consistent creation and improvement of products and services.

3). It places more importance on the roles that all stakeholders play in producing highly functional products and high-quality services than on the processes and tools used.

Agile is perceived to be both a software development process and a project management process that many enterprises leverage to centralize their planning and decision-making activities. This allows them to attain higher productivity and efficiency.

In a nutshell, adopting agile into a firm’s operations is crucial in getting faster customer feedback, creating a more seamless collaboration between teams, and a more innovative approach in production.

DevOps

DevOps refers to a process that primarily complements the Agile process intending to shorten the delivery cycle of products using Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) channels in conjunction with a lean manufacturing approach.

Just like the name suggests, DevOps is a merger of “Development” and “Operations.” One of the main objectives of DevOps is to seamlessly incorporate software development and operations to ensure the smooth development and maintenance of products. In addition, DevOps creates a platform where future updates and improvements on products can be made quickly.
 

DevOps complements Agile by integrating innovativeness in design and development. It uses automation throughout the processes of coding, testing, deployment, and release of the products. Through this, DevOps contributes to transforming the working environment into a very productive space, and the working environment adopts a lean structure and becomes more flexible.

Merely overseeing changes in Information Technology (IT) is not enough to implement DevOps successfully. Its implementation needs a DevOps culture change in an organization. This is because DevOps is a modern way of embracing technology and digital transformations. It needs a thorough evaluation of traditional practices and traditional tools and their effectiveness. Some of the best practices that firms need to adopt if they wish to transform themselves into successful DevOps entities include:

1). An automated approval structure that allows shifting into the DevOps model of operating faster.

2). Consistent implementation of CI/CD processes

Develop vital communication avenues that promote collaboration, learning, and experimentation.

3). Unwavering commitment from the company’s leadership that culminates in providing training, resources, tools, etc. Successfully transitioning to DevOps has to begin from the senior management to the subordinates.
 

Generally, when DevOps works with Agile it allows for much easier innovations because they incremental changes, updates, and improvements over time.

Benefits Of Using Agile and DevOps Concurrently

Companies Achieve Faster Delivery Cycles

When used together, these two methodologies help firms to create and deliver products and services faster and more efficiently.

They Create Room for Better Team Collaboration.

Teams in the company can collaborate and communicate more effortlessly with one another. Agile essentially breaks down the departments into “Value Streams,” while DevOps boosts business agility by improving the integration between these teams. Therefore, meeting deadlines and attaining deliverables becomes much easier.

These Methodologies Promote the Culture of Innovation.

Agile and DevOps methodologies mesh well to create an environment where companies can increase the testing of their innovativeness. The companies test the viability of various products and services that they release into the market. The feedback that they collect from customers is crucial in allowing them to consistently improve the quality of their products and services in light of customers’ needs and market trends.

Final Take Away

Agile and DevOps are vital processes that allow businesses to bridge the gap that exists between Information Technology (IT), development, and operations. Through this, cross-functional communication is enhanced, and faster release cycles are achieved. However, for this to come to fruition, organizations need to embrace a new mindset, improve collaboration, and integrate automation throughout the entire organization. These best practices put an organization in an excellent position to establish any vulnerabilities in their operations, improve their product and service quality and stay ahead of the game!