DevOps is not a role, its a culture by Sneha Poddar

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DevOps: Not a Role, but a Culture

Written by Sneha Podar

Hello everyone! My name is Sneha Podar and today we are going to discuss the concept that "DevOps is not a role but a culture". I honed my skills at Carnegie Mellon University, studying Masters of Information Systems Management, and now I am working as a Technical Lead at Chamber, having joined as a cloud software engineer.

What exactly is DevOps?

Courses and forums will explain DevOps as the combination of development and operations teams. The development team plans, writes, tests, and builds the code while the operations team ensures successful deployment and release of the features completed by the development team. However, the trouble enters with the division of responsibility.

The Problem with DevOps as a role

The common issue is that the team often ends up working in silos. The development unit has no real connection or knowledge of the tasks performed by the operations team, and vice versa. This disconnect can cause a 'confusion wall', with complications such as the wrong build being deployed to the wrong environment.

Solution: A DevOps Culture

By promoting a DevOps culture, we can break down this wall, and enable each team member to fulfil any role requirements. Furthermore, the developer now has end-to-end responsibility, taking on tasks from writing and testing the code to deploying it, ensuring no production issues.

Benefits of Adopting a DevOps Culture

During my time working in different team environments, I've noticed several benefits to adopting a DevOps culture, including:

  • Improved team productivity
  • Increased collaboration and trust
  • Enhanced product quality and reliability
  • Speed increase in delivery
  • Higher levels of customer satisfaction
  • Cuts in production costs

How to Initiate a DevOps Culture

Being flexible in the team requires bridging the skill gap by learning new technologies. Automation is paramount for a successful DevOps culture, with an emphasis on automating as many processes as possible.

Key Steps to Start

For beginners, here are three key steps you can start doing today:

  1. Write automation tests. This is not a new concept, but key for any DevOps team.
  2. Use tools like Docker and Helm to automate the code deployment. This ensures faster product delivery.
  3. Leverage tools like Prometheus to continuously monitor the application and receive alerts in case of any issues.

In addition, my final advice is to change your mindset. This new culture requires accountability, responsibility for your work from end to end and adaptability to such a culture, given that there initially could be a learning curve which might slow down the process.

Remember to continuously integrate and release the code as obtaining quick customer feedback is critical for a successful DevOps culture. Lastly, spread the knowledge about this culture within your team.

I really hope I have given some valuable insights and pointers to follow in achieving a successful DevOps culture. Let's step out of our comfort zones together. Thank you very much for your time.


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