The ability to continuously and reliably deliver quality software is critical for an entrepreneur. Today’s customers expect immediate 24/7 access to the benefits of technological innovation. And they increasingly do not tolerate unstable or dangerous software with errors and bugs - and go looking for something more perfect. Meanwhile, delayed projects of dubious quality with overdue releases accumulate in companies. DevOps/DevNet can solve these problems. If you want to understand in more detail about this innovative approach, how exactly it helps to develop and whether your business needs it – read this article.
What is DevOps/DevNet and what do these professionals do?
In the fast-paced IT world, we are increasingly seeing the terms DevOps and DevNet - these areas have grown significantly in recent years. They use advanced technologies to build and manage software and infrastructure. And are also crucial for the success of modern businesses. Let’s take a closer look at the DevOps/DevNet approach.
What is DevOps/DevNet?
DevOps (short for development and operations) is a methodology that simplifies, improves and accelerates the interaction between the processes of development and further operation of software. Previously, they were disconnected: the activities of developers and system administrators were not coordinated. As a result, there were problems, misunderstandings and inconveniences when deploying software, which disappeared with the advent of DevOps, because specialists in this field became mediators between developers and users of programs.
DevOps is not just a set of tools, but primarily a culture of collaboration and shared goals. Everyone works in harmony to achieve the same result – guaranteed reliable, high-quality and stable software is quickly delivered to the client.
An important technology that enables faster and more efficient collaboration between development and operations teams is the cloud. Thanks to it, DevOps avoids transferring files between team members – all development tools and processes are transferred to a virtual platform. It allows you to automate many processes, reduces the cost of software development, testing, deployment and maintenance. Currently, the most popular cloud solutions are Microsoft Azure DevOps and Amazon Web Services (AWS) DevOps.
DevNet (short for development and network) is a new development direction of Cisco, one of the leading suppliers of network equipment and solutions. This field combines software development and network technology. DevNet is essentially the same DevOps but integrated with Cisco networking products. As a result, this direction deals with the design, implementation, automation and management of computer networks: from the basic hardware and software to the protocols and standards that govern the operation of networks. Cisco DevNet certifications for developers and engineers are widely recognized as a mark of excellence in the industry.
What do DevOps/DevNet engineers do?
First of all, experts in this area are carriers of new ideas and change the very approach to development. The main responsibility of a DevOps/DevNet engineer is to create next-generation programmable networks and systems – a fundamentally new type of IT infrastructure based on best practices. And which can be flexibly scaled, changed, supplemented according to business needs. At the same time, the specialist uses all the advantages of automation, containerization and virtualization.
Also, the responsibilities of a DevOps/DevNet engineer include:
- maintaining the continuity of the process of development, testing, maintenance;
- ensuring coordinated work of all specialists on the project, smooth transition between tasks – helps employees to transfer work results to each other in a unified format;
- automation of all software life cycle processes;
- administration of the operating system and its quick configuration after changes have been made;
- detection of network malfunctions and optimization of its performance, writing scripts for its automatic management;
- minimization of conflicts between technical teams;
- change management in the IT product under development;
- taking into account the security processes of the project and the company as a whole;
- configuration of the network, cloud platforms and connections between them;
- performance monitoring and other important indicators, centralized logging, infrastructure tracking.
DevOps/DevNet specialists are useful to hire at any stage of the project - development, quality control, launch, etc. At the nascent stage, you need to think through the architecture of programs and channels - DevOps/DevNet will put the project in the right direction from the beginning and save the system from collapsing in the future. And turning to these engineers in the process of work will allow you to analyze the current situation and optimize it from the point of view of resources, scalability, finances, architecture and speed. What a business gets as a result of cooperation with DevOps/DevNet:
- acceleration of the delivery of the IT product at each stage – development, testing, release, any modifications, restoration of the system in case of failures, etc.;
- improving the quality, stability and security of software;
- increase in customer satisfaction;
- developers and operators are confident in their applications and infrastructure, have better control over them without reducing speed;
- significant improvement of the company’s efficiency;
- increase in profit, employee productivity.
Stages of DevOps/DevNet work
After specialists analyze the goals and objectives of the project, understand the client's needs, plan the delivery of the solution and support – the DevOps/DevNet life cycle is launched. It can be divided into seven stages, which are constantly repeated one after the other:
1.Development and supply. Planning and writing code using a regular delivery process that aims to continuously improve and evolve the product.
- Every small change to the process is automatically validated, allowing teams to quickly find and fix bugs, and reduce the time it takes to test and release updates.
- Automated tests ensure the high quality of system deployment and exclude the appearance of functionally critical errors even before the release.
- Software updates and usage are closely monitored, and the collected analytics are used to maintain system performance. An automated system of their registration helps to detect and eliminate errors as soon as possible.
- Collecting information from team members and users about overall performance, user behavior, development infrastructure stability, and more. Data sources include surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, social networks, forums, etc.
- Automated DevOps tools minimize or completely eliminate the need for human intervention, track code updates, and deploy them to a production environment.
- Aimed at reducing downtime and preventing failures. Optimizing applications and environments to ensure stability and performance. Providing bug reports and user feedback to DevOps participants for processing and further product development.
DevOps service is one of Golden Team’s areas of work. We have implemented over 100 cloud infrastructure optimization projects for startups and large companies. Thanks to which our customers accelerate the release of products, increase their quality, reliability and safety. They grow easier and faster than competitors.
Benefits of DevOps/DevNet service
The company’s IT infrastructure, created according to DevOps/DevNet principles, is minimally tied to hardware and can be managed centrally, automatically responding to certain conditions set by a DevOps engineer. In addition, this approach gives the business a number of additional advantages:
- acceleration of development, reduction of release risks and errors;
- reducing costs for network deployment and maintenance;
- the possibility of frequent and instant release of updates, almost after every new offer or remark of the audience - a flawless user experience will increase their satisfaction;
- reduction of time spent by narrow-profile IT specialists;
- coordination of work between specialists of different areas, increasing the productivity of each of them;
- flexibility in changing system capabilities, its scaling and regulation;
- high product reliability due to the most detailed but quick testing;
- faster implementation of innovations;
- ahead of competitors, better opportunities to strengthen their positions in existing markets and enter new ones.
Implementing DevOps/DevNet is quickly becoming the industry standard for software development. The examples of Apple, Netflix, Tesla, Uber, AirBnB and many others show early successes and huge potential. Ultimately, any company that needs to deliver quality software faster should move to DevOps/DevNet. This allows you to continuously build, test, and deploy software in frequent releases. And also maintain relevance and competitiveness.
We will help your business move to this latest standard. You can contact us at any stage of development - the Golden Team implements DevOps in both existing and new projects. During the conversation, we will explain what DevOps/DevNet is in simple words and show the work process with examples. Write to us – we will set a convenient time for a free consultation, during which we will answer all questions, analyze your project and offer the optimal solution to take your business to a new level.