For some CIOs DevOps is a simple transition from an informal but already existing practice to one that has a growing set of definitions and best practices. For others, the idea of incorporating developers with operations presents a leap in understanding as well as a new cross-functional integration.
Either way, the increased pace of application development and delivery of enhancements means more efficient handoffs between developers and the operational team can reduce problems and increase customer satisfaction. I asked Christopher Sewald, CEO of Perforce what are 2 things CIOs need to think about as they move their companies to DevOps?
According to Sewald, "A key consideration for CIOs moving to DevOps is that automation at scale requires a robust platform for serving up to millions of automation transactions a day. Without this platform, automation and the whole DevOps approach fails.
"Another element crucial for optimizing the practice and minimizing errors is versioning all the assets that are involved in the DevOps lifecycle, such as deployment scripts, OS images and binaries. Having a view into who made changes to what asset and when boosts productivity by eliminating the time spent searching for the latest iteration."
In addition, Sewald believes an overall change in the supporting culture is necessary for DevOps to move beyond the experimental stages. Sewald explains, "DevOps and Continuous Delivery call for a cultural change that can be much more difficult than automating your builds.
In fact, we recently commissioned some independent research that showed that when considering the shift to Continuous Delivery companies feel the least ready in terms of culture. How do you get around this? As is often the case, communication is key. Tell your teams not only what you’re changing but why. Get them acclimated to new processes before implementing those process changes. Be clear on new roles and responsibilities."Open and regular communication always seems to be a necessity for successful change of any kind.
Moving beyond the technologies involves the people who do the work, and nothing impedes progress more than people who are unsure of their future roles and how change will affect them.
