DevOps is a philosophy that combines development and operations. While there’s no single DevOps platform, DevOps encompasses a set of tools, processes, and practices. For many organizations, DevOps is more than just a way of doing something; it’s a culture movement in the software development landscape.
It focuses on rapid IT services via agile, system-oriented practices and collaboration between development and operations teams. Compare this to the traditional software development lifecycle (TSDL) where more independence between those teams can lead to disarray.
For example, the operations team might deploy something that doesn’t work in the production environment, or new development tools prove too difficult for operations teams to cope with. There’s no doubt that DevOps plays a major role in how things are built today, but as a fairly new methodology (coined in 2009), there are still some misconceptions.
With that in mind, here are the five biggest myths about DevOps.
It’s All About Tooling
While software platforms and tools play a major role in DevOps, many companies falsely assume that because they’ve adopted tools like Docker, JFrog, or Jenkins, they’ve become a DevOps organization. However, tool procurement is just a small part of the equation. Following a checklist of tools doesn’t help make your software delivery more efficient.
No information management platform or monitoring service will allow you to achieve or “win” DevOps, which is a cultural shift that requires you to think beyond tools to the people behind it. It’s about creating a culture of empathy, collaboration, failing, and learning.
Faster Development Means More Errors
One of the biggest benefits of devops is that it increases speed of deployment. A quicker delivery pipeline boosts your value stream and keeps everyone happy, but for those stuck in traditional, siloed IT environments, they might equate quicker movements with a higher rate of error.
But the truth is, because DevOps allows companies to move so continuously and quickly with their code, there’s more of an opportunity to discover errors that were there all along. DevOps is about cultivating a failing and learning environment, wherein mistakes are made and failures happen, but they’re discovered equally quickly and can help organizations learn a lot more about quality code.
Furthermore, just because you’re embracing continuous delivery doesn’t mean you’re releasing new software updates every 10 minutes. Achieving continuous delivery isn’t necessarily about the ability to quickly release, but about pinning the processes necessary to confidently release when it’s required.
For some organizations it’s a few times a month, and for others this might mean a few times per day. What’s important is that a pipeline has been developed that works efficiently and makes continuous delivery a seamless, well-oiled machine.
DevOps Is Only For Web Companies
Although it’s evident that DevOps is most synonymous with web companies, non-Web companies can benefit from it, too. Continuous delivery encompasses processes that are important for all modern software development companies.
Whether you’re creating a crypto bot or 3D printer, no matter what type of software you have, it’s necessary to offer the latest version of your developments reliably and quickly. If you aren’t making new versions available on a consistent (and high quality) basis, you run the risk of being outrun by your competitors.
Non-Web companies can benefit from continuous delivery if they understand its limitations. For instance, just because you can release quickly doesn’t mean you should; the term “continuous delivery” simply means that you can release when it’s required and that upgrades aren’t tied to arbitrary schedules, red tape, and loopholes. The idea is to deploy when it makes the most sense.
You Need to Be Certified
Although there are many types of DevOps certifications, you do not need to be certified in “DevOps” to understand and implement it. Remember, DevOps isn’t a piece of software; it’s a way of thinking and working. Similarly, you don’t need to have a certification in most software in order to use it.
You could be an expert at MailChimp from simply using the platform without having ever taken a certification class. While not required, certifications help assert your knowledge, commitment, and passion for the subject.
It can also help you improve your skill set or add value to your resume and attract software development employers.