Most organizations have already adopted or are moving towards adopting a DevOps model into their work culture for improved productivity and workflow. In simple terms, DevOps is an application delivery methodology that encourages collaboration and communication between the developers and operations teams across all phases of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The collaboration between the development and operations teams, working as a cohesive unit for a common goal, ensures the creation of a faster, reliable and efficient delivery system.
Major Challenges & Their Resolution with DevOps
There are several fundamental challenges and problems that must be dealt with for the successful implementation of DevOps in an organization. These include:
1. Organizational Alignment
The probability of success of any organization's DevOps initiative is dependent on the degree of alignment between the development and operations teams. While the development team follows an agile development lifecycle, the operations team usually has lengthy procedures for managing even minor production changes. Hence, stakeholders from both sides must engage in a closer alignment for a quicker and quality product delivery in the best interests of the organization.
2. Legacy Infrastructure and Systems
Continued reliance on older infrastructure and applications hinders DevOps implementation. In addition to stability problems and lack of support, legacy systems prevent organizations from quickly adapting to the changing markets, customer needs, and progress of competitors. Organizations need to be up-to-date with the latest technologies by upgrading their software and hardware systems on a periodic basis to stand-out in the competitive scenario.
3. Silo Mentality among Teams
Breaking down the silos between various teams and integrating them is a basic requirement in DevOps adoption. By getting everyone to work together as a cross-functional team, an organization not only can realize its DevOps objectives but also move ahead of the competition at a faster rate.
4. Resistance to Change
A majority of key stakeholders and team members may not welcome DevOps deployment, in some cases even perceiving DevOps to be their replacement. Employees must be made to realize that they are the driving force in the journey to DevOps, which is designed to make organizations more competitive. A smooth and gradual move to DevOps will enable everyone to become accustomed to the DevOps culture and contribute to its development process.
5. Difficulties in Scaling Up
While DevOps often succeeds on a smaller scale, it may encounter issues during the scaling up of the implementation, especially in larger organizations. Implementation of DevOps centrally before rolling it across the organization will ensure a standardized strategic approach to achieving the DevOps goals.
6. Security and Governance Issues
The requirement for quick application deployment in DevOps can cause security and governance policies to be overlooked. Application Release Automation (ARA) helps in meeting the demand for quick deployment in addition to automating security and compliance policies.
7. Excessive Focus on Tools
While the introduction of new tools has accelerated the adoption of DevOps, it is also essential to ensure that these tools are well-integrated with the existing infrastructure and meet all the security requirements. However, greater focus should be on the team rather than on the tools, as people are the most important factor in the transition to DevOps.
8. Budget
While most projects are completed within the allocated budget limits, it is often not true in the case of DevOps implementation. Hence, proper budgeting with a sufficient buffer is essential. Enterprise DevOps adoption requires a roadmap that is focused on people, processes, and technology. Organizations can achieve continuous deployment, testing and monitoring along with cross-team visibility through a successful DevOps implementation. By overcoming the above fundamental challenges right at the beginning, the development, operations, and other teams can cooperate closely and enable their organizations to realize the true potentiality of DevOps.
About the Author: Vamshi N. is a tech reporter and senior content writer at the Veritis Group. An avid reader and professional speaker, he specializes in writing about innovative technologies, products, and people who make a significant impact on IT. He has been associated with leading global organizations during his career spanning over a decade. Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this guest author article are solely those of the contributor, and do not necessarily reflect those of Tripwire, Inc.
