DevOps, the combination of software development and IT operations, has been a growing trend in the information technology universe. This practice has increased the speed of product development and deployment, launching the race for fast application delivery.
According to Allied Market Research, the global size of DevOps market will grow from $6.78 billion in 2020 to $57.9 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 24.2 % from 2021 to 2030. Companies like WhatsApp, Netflix, and Adobe successfully implement DevOps services. And yet it might not be clear how Devops outsourcing help business reduce time-to-market, production cost, and product quality.
Arounda has five years of experience in software design and development services for startups and SME clients. In this article, we:
share our knowledge about DevOps technical workflow
give an overview of DevOps as a service companies
discuss ten main DevOps advantages
focus on DevOps outsourcing for startups
Table of Contents
What is DevOps?
DevOps is a short word for Development and Operations. This term stands not for a single method, tool, or special
ist. Instead, it embraces practices that unite technology, methodology, and people to reach continuous and agile development and operations processes.
The DevOps practice was born out of two concepts: continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD). The idea was to implement code changes into the product on the go, not waiting for bug detection through clients' feedback and the next release. Software testing and improvement had to continue smoothly and invisibly for the users behind the curtains of the cloud infrastructure.
This new approach has eased the divide between development and operations teams and minimized the product-to-marked time with no loss in product quality. That is why outsourcing DevOps services, as well as building in-house DevOps teams, gain popularity.
DaaS or DevOps-as-a-service describes the number of procedures that enable CI and CD through cloud infrastructure. We give the typical list of services later in this article.
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How does DevOps Work?
Traditionally companies kept developers and operations departments separated and measured their KPIs individually. However, this straightforward organization had disadvantages. For instance, miscommunication between teams, prolonged routine while sending multiple code versions back and forth, and delayed product launch.
DevOps teams, on the contrary, get rid of the isolated work. They usually consist of top-talent specialists experienced in both software development and operations. DevOps engineers work together on everything from design and development to product release support, have expertise in back-end development as well as front-end development, are keen on QA and test automation, and understand how to develop a full-cycle product.
For example, when an Ops engineer detects and fixes some bugs, they send the code directly to production, skipping the notification to Devs and QA about the problem. A Dev engineer will see how the code works in the cloud environment in no time.
Advantages of DevOps And Why It Matters
You could compare the DevOps approach in the IT industry to Henry Ford’s assembly line in the cars' mass production. The automatic line was simply more effective than manual assembly and allowed to deliver more cars in a shorter time. In the same way, the technical advantages of continuous integration and continuous delivery result in faster releases and better software.
Continuous integration
Developers update their code in the shared repository and test it automatically. This way, several devs can work on the same code simultaneously. There is also no risk that separate program sections won`t work together on the release day.
Continuous delivery
When the code is ready, engineers deliver new builds to the environment for testing and production. The changes are assembled with the main (once master) branch, and the automated tests check the validity of upgrades. This way, updates come to release quickly and sustainably.
Continuous deployment
This process is similar to continuous delivery, but every validated code change goes straight to the end user. Devs get almost immediate feedback and fix bugs returning to the first step - CI. Robust continuous deployment requires a reliable automated testing environment on the CD level.
All in all, combining CI and CD is the basis for main DevOps benefits such as shorter release time, faster bug fixing, and code security.
Why Startups Should Invest in DevOps-as-a-Service
Hiring both outsourced DevOps and in-house teams for a startup digital product has some strong points and drawbacks.
In-house specialists can build the necessary infrastructure from scratch and secure your full control over your product at every development stage. In this case, it's crucial to estimate the cost of hiring and maintaining a team of top specialists.
Another option of DevOps services for startup is raising and training the young talents within the project. It will result in a significant economy but might take several months if not years.
So when it comes to startups and small companies, DevOps outsourcing may be the best option for their limited budgets. Another important factor is access to a variety of experts in this field and a minimal risk of staff turnover.
DevOps outsourcing has its own difficulties. For example, you should be able to give your product requirements to the outsourcing company. Teamwork skills are also in great demand for effective collaboration between your employees and DevOps.
The common set of DevOps services includes:
code inspection
assistance in deployment and integration
test automation
IT support
data center
infrastructure cloud migration
management of servers, networks, and applications
detection and prevention of cloud security threats
As you see, a reliable DaaS provider secures all challenging technical issues of digital product development and lets you focus on business goals and processes. Gartner analysts state that 85% of organizations will implement a cloud-work principle by 2025. Without cloud architectures and technologies such as DevOps, they won`t be able to realize their digital strategies.
10 Reasons for DevOps Startups Outsourcing
The DevOps approach proves to be the most comprehensive option for startups to boost their production in high quality and with minimum financial risk. Here are the main reasons why it works
1. Effective team
Recruiting a suitable candidate can be challenging if you are new to the DevOps theme. Outsourcing teams usually have a wide pool of talents for your interview. The reputation and the deliverables of the outsourcing partner depend on the engineers' expertise, so they choose and recommend wisely.
2. Solid expertise
DevOps specialists have a solid background and wide experience from numerous projects they have been working on. They can understand the task and fulfill it more effectively than your entire team would be able to when encountering it for the first time.
3. Competitive product
In addition to continuous implementation, development and deployment, outsourced DevOps services provide monitoring and logging of errors. These automated systems collect data about the performance of your inner apps as well as released products. This way, you reduce the Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) and Mean Time to Recover (MTTR), improve your software, and cut down the time when users experience problems.
4. Cost under control
A remote team of DevOps often takes several financial expenditures themselves. You don’t have to pay taxes, support software licenses, rent a comfortable office, or secure extra fees for extra working hours when something goes wrong. You pay only for the result you want, not less and not more, and avoid unpredictable expenses.
5. Automation
DaaS providers supply test automation and infrastructure management automation through cloud services and tools like Selenium, TestSigma, and Eggplant. Otherwise, system administrators, engineers, and managers spend time on routine typical corrections rather than focusing on more complex or urgent tasks.
6. Technical advantage
The set of newest tools plays a critical role in the competition of delivering high-quality software. DevOps teams usually come with instruments for continuous integration such as Jenkins or Travis. Sensu or Splunk tools are used for monitoring, and Docker or Ansible undertake continuous deployment.
7. Infrastructure migration
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a wireframe of the virtual machines and networks which helps to keep all computing powers synchronized and erases the dissonance between your testing environment and end production conditions. By implementing the IaC practice, you can prevent the so-called environment drift and expect fewer invisible bugs that pass the testing but result in inconsistencies between environments.
8. Improved Security
DevSecOps - is the additional service responsible for cloud security. It typically includes the prevention of DDoS attacks, VPN firewall configuration, scheduled security testing, and system vulnerability audit. The DevSecOps consultants help their clients to establish appropriate security measures at the beginning of the project instead of costly implementation at later stages.
9. Management support
DevOps goals overlap the startup management tasks in shortening development cycles, making sustainable releases, and reducing all sorts of expenses. The collaboration sometimes stretches to launch support and product consulting, which benefits both business and the outsourcing team.
10. Collaborative philosophy
It can take a lot of work to build a corporate culture that supports DevOps. It implies open communication, respect for partners' rules and workflow as well as a collaboration mindset. On the other hand, when your team learns to have a trustful partner on their backs they are more likely to create, take smart risks, and move faster.
Arounda’s DevOps team
With Arounda`s DevOps team, you can simplify the data and information flow of project development to optimize the delivery costs, automate, and speed up your digital transformation. Our experienced DevOps engineers can help to establish the automation of many important processes to shorten the time to market your product and focus your team's performance on vital tasks.
Here is our DevOps process in short:
DevOps Automation. We eliminate the risks of unplanned work and reduce production time while keeping superb quality.
Infrastructure management plays a vital role in DevOps practice. Our DevOps team will help your company facilitate your project's scalability.
Code inspection. We constantly check and give feedback on your code. Code inspection is essential for lowering the cost of errors and change.
Virtualization allows development and testing within virtual and simulated environments using similar devices and systems to the end-user. As the result, the workflow reduces, but the speed and quality remain high.
Deployment. The code is automatically deployed to the production environment as it passes through all the test cases. Continuous versioning ensures that multiple code versions are available in the proper place.
Take The Next Step To A Lucrative Startup With Arounda
DevOps practices bring a number of benefits to companies that decide to change their classical approach:
Technical benefits include faster release, competitive products, quicker response time, specialized software solutions, improved cloud security and more.
Business benefits are quicker launch with lower cost thanks to the team efficiency while focusing on software quality, agility, better customer relations, etc.
Company benefits imply better communication and stronger collaboration culture.
99% of the respondents to an Atlassian & CITE Research survey say that DevOps positively impacted their organization. So it`s only a matter of time until most companies discover that the DevOps approach allows building and running IT services faster and with higher quality.
If you need assistance implementing DevOps into your project, don`t hesitate to drop us a line!
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