DevOps: what it is, pillars and how to start a career in the area

Increasingly, the term DevOps has become popular and has become prominent in the IT industry. Much is said about the DevOps Culture, frameworks and methodologies, which are adopted by large companies.

The truth is that DevOps is a set of actions used to develop IT software and services in a short period of time.

These characteristics are increasingly sought after by companies, which were forced to intensify their Digital Transformation in a short time.

So much so that according to the report itself “State of DevOps 2021”, developed by the Google Cloud team, “deployment automation, changes in database management, and use of construction technologies: Docker (what is Docker and open source) are the strengths of DevOps strategies, which benefit companies around the world.

Thus, there is a clear need to learn more about the subject and, perhaps, to study more about the area in order to migrate and monitor the market. If you want to know everything about the topic, just continue reading the article! Follow up!

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DevOps: understand the concept

DevOps, as its name suggests, is the combination of “development” and “operations”, or in literal translation, development and operations.

This is an area intrinsically related to the development of IT systems and infrastructure, with the differential of including security and agility in the delivery of solutions.

The central objective, in addition to the speed of implementation, is to add value to the end user through integration and good communication between the teams involved.

You may be wondering if the items and solutions developed quickly and quickly are truly functional and safe. The truth is that yes, the solutions are reliable and have excellent results.

This is only due to the union and establishment of well-defined processes between the development teams, responsible for structuring, compiling, testing and implementation, and IT operators, who confirm the success of the application.

This good work environment and assertive communication are due to the DevOps Culture, which adopts continuous feedback and implementation practices, as you can see below.

DevOps culture: what is its importance and main pillars?

Photo: Pexels | DevOps development culture.

In the DevOps culture, transparency and sharing of information without barriers are based on the principles of open source software communities, which work without fear of tests with the possibility of errors and integrate the entire team in search of a solution.

For this reason, traditions and traditional organizational models that encourage competitiveness among team members are no longer welcome when it comes to DevOps and user satisfaction.

To better understand the differentials of the DevOps culture, it is enough to understand the Feedback, Integration, and Deployment “tripod”.

A qualified team, together with competent leadership and good development processes, will undoubtedly be able to adopt this culture and achieve positive results with DevOps.

Continuous feedback

It is only possible to establish constant and continuous feedback through clear and collaborative communication. This happens in environments that strictly follow DevOps development principles.

After all, since the development and operations teams work together, the incentive is for each of them to provide constant feedback at each stage of the project, whether positive or negative.

The work between them takes place from the conceptualization of the idea of the system, to the evolution, structuring, testing, and implementation of the product.

This means that throughout the project life cycle, team members need to maintain a transparent, healthy relationship focused on solving problems.

It is interesting that feedback is also expected from the end customer, since they will have intense contact with the product or solution developed.

This allows more and more solutions to be built based on the needs of each customer.

Continuous Integration

The integration between project collaborators is clear and essential for everything to go well. After all, there cannot be a tense or committed organizational climate when it comes to developing comprehensive and quality IT solutions.

Generally, the DevOps engineer who plays this role as a “bridge” between the two teams, integrating them, is the DevOps engineer, who is knowledgeable about all stages of the process and is a generalist IT.

Despite this, the engineer has experience in software development, implementation and maintenance in the cloud, creation and management of infrastructures, and automations.

In addition to transparent and healthy communication between team members, in DevOps development there is also the automation of processes and systems, which avoids human errors and bugs in the system.

This minimization of errors also contributes to the establishment of good practices and relationships at work.

The role of technology in optimizing and automating steps allows human resources to focus on solving problems and increasing the quality of delivery of their functions, guaranteeing the company’s competitiveness in the market.

Continuous Deployment

Another important point in DevOps is the ability to continuously deploy the solutions developed. Tests and more tests — this is the best way to find errors, bugs, and answers.

The

more tests the new software or solution undergoes, the simpler and more well-directed the study and improvement process becomes.

After all, it would be totally irresponsible to develop the entire system “on paper”, that is, in theory, and test it only in the final stage, prior to delivery. What would happen if relevant errors were detected?

If this were to happen, the objective of fast and early delivery to guarantee customer happiness would be jeopardized.

For this reason, the principle “working software rather than comprehensive documentation”, contained in the Agile Manifesto, must be followed.

All of these details correspond to the pillars of the Agile Manifesto, a document that bases the work on software development.

Frameworks for implementing DevOps

Frameworks are nothing more than templates or execution models that standardize processes. Being able to rely on good frameworks saves time and resources for companies and professionals.

In DevOps, there are at least 3 main types of frameworks: CALMS, Topologies, and Team Structures, described below.

CALMS

This is a framework whose main objective is to measure the level of success of implementing DevOps in an organization.

CALMS stands for “culture”, “automation”, “lean”, “measurement” and “sharing” in a literal translation: culture, automation, lean methodology, measurement and sharing – acronyms present throughout the DevOps development process.

One of the main differentials of DevOps development is precisely the transformation of the culture of the company that adopts it.

After all, it is not enough for development and operation teams to “do well”, all positions must be united under the company’s objective.

This teaches all other departments a lot: collaboration, assertive communication, and transparency must be principles followed by everyone.

The second point, automation, makes experts no longer concentrate on manual and repetitive tasks, but rather on creating more complex strategies and solutions.

In this way, the risk of errors is also minimized, making delivery more reliable and robust.

Regarding the lean methodology, what you need to pay attention to is the way in which it encourages the least possible exaggeration, that is, to choose processes and steps that are truly essential and generate value for the end customer.

Results are measured both internally, through feedback from members and those responsible for the project, in order to improve and optimize production, and externally, with feedback generated by the end customer.

Sharing, or sharing, refers to the distribution of information between departments and project participants, ensuring that everyone “is on the same page”.

This simple sharing prevents important information from being “stuck”, or blocked, in the hands of a single person, wasting working time and, consequently, delivery time.

Team topologies

Team topologies are based on the book Team Topologies, written by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais. In it, companies are able to extract effective strategies for implementing DevOps in their work environments.

According to him, there are 4 fundamental team topologies:

• aligned with the current: those that follow the workflow and established operations, in order to impact and bring good results. Thus, teams hardly need help from other areas and are able to streamline their work;
• platform: this is the “behind the scenes” team, which provides those aligned with the flow with all the resources necessary to perform their function;
• of the complicated subsystem: As their name suggests, teams with a complicated subsystem consist of a group of specialists who solve problems and provide support to teams aligned with the current;
• and the training teams: finally, the training teams assume the role of research and learning in order to recognize the best tools and methods for optimizing other teams’ processes.

Did you notice how each of the team topologies complement each other? All of them, working together and performing their roles, ensure that processes and deliveries are anticipated, without jeopardizing the quality of the final product.

Team structures

For a DevOps transformation to actually take place in the company, much more is needed than hiring an engineer and adding tools.

All teams need to be reevaluated and structured correctly, according to the level of the company, products offered, and number of employees.

The truth is that every leader must understand that there is no standard classified as exemplary when it comes to human capital.

In each sector, the goals, objectives and tasks will be different, requiring customized organization and structuring.

The same is true with DevOps development teams: each one is unique and has its own peculiarities.

What are the DevOps tools?

Photo: Pexels | Tools for DevOps.

Each stage in the life cycle of a DevOps project requires a different execution tool. From tools for clear communication, to automation and testing tools are welcome.

The secret when establishing DevOps tools is to choose those classified as open, that is, that allow integration with third-party instruments.

Thus, the connection is facilitated and the time is optimized, avoiding future problems of incompatibility and restriction.

To make it easier to understand, consider some tools recommended for each stage:

• planning and information exchange: Slack or Confluence;
• construction: Docker (what is docker and learn about the

docker commands (here), Terraform or GitHub;

• integration: AWS or Bitbucket;
• tests: Jira Software;
• operations, monitoring, and feedback: Appdynamics, Slack, or GetFeedback;

All of these tools are just suggestions and can be replaced by similar ones with similar functionalities.

The important thing is to know how to use tools in favor of agile execution and transparent communication between employees.

Career as a DevOps Engineer

Photo: Freepik | DevOps development career.

Now that you understand everything about how DevOps works, from the concepts to the tools, you must be curious about a career as a DevOps Engineer, right?

If so, know that this curiosity is completely understandable, since DevOps engineers are increasingly sought after and well paid in the labor market.

Practically every large institution today has at least one DevOps engineer on its team, and the average salary of this professional in the United States is around $111,000 a year.

Attributions and Responsibilities

The daily life of a DevOps engineer revolves around paying attention to how processes are carried out and identifying points of improvement, whether through the implementation of new tools or processes.

As mentioned before, the DevOps engineer is also responsible for uniting development and operation teams, integrating them and maintaining their balance.

Important Skills

One of the prerequisites to become a DevOps engineer is to have in-depth knowledge in IT and systems development, as well as the life cycle of each project in the area.

Other knowledge required by this professional are:

• programming languages;
• basic knowledge in Linux;
• source code management;
• automation tools and cloud systems;

solution

• development; and
• other topics related to delivery and monitoring.

To be able to work in the area, some certifications are necessary, which you can choose between:

DevOps

• graduate programs; DevOps
• Engineer course;
• Docker Certified Associate (DCA) Certification Training Course;
• and many others available.

Other DevOps roles and roles

Professionals who specialize in DevOps development need not only act as a company’s engineer, there are several other possible paths.

Some of them are:

• software tester;
• integration specialist;
• release manager;
• DevOps architect and many others.

How to start a career as a DevOps?

If you’re already in the IT business, migrating to DevOps development won’t be so difficult. It is enough to consume a lot of content on the subject and, above all, study about software development and master open source systems, such as Linux.

Discovering how to learn Linux is the easiest task of all: just access the tips that we posted here on the Linux Certification website!

It is also interesting to follow gringo blogs, study through DevOps development courses with those who understand the subject, and train long before deciding to complete one of the certifications mentioned above.

After all, you want to become professional and be successful at work, don’t you?

Improve your skills with the best DevOps courses

Photo: Pexels | Studying to improve DevOps skills.

There are many interesting DevOps development courses on the market.

One of the best options is the Linux Certification Docker online course. In it, professionals studying the area will learn how to use Docker, a partition or container system open source.

Familiarizing yourself with this system is essential for those who want to work as a DevOps engineer, since this will be part of their routine work.

Discover the Linux Certification Docker for DevOps Course!

Conclusion

Have you noticed how understanding what DevOps development is, how it works, and how entering this market is not so difficult?

We hope the topic was clear to you! If any questions arise, feel free to register them in the comments, and our specialized team will respond as soon as possible!

Uirá Endy Ribeiro

Uirá Endy Ribeiro is a Software Developer and Cloud Computing Architect with a 23-year career. He has master's degrees in computer science and fifteen IT certifications and is the author of 11 books recognized in the IT world market. He is also Director at Universidade Salgado de Oliveira and Director of the Linux Professional Institute - LPI Director's Board.