For many organizations, 2015 was a year to begin consolidating gains made through DevOps. Along the way, organizations debated everything from how to define DevOps to scaling, to finding the best role models. TechBeacon looks back on our 10 most popular DevOps stories of 2015.
DevOps and continuous delivery: Joined at the hip
DevOps and continuous delivery (CD) go hand-in-hand, but they're not the same thing. Do you know the difference—and how to leverage the synergies of both? Think of DevOps as your overall philosophy, and CD as a methodology you can use to speed up software development and delivery, writes Juan Carlos Perez. Yes, you can do CD without DevOps, but the highest productivity comes from knowing how to leverage both. "Continuous delivery is the name of what DevOps enables," says IDC analyst Stephen Elliot. Here's how to enhance CD by using steady, consistent DevOps practices.
7 DevOps roles you need to succeed
It may be true that there's no such thing as a DevOps team, but you'll never get the DevOps approach right unless you have the right people in the right roles. From release managers to automation architects, developer-testers, experience assurance experts, security engineers, and utility technology players, Stephanie Overby explains how each role should function and how each person should view development and operations in a DevOps organization.
Scaling containers: The essential guide to container clusters
Perhaps you've experimented with software containers. You may even have limited deployments. Now it's time to scale up. So how do you begin the process? Many software engineers and application architects don't fully understand the processes and procedures needed to properly use container clusters at scale. What's more, the technology still has significant limitations. If you're not fully aware of these, your container-based applications could fail to provide the resiliency required — or fail to scale entirely. Cloud computing consultant David Linthicum tells you how to get started and avoid missteps.
10 companies killing it at DevOps
While many organizations struggle to define what they mean by DevOps, a few leading organizations have nailed it—and are reaping huge business benefits. From Amazon to Nordstrom, Christopher Null describes the different approaches to DevOps that lead 10 trailblazing companies to phenomenal success. Whether it was the desire to step away from burdensome, legacy release processes or put an end to slow, painful site updates, these companies found a rallying point around which to drive a DevOps transition.
The technical side of DevOps: Cutting complexity with enterprise automation
DevOps is supposed to help you deliver software according to agile requirements, but that's not easy in complex enterprise environments that have grown exponentially. You need to focus precious human resources on creative problem-solving and automate everything you can within the software development, deployment, and feedback cycle, writes Todd DeLaughter. The most successful businesses are delivering smaller apps more frequently, paying close attention to the data that results from those deployments. And they are finding that automating as many parts of this cycle as possible can help.
Infrastructure as code: The engine at the heart of DevOps
IaC isn't new. The term has been around since the beginning of DevOps, and some experts say DevOps wouldn't be possible without it. The idea is to manage your operations environment in the same way you do applications or other code for general release. It's about applying the core best practices of DevOps—like version control, virtualized tests, and continuous monitoring—to the underlying code that governs the creation and management of your infrastructure. Christopher Null explains current best practices.
Dos and don'ts: 9 effective best practices for DevOps in the cloud
IT professionals practicing DevOps in the cloud often make mistakes that they could have easily avoided, says cloud expert David Linthicum. From funding a DevOps transformation to automation to proper use of containers, Linthicum describes the 5 things you absolutely should do, and four you shouldn't, as you take DevOps to the cloud.
Shift-right: Test microservices in the wild to tame DevOps
In a DevOps microservices world, testing in production is an essential piece of your overall quality plan, writes Joe Colantonio. And while many organizations are focused on shift-left transformations right now, making a shift-right with proactive monitoring and alerting after you release your microservices into the wild will be just as important. Here's how to get started.
CloudOps nirvana: Achieve continuous ops in public and private clouds
You've placed your code into cloud operations. Now it's time to look at continuous operations. Cloud computing expert David LInthicum explains the 11 key differences you need to understand about CloudOps and the best practices you'll need to put in place to achieve zero downtime, and the two flavors of tools that are essential to CloudOps.
Has DevOps turned development into a juggling act?
Here's a DevOps nightmare: It's been a few months since the DevOps adoption project was declared completed. The necessary automation tools are in place. Developers and IT operations staffers now belong to one team. They've been instructed to collaborate and communicate at every step of every applications' life cycle. The business should soon benefit from faster and better software development and deployment. Life will be good. Except that developers are coming to work and feeling as if they're in a house of horrors instead of in Shangri-La. They've got Sheryl Crow stuck in their heads blaring: "If it makes you happy, then why the hell are you so sad?"
Keep learning
Take a deep dive into the state of quality with TechBeacon's Guide. Plus: Download the free World Quality Report 2022-23.
Put performance engineering into practice with these top 10 performance engineering techniques that work.
Find to tools you need with TechBeacon's Buyer's Guide for Selecting Software Test Automation Tools.
Discover best practices for reducing software defects with TechBeacon's Guide.
- Take your testing career to the next level. TechBeacon's Careers Topic Center provides expert advice to prepare you for your next move.
