The long-term benefits of DevOps

A couple of years ago, when the DevOps culture was already being adopted by businesses of all sizes, we wrote a blog post in which we answered five key questions on whether you need DevOps. Today, with the continued expansion of its use, we wanted to drill down further into the benefits of this way of working, some of which have only become apparent with time.

When discussing DevOps, the top word that comes to mind is efficiency, which is of course brought about through developers working more closely with operations, stakeholders and other roles associated with the day-to-day functioning of various processes.

Quicker deployment of new systems, platforms and apps

The primary benefit of DevOps is that it eliminates a number of time-consuming tasks from the software development process. Previously, a developer could only deploy code to the software when the operations team tests the product. Now, with the automated testing of websites and apps, developers get instant feedback and integration, which allows them to make code changes much more quickly. Innovation and continuous deployment work hand in hand with each other, so you could argue that DevOps is the gateway to innovation.

Automation leading to cost savings

Due to the fact that DevOps automates repetitive tasks and thus helps to eliminate the concern for bugs and errors, businesses can make significant savings. Frequent backups enable the development of a more robust and stable process and the quicker deployment mentioned above leads to its own cost savings. As Information Age reports, the use of DevOps slashed the release costs of one application by 97%, largely through the automation of significant parts of the process and through becoming less reliant on human testers. Before, testing was conducted by several people over a number of days whilst automation enabled it to happen hands-free, overnight.

Improved customer service through continuous delivery

The end result of the benefits listed above is the delivery of a better service to the end users. Because there is a faster turnaround time of development cycles, codes can be released into the production cycle more speedily. Furthermore, the gaps between requirement gathering and production can be reduced. With this approach to DevOps, the team is always set to ‘delivering any time’ to the production.

Instant solutions to system errors

All business owners know that errors are the biggest enemy of any digital product. But with the use of DevOps, the worry about such defects is almost entirely removed, as instant solutions are created. Increased collaboration with the abolition of silos and iterative development means that defects are drastically minimized, which is of course, another major benefit to a businesses clients.

The abolition of silos

Prior to the implementation of the DevOps culture, innovation was carried out in seclusion, with groups of developers coming up with ideas or solutions to problems before sharing them with other parts of the business. Now, with the increased interaction between teams through DevOps, there is a lot more transparency and exposure between teams, leading to improved collaboration which can lead to impressive results.

In summary, there are a multitude of benefits to implementing the DevOps process, both for your own business and for your clients. However, you should remember that the transition is often not easy, and a number of things should be taken into account to ensure that you are implementing the culture in the right way. It is generally advised that you shouldn’t implement the strategies in your business all in one go. Instead, it’s worth doing it in specific areas, or for certain projects first in order to be able to measure success and make any necessary changes. Map your expenses to each process, to make DevOps clear and concise.

DevOps at 10Clouds

DevOps permeates our work here at 10Clouds. To find out more about our DevOps process and the tools we use, click here. You might also be interested in the following blog post:
Do You Need DevOps? We Answer 5 Questions That Will Help You Decide

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