My favorite definition of DevOps is from Donovan Brown at Microsoft:
“DevOps is the union of people, process, and products to enable continuous delivery of value to our end users.”
It encapsulates the WHAT (“people, process and products”) and the WHY (“continuous … value to end users”) so concisely. The HOW, however, is a bit more allusive. Most executives say they “do DevOps” without really knowing what it is or how they do it. There is a vast spectrum of DevOps practices and maturity levels. Most of the companies who say they are “practicing DevOps” fall into the novice category while at the other end of the spectrum there are a few (relatively, but growing) number of high performers.
The Data
A key finding in the latest 2018 State of DevOps Report was that executives were more likely to report that DevOps practices were in frequent use while a larger portion of team level participants did not. The report further found the path to becoming a high performing DevOps company was narrow while the path to failure was wide.
Even though there appears to be a disconnect between upper management and the boots on the ground, its undeniable DevOps is a hot topic in nearly every industry and company. They may not be on the right path yet but they are at least aware of the trend and hopefully seeking to learn from others. It simply can’t be ignored!
The report in past years found the high performer group to be more agile to market changes, more likely to excel past competition financially and more likely to attract then keep top talent. DevOps high performance yields technical excellence which translates to business excellence. No longer can IT be simply viewed as a cost center. Regardless of your industry, a high performing IT team is a core and potentially differentiating capability.
This evidence leads us to conclude without focus and dedication to DevOps high performance, low performance DevOps companies today will be replaced by higher performing companies tomorrow.
Call to Action
Executive leadership should get their boots on the ground floor of the development teams and actually SEE DevOps happening in their company. This will lead to a greater appreciation for the challenges their teams are facing and their true DevOps maturity.
Developers should work DevOps into their process regardless of the companies position on whether DevOps is “worth” it or not. The evidence shows us DevOps improves the developers effectiveness, improves their quality of life and brings organization value long term so don’t ask for permission. Look for small changes/experiments that are low risk but could bring value. When they provide value highlight them to your co-workers. You might be the developer to save your company from being replaced by a smaller, more agile competitor who is practicing DevOps.
Middle management should champion DevOps both to upper management and amongst executive leadership. Embody each of the roles above and advance both sides of the organization.
Thanks for reading this post! Do you agree with these points? Why or why not? Leave a comment below to continue the conversation or ask questions.