DevOps help organizations improving their ability to deliver software products through collaboration and shared responsibility. Many major companies use it to enhance their software development projects, propel business innovation and improve customer satisfaction.
As per this report, 83% of the tech decision-makers reported that implementing DevOps led to higher business values. DevOps allowed them to adapt to changing markets and drive better results. It also helped them manage complex systems effectively while preserving compliance.
However, implementing DevOps is challenging. Managers have to resolve many cultural and development issues before moving ahead. You must also keep your infrastructure, resources, and priorities in mind while developing a DevOps roadmap. Not taking a measured approach to DevOps can lead to an implementation failure.
Why do Some Organizations Fail at Implementing DevOps?
There are many reasons why some organizations fail at executing a DevOps strategy. Here are some common bottlenecks businesses face and what you can do to prevent them.
1. Resistance to Devops-specific tools
Businesses use many different tools for development, testing, and deployment. Developers, support staff, and admins often get accustomed to a specific set of tools and are unwilling to part with them. In such situations, introducing new DevOps tools can be challenging. Often, teams are reluctant to use new tools and products. Even if they use them, they might need to pick them up more quickly and efficiently.
Businesses can use automation pipelines to solve this issue. Automation pipelines and version control tools help you streamline your workload and improve communication between different teams. You can also do an all-hands meeting to provide training and knowledge transfer for the tools before implementing them.
Learn about nearshore development and its benefits here to avoid unsuccessful DevOps implementations. Additionally, read this to understand what DevOps is, its tools, benefits, principles, and more.
2. Changing the conventional thinking
In many organizations, developers, QA engineers, and admins are used to certain work cultures. They have a dev vs. ops mentality, i.e., developers develop code, and operators maintain the production environment. Since their goals are not aligned, they don't see the value of implementing a DevOps strategy or changing their existing processes. Not just employees - sometimes even managers are not ready to accept these changes.
The solution to this problem is to get everyone focused on shared goals. You should change your team's way of thinking, i.e., developers and operators both need to think about development and serviceability while working. You also have to facilitate communication to ensure an uninterrupted flow of information between both teams.
3. No Plan for DevOps
Since DevOps is a relatively new concept, many businesses still struggle with its understanding. Managers still have doubts about its adoption, limitations, and infrastructure requirements. An unclear execution strategy can lead to process-oriented integration challenges.
The solution to this problem is to create a regulation plan within a DevOps strategy. DevOps transformations don't happen overnight; the implementation has to be gradual. You can also hire professionals with experience/specialization in DevOps. Nearshore development companies such as Jalasoft provide excellent resources for DevOps development and consulting.
4. Changing Security
DevOps strategies often require businesses to implement new tools and services in their infrastructure. Since DevOps works on automating different parts of the pipelines, this can lead to security issues such as exposure of secret keys or infrastructure misconfiguration. Cybersecurity flaws open your system to unintended access and exploits.
To tackle such problems, you should hire experienced security experts who know and understand the DevOps environment. They can help strategize security clearances and set up accesses for your team members based on their credentials. They can also check your system for weaknesses through cybersecurity tests, such as penetration testing and vulnerability scanning.
You can also invest in security automation to protect your data and software from access. For example, some companies use the DevSecOps model for extra protection.
5. Use of Legacy Systems
Many organizations still use legacy systems for their business processes. Legacy systems often have performance and compatibility issues. They also have stability issues (lots of system downtime), and there's a lack of tools and talent to support them.
To counter such issues, businesses have started migrating legacy systems to DevOps microservices. Microservices allow you to build and deploy scalable applications. They are also independently deployed, which leads to better resiliency and productivity.
6. Failure to adopt DevOps Metrics
It's important for managers and executives to measure the effect of DevOps implementation. This is also important to identify issues with collaboration and integration. You should know if your DevOps strategy is working or not.
You should define a few specific metrics for DevOps success, such as speed, throughput, scalability, and resource allocation. KPI metrics are a good starting point for any stakeholder who wishes to understand if their implementation works.
However, you shouldn't set unrealistic goals for your teams. DevOps transition is a complicated process that takes time and effort to succeed. Furthermore, the bigger your company, the longer this transition will take.
Embracing DevOps and Unlock Success
Changing an organization's development approach to DevOps can be a difficult process. Managers may face pushback from their teams as well as from management. In addition, a failed DevOps strategy can lead to increased system complexity and costs.
However, if done right, DevOps can be one of the best decisions you can take as a technology manager. It enhances communication and allows you to adapt your project to market requirements.
Executives should not consider DevOps a silver bullet that solves all their problems. It has its own challenges, as listed above. However, in success, implementing DevOps can reduce costs, increase system efficiency and improve customer experience. It'll also make your development easier and more scalable.
DevOps is a measured approach for improving the software development life cycle through CI/CD methodologies. However, before you implement DevOps, you must first change your organization's thinking about DevOps.
By adopting software delivery best practices, Jalasoft ensures that DevOps transitions are smoothly implemented, minimizing complexity and costs while maximizing the efficiency and scalability of your development projects.
If you want to augment your team with a reliable partner to overcome your DevOps challenges, look at Jalasoft. Our experienced DevOps engineers integrate proven processes, cutting-edge tools, and efficacious methodologies, such as agile nearshoring, to harmonize your software project's diverse needs.
Contact us today and start transforming your business with more incredible software development solutions!
