DevOps is a software development approach that aims to integrate the work of development and operations teams by fostering a collaborative and shared responsibility culture. It is a set of practices, tools, and a cultural philosophy that automate and integrate the processes between software development and IT teams. DevOps is about removing the barriers between traditionally siloed teams, development and operations, and it requires a change in culture and mindset.
DevOps environments generally apply common methodologies, including the following:
- Automation of the software development lifecycle, including automating testing, builds, releases, the provisioning of development environments, and other manual tasks that can slow down or introduce human error into the software delivery process.
- Increased communication and collaboration between development and operations teams.
- Continuous integration and continuous delivery to enable teams to deliver rapidly, safely, and reliably.
- Monitoring and logging to help teams improve their processes and incorporate customer feedback to improve the next release.
The DevOps workflow consists of phases such as continuous development, integration, testing, deployment, and monitoring. DevOps teams should evaluate each release and generate reports to improve future releases. The ultimate goal of DevOps is to decrease the duration of the system’s development life cycle while delivering features, fixes, and updates frequently in close synchronization with business objectives.
