DevOps is a framework encompassing cultural principles, collaboration, and automation tools. Connecting software development and IT operations, DevOps fosters shared responsibility, rapid iteration, and continuous improvement, allowing teams to deliver applications and services quickly and securely.
DevOps has come a long way since it emerged around 15 years ago. Systems administrators wanted to keep up with more efficient Agile product development teams, which were creating production-quality software more frequently. Teams were getting better at delivering software, but bottlenecks remained in the rest of the value stream, particularly in areas like up-front planning and the deployment and management of systems in production. Back then—and even now for many organizations—these bottlenecks caused friction between development and operations. Andrew Clay Shafer and Patrick Debois have been credited with coining the term DevOps in 2008, and the concept took hold with the first DevOpsDays event in Belgium in 2009.
Implementing DevOps is not just about tools; it is also about the way people work and the processes they use. DevOps breaks the historical silo between the engineering teams creating an application or service and those responsible for running that service in production. Processes and work align to the entire lifecycle of the products and services and all that is needed for their delivery and operation.
Ideally, one team manages all aspects of the service, including security and testing functions. In larger organizations there may still be some functional specialization, but it remains critical that the process and communication are focused on the end-to-end delivery of the entire service. This product-centric view can be based on something as simple as a microservice or a more complex set of deliverables that comprise a release (the circumstances and the end customer often make that determination). Over time the goal is to continue to make smaller changes and to iterate more rapidly.
The new processes and teams leverage as much automation as possible alongside technologies that facilitate the end-to-end connection of the product lifecycle, including the all-important feedback loop from the customer to the team.
Frequent iterations supported by tools for automation and communication allow for a more consistent and collaborative approach to software delivery. As such, there is an obvious business case for DevOps. The following as some of the key advantages of the DevOps framework:
Designing, testing, and delivering software products and other services takes time, but with support from the right automation tools and a clear focus on microservices and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD), DevOps makes it possible for teams to move at higher speeds. Working in smaller iterations and in combined end-to-end teams means that changes can be implemented more quickly, and the teams become more responsive to the needs of the business. The overall time from the initial idea through to the change appearing in production can be significantly shortened, meaning a faster time to value.
The DevOps cultural model emphasizes values such as ownership and accountability, facilitating efficient teamwork and smoother coordination among development and operations teams. Developers get direct feedback on the performance of their work in production, and operators have more insight into what is being delivered and why. All those involved, including security and quality assurance, have the opportunity to share and refine their policies through the support of the entire team.
Most applications require some patching or revising before they can fully meet the demands of the end-user. DevOps increases the pace and frequency of releases, deploying updated versions to address bugs, fix security weaknesses, and introduce new features. This helps ensure that the issues that inevitably arise are addressed as quickly as possible.
Speed and reliability do not typically coexist—especially when it comes to software development. DevOps is changing that. By replacing manual, error-prone practices with advanced automation solutions, teams can ensure the delivery of high-quality products at speed. Also, because the iterations are very small, the likely impact of a change may be less than that of a collection of larger changes and the time taken to revert the change can be much shorter, leading to better reliability overall.
In the traditional waterfall approach to software development, the enforcement of security protocols is too often tacked onto the application at the end of the development process. DevOps—and most particularly, DevSecOps—makes it possible to build powerful security into every stage.
Infrastructure as code (IaC), CI/CD, widespread automation, AI-enhanced change management, and more all play roles in DevOps scalability. Organizations can define and provision their infrastructure resources programmatically, making it easier to scale up or down as needed. Because automation reduces the risk of human error, this ensures that deployments are consistent across environments and allows teams to efficiently manage complex or rapidly changing systems. DevOps helps organizations adapt to increased workloads and growth without sacrificing reliability or incurring significant manual overhead.
As previously addressed, the benefits of DevOps are difficult to ignore. Unfortunately, making the transition from DevOps as an idea to the reality of a working DevOps framework can present certain challenges. These may include:
Teams entrenched in siloed work environments often resist moving to DevOps practices because it disrupts established workflows and team structures. This resistance can manifest as reluctance to adopt new processes, skepticism about the benefits of collaboration, or fear of losing job roles.
Overcoming resistance begins with effective change management. Leaders should communicate the reasons for the shift to DevOps, highlighting its benefits not only for the organization but also for individual team members. To counter this, offer training and resources to help teams adapt to new ways of working, and establish a culture of trust and psychological safety, where employees feel valued and confident in embracing change (even if it means a period of adjustment).
Some may mistakenly believe that simply adopting new DevOps tools will ensure agility. Unfortunately, while tools, resources, and support are essential, it takes more than digital solutions to ensure DevOps success. A tool-centric mindset can lead to overlooking the critical role of cultural and process changes in DevOps.
Educate your teams about the holistic nature of DevOps. Stress that it is a combination of people, processes, and tools working cohesively that makes rapid development and delivery possible. Encourage teams to assess their existing processes and culture to identify areas that need improvement. Focus on building a comprehensive DevOps ecosystem that integrates tools as part of a larger strategy rather than as standalone solutions.
o reiterate from the previous point: DevOps necessitates a significant cultural shift, requiring team members to embrace transparency, shared responsibility, and effective collaboration across previously siloed functional areas. Teams may struggle with these changes, misunderstanding the broader context of their work and having trouble breaking down long-standing communication barriers.
The solution to this problem is to promote a cultural transformation to create an environment of openness and continuous learning. Establish cross-functional teams—including members from development, operations, and other relevant departments—and give them the autonomy to make decisions and implement changes without having to wait on overly-long approval processes. Create opportunities for team members to capture insights into the entire software delivery pipeline so that they may see the impact of their work on the end-user experience. Implement feedback loops and regular retrospectives to continuously refine and improve processes.
Shifting to practices such as microservices and infrastructure as code (IaC) will likely increase the operational workload, as teams need to manage more components and configurations. For employees who are already feeling hesitant about cultural changes or disruptions to established workflows, this added workload can further increase their resistance to adopting the DevOps framework.
Address this challenge by prioritizing automation and helping teams adopt proven DevOps best practices. Invest in automation tools and processes that streamline repetitive tasks and ensure consistency. Implement extensive configuration management practices to manage infrastructure efficiently. Employ CI/CD pipelines to automate deployment and reduce manual effort. The more you do to optimize processes and eliminate time-consuming or repetitive tasks, the less push-back you'll experience regarding workloads.
DevOps is important because it has the potential to help your organization differentiate itself from competitors by responding more rapidly to business demands. DevOps is a better way of building software with improved collaboration end-to-end—not only between development and operations, but also with essential disciplines such as security, testing (quality assurance or QA), version control, and cross-team collaboration capabilities such as ChatOps. DevOps results in a better software product and more successful implementations.
At its core, DevOps is a best practice. It was conceived on the premise that application and service delivery organizations work best when software development teams are truly collaborating and continuously integrating and deploying changes. That means that at the end of every iteration, no matter how short, the software is production-ready—even if it isn’t always deployed directly into production every time.
Large organizations undergo DevOps transformations to solve a common and fundamental problem with enterprise software creation. When developers create new software, they are coding and testing it in a developer environment, which is offline and lets them troubleshoot bugs, tweak code, and refine requirements without endangering their business, government agency, or medical or educational institution.
However, when it is time to deploy the new software or code into the real-world environment, issues arise, because the developer environment is not the same as the ever-evolving production environment. Deployment failures can lead to problems that cost a lot of time and money to fix. Historically this issue was made worse by large numbers of changes being rolled up into infrequent releases.
The operations teams are responsible for ensuring that products run reliably in production with the right checks and balances in place to ensure reliable deployment. Friction can arise between teams trying to iterate and get their code changes into production as fast as possible.
DevOps is more than just a set of practices and tools; it is a cultural philosophy that fundamentally changes the way teams collaborate and deliver value to their customers. At its heart, DevOps seeks to break down the traditional silos that often separate development and operations teams. Rather than working in isolation, these two formerly distinct groups collaborate closely to optimize developer productivity and enhance the reliability of operations. In some cases, organizations may blur the lines even further, with engineers taking on both development and operations roles.
The DevOps cultural philosophy centers around shared responsibility. Everyone involved takes ownership of the products they create and maintain. This co-responsibility aligns people, processes, and tools toward a common goal: delivering value to customers. It encourages a holistic approach to software delivery, where teams work together to ensure that applications function effectively while also meeting the needs and expectations of users.
If it is not already apparent, the move to a DevOps culture carries with it certain obstacles. Successfully countering challenges takes persistence, education, and a willingness to make fundamental changes to how your development and IT operations teams work. To help ensure that your DevOps adoption is a successful one, consider these proven best practices:
This particular suggestion is less of a ‘best practice’ and more of a ‘vital and accepted element’ of DevOps. In fact, one could argue that CI/CD is the backbone of DevOps. Continuous integration (CI) makes it possible to frequently merge code changes into a shared repository, where automated tests can be run to ensure code quality while continuous delivery automates the release of code changes to testing environments. CI/CD accelerates the development cycle, reduces manual intervention, and minimizes errors. This ensures that software changes are quickly and reliably made ready to be delivered to end-users.
Microservices architecture involves breaking down complex applications into smaller, independently deployable services—with each service focusing on a specific functionality. Microservices promote flexibility, scalability, and ease of maintenance. They enable teams to work on individual components, facilitating faster development and deployment. This modular approach also optimizes fault isolation and enhances system resilience. All of these advantages help improve the effectiveness of DevOps, where breaking a single application down into a set of smaller services reduces the scope of development.
Monitoring metrics and logs provides organizations with real-time visibility into the health of their applications and infrastructure. Monitoring helps ensure proactive issue detection and resolution while reducing the risk of downtime and improving overall system reliability. Perhaps even more importantly, tracking KPIs provides clear insights into application performance and the end-user experience.
Effective communication and collaboration between development, operations, and the rest of the company are fundamental to DevOps. Collaboration and encouraging feedback fosters a culture of shared responsibility and transparency, promoting faster problem-solving, better alignment with business objectives, and a smoother transition to DevOps practices. Although this may take different forms depending on the structure of your business, regular meetings and centralized, integrated platforms are typically prerequisite for effective DevOps communication and collaboration.
Infrastructure as a service involves defining infrastructure configurations and provisioning resources through code. Infrastructure is treated as software, allowing for a more automated and version-controlled approach to infrastructure management. IaC ensures consistency and repeatability in DevOps infrastructure deployment, reducing manual errors, speeding up provisioning, and making it easier to scale infrastructure resources in response to changing application requirements.
While the ‘CD’ in ‘CI/CD’ typically refers to ‘continuous delivery,’ continuous deployment takes things a step further. As code changes are tested and approved, they are automatically deployed into production without the need for any manual intervention. Continuous deployment ensures that code changes are quickly and reliably delivered to users, enabling organizations to respond rapidly to customer needs and pivot to meet changing market demands. Continuous deployment does not mean having to give up on governance and the role of automation in governance is key to ensuring this form of direct access to production remains safe.
The DevOps lifecycle represents a continuous and collaborative approach to software development and operations, with the aim of delivering high-quality software efficiently. This lifecycle is often depicted using either a circle or an infinity loop, with steps flowing into one another without any clear beginning or end. This symbolizes the continuous nature of DevOps and the need for constant collaboration and iterative improvement throughout the entire process.
The stages of the DevOps lifecycle can be categorized in the following way:
In the initial phase, DevOps teams engage in brainstorming and concept exploration. This stage is crucial for aligning development efforts with strategic goals and ensuring that proposed ideas will have a positive impact on users. By prioritizing ideas that deliver real value, organizations set a clear direction for subsequent phases of the DevOps lifecycle.
The next phase encourages the adoption of agile practices, breaking work into smaller, manageable pieces to deliver incremental value. Agile planning empowers teams to work efficiently and deliver value cumulatively while adapting to changing requirements.
During the building phase, DevOps teams use version control systems to manage changes—compiling code, performing unit tests, packaging the application, and sending code changes to the code source. Effective code management is essential for maintaining code quality and ensuring that development progresses smoothly.
Continuous integration is at the core of the testing phase. Multiple developers can contribute to a shared code repository, and automated tests are executed upon code changes to validate correctness before integration. CI serves as a quality assurance mechanism, instilling confidence in the reliability of the code.
With testing complete, features are ready to be deployed into production. This can be automated through continuous deployment so that manual intervention is not required, and changes are instead automatically and immediately delivered to the end-user. Alternatively, continuous delivery allows for more oversight, preparing changes so that they are ready for deployment at the push of a button.
The operation phase encompasses the comprehensive management of IT services —from the design and implementation of infrastructure to its configuration, deployment, and ongoing maintenance—all aimed at delivering reliable and efficient services to end-users. This phase focuses on ensuring the smooth operation of the IT environment that underpins an organization's services, maintaining uptime, performance, and security while responding to any operational challenges that may arise in production environments.
As any changes are deployed, teams monitor metrics and logs to swiftly identify and address issues affecting product uptime, speed, and functionality. Automatic notifications keep teams informed of changes and potential problems. Effective monitoring and observation practices are critical for maintaining service quality and addressing issues promptly.
DevOps teams continuously evaluate each release, generating reports to inform and improve future releases. Gathering feedback, including customer input, serves as a cornerstone for enhancing development processes. Ongoing feedback ensures that DevOps practices remain responsive to changing needs and that each release represents an improvement over the previous one.
While most companies have gained considerable experience in Agile development and are experimenting with or fully investing in DevOps principles, some believe that DevOps is not ready for prime time in larger organizations. This belief stems from several factors, including the requirement that adopting DevOps can require major changes in organizing people, processes, and technology. The other factor is that almost all large enterprises are subject to a wide range of regulations, especially when systems touch financials, personally identifiable information (PII), or healthcare data. The regulatory environment for large organizations is why they have strong controls in IT operations for releasing application updates. These controls are ripe for automation, as they have historically been based on manual processes.
As DevOps implementations continue, and as experience and automation grow, DevOps will be used more often for addressing real-world issues and business problems. And when people see how they can balance speed and agility with regulation and control, they will be more than ready to create truly new software functionality. Successful DevOps practices rely on a core appreciation of this reality and can make people more productive, because the “plan, build, run” systems operate more efficiently.
You can spread DevOps methodology across your organization intelligently, taking the risk out of working quickly, and minimizing friction between IT operations and development teams. Large enterprises that rely on strong controls for business continuity can leverage emerging frameworks such as value stream management (VSM) to help them make the transition.
As technology accelerates and customer expectations grow, the need for DevOps has never been more critical. DevOps does more than simply speed up software development; it promotes collaboration, ensures quality, and enhances customer satisfaction. That said, the extreme cultural shift and complex management requirements associated with DevOps necessitate a powerful toolset for those businesses that want to ensure agility in their DevOps lifecycle. ServiceNow, the leader in IT management, provides the digital resources and support to help you turn the dream of effective DevOps into a reality.
Built on the industry-defining Now Platform® and boasting a suite of advanced automation capabilities and seamless integrations, ServiceNow DevOps connects the world of DevOps to the work already going on for applications and services in ServiceNow. An example of a major benefit is that it allows change management to operate at top speed, aligning seamlessly with agile development practices. Connect with developers' existing tools for fully transparent governance. Maintain total compliance with established regulations and policies without losing vital momentum. Use DevOps data management to apply powerful controls as part of existing development processes. Identify and track key metrics across teams in real time. And through it all, enjoy a single source of data, eliminating information silos and opening up collaboration across your entire enterprise.
ServiceNow empowers organizations to achieve their goals within the dynamic DevOps landscape, ultimately driving innovation and improving the user experience. Ready to see for yourself? Demo ServiceNow today!