DevOps has gone through a huge upsurge in complexity and effectiveness over the last few years, and it is now the way to integrate the various teams within your organisation to streamline operations, facilitate effective partnership working and reduce turnaround time for the development of new processes and systems. Quite simply, if you’re not currently using DevOps to enhance your business operations, you’re being left behind.
However, the popularity of DevOps does not mean that it is without its challenges. As with all relatively new and revolutionary methods of working, there can be a degree of trial and error in producing and refining a DevOps model that is fit for purpose. Whilst the nature of an effective DevOps strategy varies greatly according to the size of your operation, how many teams are part of your operation and the level of complexity you wish to apply to your DevOps model, there are some challenges for DevOps teams which are universal across all business sectors and sizes. Here we look at the Top 3 challenges facing DevOps teams in 2017, and the ways in which you can tackle these challenges head on.
Challenge 1 – Resistance to Culture Change
With the best will in the world, employees who have worked in silos for some time may be heavily invested in the current team structure pre DevOps. Whilst being ingrained within the team you work with on a day to basis is certainly no bad thing, it can lead to challenges when encouraging established team members to move to a new model of working. The mind set of ‘it’s not broke so why fix it?’ and ‘change for change’s sake’ approach is likely to feature heavily here, and it may well take some time to combat negativity surrounding proposed new business processes.
Tackle It!
As ever, communication and collaboration are the key to fostering culture change
, coupled with an understanding as to why some employees may be resistant to embrace change. It’s important that team members feel part of the culture change process, so that there is a sense that the team are doing things together rather than having things done to them by the powers that be. To this end, consultation at the start of the process is key, as well as regular reviews at each stage of implementation. If your organisation is larger, you may wish to consider setting up various working groups to take responsibility for different areas of your DevOps policy and process, thus creating a sense of ownership rather than disengagement.
Challenge 2 – Choosing the wrong tools for your DevOps model
Unless your operation is very small, the chances are you are going to need to invest in some new to tools and tech to ensure the smooth running of your DevOps strategy, particularly if you teams work remotely or across multiple sites and never the twain shall meet. There are hundreds of effective tools available for the planning, implementation and day to day running of your DevOps processes, but it is definitely not a case of one size fits all. Choose the wrong tools and you’ll be wasting your time, money, and losing the confidence of your teams.
Tackle It!
As we all know, failing to prepare is preparing to fail – and the key component here is preparation. Do your research – have a look at what is available across the market and what your competitors are using. Read relevant trade publications, ask what others are using at conferences and network events and read up online to ensure you are choosing the best tools for your organisation – what is suitable for the likes of Google is unlikely to be of much use to a small IT company based in Reading. Create a roadmap or flowchart setting out what you wish to achieve from your DevOps strategy and ensure that the tools you select best match your goals. Once you’ve chosen your tools, review their effectiveness on a regular basis, particularly in the first year or so, and consider changing your tools should your operational requirements evolve.
Challenge 3 – Failing to measure the effectiveness of your DevOps strategy
From slating the bijoux hotel in Outer Mongolia on Trip Advisor for failing to serve Diet Coke, to posting our comments about the latest government policy on social media, we have all become unwitting experts in the art of instant feedback. Despite this ‘must review’ culture, however, many of us are failing to review our business operations with the same degree of dedication.
Tackle It!
Reviewing the effectiveness of your DevOps strategy should be twofold – internal and external. Internally, again it is all about communication, talking regularly to your teams and listening to what they feel is working and what needs changing. Externally, you’ll need to measure the impact that your DevOps processes have had on the effectiveness of your operations. Have turnaround times shortened? Have sales increased? Has productive gone up? Set up a realistic range of KPI’s and use these to measure the before and after effects of your DevOps model.
Des Nnorchiri
Des Nnochiri has a Master’s Degree (MEng) in Civil Engineering with Architecture, and spent several years at the Architectural Association, in London. He views technology with a designer’s eye, and is very keen on software and solutions which put a new wrinkle on established ideas and practices. He now writes for markITwrite across the full spectrum of corporate tech and design. In previous lives, he has served as a Web designer, and an IT consultant to The Learning Paper, a UK-based charity extending educational resources to underprivileged youngsters in West Africa. A film buff and crime fiction aficionado, Des moonlights as a novelist and screenwriter. His short thriller, “Trick” was filmed in 2011 by Shooting Incident Productions, who do location work on “Emmerdale”.