DevOps: What It Is, Key Pillars, and How to Start Your Career

More and more, the term DevOps has become popular and a highlight in the IT field. Much is said about DevOps Culture, frameworks and methodologies, which are adopted by large companies. 

The truth is that DevOps is a set of practices used to develop software and IT services in a short period of time. 

These characteristics are increasingly sought after by companies, which found themselves forced to intensify their Digital Transformation in a short time.  

So much so that according to the "State of DevOps 2021" report, developed by the Google Cloud team, "deployment automation, database management changes and the use of construction technologies: Docker (what is Docker and open source code" are strong points of DevOps strategies, which benefit companies around the world. 

Thus, the need to learn more about the topic becomes clear, and perhaps study more about the field with the goal of migrating and keeping up with the market. If you want to know everything about the topic, just keep reading the article! Follow along!

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DevOps: understanding the concept

DevOps, as the name suggests, is the combination of "development" and "operations", or in literal translation, development and operations. 

This is an area intrinsically related to systems development and IT infrastructure, with the differential of including security and agility in delivering solutions.

The central objective, beyond implementation speed, is to deliver value to the end user through integration and good communication between the teams involved. 

Perhaps you are wondering if items and solutions developed quickly and nimbly are really functional and secure. The truth is that yes, the solutions are reliable and show excellent results. 

This only happens due to the union and establishment of well-defined processes between the teams of development, responsible for structuring, compiling, testing and implementation, and IT operators, who confirm the success of the application. 

This good work environment and assertive communication are due to DevOps Culture,  which adopts continuous feedback and implementation practices, as you can see below. 

DevOps Culture: what is its importance and main pillars?

In DevOps culture, transparency and barrier-free information sharing is based on the principles of open-source software communities, which work without fear of testing with possibilities of errors and integrate the entire team in search of the solution. 

Therefore, traditional traditions and organizational models that encourage competitiveness among team members are no longer welcome when the topic is DevOps and user satisfaction. 

To better understand the differentials of DevOps culture, you just need to understand the "three pillars": Feedback, Integration and Deployment. 

A qualified team, combined with competent leadership and good development processes, will undoubtedly be able to adopt this culture and have positive results with DevOps.  

Continuous Feedback

It is only possible to establish constant and continuous feedback through clear and collaborative communication. This happens in environments that strictly follow DevOps development principles. 

After all, as development and operations teams work together, the incentive is for each of them to give constant feedback at each stage of the project, whether positive or negative. 

The work between them occurs from the conceptualization of the system idea, to the evolution, structuring, testing and implementation of the product. 

This means that throughout the project lifecycle, the team members need to maintain a transparent, healthy relationship focused on solving problems. 

It is interesting that feedback is also expected from the end customer, as they will have intense contact with the developed product or solution. 

This allows more and more solutions to be built based on each customer's needs. 

Continuous Integration

The integration between project collaborators is evident and essential for everything to go well. After all, there cannot be a tense or compromised organizational climate when the topic is developing integral and quality IT solutions. 

Generally, the one who plays the role of "bridge" between the two teams, integrating them, is the DevOps engineer, who has knowledge of all stages of the process, being an IT generalist. 

Despite this, the engineer has experience in software development, cloud implementation and maintenance, infrastructure creation and management, and automations.

Besides transparent and healthy communication between team members, in DevOps development there is also the automation of processes and systems, which avoids human errors and bugs in the system. 

This minimization of errors also contributes to the establishment of good practices and relationships at work. 

The role of technology in optimizing and automating stages allows the human resource to focus on solving problems and increasing the quality of delivery of their functions, ensuring the company's competitiveness in the market. 

Continuous Deployment

Another important point in DevOps is the continuous deployment capability of the developed solutions. Tests and more tests — this is the best way to find errors, bugs and answers. 

The more tests the new software or solution undergoes, the simpler and better targeted the study and improvement process becomes. 

After all, it would be totally irresponsible to develop the entire system "on paper", that is, in theory, and test it only at the final stage, prior to delivery. What would happen if relevant errors were detected? 

If this happened, the goal of fast and early delivery, to ensure customer happiness, would be compromised.  

Therefore, the principle "working software over comprehensive documentation", present in the Agile Manifesto, needs to be followed.

All these details correspond to the pillars of the Agile Manifesto, a document that bases the work on the software development aspect.

Frameworks for DevOps implementation

The frameworks are nothing more than templates or execution models that standardize processes. Having good frameworks saves time and resources for the company and professionals.

In DevOps, there are at least 3 main types of frameworks: CALMS, Topologies, and Team Structures, described below.

CALMS

This is a framework whose main objective is to measure the level of success of DevOps implementation in an organization.

CALMS stands for "culture", "automation", "lean", "measurement" and "sharing", in a literal translation: culture, automation, lean methodology, measurement, and sharing — acronyms present throughout the DevOps development process.

One of the main differentials of DevOps development is, precisely, the transformation of the company's culture that adopts it.

After all, it's not enough for just the development and operations teams to "get along", all roles need to be united under the company's goal.

This teaches all other departments a lot: collaboration, assertive communication, and transparency must be principles followed by everyone.

The second point, automation, makes experts no longer focus on manual and repetitive tasks, but rather on creating more complex strategies and solutions.

This way, the risk of errors is also minimized, making delivery more reliable and robust.

Regarding the lean methodology, what you need to pay attention to is how it encourages as little waste as possible, that is, choosing processes and steps that are truly essential and generate value for the end customer.

The measurement of results occurs both internally, through feedback from members and those responsible for the project, in order to improve and optimize production, and externally, with feedback generated by the end customer.

Sharing, or sharing, refers to the distribution of information between departments and project participants, ensuring that everyone "is on the same page".

This simple sharing prevents important information from getting "stuck", or blocked, in the hands of just one person, wasting work time and, consequently, delivery time.

Team Topologies

Team topologies are based on the book Team Topologies, written by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais. In it, companies can extract effective strategies for DevOps implementation in their work environments.

According to it, there are 4 fundamental team topologies:

• stream-aligned: those that follow the established workflow and operations, in order to impact and bring good results. This way, teams rarely need help from other areas and can speed up work;
• platform: this is the "backstage" team, which provides stream-aligned teams with all the necessary resources to perform their function;
• complicated subsystem: as the name suggests, complicated subsystem teams are formed by a set of specialists who solve problems and provide support to stream-aligned teams;
• and enabling: finally, enabling teams take on the research and learning function, in order to recognize the best tools and methods for optimizing other teams' processes.

Did you notice how each of the team topologies complement each other? All, working together and playing their roles, makes processes and deliveries anticipated, without harming the quality of the final product.

Team Structures

For a DevOps transformation to really occur in the company, much more than hiring an engineer and adding tools is necessary.

All teams need to be reevaluated and structured correctly, according to the company's level, products offered, and number of employees.

The truth is that each leader needs to understand that there is no standard classified as exemplary when the subject is human capital.

In each sector, goals, objectives, and tasks will be different, requiring a personalized organization and structuring.

The same happens with DevOps development teams: each one is unique and has its own particularities.

What are the DevOps tools?

Each stage of a DevOps project lifecycle requires a different execution tool. From tools for clear communication, to automation and testing tools are all welcome.

The secret when establishing DevOps tools is to choose those classified as open, that is, that allow integration with third-party instruments.

This way, connection is facilitated and time is optimized, avoiding future incompatibility and restriction problems.

To make understanding easier, consider some recommended tools for each stage:

• planning and information sharing: Slack or Confluence;
• building: Docker (what is docker and learn about docker commands here), Terraform or GitHub;
• integration: AWS or Bitbucket;
• testing: Jira Software;
• operations, monitoring, and feedback: Appdynamics, Slack or GetFeedback;

All these tools are just suggestions and can be replaced by similar ones, with similar functionalities.

The important thing is knowing how to use the tools in favor of agile execution and transparent communication between collaborators.

Career as a DevOps Engineer

Now that you understand everything about how DevOps works, from concepts to tools, you must be curious about a career as a DevOps Engineer, right?

If so, know that this curiosity is totally understandable, since DevOps engineers are increasingly sought after and well paid in the job market. 

Practically every large institution today has at least one DevOps engineer on their team, and the average salary of this professional in the United States is around $111,000 per year. 

Roles and responsibilities

The day-to-day of a DevOps engineer revolves around paying attention to how processes are done and identifying points of improvement, whether through the implementation of new tools or processes. 

As mentioned earlier, the DevOps engineer is also responsible for joining the development and operations teams, integrating them and maintaining their balance.

Important skills

One of the prerequisites for becoming a DevOps engineer is having in-depth knowledge of IT and systems development, as well as the lifecycle of each project in the field. 

Other knowledge required of this professional includes:

• programming languages;
• basic knowledge of Linux;
• source code management;
• automation tools and cloud systems;
• solution development;
• and other topics related to delivery and monitoring.

To work in the field, some certifications are needed, which you can choose from:

• postgraduate programs in DevOps;
• DevOps Engineer course;
• Docker Certified Associate (DCA) Certification Training Course;
• and many others available. 

Other roles and positions in DevOps

The professional who specializes in DevOps development doesn't just need to work as a company engineer, there are several other possible paths. 

Some of these include:

• software tester;
• integration specialist;
• release manager;
• DevOps architect and many others.

How to start a career in DevOps?

If you already work in IT, migrating to DevOps development won't be that difficult. Just consume a lot of content about the topic and, mainly, study software development and master open-source systems like Linux. 

Discovering how to learn Linux is the easiest task of all: just access the tips we posted here on Certificação Linux! 

It's also interesting to follow international blogs, study through DevOps development courses with someone who knows the subject, and practice a lot before deciding to take one of the certifications mentioned above. 

After all, you want to become a professional and succeed at work, right?

Enhance your skills with the best DevOps courses

Photo: Pexels | Study to enhance your DevOps skills. 

There are many interesting DevOps development courses on the market. 

One of the best options is the Docker online course from Certificação Linux. In it, the professional studying the field will learn to use Docker, an open-source partitioning system or container. 

Getting familiar with this system is essential for anyone who wants to work as a DevOps engineer, since it will be part of your routine work. 

Check out the Docker for DevOps Course from Certificação Linux!

Conclusion

Did you see how understanding what DevOps development is, how it works, and how to enter this market isn't that difficult?

We hope the topic is clear to you! If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments, and our specialized team will respond as soon as possible!