DevOps as a service: everything you need to know is here

Since the cloud became a reality in the business environment, some assumptions such as agility and continuity of IT services have become within reach of all types of business. With this advent, functionalities such as cloud automation and virtualization of IT resources have materialized a new work methodology, called devops as a service.

In general terms, DevOps is an approximation of the software development and operation processes, reducing hand changes between these two areas, minimizing delivery failures and automating tests and deployment.

This new concept in IT governance is interesting for the current market, as it is aligned with the expectation of reducing customer response time and reducing costs.

Proof of this is its application in companies that already adopt the agile development philosophy and also the precepts of Bimodal IT, which combines the best and most productive in traditional IT with the benefits of disruptive techniques and innovative methods.

DevOps as a Service is inserted in this transformation barn of IT management standards, which has been configuring itself as an instrument to implement the strategic content that is implicit in IT, but which is not always recognized by other departments when models are applied. conventional.

This post discusses DevOps as a Service and intends to demonstrate the transformation that it can represent in the IT departments of companies. Pay attention to the concepts that support this new paradigm and see how the benefits of the model can elevate your company’s IT to a level of excellence. Good reading!

1. What is DevOps as a Service?

DevOps uses communication and automated processes to integrate programmers and IT infrastructure professionals, changing a reality that is usually critical in IT departments: the lack of interaction between development and operation teams.

In companies that frequently release software versions,  this reality is a problem and causes delays in deliveries and a sequence of errors that are often only noticed in a production environment, when the end customer is affected by a process that has already started badly. .

We’ve already mentioned that DevOps reduces the gap between development and operation, but we haven’t yet explained how this happens.

Well, the first point is that this action scheme has a multidisciplinary team, which uses automated tools to build codes, test, control incidents and solve problems in an integrated and synergistic flow.

But how can companies adhere to this style of management and conduction of IT processes and flows, without requiring the acquisition and maintenance of a robust technological park and without the need to hire a specialized team?

Well, the answer is: you just need to know how to take advantage of cloud resources! This is because when some change in IT requires investments that seem to transcend the company’s possibilities or burden the corporate budget too much, it is necessary to seek alternatives so as not to make the business unfeasible.

That’s where Cloud Computing comes in with all its wide range of possibilities. In the cloud, services, IT infrastructure, platforms for different needs, different software can be contracted and, behind all this, there will always be an experienced team maintained by the supplier.

If the IT manager is interested in implementing DevOps, but everything seems complicated at first, the ideal is also to go to the cloud, taking advantage of DevOps as a Service and the experience of providers that offer these resources in the market.

Imagine that the decision to adopt this model already exists, but that those responsible for the company’s IT don’t even know where to start: they don’t have the knowledge of the necessary adaptation to internal processes, they don’t have enough elements to dimension the necessary infrastructure, they know that their current team does not have the expertise to conduct processes in the DevOps mold.

And, worse, they know that there is no budget forecast to support the internalization of everything that is necessary for the “turn of the key”.

The way out of this situation is to seek DevOps as a Service, because the company will be able to count on an online platform that includes the functionalities, intelligence, services and equipment necessary for the alignment between development and operation to materialize.

In addition, highly trained professionals are on the other side of the provider, available to the customer to work on the entire conveyor belt and flows, intervening with specific knowledge to keep everything in full operation.

To understand a little more about what DevOps as a Service is, in practice, stay with us until the next topic!

2. What is its function and how does it work?

When a DevOps standard is contracted in the cloud, it means that a provider will make an entire infrastructure, processes, services and team available to the customer.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that a managed service for development teams is included, making it possible to build applications as well as run them. All this directly in the cloud, without encumbering the contractor’s own resources.

In this style of action, the provider’s team works closely and collaboratively with the client’s IT teams, guiding in-house professionals to maximize the benefits of DevOps as a Service.

In this dynamic, the search for efficiency and effectiveness is constant, using the best tools and processes so that both programming routines and system implementation are automated and optimized.

In this context, cloud automation is a constant, as a digital platform is offered to the customer to carry out all procedures in the development process and also in the deployment (or operation) process.

Thus, architects, developers and support specialists, made available by the supplier, end up becoming an extension of the customer’s IT team, having a way of working very closely and with virtually no distance between contractor and contractor.

So design, planning, implementation, configuration, incident handling, everything is done “four hands”, so that the client company can count on recommendations and improvements offered by the supplier company.

To summarize how DevOps works as a Service, it is worth highlighting some characteristics:

• traceability of all actions performed in software delivery;
• deploy , continuous integration and delivery;
• collaboration between professionals from the supplier and the customer to create a knowledge base and provide an agile and assertive solution to problems;
• adoption of a cloud automation toolchain and process simplification;
• complexity of the data flow is transparent, since there is automation of this management;
• embedded tools for testing modules and complete systems;
• intuitive interfaces to trigger routines, with no need to understand the code behind the tool;
• simplification of processes, with less bureaucratic and, consequently, less costly workflows;
• automated configuration and performance management with real-time monitoring;
• rationalization of processes, which become faster and more efficient, with a reduction in the delivery cycle;
• IT cost reduction , with better use of allocated resources;
• empowerment of IT teams, which start to act more strategically, with the exchange of experiences and knowledge between the company’s professionals and those of the supplier;
• scalability and elasticity, resulting from the provision of cloud resources according to the characteristics of the business, respecting seasonality and specific demands;
• orchestration layer for the use of programming interfaces that can be integrated with existing tools in the client’s IT sector.

3. What is the relationship between cloud automation and DevOps as a Service?

Everything mentioned as elements that make up the DevOps as a

Service model only exists thanks to cloud automation.

This still-emerging philosophy of application development and solution operation changes the old pattern of collaboration—which maintained an important gap between construction and operations. With DevOps there is an integration between responsibilities and knowledge, subsidized by an unprecedented automation of routines through virtual tools.

With this, it is possible to migrate the entire life cycle of an application to the cloud, involving code development, compilation, testing and deployment. This is what materializes the so-called continuous cloud delivery.

By transferring tools and processes for sequential deliveries in the cloud to a virtual platform, the foundation is ready for the company to adopt a flexible approach, which allows the development of products and services at the height of market demands.

Get a better understanding of how the cloud automation of various steps, routines and resources to enable DevOps as a Service!

3.1. building codes

A managed service is offered for code compilation, as well as execution of test projects to check the quality of the developed product.

In a cloud development module, customers access the online platform through encryption keys, which provides security to the process.

In addition, code builders offer scalability, expanding resources as needed and deploying different build versions concurrently. From this functionality, it is possible to compare tests in a production environment.

3.2. Library of templates and plugins

Usually extensive libraries of pre-built plugins are available so that the customer can only adjust some parameters and customize the code as needed.

This represents a gain in scale in terms of productivity and code quality, without the developer becoming immobilized, as he can customize the models and have control over the processes.

3.3. automatic deployment

The deploy module automatically delivers the built packages, with preconfigured parameters. This facilitates synchronizing builds so that updates occur concurrently.

This aspect is what materializes the desired continuous and scalable delivery model in the cloud, with stability and resource savings.

3.4. Environment monitoring

Integrated IT environment monitoring tools are another added value of cloud automation.

Factors such as performance and capacity are constantly monitored, based on SLAs (service levels) established in the contract, so that service continuity is always maintained within the standards desired by the customer.

This automation point is so important that any registration below the established rule usually represents a discount on payment to the supplier or the application of a contractual penalty.

3.5. infrastructure automation

DevOps tools create custom infrastructure resources to support development and operation needs.

This automatic provisioning reduces the possibility of equipment not being adequate to the needs of the business, which is constantly changing and presents new demands and challenges at all times.

This feature also brings scalability to IT processes, as resources are scaled at the same pace as the business expands or retracts.

4. What are the benefits of DevOps as a Service?

We have already mentioned that DevOps as a Service is an emerging but promising trend in the IT world. Now let’s demonstrate why it’s worth considering implementing the model to improve an organization’s IT governance and process.

4.1. Sophistication of software development

Application development gains in robustness and richness of functionality with cloud construction modules.

This is due to the availability of libraries and also to the possibility of taking advantage of the client’s legacy intelligence, so that the combination of the company’s installed capacity is not wasted to the detriment of the arrival of external reinforcement.

4.2. Simplified automation

Infrastructure management becomes automated, making the process more reliable and error-free. Some of the examples of automation are server virtualizations, patching operating systems remotely, and also generating reports.

4.3. continuous integration

DevOps has as one of its strongest characteristics the ability to constantly integrate the codes produced in packages by IT teams. The automation of tasks involving this integration is a benefit achieved from code validation tools for detecting possible errors.

4.4. Cloud server mirroring

The need to back up enterprise systems and business data is unquestionable, and DevOps as a Service addresses this need. The process offered includes backup automation, ensuring availability of IT services and business continuity, even if a disaster occurs.

4.5. Orchestration

Unlike automation, orchestration is a refined and refined way of automating steps.

The differential is in the control of the infrastructure involved, based on specific and specialized tools, with pre-defined standards for the precise activation of routines and procedures.

4.6. alert automation

It offers monitoring tools that can be programmed to trigger alerts whenever a previously mapped situation is reached. Thus, routines can be triggered automatically to correct problems or defects.

And, additionally, messages can be forwarded to analysts and IT managers, if additional measures or decisions are necessary.

4.7. full time support

When a supplier undertakes to deliver infrastructure and services to support the client’s business, the idea that it offers full time support is implicit , that is, 24 hours a day.

This is a characteristic of DevOps as a Service, which brings security and peace of mind to the contracting company and also allows for continuous improvement of the services offered.

4.8. Increase from TI via Outsourcing

Hiring cloud services through IT outsourcing has proven to be beneficial to companies, as they now have state-of-the-art technology, consolidated and modern datacenters, in addition to specialized teams.

In DevOps as a Service, this point is notorious, since collaboration between the supplier’s teams and the customer’s teams is intrinsic to the model, the combination of the provider’s physical resources with those of the contracting party, as well as the sharing of governance through monitoring performed on both sides, internal and external.

5. What metrics can confirm the power of DevOps as a Service?

When opting for the transition from a traditional IT or even a structure already in DevOps scheme, but without systematic use of the cloud, it is important that objective data answer whether the change to the cloud is being positive.

This is important because improvements are always possible from adaptations in processes and organizational culture , often neglected by IT managers. So it is worth paying attention to the critical points mapped throughout the implementation of the model based on DevOps as a Service.

In this context, some indicators can be established to indicate whether the new models of the operation process are showing the expected results.

Know some Key Performance Indicators – KPI most common in DevOps governance:

• average time to restore an IT service that is intermittent or unavailable;
• speed and frequency of deployment;
• uptime of systems (uptime), networks and applications;
• software verification speed;
• number of incidents per software version.

But since DevOps as a Service is an evolution of the DevOps concept, other elements can be measured, since cloud services add benefits proportional to the capacity of the provider’s infrastructure, as well as the expertise of its team placed at the customer’s service.

Along these lines, other statistics can be monitored to assess the level of improvement achieved, such as:

• gain in scale in development due to the existence of libraries that can be used and customized as needed;
• reduction of errors in codes, also due to the availability of builder modules and a collection of previously available plugins;
• improvements in application testing flows, based on the use of a robust online platform provided by the supplier;
• greater delivery speed and consequent reduction in customer response time, which is reinforced by the SLA established in the contract with the provider;
• improvement in the performance of IT teams;
• simplification of processes, based on the automation of tasks;
• reduction of handovers, since development and operation start to act in an integrated manner;
• reduction of bottlenecks in IT conveyor processes.

Monitoring these issues is relevant not only to make sure that the objectives of migrating to the new model are being achieved, but also to demonstrate to the entire company the value that an optimized IT can bring to the business as a whole.

6. What are the advantages of DevOps as a Service?

This post is not intended to be a definitive guide on DevOps as a Service, but it has brought an analysis of the scenarios that involve this model based on Cloud Computing to state that this trend is very positive for companies.

To reaffirm the gains that this cloud automation standard can bring to the management and conduction of IT processes, we list some more advantages of DevOps in the cloud:

• acceleration of deliveries in the IT area;
• raising the quality of IT products;
• better relationship between the development and operation areas;
• reduced IT costs;
• minimization of system errors and bugs;
• continuous integration and delivery;
• use of frameworks to standardize processes;
• Maximizing the results of IT teams.

Another positive point of these virtualization technologies is that they adhere to agile IT project management methods , allowing you to do more with less. It is true that the modernization of corporate IT goes through the cloud and this is a prerequisite to enable the digital transformation of business models.

It is in the wake of these changes that the DevOps originally established in the market has been modified from a merger with cloud-based architecture, bringing much more possibilities for improving IT services.

Thus, having processes and tools that automate infrastructure provisioning, creating compilations, running tests, producing reports and issuing alerts, is a big step towards innovating the IT sector and returning solutions to the business. more in line with your needs.

The fact is that DevOps as a Service improves the performance of software development and presents better ways to put new applications on the street, with superior quality that is easily perceived by the business stakeholders.

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