Coined in 2009, DevOps still keeps the door open for misconceptions and guesswork.
Most companies attest to the fact that DevOps is a set of practices to improve the efficiency of software development and operation processes through their continuous integration.
This way, teams can build, test, and ship software faster and more reliably. While this is certainly true, it’s not enough to parse the term to get a full picture.
The equivocal interpretation stirs up lots of legends that swirl around the DevOps methodology and impact how DevOps operates within a team or company.
Today, we are debunking some of the most popular myths that materialize in the form of fundamental misconceptions and undermine the true value of DevOps.
Let’s get into it.
5 Common DevOps Falsehoods
1. ‘DevOps is a Set of Automated Tools’
Buying tools does not equal doing DevOps.
At the very heart of this methodology lies the essential human element and collaboration that bridges the gap so that teams can ship better software in the fastest time.
Hence, JIRA, GitHub, and Docker will prove effective only if your team understands how to optimize them within the DevOps framework.
2. ‘Software Engineers Need a DevOps Certificate’
No, they don’t. As we’ve stated above, DevOps is all about collaboration. It means that all techies are certified in DevOps a priori, and even if there did exist such a thing as a DevOps certification, it’d have nothing to do with debugging, it would rather be to cultivate your collaboration and social skills.
3. ‘You have to Get to CI/CD Right Away’
Embracing continuous integration and continuous delivery is a strategic journey that takes some time and effort. Even more so, DevOps does not always presuppose CI/CD, as this is not a binary relationship.
Enhancing your team culture that has a direct impact on building and maintaining the software and infrastructure, along with the propping units like sales and marketing, should be your priority.
4. ‘DevOps is Meant for Engineering and Operations’
Although DevOps in its purest form is geared towards engineers and operators, nontechnical units can be converted as well. As this methodology can be applied unilaterally to amplify the entire organization, virtually everyone responsible for the delivery of software has a stake in it.
Whether it’s tech support or consulting engagements, every team can benefit from the importance of creating a culture of automation, sharing, and measurement.
5. ‘You can’t Use DevOps Without the Cloud’
The cloud is this mythical creature that takes different forms depending on whether you are an engineer, salesperson, or something else.
And although the cloud technology does enable teams to dynamically provision infrastructure resources and acquire test environments, it doesn’t necessarily go hand in hand with the DevOps approach.
A virtualized environment is not required to implement DevOps practices, as long as a team follows viable processes for obtaining resources to deploy and test application changes. Thus, you can literally run on bare metal and reap DevOps benefits.
The Final Word
We hope this article helped bust some of the most popular DevOps myths that you might have been privy to believe.
Don’t allow the misconceptions around DevOps to halt the progress of your team. Implementing DevOps can help your company boost business efficiency, employee collaboration and communication, while also providing problem-solving abilities.
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