Introduction:

Unless you’re in the tech world, you probably have never heard of DevOps before. The word actually came into being in the late 2000’s and combines the words “development” and “operations”.  While this is a ground level, or even basement level, explanation, it is a good place to start.  Another good place is perhaps to tell you what it is not.

It is not a process.  It is not some new-fangled technology; nor is it something tangible that you can touch, smell or hear.  Rather it is a change in the philosophy of electronic technology which incorporates people and their culture, along with technology and strives to enable them to work together more efficiently.

Where did the term DevOps originate?

Keeping in mind that the word DevOps was developed to explain the collaborative aspect of development and operations, one must realize that many forward-thinking administrators who realized operations including many different genres would have to work together to keep the machinery of technology going.

It also includes Agile development. Well, what is that you may well ask.  It is really a canopy term used for a set of policies and procedures consisting of four key values and 12 principles intended to guide software development in a way that people can use it.

So, what is it?

It takes a close working relationship between all stakeholders to make a better product.  One key foundation is that anyone who is developing software should put the prospective client’s concern high on the priority list when it comes to that development.

While this may sound like it is something coined by a few geeky type people in a back room somewhere, it is not.  In fact, it came from the mainstream established IT community.  It proposes to incorporate operation and development methodology and make it the best practices for the group.

These goals include high-quality software, improved customer satisfaction, and faster releases of technology to those customers.

What lead to its Creation?

Like most things in life, it was the problems caused by the ineffective communication between all the stakeholders that lead to the term and concept.  Knowing that IT customers actually do like change, but when that change doesn’t work, whether it is new features, new services, new money coming in, then what is the use?

You can have the best idea for a new form of technology in the world, but if you cannot get the builders or creators on board, or it simply doesn’t work—what good is to anyone?  You probably have lost a lot of time and money you invest in the technology and all for nothing.

What do They do?

So, DevOps was created to set expectations and fundamental beliefs for all to follow.  They work together by collaborating within all the teams.  They develop automation for common and repeated processes so that attention can be paid to the higher priority work.  They strive to take feedback from others and measure whether it is valid or not.  Finally, they share the information with all the stakeholders so they can work together—no matter what skill or knowledge each possess—the make the product work and work well. DevOps is a principle, or a tool that helps everyone work together for the better product.