defining devops - exeterstudios.com · web viewthe hard truth is that the word devops is an...

DevOps & Agile Services WhitepaperBusiness White Paper

DevOpsA Modern Business Strategy

Authors: Jonathan McAllister

Copyright 2017 Exeter Studios LLC – For Public ReleaseExeter Studios – ExeterStudios.com


1 Defining DevOpsDevOps is a tantalizing solution to traditionally convoluted and expensive software build, test, delivery and release activities. Recently, DevOps has achieved much of the same recognition in software and technology as Henry Ford’s assembly line did during the manufacturing days of old.

Expensive development activities and unknown release dates have plagued the software engineering and technology industry for years and cost companies billions of dollars. Over the last few years the implementation of “DevOps” has reshaped the way some organizations conduct their release activities. As a result, these organizations have seen massive revenue growth.

Companies such as Etsy, Twitter, Netflix, and others have seen drastic improvements in their release process and as a result have raked in huge profits. Etsy went from 2.3 million in gross revenue in 2012 to 2.388 billion by 2015 [YCharts source]. The idea that there is some magic bullet or new famed technology solution that fundamentally improve the way an organization develops and releases software can be simultaneously exciting and cause for concern. This raises the obvious question that of DevOps has transformed these organizations, why isn’t everyone doing it? Let’s explore.

A quick google search for the term “DevOps” yields over 8,260,000 results. Some say it’s a cultural change, some say it’s a job title, while others say it’s a new word for an operation or NOC engineer. The hard truth is that the word DevOps is an equally perplexing term as it is valuable. Its perplexing because, there are few definitive sources of truth for defining DevOps and even fewer organizations that implement it to provide business value. This paper aims to clarify some of the confusions around DevOps and provide some insights into organizations that have seen tangible revenue improvements as a result.

2 Does my organization want DevOps?Modern business is a constant cat and mouse competition. Leaders in their vertical markets are constantly watching their back to determine how close the competition is, and the competition is ALWAYS looking at the front runner to see how to take their place. One of the fundamental constructs of business is strategy and velocity. For example, if the sales organization can outsell the competition because their product is superior in feature set and quality, the competition can only hope to copy that implementation.

Delivering competitive software features quickly to potential customers helps keep the attrition of existing customers low and procurement of new accounts high. This gives the organization a competitive edge against the other players in the market space.



3 Can we just hire a DevOp?The obvious implementation solution for DevOps is to simply pay surface level homage to the concept. Many organizations try to hire a DevOps engineer and call it a day! Unfortunately, this approach is only going to confuse the situation and cost the organization more capitol. This is because DevOps is greater than one person.

Organizations that are paying homage to DevOps are everywhere, but DevOps implementations that result in tangible revenue impacts are much harder to find. This is because achieving a real ROI from a DevOps implementation requires a candid review of the organizations processes and methodologies, and an encouragement of teams to alter their ways to improve collaboration, automation, measurement, and sharing [CAMS].

To go back to the original question proposed: “can we just hire a DevOp?” the short answer is NO. An organization cannot hire one person and expect a fundamental transformation of business processes and collaborative efforts. Instead DevOps implementations need to be a business decision that includes a realistic evaluation or People, and Process.

4 What is DevOps?The implementation of a DevOps oriented organization begins at the top. The executive management team MUST be aligned with the overarching constructs of DevOps itself and see the long game of implementing such a solution. The general approach to DevOps is CAMS: Culture, Automation, Measurement and Sharing. The following diagram should help describe this approach a bit better.


defining devops - exeterstudios.com · web viewthe hard truth is that the word devops is an...

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