IDG Contributor Network: Visibility is key for devops and the hybrid cloud

Cloud has undoubtedly become a key component of successful business in recent years, especially when you consider the race to digitally transform. Across the globe, companies are moving their applications and services to the cloud and are consequently reaping the benefits of lower capex and opex as a result.

However, with this process, cloud migration is only a beginning for any organization’s digital transformation (DX) journey. If harnessed correctly, cloud is a pillar of innovation for DX, and can be a driving force for new business models and use cases that – even a few years ago – weren’t possible. No one knows this better than devops teams; these teams hold the line when it comes to continuous delivery and deployment, and it therefore stands to reason that devops play a crucial role in the digital transformation journey. In practice however, the decision makers in charge of cloud strategies are rarely those in the bowels of the ship.

Therefore, for a successful DX, you need a devops team that is agile, efficient, and able to produce a higher quality software at a higher speed, whilst working in a collaborative environment with quality assurance (QA), security, development and IT ops teams.

Devops grows like any other role within DX

At a high level, the role of devops in any company is to produce new software based on business needs at very high velocity, and within any constraints, at the highest quality possible. High speed is associated here with a continuous delivery pipeline which in extreme cases can potentially mean several new releases per day; requiring several cycles of code to be built, tested and integrated before deployment. High quality plays its role here by providing excellent customer experience based on responsive and reliable services with, where possible, virtually zero downtime.