DevOps Cultural Shift
DevOps is not a destination, but a journey of (1) constant improvement of tools, (2) sharing responsibility as a team culture, and (3) organizational practices that encourage quick deployments. If you’re new to DevOps, start by orienting your goals to deliver value to customers. As you mature, add automation to your tools and processes. And finally, when your team becomes advanced practitioners, add monitoring, measuring, and improving on the right things.
Many organizations have already developed Agile practices, breaking down silos between requirements and development – or, more specifically, end users’ requirements and developers. DevOps aims to solve another issue – removing silos and encouraging collaboration between development work and ongoing operations. DevOps combines new operations tools established and agile engineering practices along with increased collaboration between the roles of development and operations. There are some important cultural shifts within teams, and, at organizational level, that support this collaboration.

DevOps Culture
DevOps is a set of practices with the goal of making the development lifecycle of a system – a software, an application, an update – shorter and better in terms of quality, as it increases reliability in terms of uptime or performance, for example. It combines software development and IT operations departments to provide a continuous delivery of improvements to businesses systems, applications and environments required by business users.
DevOps came to be in late 2000s, when both the development and operations communities realized they had to let go of the traditional software development approach and start to have a unified department, so they could deliver faster and better systems to customers. The DevOps approach aimed to connect the skills from both groups, maximizing the positive outcome of every delivery.
In a DevOps culture, shared responsibility is encouraged through closer collaboration. New types of roles are required to keep development teams engaged throughout the operation and maintenance of a system. If silos are broken, developers share the responsibility of looking after a system over its entire lifetime. Developers start to identify ways to simplify deployment and improve performance logging.
Conversely, operations staff also have an opportunity to share responsibility through working with developers to better understand business requirements and what the end users need. Shared responsibility begins with an increased awareness from developers of operational concerns (such as deployment and monitoring) and the adoption of new automation tools and practices by operations staff.
DevOps culture blurs the line between the roles of developer and operations staff and may eventually eliminate the distinction. Understanding this means that some organizational shifts are needed to align operational structures to this new culture.
Another organizational shift is a move towards more autonomous teams. Developers and operations staff make decisions and apply changes without involving unnecessary complex decision-making processes. This means trusting teams and allowing them to take responsibility for outcomes. It’s a fundamental shift in the way risk is managed.
Without manual sign-off processes, a team can focus on results by automating deployments, speeding up their testing cycle, and ensuring system stability over the long term.
Empowered teams ensure that changes in production are quality changes and have been reviewed by cross-functional teams like performance and security. Moving towards continuous deployment / continuous improvements which are regular, low-risk deployments.
With these team culture and organizational structure shifts – teams are then best able to take advantage of automation – the cornerstone of DevOps. Automating tasks such as testing, configuration and deployments allows your team to focus on other valuable activities.
A DevOps toolchain is a collection of tools, often from a variety of vendors, that operate as an integrated unit to design, build, test, manage, measure, and operate software and systems. Often, organizations and teams need to experiment with different combinations of tools to find the right toolchain – but the cultural shift is the most important starting point.
An extension of Agile, DevOps built a culture where developers are able to understand users’ requirements and needs better, delivering applications faster and with better quality by following a set of principles that make it all possible:
Collaboration, Automation, Continuous Improvement, Customer-centric Action and Create-with-the-end-in- mind. These are the key principles of a DevOps culture.
Collaboration is, by far, the most important one – development and operations come together as one team, collaborating throughout the entire lifecycle of an application.
In this new outlook on software development lifecycle, Automation is an essential requirement, that must be done as much as possible for the sake of testing and deploying the new developed features.
Thanks to it, team productivity increases, and human errors decrease with the help of Continuous Integration and Deployment. In this process, teams improve constantly throughout iterations, responding to feedback much faster.
With Automation, comes Continuous Improvement – a part of Agile practices, it focuses on experimenting and optimizing the system to produce a fast and easy delivery with minimum waste.
This way, updates can be pushed by teams much earlier, bringing more customer value to what is being produced.
Thanks to these constant and short feedbacks, DevOps teams are able to always be centered around user needs. Customer-centric Action is another key point of DevOps – developers make use of rapid deployment and are able to see how users interact with the system, allowing them to have insights on what to improve in the future.
Create-with-the-end-in-mind is all about understanding the needs of the customers and producing services that solve any coming issue. This key principle focuses on the deep understanding developers should have regarding the application – from the moment the system is created up until when it is finally implemented.
However, as it is with many things in this world, there are the good and the bad sides. As much of a great strategy as it is, the challenges of DevOps are still there. The roadblock is adaptation – teams need to understand DevOps and adapt to it efficiently – even if few people or smaller teams understand it and implement it alone, their success will be a demonstration of what DevOps can do to an organization and set the example for the other teams.
If, by any chance, team members were already siloed for whatever reason before DevOps was implemented, it will be difficult to establish solid connections among them. Jumping straight to tools without first changing this internal culture also turns out to be an issue – the foundation needs to be well built first before other steps are put into practice.
Other points to consider before transitioning to a DevOps culture are related to open communication, normalization of mistakes, continuous integration and delivery, and a new mindset and new toolchain.
Open communication is essential for a team to excel on their cultural shift, deliver requirements faster and run iterations efficiently – when developers write and deploy code, open communication allows them to avoid mistakes.
However, errors are common and can still happen regardless. Teams can put a lot of pressure on themselves in order to meet criteria but, by following perfection incessantly, it will certainly be difficult to find new approaches to solve issues or develop new features. A DevOps team should not fear mistakes! We all commit errors, and developers are no exception.
The benefits DevOps brings to a company and its team are cultural, technical and business-oriented. As discussed, the cultural benefits are related to customer satisfaction, tied up with the efficiency of a DevOps team. The technical benefits are all about why DevOps was brought to life in the first place – reduce complexity, fasten systems’ lifecycles, provide higher quality and constant delivery. On the business aspect, DevOps offers better collaboration and transparency among team members.
DevOps is a cultural shift where teams embrace a software engineering culture, workflow, and toolset that elevates operational requirements to the same level of importance as architecture, design, and development.
DevOps can be a great change of scenery and habits for teams to get used to, as fully embracing such practices requires a shift of how people use to work – DevOps is a cultural shift, after all! Change can be a difficult path to take, but necessary anyways.
If the goals and objectives a business has in regard to this change are not communicated clearly, it can be difficult for a team to put in the work efficiently. Once the benefits of DevOps are communicated and understood, then the cultural shift can not only be implemented, but also thrive.
When DevOps is successfully implemented in an organization, collaboration, communication and transparency among a team increases – making a company succeed in all its goals.
What Are DevOps Tools
DevOps tools are defined as a set of practices that combines software development and IT operations. It is complementary with Agile and aims to shorten the systems’ development lifecycle and provide continuous delivery with high software quality.
Since DevOps is a cultural shift where development and operations work as an integrated unit, there isn’t a single tool that enables DevOps principles and practices. Instead, DevOps entails changing the siloed process of programmers writing application code and “throwing it over the wall” to an operations team who deploys and operates the application. The DevOps approach entails development and operations working together throughout the entire lifecycle of a project.
Continuous Integration and Delivery are essential steps of a DevOps culture. Integration automates code changes in a project, extending it throughout an entire organization. Delivery brings different teams together to bring a product to life. Continuous Deployment is not very used in smaller companies, however still important – such code changes are deployed to production, giving teams the chance to attend to customers’ demands faster.
It is important to understand each phase of the system’s lifecycle:
Continuous Integration
Integration to code changes is automated in this phase, throughout an entire organization – and not just development. This way, different teams can coordinate when different features are to be launched, which fixes must be done and who is responsible for what.
Continuous Delivery
This process permits the code changes to be deployed, either in bits and pieces to customers or hidden, being able to move around easily regardless. With this, a team can easily see market and customers’ demands, and respond to them by deploying features that were validated thanks to their feedback.

With an updated toolchain, it is no secret that teams can perform the different stages of DevOps better. However, software that supports Continuous Integration and Deployment is of utmost importance. Once there is a workflow that tests and deploys applications codes efficiently, based on the demands of the market, then it becomes clear for a team to see the benefits DevOps practices can present them with.
For a DevOps team, having a toolchain that is in accordance with all the different phases of the software’s lifecycle is essential. But that is not all that has to be considered – organizations must provide their teams with tools that will increase their collaboration and improve automation so the software monitoring can happen faster. A toolchain can either be open, customized for the needs of a team within different tools, or all-in-one – offering a solution that does not need to integrate with others.
- Version Control
- Container Management
- Performance Monitoring
- Deployment
- Configuration Management
- Deployment Automation
With features, come changes to computers and everything that is stored on them – programs, document folders and files, large websites, etc. Any of these changes is automatically tracked, and their access can be given to many clients, on what is known as a centralized version. It is easy to understand and to get started in to and possess more control over users.
A decentralized version offers a repository copy for each user, which reduces conflict and, consequently, is faster and does not require the need for a server. It also has a more detailed tracking and a reliable merging of code.
Container Management is the process for automating containers – from their creation to their deployment and scaling stages. Containers are “packages” from an app and its dependencies all together – in a “container”, it becomes easy to manage an app and its develop and deployment. Containers are easy to set up and administer. At a large scale, Container Management facilitates the addition and organization of several of these apps simultaneously.
In this phase, tools are used to analyze how applications are running in the cloud. Pretty straightforward, this step is for teams to trace and fix any irregularities with infrastructure in the clouds.
It releases code for automated testing and production. When teams are aware of fixes and features, they can deploy those faster, consequently making updates available to users frequently and, therefore, increasing the value of the product.
This management makes sure systems are consistent and performing well as they should, despite of any changes or updates that might be tracked or controlled.
This step allows organizations to release features faster while limiting human intervention in the software. Applications can be deployed within the process, developed and modeled across different environments in deployment and production.
Continuous Integration, as pointed out, is the very first step of the process, and many tools used for it are also used for the second step – Continuous Delivery. The tool more commonly used is Jenkins. This automation server is easy to install, supports build-up steps and has a user-friendly interface. Another good server is Git, used for different stages of development.
Version Control has tools for its different models – centralized and decentralized. When centralized, there’s only one repository where every user has access to, and the tool Subversion is a good option for it due to being simple to use. If a company opts to have a decentralized version control (meaning several copies of the repository are available individually), the most used tools are Mercurial and Git.
The most common Container Management tool is Kubernetes. It manages the passwords, tokens and encrypted connections from an organization. This tool is easy and simple to use, and became popular once DevOps started to be embraced.
In Performance Monitoring, Application Performance Monitoring (APM) is the name given to the industry responsible for monitoring the cloud, by making use of a number of tools that support code-level performance, software programs, monitor user-experience, tracks database operations – and so on. A few examples of tools are: Traceview, Datadog APM, Opsview, Dynatrace, and others.
For the Deployment stage, it is important for a team to possess tools that will smooth updated and distribution in the software, so developers can focus more on other relevant tasks, changes or projects. Jenkins also enters in this stage, as it is easy to set-up. Another good tool is AWS, developed by Amazon – it offers rapid deployments, is easy to launch, and works well with any application.
In Configuration Management and its role of making sure system changes are up and running smoothly, tools must make deployment run faster and remove margin for human error. Some examples of tools include: CFEngine, SolarWinds and Puppet – they all are open-source and easy to understand.
And, finally, Deployment Automation. This final step of a system’s lifecycle requires tools that allow teams to automate within the system’s lifecycle and eliminate silos with faster deployments. Some examples of tools are Jenkins once again, along with BuildMaster, IBM’s Urban Code, or Amazon’s AWS.
By choosing its DevOps toolchain, an organization can address the goals of each phase of a system’s lifecycle. The different tools required for each different step are there to plan, build, monitor and operate, and provide continuous feedback and CI/CD.
When a team goes through these different phases of planning well how a system’s lifecycle is to be built, monitored and finally operated thanks to customer feedback that allows to faster integration and deployment – that is when an organization know it has implemented DevOps effectively.
The benefits DevOps brings to a company and its team are cultural, technical and business-oriented. As discussed, the cultural benefits are related to customer satisfaction, tied up with the efficiency of a DevOps team. The technical benefits are all about why DevOps was brought to life in the first place – reduce complexity, fasten systems’ lifecycles, provide higher quality and constant delivery. On the business aspect, DevOps offers better collaboration and transparency among team members.
DevOps is a cultural shift where teams embrace a software engineering culture, workflow, and toolset that elevates operational requirements to the same level of importance as architecture, design, and development.
DevOps can be a great change of scenery and habits for teams to get used to, as fully embracing such practices requires a shift of how people use to work – DevOps is a cultural shift, after all! Change can be a difficult path to take, but necessary anyways. If the goals and objectives a business has in regard to this change are not communicated clearly, it can be difficult for a team to put in the work efficiently. Once the benefits of DevOps are communicated and understood, then the cultural shift can not only be implemented, but also thrive.
When DevOps is successfully implemented in an organization, collaboration, communication and transparency among a team increases – making a company succeed in all its goals.
How Organizations Use DevOps
DevOps is a broad approach to work in general, even though it is often thought of as just an IT term. In IT terminology, Development is where the work starts – this could be sales or the trading floor at an investment brokerage. And Operations is where the work is managed and applied. In this day and age, any work is managed by IT Systems.
Ever since DevOps teams popped up in several major companies in the late 2000s, DevOps has become more and more popular among small, medium and big-sized organizations that want to be more responsive to market and business goals. DevOps allows the quicker realization of any business goals or changes.
An extension of Agile practices, the DevOps mentality has gained great importance for organizations that want to quickly address any system issues from a customer perspective (be it internal or external), ensuring greater user satisfaction. Simultaneously, new products or features desired by users can also be deployed quickly.
Companies adopt DevOps with the goal of improving their software development, making their systems faster and better, with higher quality and speed. They use DevOps tools that focus either on something specific, or many different functions – and some even create their own tools to deploy or monitor or manage. It is very common for a number of organizations to use tool-platforms that were developed by other companies who fully transitioned to DevOps.
Examples: Amazon, Netflix, Sony, NASA, Target, Nordstrom, Adobe, Facebook, Walmart.
Some of these companies faced problems until they solved them with automation, or deployment, or cloud infrastructure. Big companies adopted DevOps for different reasons and to fix different issues. The final result has been organizations that, over the years, completed their digital transformation to its full potential and now provide support for other organizations that also want to adopt DevOps – making use of tools throughout the different stages they are currently at.
With the help of a DevOps software toolchain, many organizations were able to transition to DevOps seamlessly. But how did they do it? How did big corporations implement DevOps, and how can many others do the same?
The reason is simple – DevOps possesses strategies for short development cycles, which allows for more frequent deployments and, consequently, a faster time to market. With this back-and-forth process also comes a lot of communication and collaboration among team members, which can change the culture of a company.
Overall, it becomes easier for an organization to accomplish its goals once DevOps is being effectively used.
How Companies Are Implementing DevOps
Walmart makes use of DevOps to accomplish goals through a cloud-based technology known as “OneOps”. It allows the team to speed deployment. It all started when their competition with Amazon became very challenging, and the enterprise struggled to be a leader in the retail industry.
In 2011, they founded WalmartLabs as a development branch. WalmartLabs developed OneOps and worked with both public and private platforms, integrating configuration management and identity services, and finally opening itself to the public in 2016. Walmart continues to evolve in its Agile approach, and is working to develop its own cloud.
The production giant was struggling with its architecture and the large-scale of subscribers traffic – until it moved to an AWS cloud. Now, with a microservice architecture, Netflix was able to increase the pace of its engineering teams by separating them so they could build and deploy faster.
Their “Chaos Monkey” tool creates failures on purpose to test stability. This way, developers can work on the servers while fixing mistakes – and, when unexpected problems arrive, the company will be prepared. This is in fact a DevOps practice: making changes during the development process allows for resilient applications.
It is all thanks to the “Netflix Simian Army”. Hundreds of developers volunteered to create tools that would solve errors before subscribers could spot them, giving origin to the Simian Army. Netflix continues its input in automation, making use of DevOps and adopting new technologies to revolutionize the entertainment market.
A leader in online retail, Amazon migrated to cloud storage for its engineers to have more capacity to work. The platform used is AWS – Amazon Web Services. This invention saved money and revolutionized how continuous deployment works, as developers are able to deploy to any server they want, whenever they want. In a matter of seconds, Amazon was deploying new software after just one year of creating AWS.
AWS is the only way Amazon stores its data – on cloud rather than physically. Now, many other successful companies make use of AWS to store data.
Thanks to DevOps, Sony reduced its delivery time from months to minutes. This way, developers were able to focus on other features without many resources or expenses. This was possible thanks to a cloud system platform and the continuous delivery model Sony adopted.
It has not been so long since Adobe implemented DevOps. The industry, just like the others, transitioned to cloud services, and were able to perform minor software upgrades thanks to microservices containers and CI/CD. This allowed for faster delivery and simplified communication. The company makes use of Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins and Spinnaker tools, and also CloudMunch’s platform to automate deployments. With these changes, Adobe has been able to meet more than half of the development demands it needs.
How to Implement DevOps at Your Company
Implementing DevOps is far from being a complicated journey. However, it must be done correctly. Many companies who are starting their digital transformation shift towards DevOps often misinterpret the steps it takes to fully put DevOps into practice.
An organization must first take into consideration the state in which it is currently in, then implement a DevOps culture to define the process and also the toolchains to be used. The whole intent of DevOps is to have a delivery of software and applications that are fluid.
Here is a step-by-step guide to implement DevOps in any organization:
Analyze the company’s situation
Study the methods currently used in the organization. In order for them to be replaced, there has to be a solid understanding of where the company currently is and where it wants to go to, so the solutions can be well thought through.
Invest in a mindset change
It is no surprise that, for DevOps to be implemented, the team who will perform such practices must understand them first. Cooperation among team members must be improved through activities, training and available information that encourage collaboration and transparency.
Define the process
Start small – the goal is to attend to the ever- changing needs of customers and deploy applications fast and efficiently. Make sure the team is comfortable and understands the tasks and requirements well, so communication is bridged, and customer needs are met.
Select your toolchain
Choose tools that are compatible with your teams and their expertise. This way, conflicts are avoided, and the workflow becomes smooth because the tools used are compatible with each DevOps process and each pace and strategy from the team members.
Automate and deliver
Automation keeps up with the speed DevOps requires, and allows for changes and testing in code development and middleware – saving time and cost for a company. Once automation is done, continuous delivery takes place. A successful DevOps strategy has continuous delivery as a main factor – developers can identify defects and work on feedback.
Set metrics
DevOps is all about speed, quality and good performance. Therefore, it is necessary to have metrics so that teams can associate with business goals and improve with what is relevant. It is good to think about the financial situation of the company, as well as the customers and team innovation – but other important metrics are frequency of deployment, company objectives responsible with customers’ needs, and the time needed to recover from failure. With such metrics, organizations can have the data necessary to possess control over the software development stage.
Martin Cook
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