‘DevOoops’ Moves: Poorly Defined KPIs
DevOps’ ultimate aim is to create efficiencies in the software delivery process. But, it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes DevOps initiatives lead to mistakes—something we lovingly call a “DevOoops.” CloudBees recently polled some colleagues and came up with five examples of a DevOoops in action. The following is a discussion submitted by product […]
DevOps Disillusionment? 4 Behaviors to Get Your Team to the Other Side
For most teams, the adoption of DevOps and an agile mindset involves many twists and turns on the path to maturity. It’s not uncommon for teams to experience a “trough of disillusionment” period as: Initial euphoria and “us-against-the-world” team mentality ushered in by adoption of new work patterns wanes with time. Client demands and pressures […]
DevOoops Moves: Failure to Address Organizational Blockers
DevOps’ aim is to create efficiencies in the software delivery process. But, it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes DevOps initiatives lead to mistakes—something we lovingly call a “DevOoops.” CloudBees recently polled some colleagues and came up with five examples of a DevOoops in action. Following is a discussion submitted by consultant Viktor Farcic […]
Is Your Organization ‘Fit for the Future’?
Takeaways from a recent conference suggest more work is needed in DevOps adoption among organizations This was a question explored by CIO Platform Nederland and the DevOps Agile Skills Association (DASA) in a recent event I attended, hosted by Transavia. Many organizations have already embarked or are about to embark upon Agile transformation initiatives, driven […]
SolarWinds Survey Surfaces DevOps Disconnects
A survey of 336 developers, web product managers and DevOps practitioners published by SolarWinds, a provider of IT management tools, finds they spend most of their time troubleshooting applications—so much so that there is little time for strategic projects such as transitioning to DevOps practices. Joe Kim, executive vice president and global chief technology officer […]
Implementing DevOps? Start with a Strategy
Organizations today are focused on improving the IT delivery process and taking it to the next level. DevOps plays a key role in achieving this goal, if it’s done right. But while the concept of DevOps is not new—it’s more than a decade old—a significant percentage of organizations have not yet implemented or are facing […]
DevOps Video Chat: DevOps Transformation with Tasktop’s Carmen DeArdo
Carmen DeArdo is well-known in the DevOps space mostly because of his work at Nationwide, where he was DevOps leader and technology director. In August of last year, Carmen moved to Tasktop, where he works with other DevOps luminaries Mik Kersten and Dominica DeGrandis, helping organizations along their transformational journeys. In this DevOps Video Chat, […]
7 DevOps Lessons in 2018: The Path to DevOps Success in 2019
We all learn from mistakes, right? But it would be better if we learned faster and didn’t repeat them in our future exercises. And this is exactly what we will discuss here in this blog. For a while now, we’ve been overwhelmed by the idea of the DevOps principle. We love how the collaboration between […]
DevOps: The Ultimate Way to Break Down Silos
Let’s imagine Jim works on the development team for a food company and his colleague, Julie, works on the operations team. On a daily basis, Jim focuses on analyzing users’ needs, testing and developing software, while Judy manages IT infrastructure and policies. Although they share the responsibility of software deployments and application support, Judy and […]
Should Your Company Hire Remote Full-Stack Developers?
Is your company seeking to hire a qualified full-stack developer? It seems like an easy enough task—create a job listing, read resumes, conduct technical interviews and make the hire. Finding engineers who understand every layer of the stack is difficult, however. Companies compete for the best and brightest full-stack developers and, unfortunately, they are in […]
Culture, Not Changing Much in DevOps
One of the things that has bemused me from day one of the DevOps movement is how culture is viewed with an odd dichotomy. It is simultaneously DevOps’ greatest strength and its greatest weakness. Of course, there is a simple and reasonable explanation for this phenomenon. DevOps wants to change culture. Cultures that are resistant […]
Demystifying Crucial Phases of Project Management
With competition becoming more intense for development companies, project management is becoming a more integral part of every project. It’s no longer limited to the actual creation of a new project. Now, it’s about planning, communicating, collaborating and analyzing. With so many moving parts, it’s difficult to understand all of the important phases of project […]
The Third Way of DevOps: Stacking the Cards in Your Favor
In the Third Way of DevOps, change is as much attitude as it is behavior In our first post, “The Third Way of DevOps – From Knowing to Being,” we shared our thoughts on effectively applying knowledge to put the Three Ways of DevOps into practice. This blog explores a complementary dimension: How to build […]
DevOps and Collaboration: Fraternizing with the Enemy?
DevOps is all about collaboration, we hear. “You must collaborate,” say managers initiating DevOps adoption programs. HR make new posters declaring the corporate values “We value Collaboration & Teamwork.” Can’t fail! Then when it appears not to be as effective as we had hoped we tell teams they are “Empowered” to collaborate. Blank stares! When […]
The Third Way of DevOps: From Knowing to Being
Why is the Third Way of DevOps so difficult to master? We all know the feeling. You’ve seen an opportunity to improve things and genuinely want to do something about is. But you soon feel the clarity and anticipation draining out of you. First there’s the pressure of the day job. Then there’s the inertia […]
Software Delivery: Shaking Loose of a Local Optimum
This is an article about software delivery, that magical or onerous field between pushing code to version control and using it in production. Why does software delivery matter? Because software matters, and because software developers matter. I don’t want my software delivery to get out of the way; I want it to make me a […]
Roadblocks to Successful DevOps Often Human, Not Technical
Usually, when people talk about DevOps, they focus on the technical aspects. However, in my experience we need to highlight what lies behind technology: the people. To effectively implement DevOps, we have to understand that many obstacles are not technical, but human. In working with various organizations in their DevOps journeys, I have seen six […]
Too Many Projects: Breaking Initiative Overload
Initiative overload. Those words send a chill down the spine of IT leaders everywhere. Not only are overloaded teams juggling too many projects, morale is usually low, with long hours every week and no end in sight. Yet, leaders can’t arbitrarily kill or stall projects without suffering blowback from somewhere. If you’ve been tapped to […]
Psychological Theories Behind Agile Software Development
As a software engineer who spent nearly 20 years working in social services—including working in institutions such as the U.S. Peace Corps, Child Protective Services, Chicago public schools and for governmental agencies in probation and parole programs—before making the leap into Silicon Valley, I found what helped ease my transition were my team’s retrospective meetings […]
Life and Death in the Age of Automation
Has automation changed the way we perceive interaction with others? A few weeks back I got an email from an old friend, Jim. Typically, that’s no big deal; I get emails from old friends all the time. Except, in this case, it was different. According to a posting on Facebook, Jim passed away about a […]
DevOps is Failing, But Here’s How to Succeed
As the Data Economy continues to gain momentum, many companies have turned to DevOps in hopes of achieving agility and velocity to compete and win. Whereas it’s no secret that DevOps can have a major impact on agility, what’s not widely known is that most DevOps projects actually fail. In fact, a simple search of […]
Steps on the Journey to DevOps
There was a time when people thought DevOps was a simple movement that didn’t need to be defined. I have always been told that big leaps won’t get you to your destination immediately, but little steps will get you there one day. For DevOps, the day has come, gaining mindshare among organizations and given importance […]
How to Fix ‘Dark Debt’ in Your IT Organization’s Culture
Poor decisions, bad metrics, lack of communication can accrue dark debt in any company Buying a low-quality microwave meal from a gas station, kicking a sock under the bed before guests arrive, jaywalking … We all take shortcuts. But unlike enterprise software delivery, these decisions rarely cause any collateral damage. The ramifications of taking shortcuts […]