Why Unikernels Are Great for DevOps
DevOps tooling seems to be in a never-ending state of self-transformation. The continuing evolution of infrastructure and the tools that go with it are forever creating new ecosystems. On the infrastructure side, we saw VMWare, Citrix and other companies bring to market massive virtualization in the late ’90s and early ’00s. This, of course, prompted […]
5 Steps for Successful Continuous Testing Implementation
Continuous integration (CI) calls for code to be always working. Continuous delivery (CD) and continuous deployment mean that we must be able to roll out a working configuration to production at any time. As DevOps becomes the norm, bugs in production are now a developer’s personal problem. Developers (and their managers) want to know immediately […]
The Linux Foundation Launches Continuous Delivery Foundation
The Linux Foundation announced it will provide the home base for a vendor-neutral Continuous Delivery Foundation (CDF) committed to making it easier to build and reuse DevOps pipelines across multiple continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) platforms. The first projects to be hosted under the auspices of CDF, which was launched at the Open Source Leadership Summit […]
IBM Adds Automated Testing Tool for Mainframe to DevOps Portfolio
IBM has added an automated testing tool to the portfolio of DevOps tools it has developed for mainframes. Sanjay Chandru, director of Z DevOps for IBM, said IBM Z Open Unit Test adds a continuous testing capability to the continuous integration/continuous development (CI/CD) platform based on an instance of an open source Git repository developed […]
7 Signs You’re Mastering Continuous Integration
A majority of organizations think they are doing continuous integration (CI), yet when asked if they are following key practices of CI such as running tests to validate every build, many of them aren’t. Ask yourself the following: “Are we building our application with every change, or at least multiple times a day? Do we […]
451 Research Report Highlights Value of DevSecOps for the CI/CD Pipeline
One of the compelling benefits of DevOps for many organizations is speed. Between breaking down silos, streamlining processes and automating routine tasks, the process of developing and deploying software can be significantly faster. A new report from 451 Research and Synopsys, however, points out the value of incorporating DevSecOps in the equation, especially with continuous […]
Top 5 Best Practices for DevOps Monitoring
Today organizations are required to deliver on higher levels of customer satisfaction for their online services. Many, however, are forced to support these initiatives with an interrupt-driven approach as they react to fix things after they break. However, for a more proactive approach and to manage expected high levels of SLAs, organizations can opt to […]
Scaling DevOps at Pearson
Pearson might be one of the more influential companies you have never heard of. Its footprint in the educational publishing marketplace is expansive, and its scope was just one challenge when it made the move to DevOps. Sean D. Mack (@SeanDMackNYC) is formerly the VP of Operations and Application for Pearson. To give you an idea of […]
Differentiating Between CI Pipelines and DevOps Assembly Lines
“What’s in a name?” wrote the greatest Bard who ever lived. All I can say is, he lived in simpler times, when DevOps and the confusing world of continuous integration (CI), continuous deployment (CD), CI/CD, the other CD, application release automation (ARA), pipelines, assembly lines, etc., didn’t exist. The biggest challenge today is that vendors […]
Continuous Testing: Solving the Biggest DevOps Bottleneck
It’s time to start implementing the practices of Continuous Testing Earlier this year, Computing Magazine conducted a fascinating study around the adoption and benefits of DevOps in its DevOps Review 2017 publication. The findings that stood out most fascinating to me where around quality assurance and testing. In this survey, the question was asked, “Where […]
Get Ready to Become a Full-Spectrum Engineer
The more things change, the more they stay the same. In software development, change has been a constant. I’ve been a software engineer for more than 25 years and have had to morph, pivot and learn new things to remain current and in demand. Plus, the industry swings like a pendulum between the need for […]
Closing the Gap on Continuous Delivery Metrics that Matter
Management guru Peter Drucker once said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” I would take a step back and say, If you can’t measure it, you can’t get it off the ground. Many companies that I work with are amid digital transformation initiatives, such as the adoption of DevOps and continuous delivery. […]
Continuous Integration vs. Delivery vs. Deployment: What’s the Difference?
“Continuous” is one of the most popular words in the DevOps lexicon. What does it really mean, and what is the difference between continuous delivery, continuous deployment and continuous integration? Keep reading for some perspective. Like many technological concepts, continuous integration, continuous delivery and continuous deployment are terms that DevOps teams tend to use without […]
Don’t Leave Software Testers Out of DevOps
The term DevOps implies that software delivery is all about integrating the development and IT operations teams. But the software testing team is an important, if oft-overlooked, part of the picture. Here’s why. Could you deliver software continuously without involving the QA team in the continuous delivery pipeline? You could try, but it would probably […]
Continuous Integration vs. Continuous Delivery: There’s an Important Difference
If you read DevOps blogs today, it can be easy to assume that Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) are synonymous terms. People often use them that way. But that’s a mistake. As an example of conflation of the terms CI and CD, take this page, which purports to be a “history of CI/CD […]
How DevOps is Killing QA
If you work in software quality assurance (QA), it’s time to find a new job. The overall software development process has always consisted of the following core activities: Creating a requirements analysis; Producing a specification of the software artifact; Constructing the software; Investigating the quality of the product or service; Finding and fixing defects; then […]
What is a DevOps ‘Best Practice’?
In IT, we love our frameworks. Whether agile, ITIL, lean, cobit, six sigma or others, our thirst for “best practice” guidance seems to be unquenchable. The concept of a “best practice” is an enigma. Who decides if a practice is actually the best? And best for whom? While an “adopt and adapt” mentality is advocated […]
Test Better, Test Faster, Test Smarter
How do you balance the need to “go fast” with the need to test everything and deliver high-quality software? With applications the driving force in today’s economy, the quality and release cadence of your software are critical to your business and your bottom line. You want to get software updated in the hands of your […]
Optimizing an Effective CI/CD Pipeline
Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) are often cited as pillars of successful DevOps. To establish and optimize the CI/CD development model and reap the benefits, companies need to build an effective pipeline to automate their build, integration and testing processes. This requires architecting CI/CD with five key ingredients which, when combined effectively, operate as […]
DevOps and Continuous Delivery: Not the Same
DevOps and continuous delivery are the same thing, right? Far from it. We peer through the fog to understand the difference between the two related but distinct methodologies. We live in an era of apps. More and more of our personal, social and work life is governed by apps—communicating with one another through social apps, […]
The DevOps Equation: Agility + Empathy = Quality
I had the chance to catch up with Jeff Sussna (@JeffSussna), founder and principal of Ingineering.IT, ahead of his keynote address on continuous design, scheduled for DevOps Days Atlanta, April 26-27. He discussed the importance of designing for service, responding to the unexpected, and the importance of building empathy across teams. Derek Weeks (@weekstweets): Today I’m […]
DevOps in 2016: Mainstream Momentum Ahead
I believe that 2016 will be the year that DevOps takes mainstream foothold in the enterprise. And I base this assertion on seven sweeping changes that — from my vantage point — are taking hold and dramatically changing the digital world. The Job of IT Will Change From Infrastructure to Innovation. In the past, IT […]
To Be Continuous: Empathy in Software Development
Thanks for listening to To Be Continuous, a show about Continuous Delivery and software development hosted by Paul Biggar, Founder of CircleCI, and Edith Harbaugh, CEO of LaunchDarkly. In this segment of To Be Continuous, Edith Harbaugh and Paul Biggar talk with Sam Stokes about empathy in software development, how mini-services are the new microservices, and constantly updating software in […]