Integrating ARA into traditional RM
Application Release Automation (ARA) is terminology that includes several DevOps constructs from a singular, application-centric point of view. In essence, ARA implies the automation of a single app from build through deployment (even if that deployment is to production). Of course, embedded or implied in that automation terminology is build automation or construction; deployment automation, […]
Delivering DevOps’ Business Value
DevOps is an interesting space to be operating in right now. More than just culture or a set of tools and processes, DevOps delivers speed and agility that can be truly meaningful for the business. Unfortunately, for most large enterprises, the path to the benefits isn’t always well-known and isn’t assured. Over the last five […]
DevOps Chat: Steve Hazel, Sauce Labs
I recently had the chance to sit down and speak with Steve Hazel, CTO and co-founder of Sauce Labs. With so much being written and talked about the role of quality assurance (QA) and testing in a continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) world, it is good to hear from someone like Steve who is an actual […]
Q&A: Full City Tech’s Higbee on Culture, Part 2
In part one of this two-part Q&A we dug into Wes Higbee’s position on instilling a DevOps culture. Higbee, a developer and business consultant, continues his separation of wheat from chaff in the field of DevOps dreams. DevOps.com: How is automation, which is a focal point for DevOps, also a trap? Higbee: Focusing on the […]
Q&A: Full City Tech’s Higbee on Culture, Part 1
Every day, more people are hopping on the DevOps magic bus, drinking the spiked punch and singing “Kumbaya.” I imagined everyone I interviewed would offer tales of instilling this undefeatable, undeniable, brand-spanking-new rapid development culture. It was refreshing to discover that I was mistaken. Apparently, DevOps is just another methodology for accelerating business success—one for […]
Infrastructure-Testing Dominoes
Understanding the artifacts of a given technology component is critical to an enterprise-class DevOps service offering. Second-most critical is understanding the dependencies between given components. Testing helps illuminate those dependencies. For example, let’s assume I have a server running the previous version of the Windows operating system (OS) that I now want to upgrade to […]
Dashboards from Hell
Even organizations with a mature DevOps services model inevitably will hear from executive sponsors about the “need” for a dashboard for DevOps information. Organizations just starting to embrace DevOps won’t have the time to construct one yet, but over time will reach the same conclusion. The need is real, and the value is significant—it is […]
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 […]
Q&A: CircleCI’s Kevin Bell on Continuous Delivery
There’s been a lot of talk and momentum lately when it comes to continuous delivery. And it seems every enterprise has moved part, or all, of its development efforts to continuous delivery—or is at least talking about doing so. But there are many challenges such as security, dealing with legacy systems and internal politics associated […]
Embedding Predictive Analytics
For an enterprise with a deep DevOps maturity model, the initial “wow” factor of automation has worn off. At this point, the sexier concepts involve proving continuous improvement. As an example, our first baseline of metrics might have taken the pre-DevOps timings of a typical build and deployment of a given application. We can measure […]
The Automation of Compliance
Consider how much money your enterprise spends on audits. Smaller firms not subject to external regulation should consider how much money is spent on quality assurance—or the lack of it. A business that suffers from a customer-facing quality incident will, at minimum tarnish the brand of its services or at the high end, lose market […]
Enterprise Cassandra Deployments
Successful Cassandra deployment in the cloud takes a certain amount of skill and knowledge. In this blog I will share best practices for a successful Cassandra deployment in the cloud such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). I will also discuss how you can protect and recover the data in your Cassandra […]
Data Protection for Operational Reporting Platforms
Making real-time business decisions based on data from social, mobile and cloud platforms is a requirement in today’s world. That’s why an ecosystem of next-generation operational reporting platforms such as Spark, Apache Cassandra, Kafka, Docker, Mesos, Marathon and more have come to life. Enterprises are using these technologies to re-architect their data storage and processing […]
Q&A: Sematext’s Thies on Docker Monitoring, Part 2
In part one of my conversation with Stefan Thies, Sematext DevOps expert. we spoke about Docker’s use of Sematext Logsene logging, anomaly detecting and alerting software and SPM monitoring software. Let’s continue the conversation. David Geer: What makes Logsene centralized? Where is it centralized a typical deployment? What are the advantages of it being centralized? […]
Trust, You Must: 8 Tips for Adopting CI/CD
We have done continuous deployment (CD) for four years, and enable many of our customers to do continuous deployment with quality assurance (QA). We’ve helped tons of companies adopt and optimize their CD setups. We’ve found that continuous deployment is all about trust — augmented with processes and infrastructure. To that point, here are some […]
DevOps by Osmosis — Is That Even Possible?
“We don’t do DevOps. We can’t, as our development plans are agreed so far in advance and our priority from a production point of view is to keep our systems available 24/7.” I heard this comment from a pal of mine as we had a quiet beer over the weekend, but I’m sure this comment, […]
Q&A: Sematext’s Thies on Docker Monitoring, Part 1
Stefan Thies is DevOps evangelist Sematext Group. I recently spoke with him about Docker’s use of Sematext Logsene logging, anomaly detecting and alerting software and SPM monitoring software. Read on for part one of our conversation. David Geer: Technically speaking, for the purposes of this article, what is logging? Thies: Logging means to store the […]
Continuous Testing Live Network DevOps
My earlier blog, “From Laboratories to DevOps: Factories for Continuous Testing,” discussed the importance of and suggested practices for a fully automated, orchestrated software DevOps laboratory infrastructure, akin to a modern factory staffed by robots churning out products at a dizzy pace. The blog applies to development of software for networks, and the practices increasingly […]
Are You a Transformational CIO?
George V. Hulme discusses the state of CIO Relevancy and Transformational IT with Tim Crawford Facing increased consumerization of technology, more autonomy by business units in choosing and deploying IT, citizen developers and increasingly affordable cloud software services, IT departments and the office of the CIO are under more pressure than ever before. To get […]
DevOps Q&A: Datalink’s Dennis Vickers on MobileApps
Companies are custom-building mobile enterprise applications to enhance employee productivity on smartphones. DevOps.com recently spoke with Dennis Vickers, director of Software Solutions at data center services and solutions provider Datalink about this trend and where DevOps fits in to the process. DevOps.com: Why does applying smartphones to business initiatives require so much additional custom-built software? Vickers: […]
QA in the DevOps Era
In software approaches that produce monolithic applications, it is not uncommon to find siloed teams, with development, testing and operations each an island unto themselves. The responsibilities of test and development are distinct from each other and are not meshed into a hybrid team as you might see in advanced DevOps shops. “QA (quality assurance) […]
TechWell Announces the Full Program for STAREAST 2016
The Premier Event for Software Testing and QA Professionals to be Held in Orlando, Florida Jacksonville, Florida (PRWEB) February 03, 2016 TechWell Corporation, an industry leader in software development conferences and training, has announced the full program for STAREAST, one of the longest-running, and most respected conferences on software testing and quality assurance, to be […]
What it’s Like Working as Quality Assurance in Consultancy Companies
Quality Assurance (QA) engineers working at consultancy companies should embrace trying new technologies and solving problems. This role is best defined by two words: variety and challenges. QA engineers at consultancy companies must pay great attention to detail and check all of their actions meticulously to make sure everything is being done correctly. The position […]