What is DevOps and how does it compare to Agile?

The Endiem Team just finished reading The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win 5th Anniversary Edition and we are DevOps obsessed! The talk-of-town has been Waterfall vs Agile for so long how could there be anything else to share about technology process enablement, well we found it!

So, let’s start at the top, what is DevOps?

DevOps is the combination of cultural philosophies, practices, and tools that increases an organization's ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity, according to AWS. If you run or receive the work results of an IT team you may know that it is a particular skill to run a process-oriented team and seamlessly handle unanticipated issues with short turnaround. The DevOps methodologies are here to help.

How does DevOps compare to Agile?

1. Both methodologies work towards the objective of enhancing business productivity. What's interesting is the feedback loop that develops: Agile drives DevOps to work faster, and DevOps pushes Agile to include aspects of the complete software development life cycle.
2. Both approaches adopt a lean philosophy, especially in the communication chain. So, in this case, less could be considered more.
3. Lastly, without frequent collaboration, neither of the processes would be very useful. Both team members and groups must provide periodic updates to keep others informed.

How are the methodologies different?

1. Agile is centered around employing small groups to work on planned development cycles. While DevOps requires specialized teams to work in complete collaborating to resolve planned and unplanned work.
2. Agile encourages cross-functional work so that any team member can be able to do what is needed to move the project forward. However, in DevOps, there are separate specialized teams that are fraught with complex communication challenges.
3. Communication chains are bridged differently. In Agile, the emphasis is on the relationship between Customer and Developer communications. However, DevOps attempts to address the gaps in Developer and IT Operations communications.

The nature of today’s business environment require something other than a conventional approach; an Agile team can evaluate their execution, make adjustments, and adapt to become increasingly systematic while those also trained in DevOps can focus on delivering quick, high-quality products to the customer. Need help defining how your IT Organization can leverage Agile and DevOps for your next Salesforce Project? Give Endiem a ring!