DevOps Challenges

Most organizations these days, irrespective of the size, have started adopting DevOps, while many organizations have also started moving towards it. They do this with the objective of better workflow and productivity. The good thing about DevOps is that it motivates communication and collaboration between the operation and development teams in different stages of the Software Development Life Cycle, shortly called SDLC. When both these teams associate, it will result in well-defined integration. It will even help them work toward a common objective of creating a reliable and efficient delivery system at a faster pace.

The goal of DevOps is to generate integration and automation. Nevertheless, implementing it in the real world is a bit challenging. If you plan to implement DevOps in your organization, it is better to be aware of the DevOps adoption challenges and the ways to resolve them. But before getting into the challenges, it is better to find the answer to the question of how to achieve the DevOps Pinnacle.

Tips to reach the DevOps Pinnacle:

It will not be an overstatement to say that DevOps is a pinnacle that every organization wishes to achieve. Organizations that intend to move from the traditional waterfall approach to iterative Scaled Agile and DevOps have this desire to reach the pinnacle. The excellent thing about DevOps is that it moves the attention from development to delivery. This might be a subtle variation yet it is crucial. It will not be an overstatement to say that the DevOps movement has matured greatly. You can understand this because many books released on DevOps share ideas on a practical approach to DevOps as against theory alone.

DevOps Challenges and Ways to Overcome:

Many DevOps implementation challenges can arise when you try to adopt this approach in your organization. However, if you are aware of the common challenges and the ways to overcome them, you need not fear them.

1. Environmental Challenges:

In a software development organization, the developers first create the code base. Thereafter, this codebase moves from one team to another at different phases like the production, deployment, testing and even the development phase. Without any doubt, this causes a certain amount of waste as different atmospheres used in the process are differently configured. The varied methods followed in these atmospheres make it hard for the software to function similarly on other platforms. Teams spend days or at least hours fixing bugs without recognizing that the error is not within the code. Rather, the issue is with the atmosphere. The first and foremost killer of agility is inconsistency in the atmosphere.

How to Overcome?

To overcome environmental issues, it is better to generate infrastructure blueprints and implement ongoing delivery to ensure that all atmospheres are similar. The team in the procedure should sit together and shape a standard blueprint for the DevOps execution process. They should also introduce ongoing delivery into the procedure to move forward similarly. Nowadays, you can find tools that will help you manage and expand your atmosphere in just a few steps.

2. Not Having the Right Mindset:

Experts in DevOps repeatedly emphasize the importance of having the right culture and suggest that this culture uniformity is essential for DevOps to work. Of course, optimizing and deploying the infrastructure can slow down operations and development. But when the teams in an organization do not have the right mindset, the entire project can crash. 

How to Overcome?

The idea here is to develop a common mindset among teams. You should have a culture of disruption, innovation, and, most importantly, ongoing learning. 

From the records of companies that succeeded with DevOps, it is found that they succeeded not due to a great pipeline but because of people focus. They succeeded as they kept humanity in DevOps. A company with the right culture can effectively overcome all and any skill and infrastructure issues. So, to ensure the success of DevOps implementation, the first thing to focus on is the development of the right mindset. It should be collaborative and cross-functional and your team should be ready to experiment, fail and then try again until they succeed.

3. Moving Away from Expert Teams to Cross-Functional Teams:

Traditionally, software development teams focused on databases, servers and interfaces. But, when they are moving to a DevOps culture, they will have to move away from expert teams toward cross-functional teams. Experts work in silos, while cross-functional teams are responsible for products/features they develop for their entire lifetime. The challenge here arises when teams try to integrate product, infrastructure, QA, backend and frontend teams.

How to Overcome?

To overcome this issue, the best thing you can do is foster the right company culture and ensure the collaboration does not backfire. You will also have to invest in your team and help them broaden their skills.

4. Getting Development and Operations at the Same Pace:

Humans are creatures of habit. It can turn highly hard to take a couple of different cultures and combine them into one. Operations work one way, while development works the other way. When both of them are asked to give up the way of their work, it can become an issue and contribute to a lot of enmity or at least unfriendly among teams.

How to Overcome?

To handle this issue of disagreement between the development and operations team, you will have to get both teams to buy into a common set of goals. It should be explained clearly that when everyone works towards achieving the set goal, it will be easier to achieve it. Above all, the goals can be achieved at a faster pace as well. Opening and frequent communication is another idea. Every team member should be made aware that they will have to move in the way that leads to getting things done.

Further, it would be a good idea to have a member of the development team work in the operations team. In the same way, a member of the operations team can be made to work in the development team. When this is done, the members of both teams will get the chance to see the perspective of the other team in real time when the development happens. This will lead to a greater understanding, a high-quality product, and improved communication.

5. Scattered Priorities and Miscommunication:

One of the most common DevOps challenges is created by people. For instance, stereotypes, misconceptions and grudges between teams can contribute to miscommunication. Conversations that showcase negativity can derail DevOps. For instance, against asking how the security team can strengthen software development, it would be better to ask how to prevent security from hindering the process of developers.

DevOps is the way to associate the goals of IT teams that work separately. Just in case the security team is able to weigh in on the infrastructure or software design, it is an indication that the product is stronger. The reason is that those security measures are not late-stage complications. The software product performs better and needs less mediation and troubleshooting as work was done in advance to counter potential issues.

How to Overcome?

Yes, you have judged it right! Ensuring the right communication practices is the best way to prevent miscommunication. Even, it will prevent scattered priorities.

6. Governance of DevOps:

When discussing DevOps challenges and solutions, you should know that the very governance of DevOps can be problematic. Initially, you might feel that DevOps is about letting all processes move on and risking live atmospheres for the processes that are yet to begin. But this is not the reality.

DevOps follows strict governance policies that mandate how much each team can access the production resources. The Service Level Agreements clearly explain the change control processes and setup for all the systems. This can be a challenge for companies that initiate DevOps.

How to Overcome?

To prevent DevOps governance from coming in the way, it is better to get instigated only after a thorough understanding of the policies that govern DevOps. With this knowledge, you can confidently move on with the deployment of DevOps.

7. Operability with DevOps:

Moving to a DevOps model generally requires adopting a varied approach to operations. Most business organizations' operations departments are used to working with outdated software programs. But if an organization wishes to move on with the latest market trends, it is important for the operations teams to support the use of the software when it is being worked on.

Supporting software that is delivered as a service that is always on and deployed regularly requires a different mindset. With DevOps, operations are not only what the operations team does. Now, developers should have tools that permit them to support applications effectively. 

Most organizations these days pay attention only to infrastructure monitoring. However, developers should have access to tools that encompass advanced notification and alerting solutions, application performance monitoring tools, mobile and web analytics, and logging solutions provided by the analytics, data, and operations teams when adopting and using DevOps.

How to Overcome?

Organizations should have access to operational tools and processes and modernize the structure they use for delivering software to increase transparency and agility. Moreover, processes like access management, incident management, request management, problem management, change management, and others are often required to be improvised and revised in tandem with the changing atmosphere to ensure more transparency and agility.  

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Conclusion: 

Conclusion: The adoption of DevOps can significantly improve organizational workflow and productivity by fostering communication and collaboration between development and operations teams. However, implementing DevOps is not a walk in the park. It comes with its own set of challenges, including environmental inconsistencies, mindset shifts, the transition from expert to cross-functional teams, synchronizing development and operations, miscommunication, governance issues, and operability concerns. Overcoming these challenges requires more than just technical solutions. It requires a commitment to open communication. By fostering an environment where all stakeholders can voice their concerns and ideas, you can better understand and address the challenges of DevOps implementation. Additionally, modernizing operational tools and processes is crucial. For those looking to implement DevOps successfully, Simpliaxis offers DevOps Foundation® Certification Training, providing essential skills and knowledge for a seamless transition.