Software Delivery Nirvana

Traditional Software Deployments is like Picking Fruit by Hand

If you’re not employing DevOps tools and methods, chances are your software delivery deployment practices look something like this:

• It takes you weeks, sometimes months to deploy new software to production.
• You test for bugs and try to pinpoint why your deployment only works in the development environment and not the production one.
• Because your development and operational teams are separated, there is a lack of clear communication and instruction between the two, leading to a wide range of inefficiencies.

In this kind of siloed structure, it is common for the each team to only be concerned with their side of the process, i.e., development ignores scalability and operation, while the operations teams tries to focus on making the deployment sufficient enough to pass. This methodology results in lost time, wasted efforts, and what is considered today to be a mediocre outcome; both teams focus on their individual responsibilities and not the overall success of the deployment. If this scenario sounds like your business, chances are you are always playing catch-up, never ahead of business demand and falling behind your competition.

DevOps: The First Step towards Software Delivery Nirvana

In today’s day and age, every company has to become a technology company in order to compete. The term “DevOps” springs from the integration of the Development and Operations teams and their responsibilities. There are many benefits to be reaped on both the technical and business side of implementing DevOps:

• Test-driven deployments: these automated tests lead to fewer bugs, faster detection and ultimately to better software.
• Continuous software deliveries and speedier releases: result in faster delivery of new features and as a result, more time available to create business value. For example, the global banking giant ING was able to use DevOps methodology coupled with XebiaLabs software and practices to increase deployments to twice a day.
• Greater visibility and orchestration: A one-stop shop for the entire deployment pipeline. Orchestration tools like XL Release give users access to the entire software delivery process, from code to production, along with ability to facilitate the easy monitoring of software health and amplify the feedback loop.
• Integration of business structure and processes: One team where everyone works together and communicates in an efficient environment with the goal of making the best product possible, as fast as possible.

Practicing DevOps is like picking carrots with this machine:

Microservices: The Last Step towards Software Delivery Nirvana

Nowadays, DevOps and Continuous Delivery are becoming a necessity for business survival. It’s all about efficiency: saving time and lowering costs. While DevOps can help increase your efficiency tremendously, microservices are another step many developers are embarking on in their journey towards maximizing the efficiency of your delivery pipeline and reaching “software delivery nirvana”.

The term “microservices” refers to the unique set of code for a specific function, packaged and deployed as a service that is accessible by other microservices and applications. This type of organization allows for a small, easy to understand code base; each microservice is packaged with its own unique code language, making it easier to scale and deploy each build. Microservices are also convenient for updating or replacing specific functionalities of software; developers can work on individual microservices while the rest of application continues to run uninterrupted.

If you want to compete effectively in today’s software-driven economy, maximize your technical efficiencies and reach “software delivery nirvana”, with the use of DevOps, Continuous Delivery and microservices. This requires an unrelenting focus on these tools and practices; an automated delivery pipeline, a strong microservices architecture, and an open culture for innovation. Once you accomplish these, you are well on your way to the “software delivery nirvana”.

Practicing DevOps Continuous Delivery, and Microservices is like watching this video:

Feel free to check out the original blog post here.