Exploring Diverse Career Paths for Transitioning into DevOps Engineering
As organizations around the world strive to automate how they operate, the need for talented DevOps engineers has seen a drastic increase, making it an attractive field to pursue. While transitioning into DevOps from another career path can be challenging it is not impossible. Professionals looking to make this transition can achieve it by leveraging their existing skills while acquiring new ones that can make them invaluable to organizations. This article aims to explore the various career paths that can lead to a career in DevOps.
Table of Content
· Who is a DevOps Engineer?
· Common Career Paths to DevOps Engineering
· Challenges Of Transitioning To DevOps
· Resources and Tools That Can Help
· Conclusion
Who is a DevOps Engineer?
As explained here, A DevOps engineer is a professional who is responsible for bridging the gap between development and IT operations teams. They manage and maintain the infrastructure required for software development and deployment. A DevOps professional focuses on streamlining the software delivery pipeline by automating processes and ensuring that software applications are deployed efficiently. The role of a DevOps Engineer is critical to the success of software development, as they contribute to the reliability and stability of the software delivery process while also improving overall software quality.
In order to carry out these responsibilities, the skills required for a DevOps Engineer are diverse as they need to be proficient in both software development and IT operations. As such, a DevOps engineer should have a good grasp of software development methodologies, like agile and scrum as well as expertise in tools such as Git, Ansible, Terraform and Docker. Additionally, they should have a strong understanding of infrastructure management, including being familiar with cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP). A successful DevOps Engineer must also have excellent interpersonal skills, problem-solving abilities, and a desire to learn and adapt.
Common Career Paths to DevOps Engineering
Professionals from a variety of backgrounds can make the shift to DevOps by leveraging their existing knowledge while gaining new skills and experience. Additionally, Individuals with a variety of backgrounds from software developers to system administrators can effectively make the shift to DevOps as each of these career paths can provide valuable knowledge and skills that can be leveraged in a DevOps role.
- Software Developers
Software developers are responsible for writing and testing code to create applications. They have programming skills that help in writing automated scripts for various parts of an application’s development and deployment processes. They are knowledgeable about the importance of writing clean, efficient code and have experience with version control and continuous integration and delivery tools. While software developers have a pretty good background in software development workflow and release pipelines, they lack skills in server management. So a software developer looking to transition into DevOps will need to learn skills such as Linux and operating system basics, how virtual machines work, creating and configuring servers and how to configure infrastructure security and networking. In other words, they would need to understand what system administrators do. Additionally, since most modern applications run on the cloud, a good understanding of cloud computing will also aid in this transition.
2. System Administrators
System administrators have experience in administering and maintaining servers and systems. They are responsible for setting up infrastructure, configuring and preparing servers for deployment, configuring network and security, working with operating systems, and installing and running software. By guaranteeing that infrastructure and systems are stable and secure and that the applications can be deployed and maintained efficiently, system administrators possess skills that can be useful in the deployment and operations side of DevOps. However, they lack knowledge of software development hence, to transition into DevOps and fill this gap, they would need to get a good understanding of how developers create applications, the importance of git workflow and how continuous integration and deployment pipeline work.
3. Network Administrator
Network Administrators are knowledgeable in managing and maintaining network infrastructure, including routers, switches, firewalls and load balancers. They are skilled at network configuration, security and monitoring. Ensuring that the networks are reliable and secure and that applications can be accessed and interacted with successfully, Network administrators have skills that they can apply in a DevOps role. However, to pursue a career in DevOps, Network administrators will have to get a good understanding of DevOps principles, practices and methodologies, understand the core concepts of continuous integration/delivery/deployment pipeline, learn a programming language like Python or Ruby if they do not already have prior knowledge, master version control tools like Git, learn at least one cloud computing platform like; AWS, Azure or GCP and containerization tools like Docker. So a good starting point for network administrators looking to transition into DevOps is gaining expertise in cloud networking, automation and containerization technologies.
4. Test Automation Engineer
Test Automation Engineers are responsible for ensuring that software and applications meet quality standards and user requirements. They have expertise in software testing, debugging, and quality control. Moreover, they understand how to test different aspects of an application and that knowledge can be really useful for setting up an automated CI/CD pipeline, this is because to automate and streamline the delivery of an application to the production environment, there is a need for extensive automated testing. However, like software developers Test Automation Engineers are missing skills in server management and so a good place to start will be to gain skills in Linux and OS basics, learn how to create and configure servers and how to configure infrastructure security and networking.
5. Non-IT Background
While DevOps is not an entry-level position, it is not impossible for individuals from a non-tech background to become DevOps Engineers. To achieve this, it is important to first understand the complete software lifecycle as this will help in understanding the basics of how applications are created and then why certain tasks in DevOps are automated. Next, having a good understanding of software development methodologies, like agile and scrum as well as gaining experience in tools like Git, Ansible, Terraform and Docker are important as they are an essential part of DevOps. Additional skills that can be useful to people from non-tech backgrounds are, understanding how virtual machines work, understanding how scripting languages like bash or python help in automating certain tasks in DevOps and gaining familiarity with cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Challenges Of Transitioning To DevOps
Although switching to DevOps Engineering can be a gratifying and fulfilling career move, there are certain hurdles that professionals looking to take this leap might encounter.
- The need to constantly learn new technologies and tools: DevOps Engineering is an ever-changing discipline, with new tools and technologies appearing all the time. Professionals will need to stay up to date with these new technologies and tools in order to remain relevant in the industry. Thus, for those looking to transition into DevOps, it is important to understand that it is a lifelong commitment to learning and developing your skill sets.
- The importance of hands-on experience: While theoretical knowledge is vital, actual experience with DevOps tools and technologies is necessary to have a successful career as a DevOps engineer. This might be difficult for those coming from a non-technical background or those who have little experience automating and managing infrastructure.
- Overcoming the first learning curve: Switching to DevOps can be a steep learning curve, especially for those without a technical background and Learning about infrastructure management, automation, cloud computing and CICD all at once can also be intimidating to even those with a technical background. However, professionals can overcome this early learning curve with tenacity and a willingness to study.
Resources and Tools That Can Help
Transitioning into a career in DevOps requires access to valuable resources and tools that can facilitate learning, skill development, and job opportunities that can assist professionals in their journey towards becoming successful DevOps engineers.
- Online Courses and Training Platforms:
a. Udemy (www.udemy.com): Offers a wide range of DevOps courses covering topics such as configuration management, cloud computing, CI/CD, and containerization.
b. Coursera (www.coursera.org): Provides courses and specialization programs on DevOps practices, including infrastructure as code, container orchestration, and DevOps culture.
c. Pluralsight (www.pluralsight.com): Offers an extensive DevOps course library, covering various aspects like configuration management tools, cloud platforms, and CI/CD pipelines.
d. edX (www.edx.org): Features courses from reputable institutions and organizations, including DevOps-related courses from leading universities and industry experts.
e. YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/): Consists of a range of DevOps channels. Popular channels to look out for are; DevOps toolkit (https://www.youtube.com/@DevOpsToolkit/videos), TechWorld with Nana (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdngmbVKX1Tgre699-XLlUA), KodeKloud (https://www.youtube.com/c/KodeKloud/about) and DevOps directive (https://www.youtube.com/@DevOpsDirective/videos) amongst others
2. Job Boards and Career Resources:
a. LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/jobs): Provides a wide selection of DevOps opportunities, allowing professionals to search for suitable openings in organizations as well as interact directly with hiring managers.
b. Indeed (www.indeed.com): A popular job board with a dedicated area for DevOps engineers, offering a wide range of opportunities from different industries.
c. Dice (www.dice.com): Specialises in technology and IT-related job ads, with a section dedicated to DevOps jobs.
d. DevOpsJobBoard (www.devopsjobboard.com): A specialised job board targeting DevOps engineering opportunities, linking companies with DevOps professionals.
3. Professional Organization and Communities:
a. DevOps Institute (www.devopsinstitute.com): Offers certifications, webinars, and materials to promote DevOps best practices and promote professional advancement in the industry.
b. DevOpsDays (www.devopsdays.org): Hosts global conferences and events where professionals can learn, share their experiences, and network with other DevOps practitioners.
c. Reddit DevOps Community (www.reddit.com/r/devops): A community-driven platform where professionals engage in DevOps-related discussions, share information, and seek guidance.
Conclusion
DevOps is an exciting and rapidly evolving field with several job opportunities for professionals from diverse backgrounds. There are various career paths professionals can take when transitioning into DevOps. However, it is important to understand that transition to this field requires a lot of commitment in order to stay up to date with the latest technologies and tools.
