Comparison of SDLC Methodologies:

Scrum vs. Agile vs. DevOps

As the new technologist on a newly formed DevOps team, de-mystifying the multitude of tools and options project teams have in approaching the software development lifecycle has become integral to how teams function in the new age of tech. With many teams hesitant to fully embrace the DevOps approach, viewing it as just another fad, it’s important to understand the unique aspects of each methodology and compare them. In this blog post, let's take a closer look at the similarities and differences between three popular methodologies in software development: DevOps, Agile, and Scrum.

DevOps

The goal of DevOps is to bring together development and operations teams to improve collaboration and communication, resulting in faster and more efficient software delivery. And let me tell you, the results are astounding. With automation at the forefront of the DevOps approach, the entire software development process is streamlined, making it possible to achieve more in less time. The scope of DevOps is broad, covering everything from code development and testing to infrastructure management and monitoring. Roles within a DevOps team are often cross-functional, with individuals having a mix of development and operations skills. Some of these roles consist of:

• DevOps Engineers: Design and maintain the infrastructure and tools that support the software development process to ensure efficient deployment with minimal downtime
• Site Reliability Engineers: Ensure systems and services run smoothly and reliably through incident response, troubleshooting, and proactive monitoring
• Infrastructure Engineers: Design, implement, and maintain the underlying technology such as servers, storage, and networks to meet the needs of the organization and ensure high availability, security, and performance.

Tools commonly used by DevOps teams include:

• Ansible: automation and configuration management (version control like git)
• Jenkins: continuous integration and deployment
• Puppet: infrastructure management and automation.

Throughout the process and via these tools, DevOps teams will be left with a multitude of useful artifacts including documentation on infrastructure and networking, a CI/CD (continuous integration and delivery) pipeline, and automated monitoring and logging.

Agile

Agile is all about putting the customer first and delivering working software. The focus of Agile is on customer satisfaction, working software, and collaboration between cross-functional teams. Agile delivers software in small increments, allowing for faster feedback and continuous improvement. The scope of Agile is focused on the software development process, covering everything from planning to testing and deployment.

Roles within an Agile team are often specialized, with individuals having specific areas of expertise such as Product Owners, Scrum Masters who lead sprints (which we get into later) and keep the team on pace, and Development Team Members. Tools commonly used by Agile teams include Jira, Trello, and Asana. Remember, these are just a few of the tools used in an agile environment (Consider new and popular tools such as Notion). All are designed to help teams work more efficiently and effectively in an agile environment, by providing a platform for teams to collaborate, track progress, and manage their work.

Some of the documentation created by Agile teams include user stories, product backlogs, and sprint backlogs. A user story is a brief, informal description of a feature or functionality from the perspective of the end-user to understand the goal of a function/feature. A sprint is a set period of time, usually 2–4 weeks, during which a development team works to complete a set of user stories and deliver a potentially releasable product increment. If you desire faster feedback and continuous improvement, increased customer satisfaction, and the ability to adapt to changing requirements then Agile is the methodology for you.

Scrum

Scrum is an Agile framework that is used to manage and complete complex projects. Scrum follows a similar approach to Agile by delivering software in small, incremental chunks, allowing for frequent inspection and adaptation. Roles and tools are all derived from Agile methodologies. Artifacts created by Scrum teams include many of the same mentioned above.

Scrum differentiates itself from Agile in that Scrum can be viewed as a specific type of implementation of the Agile philosophy. This leads to more predefined roles and structures of teams rather than the broad definitions provided by Agile. For example, a Scrum Master is always going to be a crucial part of Scrum whereas smaller projects using Agile may not require the same position. Teams using Scrum often site increased focus on delivering working software, improved collaboration and communication between teams, and the ability to adapt to changing requirements.

All in all, DevOps, Agile, and Scrum are all popular methodologies used in software development. DevOps focuses on improving the speed and quality of software delivery, Agile focuses on flexibility and adaptability, and Scrum focuses on managing and completing complex projects within the Agile framework. The key is to be open-minded and to understand that each methodology has its own strengths and use cases. By understanding each one, we can make informed decisions and ensure the success of our projects. It’s been an exciting journey for me and I hope this blog post will help you on your journey too!