DevOps Automation and How Does It Work?

DevOps Automation and How Does It Work?

First, let’s define DevOps independently of automation so we can get a better grasp on what each entails.

DevOps is the collaboration between software developers and IT operations professionals (Ops). As a result, workflows can be improved by capitalizing on the synergies between them. Because automated processes remove the potential for human error, DevOps can increase productivity and adaptability in the workplace.

DevOps is a software development methodology that emphasizes speed and quality in order to maximize business value delivery and agility. Data silos are eliminated and communication is improved through the use of DevOps automation, which serves to bridge the gap between development and operations.

The DevOps: How Does It Function?

DevOps is a subset of the agile methodology that entails a specific set of activities and procedures. Planning, developing, producing, releasing, monitoring, and managing your software product are all areas that DevOps can have an impact on throughout their existence. As the DevOps lifecycle diagram illustrates, there is an interdependency between the various stages, and continuous delivery is ensured throughout the entire process.

We have already discussed how, in the DevOps model, teams are no longer compartmentalized and how the dev and ops teams collaborate throughout the whole application lifetime and the DevOps automation pipeline.

In order for a DevOps automation team to function properly, businesses may need to make adjustments to their technology stack and their company culture, and these adjustments are mirrored in the 6 C’s of the DevOps cycle. Look at these so you can see how DevOps automation functions.

• First and foremost, CBP identifies the necessary competencies, outcomes, and assets for a business to succeed
• Second, the group works together to create a rough outline of the software before coding it from scratch
• Third, continuous testing aids in improving the development cycle through the use of unit and integration testing
• Fourth, Integrates code reviews into the Continuous Delivery pipeline for simple code checks in, allowing for continuous release and deployment
• Fifth, Ongoing, incessant surveillance; keeps an eye on any modifications and fixes any problems that crop up

You can get instantaneous responses from clients, letting you make improvements to your product based on their experiences.

Let’s go on to discuss DevOps automation now that we’ve established the foundation.

Exactly what does “DevOps automation” entail?

DevOps automation is predicated on the idea that everything should be automated. Most of the steps in the DevOps lifecycle can be automated since they occur frequently enough. DevOps relies heavily on automation, which begins at the point where code is generated on the developer’s local machine and lasts through the deployment and monitoring stages.

IT automation, RPA (robotic process automation), AI automation, ML/DL (machine learning/deep learning), and so on are just some of the automation processes used in software development. They are all useful tools for DevOps automation procedures.

Building, testing, deploying, and maintaining code may be done more quickly and with fewer errors using automated procedures, which streamline the DevOps methodology and increase speed and efficiency. With automation, businesses may set up pipelines for continuous integration, delivery, and deployment.

Which Improvements in Automation Can DevOps Offer?

Delivering high quality and value with frequent and rapid releases is a primary goal of DevOps, and automation is essential to getting there. Let’s take a look at how DevOps automation can help your business.

Flexibility

When you use DevOps automation software, you can modify components of your tech stack without disrupting the configuration or improvement of your processes. Improved operational efficiency and scalability can be achieved through the use of DevOps automation technologies and process automation. Automating your pipeline is also more efficient and less expensive than hiring someone to manage the process manually.

Consistency

DevOps engineers can find bugs more quickly if they do tests on a regular basis. Using automation, you may detect issues and adjust behavior at any point in the deployment cycle. Consistent and predictable outcomes are guaranteed in a highly automated setting where the DevOps automation toolchain is used.

Scalability

When compared to manual processes, which are restricted in capacity by the number of trained employees in the company, automated processes allow for unlimited scaling. DevOps automation offers cloud-based, automated tools that can be scaled infinitely to match your business needs.

Which Steps in the DevOps Lifecycle Need to be Automated?

In order to fully automate the lifecycle, automation largely makes use of automated testing tools and pre-setting settings. To that end, let’s examine which DevOps tasks are amenable to and worthy of automation.

Testing

When testing is automated, fewer people need to be involved. The functionality of an application can be tested with the use of automated test scripts and tools.

Provisioning

DevOps relies heavily on automated provisioning since it allows for the instantaneous delivery of computing resources without the need for human interaction. The business is able to speed up the delivery of its applications thanks to the availability of a scalable, adaptable infrastructure that makes use of dynamic resource allocation.

Deployment

Tools for automating DevOps allow for coordinated resource deployment across a constantly evolving IT environment. By synchronizing both manually and automatically allocated computer resources, deployment automation creates a stable foundation upon which to roll out new features and fixes.

CI/CD

Agile monitoring, integrations, and testing can be facilitated through the automation of CI and CD procedures, allowing for quicker delivery and deployment of application updates.

System Administration

The purpose of infrastructure automation is to facilitate more precise management of the many moving parts (including hardware, software, network, OS, and data storage) in the process of providing IT services and solutions, with the least possible amount of human intervention.

Monitoring

When developers add new features every day, it becomes more difficult to continuously check your application’s performance. DevOps allows for a plethora of options in terms of tools and techniques to keep tabs on apps through a specialized user interface.

Log Administration

Log management entails processing the data written to logs by every program and the hardware they execute on. Collecting, aggregating, parsing, storing, analyzing, searching, archiving, and destroying logs are all steps in automating log management, with the end objective of troubleshooting and gaining business insights and enforcing compliance and security controls in your code.

Advice Before Automating Your DevOps Pipeline

Now that we’ve discussed the reasons why you should automate your DevOps pipeline and the benefits of doing so, let’s take a look at some advice to keep in mind before you get started.

Option for open standards; your contributions and the team can evolve independently of your infrastructure. Open and standardized tools streamline the onboarding process and require less specialized training. Open community standards for packaging, runtime, configuration, networking, and even storage, such as those in Kubernetes, have emerged as a result of the shift to the cloud.

Create a Continuous Delivery Pipeline (CDP) to expedite the process of taking software from concept to market. Smaller code releases are easier to implement with the help of a CDP, and this boosts a company’s flexibility to adapt to the ever-shifting demands of the market.

Use dynamic variables to cut down on unnecessary repetition and maintenance tasks. Adjusting your automation to work in new settings is a breeze when you use externally specified variables in scripts and specialized tools. Keep in mind that the same high standards you use for developing code and features should be applied to the automation used in DevOps. Source control, unit tests, modularity, scalability, reusability, and peer review are all essential.

Because of their architecture, traditional or monolithic CMSs do not lend themselves well to DevOps automation. However, headless CMSes have an advantage when it comes to content delivery and software development because they are designed with automation and adaptability in mind.

The modularity of software development made possible by microservice architecture is in harmony with the needs of a Continuous Delivery Pipeline, hence the MACH framework was developed with this in mind. The MACH architecture provides more leeway for making modifications, expanding, or updating each component separately.

AI Enablement: Data-driven AI algorithms may spot patterns inside DevOps processes, revealing where improvements are needed and where bottlenecks exist, which is crucial for resolving issues. A.I. can be useful in DevOps automation systems, particularly for tracking the progress of both the development and production processes.

​DevOps methods with other aspects of your organization have the ability to drive productivity, thus it’s a good idea to integrate marketing with them. As a result of the interdependence and collaboration fostered by the agile, DevOps-driven management style, the marketing, development, and operations departments may work together more effectively.

Using a DevOps automation tool that allows you to switch technologies would lessen the amount of work needed to be redone when a firm decides to change its strategy. You may establish your own set of best practices and get beyond any toolchain limits with a solution that is compatible with any cloud and provides a wide selection of partners and integrations.

Make DevOps automation better using Enteros

With Enteros, you can make DevOps automation better by using our API to hook into your existing CI/CD pipeline. Our API lets you trigger your existing build workflow and deploy it to cloud resources with a single API call. No need to rewrite your build scripts – we will take care of that for you. You can leverage your existing tools, scripts, and workflows to build, test, and deploy your applications. Our API gives you the flexibility to make DevOps automation better.

About Enteros

Enteros offers a patented database performance management SaaS platform. It proactively identifies root causes of complex business-impacting database scalability and performance issues across a growing number of RDBMS, NoSQL, and machine learning database platforms.