Editor's note
The DevOps movement has steadily gained traction among IT professionals. DevOps engineers looking for work don't have to look too hard; a quick scan on one job site turned up more than 300 listings. But what does a DevOps job entail? Does a "DevOps engineer" even exist?
People fluent in the DevOps work methodology have skills in both application development and systems operations to help push releases quickly. DevOps is also a philosophy to bridge communication gaps between groups. This guide details the varied aspects of the DevOps movement, how to adopt it and the tools available to facilitate it.
1What the DevOps movement is -- and is not
In some IT organizations, the DevOps movement blends development and operations into one team. In others, a moderator between development and operations teams will manage the interaction between the groups. And in others, the DevOps overhaul takes on a life of its own.
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How an IT department becomes DevOps friendly
DevOps isn't a job or a department. It also isn't easy to adopt. But the payoffs are there if your IT team gets on board. Read Now
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Who makes the best DevOps employee?
Specialization is the name of the game in IT -- until now. IT generalists are the best fit in a DevOps culture. So hire squirrels, not koalas. Read Now
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Avoiding the over-hyped DevOps catastrophe
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. If you want the rewards of DevOps within your IT organization, it helps to know what not to do. Read Now
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DevOps by any other name is still DevOps
The goal is speed, accountability, quality and intelligent automated applications deployment, whether you call it DevOps or not. Read Now
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Read all about it: Books on DevOps
There aren't many books about DevOps out there, but a few stand out as worth the read for adopters. Read Now
2Benefits of the DevOps culture
Adopting the DevOps movement in your IT department can mean faster delivery, more collaboration between teams and better processes overall. These benefits extend both to cloud businesses and traditional enterprise data centers.
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Network teams lose control as Devops and SDN take over
Control of the network is now in the hands of virtualization, server, application and network pros, thanks to DevOps and SDN. Read Now
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Driving down costs with a DevOps mentality
DevOps culture can transform traditional enterprise IT shops to run like public cloud providers -- and that's good for business. Read Now
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Cloud shop? You need to think in DevOps
Cloud deployments are often less efficient than traditional data center operations, without clearly achievable benefits. DevOps can turn that around. Read Now
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More cloud adoption means more DevOps in the IT shop
New IT titles are emerging around cloud and mobility, adding to a DevOps-savvy workforce ready to manage cloud deployments. Read Now
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Winning hearts and minds with DevOps
Outsourcing IT services is a hot trend among business leaders, but adopting the DevOps culture is one way to prove IT's value. Read Now
3The tools of the DevOps trade
Once you understand what the DevOps movement is and how it can benefit the IT department, it's time to acquire the skills and tools required to succeed.
Start by evaluating the DevOps tool options out there and map these to your needs. Look into the major DevOps tool vendors as well as more specialized, open source and home-grown options for greater control.
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Evaluating DevOps tools
You have to know what models and implementation styles work for your IT team to select effective DevOps tools. Read Now
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Mapping tools to skills
The best plan of attack for adopting DevOps is to know your IT strengths and weaknesses, and implement a tool chain to match. Read Now
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Declarative or imperative?
The debate over DevOps tools isn't quieting down any time soon, with benefits in both the declarative and imperative camps. Read Now
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Chef: Systems automation in the data center
Chef is a household name in DevOps IT shops, including big names like Ancestory.com. The appeal is multi-faceted, from cloud provisioning to disaster recovery. Read Now
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Build your own DevOps tools
DevOps adopters say that home-grown tools are essential to the movement, and to their bottom line. Read Now
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DevOps tools that support the cloud
More-complex application development and deployment require more automation and simplification from the right tools. Read Now
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DevOps tools for VMware virtualization shops
VMware and DevOps giant Puppet Labs released tools for virtualized environments, hoping that the vendor collaboration will enable simpler and more prolific automation. Read Now
4Testing in the DevOps environment
Development and operations have merged into a cohesive DevOps mindset. Application changes are rolling out faster, and the data center is attuned to business needs. What's the last piece of the puzzle? Agile, intelligent testing.
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Test automation tools
Applications will benefit from the right test tools suited to the DevOps methodology of incremental and frequent changes with a backbone of automation. Read Now
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The exploratory mindset in test environments
While critical thinking, exploration and agility are valued in DevOps, that rarely trickles down to the application test level. And that's a shame, considering the pay off. Read Now
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DevOps -- at the cost of QA?
DevOps could shortchange quality assurance, diluting the effectiveness of software testing. Don't let that happen. Read Now
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New and noteworthy test trends
Testing that relies on automation and enables more developer freedom is a trend for IT to adopt. Read Now