Biggest Challenges The DevOps Face Today

DevOps is a powerful concept that helps both developers and operation launch teams come together in a cohesive way to improve productivity and shorten the timeline between conception and launch. By automating processes whenever possible and continuously assessing what is and what is not working, the development process becomes much more straightforward.

However, it’s not all butterflies and rainbows in the DevOps world. Here are some of the most common challenges DevOps face today.

Standardizing the Process

In many ways, DevOps has become a buzzword used in different organizations to describe processes that are often completely different from one another. As the word “Keto” gets used to describe endless variations of one diet, so too with DevOps. Thus, one of the biggest challenges the DevOps face is standardization of processes to create a universal definition. That way, when one developer works with different operations teams, the steps will ultimately be the same.

Therein lies another challenge: often the processes aren’t identical because the needs of different organizations vary. While one team may have access to the latest and greatest resources to automate processes, others may not have the same luxury. Therefore, a paradox is created in which a standardized definition would help DevOps teams, yet it’s impossible to cast a blanket definition over all organizations. We see the same effect with Agile.

Inability to Narrow the Focus

One of the key benefits of the DevOps mentality is that time is freed up to take on more projects, due to the efficiency of the process as a whole. However, teams find themselves creating less high-quality work because of their inability to focus.

When resources were more limited, launch teams would have to engage their critical thinking and identify the most profitable or high-value projects on which to spend their time. When the DevOps process is put in place, it requires less scrutiny over the projects. So while the teams may be able to increase their output, their focus is in the wrong area. Some projects are better left undeveloped.

Less Scrutiny in Automation

Automation is a powerful tool for success, both in the world of technology and business in its entirety. By automating processes, you reduce the need for human involvement so resources can be focused elsewhere. Additionally, you reduce the chance of human error.

However, we often come to rely on technology too much and fail to identify problems that squeak through the gates. Complacency is an extremely human issue, and while automation helps to eradicate that problem, it often exacerbates it. Organizations need to ensure that they aren’t relying solely on the computers to do the work; there must be rigid, human-led QA processes to ensure that everything that goes to the marketplace is of the highest possible standard.

Choosing a .Net Runtime

In 2018, there’s a lot of chatter about .NET core vs .NET framework: choosing a runtime & how to port for best possible results. .Net Core is quickly becoming the trending item, with more DevOps team shifting toward this runtime for their applications. However, .Net Framework still has a lot of merit as an option.

Some key considerations for DevOps teams when choosing between a .NET Core and .Net Framework runtime includes: considering whether the application will be used on various platforms (Windows, IOS, etc.), scalability requirements, the use of Docker containers, memory management requirements, desired security features, and APIs. It will be interesting to see how many DevOps teams make the shift to .Net Core over the next few years, and how many switch back to .Net Framework in the years following.

Evolving as an Organizational Culture

We often forget that DevOps teams are just like any other employees within an organization. They are a part of the company culture, and run into many of the same pitfalls as other working teams, despite their niche subject matter.

DevOps teams need to remember to treat themselves as human elements within a highly technical world. They require opportunities to improve their collaboration methods and become more cohesive as a functional team. It’s also important to consider these aspects if the team in questions is new to the DevOps mentality, as change management is always challenging for organizations.

The first step in overcoming DevOps related challenges is first identifying them. By being aware of the potential pitfalls on this list, teams will be able to get ahead of the problem and course correct to ensure future success.