The DevOps direction is actively developing, and many IT specialists are interested in it, copy knowledge and think about implementing DevOps tools in their company. But before going to the manager with a proposal, a specialist should have a plan with a ready-made solution, a list of responsible persons, specific tasks, implementation stages and arguments for the proposal.
Where to start preparing a proposal
The process of implementing DevOps is a whole adventure. Therefore, before going into it, it is necessary to clearly define what will change in the work processes, who is interested in these changes, who to involve for consultation, implementation and control. Preparing a proposal for DevOps implementation in a company begins with the understanding that this process will capture the technical aspects of the company, roles in teams, competencies and areas of responsibility, processes, tools and practices. In some cases, even the business model may change because the company has new opportunities.
First of all, it is necessary to substantiate the feasibility of DevOps. The initiator of changes should sell this idea to his own colleagues, agreeing with the business. The implementation will require resources that only the management can allocate. The easiest thing to do is to immediately connect devops service providers.
It is important to justify the “pains” decided by DevOps implementation:
- The speed at which changes to the product are delivered. If a company has the ability to quickly and easily test hypotheses on a product or quickly react to market changes, this is its competitive advantage.
- Site/application response time or the number of failures that users have seen. The company has technical risks related to fault tolerance, speed of recovery from failures, security risks.
- Excluding routine and repetitive work from development and delivery processes, the team can focus on developing its products.
What are the challenges that can be faced
The implementation process itself will require investments. This is likely to slow down the commands for some time. Because everyone will have many new tasks and tools, workflows will change. Lack of training and competence in practices and tools can lead to more errors, technical failures, problems with the use of technology. It is desirable to agree in advance with the management to increase the error budget and testing volume. There are cases when initiators of DevOps implementation face sabotage of employees who are not ready for changes.
They want to leave things as they were or save their KPIs. Therefore, they need to prepare for the fact that they will have to communicate with people a lot and help them to achieve their goals despite the changes.
In addition, resources for training will be required: new practices and tools need to be mastered, it is not superfluous to attend conferences on DevOps. Keep in mind that you and your colleagues will need to take more time off from your current work tasks to complete an online course or master class, and to view the notes of reports.
How can a manager approach the idea of implementing DevOps?
Not all executives are ready for such changes without understanding the value that these changes will bring, the investments required and the stages of change. So the challenge is how to convince people that these changes are appropriate. Most executives understand that DevOps can accelerate delivery, improve quality, expand a company’s market position and prepare the infrastructure and processes to reach a wider audience.