From benefits and best practices to building the right team and toolset, this comprehensive primer has everything developers need to know
In a world that increasingly runs on software solutions, DevOps automation has become a highly effective way to streamline workflows, increase collaboration and productivity, and ensure that the final product meets high standards while decreasing time to market.
However, there’s a lot more to DevOps automation than simply putting processes on autopilot. Understanding how automation supports DevOps initiatives, as well as best practices for hiring and execution, will set your team up for a smoother, more successful path to launch.
What Is DevOps Automation?
In its simplest terms, DevOps automation is the use of additional technology to reduce the need for manual input during the software development cycle. Automation has a number of benefits for DevOps and DevSecOps teams; when implemented properly, it can reduce time to market, free up resources, save money, and ensure quality control and regulatory compliance.
Automation doesn’t exist in a vacuum — it’s part of a larger process called DevOps orchestration, or the collective and cohesive use of automations in support of a larger goal. Orchestration is what turns individual automations into streamlined workflows, so it’s critical for developers to zoom out and consider these processes as a whole.
That said, when orchestrated properly, DevOps automation can accelerate deployment ten times over and lower costs 75% throughout the standard application lifecycle. Learn more about how automation simplifies and speeds up the DevOps process.
Best Practices for DevOps Automation
In order to get the most out of DevOps automation while avoiding common mistakes, developers should follow the established best practices:
- Evaluate your specific needs: Before implementing any automations, dev teams must take stock of their current processes to find opportunities for improvement. Automation isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, and what works for other software developers may not be the best way forward for you.
- Hire the best team for the job: DevOps professionals are in high demand, but just because a developer or engineer has the right skillset on paper doesn’t mean they’re the right fit for your team. In addition to conducting sample tests to assess candidates’ technical abilities, prioritize soft skills like leadership, communication, and planning. These characteristics are critical for building a supportive DevOps culture.
- Prioritize security: A catastrophic security breach could delay launch and end up costing your team more money as they work backwards to undo the mistake. Make sure you’re familiar with your specific security needs and look for DevOps automation solutions with out-of-the-box compliance controls.
- Partner with a no-code/low-code platform: The less code you need to create from scratch, the fewer chances there are for errors and bugs. By partnering with the right no-code/low-code platform, you can focus less on individual automations and more on orchestration as a whole.
To learn more about how to get the most out of DevOps automation, read What is DevOps Automation? and DevOps Hiring: How to Build an Effective Team.
Essential DevOps Automation Tools
Once you’ve established opportunities in the workflow where automation could be of use, it’s time to think about specific tools and platforms to aid in the work. The DevOps pipeline relies on the use of dozens of tools throughout the development cycle, so it’s important to choose the best options for your project — and ensure that they all run smoothly together.
Your first priorities should be infrastructure and configuration management, followed by version control and testing. We’ve rounded up some of the best tools in these categories to make your search easier:
- Infrastructure and configuration management: Creating the infrastructure that facilitates the development of cloud-native applications requires hundreds of configurations across thousands of lines of code. This can be done manually, but it requires extensive time and labor — which DevOps teams on tight deadlines don’t usually have. DuploCloud’s DevOps Automation Platform automates cloud infrastructure provisioning, empowering developers and clearing up bottlenecks.
- Version control: Tracking and managing code changes is an essential part of software development, and robust version control enables teams to do this easier. GitHub is an industry leader in version control because of its ready-made code repositories and wide range of automation tools.
- Testing: Like many parts of the DevOps process, testing is absolutely critical — but without automation, it’s slow-going. Developers have to ensure that their software works across a number of platforms, browsers, and device configurations, making manual testing a tedious and time-consuming process. Instead, consider automating testing with Selenium, which utilizes multiple virtual machines to replicate the ways users would interact with your software.
For more essential DevOps automation tools, check out Use the Right DevOps Automation Tools to Maximize Engineering Efficiency.
The Role of DevOps Automation in Resilient Infrastructure
It’s not enough for software developers and engineers to be fast; they must also be resilient. In DevOps, that means preparing for worst-case scenarios, mitigating risks, and creating extensive testing protocols in order to prevent devastating setbacks. Of course, balancing efficiency with resilience is yet another challenge of the modern DevOps landscape — and another one that can be overcome with automation.
Automation plays a key role in building a resilient DevOps infrastructure. It allows developers to achieve faster and more consistent results while also prioritizing security, regulation compliance, and infrastructure management. DevOps automation also makes it easier to plan for redundancies by seamlessly duplicating vulnerable components. This helps development teams establish their fault tolerance and ensure that there’s no single point of failure anywhere in the pipeline. As a result, DevOps teams can bounce back from setbacks more quickly, remaining agile even when things don’t go according to plan.
Again, it’s important to remember that while automations are helpful, they need effective orchestration to work holistically. To create a truly resilient infrastructure, developers must ensure that all parts of the process are working together as intended and all teams are on the same page. When orchestrated well, DevOps automation helps software teams prepare for almost any scenario without losing any steps in the path to market.
Want to know more about building a resilient DevOps infrastructure? Read the full article: How to Build a Resilient DevOps Infrastructure.
Measuring the Impact of DevOps Automation
In the lead-up to a software launch, development teams have different — and often competing — priorities in order to ensure their product launches on time and in compliance. Getting everyone on the same page requires a collaborative DevOps culture with shared initiatives, or project goals that support all teams without putting undo burden on any of them. These initiatives typically make use of automations that help software teams reach their goals without slowing down performance.
It’s important to step back occasionally and gauge the performance of DevOps initiatives. To do this, software teams should look at factors like deployment frequency, lead time, and resource optimization.
Deployment Frequency
Deployment frequency refers to the rate at which updated code is deployed. A favorable deployment frequency will vary depending on the size of the project and the number of people working on it, but generally, DevOps teams should aim for between one deployment per day and one per week.
To calculate deployment frequency, count the number of deployments over a chosen time period and divide them by the number of days (or weeks, depending on your goals) in that period. A high deployment frequency shows that your team is agile and making use of all of the tools at their disposal, including automated shortcuts.
Lead Time
Developers can’t simply deploy code as soon as it’s written; there’s a period of implementation and testing — better known as lead time — in between. Lead time is connected to deployment frequency, as the longer the lead time, the lower the rate of deployment. Long lead times also increase your chances of being outpaced by competitors. If you find your deployment frequency falling short of your ideal rate, your first step should be to calculate average lead time and see if it’s holding up deployment.
If lead time is causing a bottleneck, look for solutions in continuous integration, delivery, and deployment (CI/CD). One of automation’s core purposes is to streamline CI/CD pipelines by speeding up testing and monitoring. Decreasing lead time will increase deployment frequency and keep your software on pace for launch.
Resource Optimization
Another part of DevOps culture is balancing value generated against time (and money) invested. In order to maximize return on investment, developers and engineers are often tasked with resource optimization in order to make the most of the tools at hand. If your teams are finding themselves struggling to do so, it’s time to evaluate your current resource allocation and look for opportunities for improvement.
After this audit, the next step for developers is working with engineers to identify specific pain points in the day-to-day workflow. Not all of these bottlenecks will be immediately solvable, but you’ll likely find areas that can be streamlined or sped up without having to invest in a new set of tools. Once these changes are implemented, track the results and compare them to the initial audit data; this will tell you if you’ve properly optimized your resources.
To learn more, read Measuring the Impact of DevOps Initiatives and DevOps Resource Optimization: How Leaders Can Maximize ROI.
Get More Out of DevOps Automation with DuploCloud
DevOps automation is designed to save time and money, but to get the most of it, you need the right partner. DuploCloud helps software developers significantly reduce time to market while generating massive cost savings. Our no-code/low-code platform empowers developers, cuts down on human error, and standardizes regulatory compliance. To learn more about our platform, get in touch to set up a personalized demo.
