Integrating DevSecOps into your software development process allows developers to release code 2x faster than before. The latest addition of security into development and operations has been a game changer. Yes. DevSecOps is here to stay. It’s proven itself. It’s an asset to software development teams. This information has become all but common knowledge.
The problem, however, is that “DevSecOps” isn’t just something you can set and forget. To reap the reward these high-performing teams are getting from highly efficient DevSecOps teams, you need to adopt DevSecOps at its best.
Essentially, software development teams that want the benefits of DevSecOps must employ DevSecOps best practices.
With best practices in place, you can expect to reduce bottlenecks and downtime. You can also create a culture of continuous improvement. You’ll change the game in your organization, whether you’re a small startup or an enterprise preparing to scale.
Even better, with a modern platform like DuploCloud, you can simplify your DevSecOps processes.
In this article, we’ll look at DevSecOps best practices and how DuploCloud can help you adopt them with ease for a high-velocity team.
Key Takeaways
- DevSecOps best practices include infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and integrated security, which are essential for scalable, efficient workflows.
- Common DevSecOps challenges, like tool sprawl, security gaps, and inconsistent deployment, can be solved with unified platforms.
- DuploCloud accelerates DevSecOps adoption by automating infrastructure, compliance, CI/CD pipelines, and continuous security.
What Are DevSecOps Best Practices?
To begin, we have to understand DevSecOps at its most basic. DevSecOps is about breaking down silos between software development teams, operations, and security teams. It sounds nice. It sounds simple. But it can involve massive complications.
To get the most from a DevSecOps transformation, your teams must adopt a strategic set of practices with these goals in mind:
- Fostering automation
- Welcoming collaboration
- Insisting on resilience and security
When your teams are aligned with the same goals and a single purpose, to streamline the development and deployment process, you can expect new heights of success.
Here are the DevSecOps best practices to put into place to reach this alignment:
Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
IaC is critical for teams to define infrastructure configurations through code. It makes provisioning consistent, secure, and scalable. Teams should not still be manually configuring servers or cloud environments. Instead, they can write scripts that automate the setup process.
Best Practice Tip: Use tools like AWS CloudFormation or Terraform to manage IaC. Make sure to adopt version control for infrastructure changes like you would for application code.
How DuploCloud Helps: DuploCloud automates the IaC process behind the scenes. Our platform will abstract the complexity of manual configurations while ensuring teams maintain full control. It offers pre-built templates, and it auto-generates infrastructure code for cloud-native services like Kubernetes and CI/CD pipelines.
Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)
CI/CD is the backbone of a modern DevSecOps workflow. It makes it easier for teams to automate code integration and testing as well as the delivery process. This reduces the time between writing code and deploying it to production, and security is baked in.
Best practice tip: Be sure to invest in robust CI/CD pipelines that include automated testing, security scanning, and rollback features. Tools that offer this testing include Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and CircleCI.
How DuploCloud helps: DuploCloud comes with built-in CI/CD automation. It will integrate with your existing repositories and enable teams to deploy code securely in a single click. Teams can count on audit trails, approvals, security validations, and rollback options.
Security as Code (DevSecOps)
Of course, you want security embedded into every phase of the development lifecycle. DevSecOps makes sure that security is a continuous, automated process.
Best practice tip: Be sure to integrate automated vulnerability scanning, compliance checks, and security baselines into your CI/CD pipelines. You might consider tools like Snyk, Aqua, or Trivy.
How DuploCloud helps: DuploCloud includes security and compliance checks from the moment of creation. Our platform covers SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI, and more. Your team will no longer have to manage security as a separate function. Instead, you can build compliance right into your deployments. And you can count on automated policy enforcement.
Monitoring and Observability
Of course, DevSecOps continues well past code deployment. Your team still has to be able to detect issues early and measure performance. They’ll also need to maintain system health and monitor for security breaches throughout.
Best practice tip: Use observability tools that will collect metrics, logs, and traces. Also be sure to implement alerting features, so you’ll be advised when critical thresholds are met. Finally, create dashboards to visualize the behavior of your application.
How DuploCloud helps: DuploCloud integrates with observability tools like Datadog, Prometheus, and AWS CloudWatch. The platform also provides native dashboards, so your team can monitor the status of your infrastructure and how resources are being utilized. You can also watch for security events.
Automated Testing
You need automated testing. Without it, you’re taking a big risk every time you employ continuous integration. Automated tests ensure that new code isn’t breaking functionality or introducing new bugs into your process.
Best practice tip: Use a layered approach to testing. This means unit tests, integration tests, and security tests. Adopting test coverage in this way will help you measure the effectiveness and security of development.
How DuploCloud helps: DuploCloud’s CI/CD workflows support customizable test stages. So your team can run deployments based on automated test results. This helps you make sure your code is secure and of the highest quality without having to involve manual gatekeeping.
Immutable Infrastructure
An immutable infrastructure model means your servers are never modified after deployment. If and when change is needed, a new, secure version will be provisioned. With this approach, your team can eliminate drift and improve reliability.
Best practice tip: Use containerization and orchestration tools like Docker and Kubernetes to implement immutable practices. Also be sure to automate your entire build and deploy processes, so your infrastructure is reproducible and secure.
How DuploCloud helps: DuploCloud uses container-first deployment and provisions your infrastructure in an immutable fashion. It also supports blue/green and canary deployments, so you can test updates without disrupting production or compromising security.
Culture of Collaboration and Ownership
You already know security can’t happen with tools alone. You need people, and you need those people to collaborate and be accountable. Encourage cross-functional teams to share ownership of the entire software and security lifecycle. This will help break down barriers between developers, operations, and security.
Best practice tip: Hold regular post-mortems and incident reviews free from blame. You can create a welcoming, collaborative environment with DevSecOps workshops. These will foster a growth and continuous learning mindset around security.
How DuploCloud helps: DuploCloud fosters visibility and collaboration by encouraging developers, ops, and security teams to work from a unified platform. While our platform automates a lot, we also offer audit logs, role-based access controls, and a shared dashboard. We understand that human oversight and communication are the true keys to success.
Cloud-Native Security Mindset
It’s no surprise that modern DevSecOps strategies are designed to work in the cloud. Thus, your applications must be scalable, fault-tolerant, and defensible in distributed environments in order to maintain long-term agility.
Best practice tip: One of the biggest favors you can do for the software development process is to break up monoliths into microservices. You can also use managed cloud services and adopt autoscaling and zero-trust principles. And of course, you’ll want to ensure portability across cloud providers in case you need to move.
How DuploCloud helps: This is what DuploCloud was built for. Our platform is low-code/no-code specifically to deploy secure cloud-native applications across AWS, Azure, and GCP. We help teams adopt best practices like microservices, serverless functions, and container orchestration. And you don’t even need deep cloud or security expertise.
Adopting these best practices will help your team build reliable, scalable, and secure systems, all while speeding up the delivery process. From IaC to building a culture of collaboration, each practice is critical to increasing the efficiency of your entire software lifecycle.
Pitfalls to Avoid in DevSecOps Adoption
Obviously, you plan to employ these best practices and prepare for maximum success. But, as we all know, stuff happens. Teams face roadblocks during implementation. It’s better to be prepared, so you can face the most common roadblocks head-on.
- Over-automating too soon: Yes. Automation is essential. But automating broken processes only amplifies your problems. Make sure you standardize and secure your workflows before you automate.
- Ignoring culture: No tool exists that will fix your people problem. Make sure your teams are aligned, communicating, and collaborating before you implement DevSecOps automation.
- Neglecting security: Security is never optional with software development. Prioritize early and continuous integration, so it doesn’t block you later in the pipeline.
- Tool overload: Choosing too many disconnected tools will have you in maintenance mode with major security blindspots. Choose your tools wisely, consolidate, and make sure they integrate with a single platform. The goal is to streamline and make things simpler, after all.
You can avoid all of these pitfalls by adopting a single platform like DuploCloud that will unify your entire process. Infrastructure, security, CI/CD, and monitoring can all exist under a single control panel.
Accelerate Your DevSecOps Journey with DuploCloud
Mastering DevSecOps isn’t just a matter of getting the latest tools in place. It’s about creating systems that are secure, resilient, and efficient. Plus, you’ll want them to scale with you.
When you follow the best practices we listed here, your teams can streamline their workflows, reduce time to market, and ensure robust, continuous security.
Of course, you don’t need to choose between speed and security when you work with a partner like DuploCloud.
DuploCloud is here for teams that want speed and scale without complexity. Our unified platform handles everything:
- Infrastructure provisioning
- Security compliance
- CI/CD
- Monitoring
And we bring it all to you automatically, securely, and in minutes.
Are you ready to simplify your DevSecOps journey?
Book a demo with DuploCloud today, and let us show you how automation can supercharge your team’s productivity without compromising on compliance.
FAQs for DevSecOps Best Practices
What is the main goal of DevSecOps?
The primary goal of DevSecOps is to embed security into the software development lifecycle. Part of that includes delivering high-quality software continuously by improving collaboration between development and operations teams.
How does DuploCloud support DevSecOps teams?
DuploCloud automates key DevSecOps functions, like infrastructure provisioning, CI/CD, security compliance, and monitoring. This way, teams can deploy faster without sacrificing governance or risk control.
Is DevSecOps only for large companies?
Nope! DevSecOps is incredibly valuable for teams of any size. With both large and smaller or startup companies, we can help automate security integration.
What tools are commonly used in DevSecOps workflows?
Common tools include Git (version control), Jenkins, or GitHub Actions (CI/CD), Terraform (IaC), Kubernetes (container orchestration), and scanners like Snyk or Trivy. DuploCloud integrates with or automates many of these tools.
