Future of DevOps in Software Development

Introduction

DevOps or Development and Operations is a collaborative approach that has majorly impacted the software development lifecycle (SDLC). DevOps provides development practices that bridge the gap between software development and IT operations. Its main aim is to shorten the development life cycle, deliver continuously, and produce high-quality software.
 

DevOps is centered around three key principles collaboration, automation, and continuous improvement. DevOps encourages communication and collaboration between development and operations teams. It promotes the automation of repetitive tasks such as testing, integration, deployments, etc. to increase manpower for more strategic tasks. DevOps supports agile development where software is continuously delivered with small features, allowing rapid development and easy modification.

DevOps Engineers are not only developers, they are critical for business functions. They help businesses with innovation, streamline operations, and adapt to technology and market changes quickly. This article aims to explore DevOps, its demand in the future, and its potential impact on software development.

The Evolution of DevOps

Software lifecycles before the 2000s were very rigid and didn't allow modifications. Due to less number of users and its usecase, it was not a problem. But in the early 2000s with evolving technologies, expectations with software increased. With evolvement in SDLCs like Agile and Lean movements, software development focused more on collaboration and streamlined processes. 

DevOps is widely adopted due to faster market delivery, emphasis on automation, and continuous integration. DevOps forces practices that help identify the bugs in earlier stages and thus help in delivering more efficient and stable products. 

In the past, the scenario was for a small change in the requirements of the entire software and its design was required to be modified. This requires a lot of manpower as well as more time. Nowadays the small and big features are introduced very frequently in applications. This is possible due to better software design and flexibility provided by modern methods. Therefore DevOps is embraced and it is continuously evolving.

Curious about how to get started with DevOps? Check out this DevOps Roadmap for a step-by-step guide to mastering DevOps practices.

Emerging Trends in DevOps

The DevOps method aims at bringing developers and operations together to speed up the deployment process. In the past decade, DevOPs have evolved in a whole new direction and is more than just automating but having a standard procedure to be followed in creating software and improving the final product. Below are some recent trends that are empowering software development. 

Cloud-Native DevOps

Cloud-Native DevOps powers cloud services and platforms to build, scale, and deploy applications. Cloud providers deliver microservices, containers, and immutable infrastructure. Cloud-based development has benefited DevOps professionals in many ways. It helps them with faster development iterations, reduces application/service dependencies, and helps developers deploy changes without interfering with production services.

AI and ML in DevOps (AIOps)

With advancements in Artificial intelligence and Machine learning, these are being heavily integrated into DevOps processes. AI/ML helps in identifying patterns which helps is detecting anomalies, predicting resource usage at times, and automating tasks. AI/ML in DevOps can help improve the software in earlier stages and reduce resource utilization when not needed. 

It also helps in automating tasks like repetitive testing, deploying, log analysis, incident management, optimizing software and its performance, etc. This helps in reducing downtime, increasing productivity, and delivering better software.

GitOps

Git version control system is extended for DevOps to manage the execution of application workloads. It is a recent rise in managing code and infrastructure in the DepOps SDLC pipeline. It enables developers to define, test, and deploy applications in one go. GitOps comes with multiple benefits and simplified processes by offering agility, stability, security, etc.

Serverless Computing

Serverless Computing is a pay-per-use model for infrastructure and cloud services. It allows developers to focus on specific areas of development without worrying about the infrastructure and simplifies the development process. 

The cost of infrastructure and its management is decreased, it eliminates the procedure of provisioning, patching, and scaling of servers. Development cycles are faster removing the complexities. 

DevSecOps

DevSecOps is integrating security into DevOps practices. Security was taken care of either at the end or when a vulnerability was found. DevSecOps is a recent concept to have security enabled with the development itself to deliver secure software. 

Challenges and Opportunities in DevOps

Despite its considerable advantages, DevOps adoption comes with a few challenges listed below:

Challenges

• Skills Gap: DevOps engineers need a larger picture of software development and thus require skilled individuals to have diverse skill sets. Additionally, the field is new and is changing which requires continuous learning with evolving technologies and best practices.
• Cultural Transformation: In past development cycles development and operations teams were considered different and no communication was expected but this needs to be changed with DevOPs as its main aim is to break down this myth and enforce these teams to unite and embrace shared ownership.
• Legacy Systems: Existing Legacy systems are designed in typical old ways and thus, automation, rapid deployments, etc. is not supported in them. These can be complex and careful planning is a must to integrate DevOps workflows. 
• Security Concerns: There are two main reasons why DevOps is prone to vulnerabilities. Rapid Releases might introduce security risks. Second, there is no clear distinction under whose ownership security is handled by Dev or Ops teams. Proper recognition might help in mitigating risks.

Opportunities for Innovation

DevOps also presents opportunities for innovation. It provides a way to experiment and innovate things freely as change in one area is independent. Development cycles are shorter therefore, new features, products, and servers are delivered quickly. This allows companies to quickly test and iterate on ideas and stay with the market trends. DevOps helps businesses to bring the best services to customers and gain success.

Predictions for the Future of DevOps

In the coming future, automation will eliminate entry-level work and require developers and IT teams to shift their focus on complex tasks such as AI/ML, complicated logical work, etc. According to surveys, this shift might introduce difficulty in finding highly skilled developers rather than freshers. According to a recent ESG survey, “2023 Technology Spending Intentions Survey” one-third of their organization's employees lack AIML skills and this gap is even larger for IT architecture and planning teams.

• Shift-Left Testing: Unline current practices testing will be part of each development process rather than only at the end. This will help catch bugs and issues earlier. The testing process will become even more automated using tools ensuring consistent and comprehensive testing.
• Continuous Everything:  Continuous Integration Continuous Deployment, and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) will be normal. Code will be changed frequently and automatically deployed and tested. Feedback loops will be quicker and help resolve issues in the initial stages itself.
• Rise of Platform Engineering: The jobs of platform engineers will be in demand, Platform engineers build platforms for programmers with the necessary tools and resources for application development in and quick and efficient way. This will allow a distinction between the jobs of developers and platform engineers and focus on it.                               
• The Future of Work: DevOps will reshape the roles and responsibilities of developers and development teams and the way we deliver software. Developers will be required to possess a greater skillset and knowledge of all the areas including development and operations. There will be a focus shift from delivering products and features to delivering business values with consideration of customer feedback and innovation.

Conclusion

• DevOps has transformed the software development cycle and its impact will continue to grow.
• With trends like cloud-native DevOps, AI/ML, GitOps, Serverless Computing, and DevSecOps, DevOps will facilitate automation, reduce bugs, and help provide more valuable products to consumers.
• DevOps is new and has challenges like cultural shifts, difficulty in transforming legacy systems, security concerns, skill gaps, etc. It also provides opportunities for companies to foster innovation with DevOps methodologies.
• The future of DevOps for integrating into applications or as a career choice is bright. The demand is going to grow rapidly to accommodate the technology and increasing demands.
• The key to success is adaptation. Changes need to be embraced by organizations and engineers need to invest in learning and improving their DevOps skills.