Finding ways to make a business more efficient is no easy task. If your business provides software or app development services to the general public, you need to find a way to make this process quick and painless for your clients. One of the best ways to reduce the amount of errors and setbacks that you face during a software or app development projects is by using DevOps methodologies.
In short, this methodology focuses on teamwork and practices like continuous testing and delivery. Some business owners think that changing from a traditional way of building technology to the DevOps way is time-consuming and frustrating. While there may be a few bumps in the road initially, you will eventually realize how beneficial DevOps can be for your business.
Studies show that nearly 65 percent of the businesses that adopt this methodology see an increase in the overall quality of the programs they build. The key to having success with DevOps is setting parameters for your team and following them to the letter.
Here are some of the DevOps practices you and your team need to follow:
1. Testing Automation is Crucial
One of the biggest concerns you and your team should have when developing a new piece of software or app is keeping the code clean and bug-free. While this may sound like a relatively easy and straightforward process, it is anything but. Trying to manually test each piece of code written for a new program is not only time-consuming, it is also inefficient. This is why adopting both DevOps and testing automation is something you should view as a priority.
In short, automation allows you and your developers to feed code into a database, where is it tested. Pairing this automaton with things like a C# log parser is a great way to ensure all problems with your code are found and addressed before the next step in the development process is taken. Not only will this automated testing allows you to catch errors in a hurry, it can also speed up the development process.
2. The Power of Continuous Delivery
Finding a way to remove breakpoints when moving from a production environment to the actual hosting platform is vital. When bugs are in the code that make up your software or app, it can make taking it out of the production environment impossible. This is why using continuous delivery is so important.
Basically, the continuous delivery process aims to increase the flexibility of your program’s infrastructure. When this process is in place, the changes made to the infrastructure will be instant and devoid of any barriers.
3. Proactive Monitoring is Important
The key to increasing the speed and efficiency of the software or app development process is adequately monitoring each of the changes made by your developers. By proactively monitoring your new creation, you can find problems before they cause major functionality issues. When monitoring the new software program or app, be sure to check out things like the number of query logs and how long it takes for parts of the program to load.
Most newcomers to the world of software and app development fail to realize how much one change can affect their entire program. Tracking the changes made to each version of your new program will allow you to pinpoint when problems started to occur. Many of the software and app monitoring programs on the market will allow you to set up alerts when issues are detected. Rather than ignoring these alerts, you need to address them immediately.
4. Collaboration is the Key Component of DevOps Success
The biggest hurdle you will face when trying to use DevOps is getting your team onboard. Collaboration is not something that most developers are familiar with. Making it easy for your team to collaborate should be your main objective. The best way to do this is by investing in cloud-based project management software. These programs make communicating and delegating tasks a breeze.
5. Client Feedback is Imperative
Often times, the software or apps a business is tasked to build will be for other companies. The needs and wants of the client should be one of the main things a business owner thinks about when trying to successfully complete a software or app build. Throughout the progression of a development project, you will need to seek out feedback from your client. If their needs change in the middle of this project, you want to be able to facilitate changes in a hurry.
Not only does successful DevOps implementation involve employee communication, it should also include better client communication. As each milestone is reached during the development of a new app or software program, you need to keep your client in the loop. If you don’t have the time to get the point person for a client, delegating this task to a trusted team member is crucial. By staying in constant contact with the client, you can gauge their response to the creation you are developing.
6. Project Transparency is Important
If you have a large team of developers working on a particular project, finding a way to keep up with their progress is crucial. Without adequate project management tools, it will be difficult to stay ahead of problems that may derail the progress your team is making. Most software/app development companies use cloud-based project management software programs like Slack and Wrike.
With these programs, you can ensure team members are held accountable for their progress. Once you have a project management program in place, you need to work on evenly delegating the tasks involved in developing a new piece of software or an app. All of your team members will need to be able to see a breakdown of how each milestone puts them one step closer to completion. By providing a high degree of project transparency, you can avoid situations where duplicate work is performed or mistakes are made due to a lack of communication.
7. Understanding DevOps Success Takes Time
Some business owners think that just because a competitor is successfully using DevOps that they can immediately do the same. In reality, it will take a while for you and your team to fully embrace and understand how to utilize the power of this methodology. Making the mistake of going full-tilt with DevOps right away is a recipe for disaster.
Instead of making mistakes that may affect the functionality and reliability of a software program or app, you need to start small. Using DevOps on smaller-scale projects will allow you to see how to use it. As your team becomes more reliable on DevOps and can navigate the complexities of this methodology, you can use it on larger projects. While you may be a bit impatient to unlock the full potential of DevOps, you need to realize the slow and steady approach is the best way to avoid problems during implementation.
What Are You Waiting For?
The benefits of using DevOps are undeniable, which is why now is the time to embrace this methodology. The road to DevOps success will be a long and arduous one, but it is definitely worth the time and energy your team invests.
