Why choose a career in DevOps?
DevOps seems to have a different meaning to everyone but there does exist a consensus among most experts that DevOps is a culture and a philosophy.
There’s a mixture of automation and human-process, a “blame-free” culture, reinforced by the belief that everyone is in it together, trying to solve problems.
And also, there must be a mutual respect between developers and operations - no one’s job is more important than another and technical aptitude is not necessarily a measure of worth to the company.
Teamwork is a big part of the job, and you should also enjoy solving problems.
In DevOps, you’re constantly looking for ways to improve the development and deployment process of software, taking something that “at one time was extraordinarily complex, figuring out how to do it, and then getting out of the way.”
Instead, focus on the fact that automation of low-level tasks gives them more time to write new features.
Basically: automation frees us to be more creative and work on interesting problems.
A common thread among the experts is that many DevOps engineers tend to automate processes without fully documenting how they work. Writing good technical documentation isn’t necessarily fun, but it is crucial to have when things break.
The tools that DevOps engineers have at their disposal now are powerful. It’s easy to string together a bunch of them into a functional (for now) system without really understanding how they work.
But, it’s important to understand the process, “what’s going on underneath the hood” and to “balance how quickly something can get built with how safe it is”.
One of the major movements in methodology has been the concept of “shifting left”, which means that blocking processes like QA or load testing that were typically done at the end of the development lifecycle is now moving upstream and becoming a shared responsibility.
There’s a mixture of automation and human-process, a “blame-free” culture, reinforced by the belief that everyone is in it together, trying to solve problems.
And also, there must be a mutual respect between developers and operations - no one’s job is more important than another and technical aptitude is not necessarily a measure of worth to the company.
Why choose a career in DevOps?
If you’re the kind of person who loves helping others and is constantly challenging yourself and learning, DevOps might be a good choice. A strong technical foundation is definitely helpful, but communication and collaboration skills are also vital.Teamwork is a big part of the job, and you should also enjoy solving problems.
In DevOps, you’re constantly looking for ways to improve the development and deployment process of software, taking something that “at one time was extraordinarily complex, figuring out how to do it, and then getting out of the way.”
Automation > Fewer People?
There’s a fear held by some that DevOps will automate people out of a job. But while automation is an important part of the role, its real purpose is to minimize the number of painful tasks performed by humans and allow them to be more productive. Lucas believes that “If you can move on to something else by automating it… then, by all means, you should pursue that.”Instead, focus on the fact that automation of low-level tasks gives them more time to write new features.
Basically: automation frees us to be more creative and work on interesting problems.
“There’s always going to be the problem that you need human eyes on.”
Lessons learned in DevOps
Like any career, you’re bound to encounter problems in DevOps. Lack of documentation for the tooling and an incomplete understanding of the underlying systems are just a couple of the headaches experienced by people working in this field.A common thread among the experts is that many DevOps engineers tend to automate processes without fully documenting how they work. Writing good technical documentation isn’t necessarily fun, but it is crucial to have when things break.
The tools that DevOps engineers have at their disposal now are powerful. It’s easy to string together a bunch of them into a functional (for now) system without really understanding how they work.
But, it’s important to understand the process, “what’s going on underneath the hood” and to “balance how quickly something can get built with how safe it is”.
The present and future of DevOps
The rapid pace of change is one of the most exciting things about working in tech. Tools, platforms, and methodologies are constantly evolving and improving.One of the major movements in methodology has been the concept of “shifting left”, which means that blocking processes like QA or load testing that were typically done at the end of the development lifecycle is now moving upstream and becoming a shared responsibility.
Is DevOps a role for me?
Don't you know if you may fit in this role? Ask yourself these questions:- What has been your approach to resolving conflicts among team members?
- What is your cloud expertise?
- What issues or deficiencies are “must fix ASAP”?
- How would you get a web app from a developer’s laptop into production from zero?
About Daniel Vukasovich
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