So you want to know what is DevOps? It starts with the practice of Agile with technical teams, which has transformed how software is built, tested, and deployed with velocity.
That means fast.
Gone are the monthly or quarterly big releases, because those who develop and test the code are increasingly alongside the team that deploys the code. Enter, “DevOps,” Agile’s big brother, which is spurring innovation with automation, bringing developers (Devs) together with their IT counterparts (the Ops).
These software concepts have had a high impact on marketers. DevOps has also brought marketing closer to these dev and IT teams, so they can collaborate around iterative techniques, sometimes even releasing key product enhancements daily.
DevOps Culture
So, how does DevOps work? It starts with a cultural philosophy for technical people to transform how they work together through automation and infrastructure advancements.
And work smarter, not harder.
And this has also morphed into other areas because DevOps is no longer a single job or department. DevOps is everyone’s job.
If you are new to the game, think quick wins, and post points on the board early and often. Believe in the power of momentum and focus. It simplifies how you prioritize, develop, test, deploy, and troubleshoot. It allows you to keep re-evaluating and iteratively implement lessons learned so you can be better for your next release.
DevOps 101: Overview
If you are new to the DevOps game, or a marketer wanting to understand how your projects get deployed, here’s a primer on key areas.
• Configure: This lays the foundation to build the infrastructure that runs your code.
• Version control: Keep all your work in a centralized codebase so teams can work together in a version control environment where you track, review and have a history of all your changes. Think Git.
• Package: Allow your developers to package, deploy, and run their applications in a consistent way. Also known as “containerization” Think Docker.
• Deploy: Known as Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD), this governs how to use automation to deploy your code to production and rollback or replace if anything goes wrong. Think Jenkins.
• Orchestration. How you run your software. Kubernetes
• Monitor: Monitoring, logging, debugging, and error reporting. Stackdriver for the Google cloud is one example.
How Marketers Can Succeed with DevOps
Marketers, meanwhile, are the beneficiaries of these improvements because DevOps has given transparency to how product enhancements achieve business goals. This transparency has resulted in more rapid product development cycles, and in improved user experience (UX) for customers.
An improved UX makes it easier to market a product or service because UX, customer satisfaction, and marketing are more intertwined than ever before. A great product sells itself!
Next, the race for continuous innovation has made it easier to articulate a company’s improvements at a fast rate to keep pace with the market or lead the market. A refined message is always one release away.
Finally, we all must have a foundation based on data. We don’t need IT to run SQL queries for the marketing department anymore. Marketers now run their own reports with software analytics and visualization tools, as well as customer relationship management (CRM) platforms that can spot an unhealthy customer score in dire need of extra care.
For more information, the DevOps Institute has a blog filled with tips and resources. Learn more here.
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