DevOps has been referred to as the accelerated automation of agile methodology. The idea is to enable developers to meet real-time business requirements by releasing fast and iterating often. DevOps is the finely-tuned coming together of development, testing, and operations activities to eliminate any latency in software development procedures.

Of course, DevOps and Cloud Computing technology go hand in hand. The intense value of accelerated releases is best seen in cloud-based SaaS products where the changes can reflect immediately and updates can be rolled out instantly across all users.

But the link between DevOps and cloud runs much deeper.

Cloud Computing provides centralized storage of the computing resources enabling DevOps automation with a centralized platform to carry out testing, deployment, and production activities. DevOps on cloud resolves many of the concerns around distributed complexity. With such capabilities, a majority of the cloud computing vendors now provide DevOps support to enable continuous development and integration. Such easy integration brings down the costs associated with the on-premises DevOps platform. Centralized control is also enabled.

Benefits of DevOps on Cloud

Speed and agility are the primary benefits that businesses can experience with the synergy between DevOps and Cloud Computing. DevOps on cloud covers all the application processes and life cycles beginning from code submission to its release. It enables a flexible choice of tools and products for effective capacity planning. It becomes possible to develop resources in a few minutes on the cloud, eliminating concerns around capacity expansion. The end-users get the ability to define infrastructure-as-code using declarative configuration files. These files can then be utilized to manage infrastructure resources, such as containers or virtual machines.

DevOps on cloud is being increasingly adopted by software organizations due to the associated benefits and ease of managing the distributed resources.

The following benefits are most commonly seen:

• Enhanced pace of automation with reduced time to market
• Effective cloud server replication
• Real-time monitoring of services, such as backup services, management services, acknowledgment services, and others
• Rapid deployment.

Controlling Cloud Costs:

It is challenging for organizations to control their respective cloud costs. Some of the reasons identified behind the inability to control these costs are ineffective analysis, complex public cloud offerings, poor cloud management, and a lack of transparency. With other measures to control costs, DevOps on cloud can be an effective technique to control and manage cloud costs. DevOps involves holistic thinking wherein specific plans are developed for the entire environment including the budget and cost plans. These plans, being more comprehensive, provide a greater ability to control costs.

Key Points to Remember:

1. Training on DevOps and Cloud: Integration of DevOps and cloud can bring along changes in the technical landscape and existing culture. Acceptance of the modified platforms and technologies can be made easy with training. Cloud and DevOps training becomes essential to explain to the individual the need for the technology changes and the requirements for DevOps on Cloud.
2. Security Consideration: Security models of organizations change irretrievably with cloud deployments. Robust security policies and controls must be extended to the DevOps platform when the two are integrated. Security must be synced with the continuous development and integration processes for better control and safety.
3. DevOps Tools Selection: DevOps tools can be classified in different categories based on their availability and access, such as tools on-demand , on-premises, or ones as part of a large cloud platform. Many software organizations prefer to select DevOps tools and applications that can be deployed on multiple clouds. This helps improve the scalability and flexibility aspects of the organization.
4. Service and Resource Governance: Governance is one aspect that often escapes due diligence. If that happens, the services, resources, or APIs inevitably become too complex to control and manage. Organizations must ensure that a governance infrastructure is in place and the policies around security, service management, resource management, and integration are defined in advance.
5. Inclusion of Automated Performance Testing: Performance testing is a necessary inclusion within the automation testing suite in DevOps. It is important to carry out appropriate performance tests before production to ensure the improved quality of services at all times. The performance test cases must mesh with the accuracy, load, and stability tests along with the tests conducted to determine usability and API security.
6. Consider Containers: Integrating containers in DevOps and cloud strategy can provide several benefits. Containers enable a mechanism to componentize applications to improve application portability and management. Effective utilization of the technology can provide better cluster management or security. A refined approach to application architecture needs to be adopted by organizations to achieve improved value and outcomes from DevOps on Cloud.

To Sum it Up:

DevOps on cloud can provide a wide range of benefits to organizations. Of course, making this work involved factoring in several issues into the process. Aspects, such as training, tools selection, security, governance, containers, and performance testing must be considered to experience all the benefits of integrating DevOps with Cloud Computing technology. Once that is done, it could enable the creation of an unstoppable software development organization.

Get Your Free DevOps POC Here Today