What is DevOps?
DevOps is a set of practices and a culture of collaboration between development and operation teams, aimed at improving the IT infrastructure processes. The transition to DevOps methodology and workflows results in the tangible improvement of software delivery and maintenance operations. Therefore, many organizations of all sizes worldwide are eager to accomplish this digital transformation.
What are the benefits of implementing DevOps practices?
DevOps serves as a competitive advantage to a number of organizations that operate at higher speeds and with greater agility. DevOps lifecycle revolves around automation and agility. If implemented accordingly, DevOps best practices and set of tools allow to automate processes, introduce changes effectively and on time, accelerate the delivery of software and make it more reliable.
Here are some of the benefits you may expect of a company that has determined to implement DevOps:
- Agility for development dealing with multiple applications, components, or services;
- Fewer security issues;
- Lower change failure rate;
- Better reporting and response;
- Reach a quicker SDLC
- Boosting deployment frequency
- More reasonable deployments
- Better alignment with business goals
DevOps allows you to create a better product and respond quickly to market changes and trends in order for your business to prosper.
Can DevOps be outsourced and why?
Some companies hire in-house specialists and benefit from it, while others don’t think it to be a great option in terms of time and money. You might ask why? The only issue is that building an in-house DevOps team is not always feasible, let alone business efficient. In-house DevOps engineers cost a lot and can work effectively only following the DevOps principles, which means a long and costly cultural transformation before a business can reap the benefits of an internal DevOps team.
So is there a simple solution? How can you reap the benefits of DevOps without having to rob a bank and waste precious time? Many businesses have realized the benefits of proper DevOps outsourcing. Trusted Managed Services Providers (MSPs) attract and retain top DevOps talents and provide a comfortable environment for them in order to ensure the success of your outsourced projects.
What to expect from DevOps-as-a-service?
A remote DevOps team is a great alternative to an in-house team. Often referred to as DevOps as a Service (DaaS), DevOps outsourcing is redirecting the design, build, and integration of DevOps solutions and infrastructure maintenance for your organization to a third-party service provider. The DevOps consulting partner accordingly forms an expert team that works side-by-side with your in-house software team and manages your day-to-day operations.
Moreover, a DevOps provider helps implement best practices and principles into your organization and best aligns them with your business goals. The services provided vary for each client and project and are completely customizable. As each case is different and has different objectives, the client and DevOps service provider should go through the scope of work and agree on responsibilities on a case-by-case basis. Here are just some of the solutions that an outsourced engineer will perform:
- Providing cloud services implementation and consulting;
- Conduct disaster recovery plans;
- Automation of development and production environments;
- Migrating your application infrastructure to the cloud, or performing a cloud-to-cloud migration;
- Dockerizing and building apps.
If implemented correctly, DevOps outsourcing empowers businesses with immediate access to highly skilled resources with DevOps tools and expertise. Thus you may avoid having to build an expert in-house team. But how does it work?
Successful DevOps transition: How to start with DevOps outsourcing? How to choose the right DevOps services provider company?
When we talk about outsourcing DevOps we should also mention that it differs from traditional outsourcing. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all as DevOps is not only a technology integration but a cultural mind shift. For an effective approach to DevOps outsourcing, below is a step-by-step guide to getting started with DevOps, how to choose the right DevOps services provider partner, and making it all a success.
1. Define your key DevOps goals and objectives
You can start by identifying key areas that call for improvement and defining the goals you want to achieve and the problems you want to solve with DevOps. This will also help you to choose the right DevOps company to meet your business-specific KPIs such as scalability, cost audit, 24/7 support, migration, big data, or data analytics.
2. Decide on a governance framework
DevOps is based on extensive collaboration; thus, outsourcing DevOps needs a governance framework that outlines the essential processes and technologies. The DevOps services provider brings in an external perspective on the business and expertise that brings value. However, the client knows the application, customer persona, and end objectives of its company. That’s why together, they can sample a successful collaboration through a unified operating model and build teams with a single mindset.
3. Conduct research and match it to your criteria
You should carefully evaluate DevOps outsourcing providers as they play a crucial role in the performance of your whole business. Successful outsourcing depends on choosing the right outsourcing partner. Use this checklist to conduct in-depth research for the list of your potential outsourcing partners. A trusted DevOps consulting company should have an impressive and tangible experience in DevOps outsourcing services.
- Assess the level of technical expertise of a DevOps outsourcing provider
Check expertise with Cloud technologies, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), DevSecOps, Monitoring and Logging, and Release Management.
- Conduct thorough background research
Ask for referrals, analyze reviews and testimonials, view portfolios and inspect case studies, inspect industry verticals of their services, and find certifications and/or recognitions.
- Analyze the communication skills and plan
4. DevOps performance tracking
Successful DevOps outsourcing does not end with finalizing a deal. It is essential for your business to ensure that your DevOps partner can adhere to your operating model and to be able to measure the success of your collaboration. Considered metrics that actually matter and can be easily tracked are deployment frequency, time for changes, time to recover, change failure rate, etc. These metrics will verify that both you and your partner are on the right track and have a single mindset when it comes to business objectives.
You can check out how we work here and find out the individual steps we go through from auditing to finding the best-fit solutions for your specific case study. That may help you to define the procedures a DevOps services provider may go through to start working on your case.
Why choose ITGix?
As we discussed in the lines above, the success of DevOps outsourcing depends on choosing the right partner with the right expertise. So if you are looking for an experienced DevOps service provider, ITGix can be your ideal technology partner. At ITGix we lead innovation with the deep business understanding that we gained from working on numerous DevOps projects in various industries. With 6+ years of experience and over 150 completed DevOps projects that justify our solid technical competence with DevOps, we can help you streamline your development and operational capabilities to accelerate the SDLC and quicken releases.
Moreover, our DevOps team has certified professionals who truly understand your needs, and all consultations are best aligned with your company culture and values. We extend our technical capabilities through strategic partnerships with market leaders like Oracle and AWS. Contact us today and get a free consultation!
Check out our Portfolio here.
Find out what our clients say about us here or check out our reviews in Clutch here today!