The value of DevOps
DevOps is such a huge advantage nowadays and implementing it genuinely causes revolutionary ROI and brings unique business value. However, DevOps is more than a silver bullet solution. It has to be more of a transformational shift in every organization’s culture rather than just an imported approach to software. This is why DevOps, as a culture and methodology, is very important to adopt throughout the business and maintain during the scaling process. If the DevOps culture isn’t fully embraced, issues will inevitably arise throughout the whole organization. DevOps takes a holistic approach to the problem and empathy and effective collaboration in teams are what drive the real business value of this methodology.
The importance of culture and people in DevOps
“Getting the technical side of the continuous delivery equation right is nothing compared to taking care of the human side of it”.
Kamen Tarlov, CEO and Co-founder @ITGix
DevOps is not about building an automated process and plugging it in, DevOps requires careful management of organizational and cultural change in addition to acquiring the right skills. All the tooling and automation in the world would be useless if they aren’t accompanied by a desire for every person on the team to collaborate and work with others.
A culture is a code of values and behaviors that are important for every organization. Without a healthy culture, you cannot motivate your employees to work and stay passionate about every project and working challenge they face. It’s time for companies to understand that people are more important than processes and to manage their human capital smartly.
How to achieve the best results in the DevOps world
In this article, we will discuss the best practices for establishing a truly collaborative, empathetic, and thriving environment, and share tips to overcome the inevitable friction and conflict. You may also get acquainted with our values and company culture here and incorporate our best practices for a cohesive and friendly work environment that stimulates personal growth and team success.
How do we ensure the business understands the need for a supportive and united culture?
The collective nature is typical of DevOps culture. Teamwork is the way to use your resources in order to create a system of consistent processes that work to find solutions and fulfill customer requirements.
In our opinion, if you make it all about automation and forget the people, it will never be successful. The collaboration of both sides is the key that brings optimal results. The truth is that software problems, technical issues, and all sorts of setbacks can be resolved by experience, knowledge, or someone’s advice, but at least you need people who want to implement it. So, to achieve harmony you should know the people’s needs better.
When DevOps feels appreciated for its daily efforts on different projects and feels comfortable asking for help from managers and colleagues, they will work closely with the customers to offer high-level services. A friendly work environment that consists of everyday professional challenges, personal development, and engagement increases productivity.
How do we avoid burnout and why work-life balance in the DevOps team matters to business success?
Team dysfunction increases stress, creates a loss of control in the workflow, and increases the risk of burnout. One of the main company goals is to help the team to avoid burnout while building a constructive culture and engaging workers. Firstly, we will recognize the reasons for burnout at work.
- Tight Deadlines and Constant Stress at the Workplace
When deadlines come faster and faster and even as one project is being finished, the focus has already shifted to the next set of work, it’s hard to handle even for the most experienced engineer.
For the right planning of daily tasks, it’s important to have a leadership that effectively manages the work in progress on the teams to give them the satisfaction of delivering value to their customers. Thus planning and effective management creates a more sustainable pace for the team which avoids pressure at work.
Nothing keeps a DevOps team more engaged than having leadership that empowers and supports it. The biggest thing organizations can do is to ensure more autonomy in their teams as they have control and feel trusted by their managers to make the right decisions.
- Flexibility
Another thing which is valuable for all the employees is flexible working time. This increases their trust in the company and it’s a benefit that allows you to use your time smartly.
A company that allows employees to set their own hours shows respect for their staff’s time. As a result, people feel free to express themselves and take a break when they are exhausted and incapable of completing their tasks. This can boost their productivity.
- A lack of community
The lack of support and healthy relationships at work can lead to burnout. Supportive and trusting relationships at the workplace are the source for nurturing and supporting your career goals.
- When values don’t align
Burnout certainly occurs when an employee’s values don’t match the company and may result in constant dissatisfaction with your workforce. It is important that you organize face-to-face meetings with every employee as often as possible to ensure that everyone sees things eye to eye. If you don’t fully listen to your workforce, the motivation to fulfill the company’s mission is compromised.
How do we do it in ITGix? Real-world examples of what it means to do ‘DevOps culture right’
- Teamwork
We have gathered cohesive, goal-oriented teams consisting of individuals with similar interests, distinct experiences, and a good understanding of each other. Teamwork is of the essence in ITGix and we value individualism, but also integrity, susceptibility, tolerance, and patience in work relationships.
DevOps engineers at ITGix work together to deliver stability and efficiency so our customers can focus on their main business. We are dedicated to reducing manual efforts at all aspects to a minimum by attempting to automate as much as possible.
To offer high-level service, we have created six teams with different expertise: AWS, Cross-Tech, Hybrid cloud, Google Cloud, CI/CD team, and Incident Management team. Each of them works with different clients from all over the world. The teams use the most recent cloud-native technologies and practices for creating and managing any infrastructure. Many of the company’s projects are related to modernizing application workloads – transforming to microservices and moving to the cloud. Every team has its own team lead, different projects, and daily meetings to discuss problems and daily tasks.
- Mentorship
We have implemented DevOps mentorship programs every single step of the way. ITGix promotes a culture of continuous personal and professional development by sponsoring various certification courses, educational platforms, etc. We house a friendly, ever-learning environment with weekly knowledge-sharing tech & social talks and gatherings. We always aim to improve our combined skill-set.
- Teambuilding
Strong teams don’t just appear by hiring qualified employees – they need to be built through common activities. Team building is an excellent way to bring a team together and through building a stronger unit of people to motivate them to work collaboratively.
At ITGix we found that team buildings improve productivity, increase employee motivation, encourage collaboration, and build trust and respect among employees.
- Work-life balance
We believe that company culture has to dictate the balance between professional and personal life. Work-life balance is relevant for all members and involves ensuring that everybody is supported to advance their careers alongside personal responsibilities.
The easiest method for achieving this is with flexible working hours. It doesn’t matter if you are a parent who needs to spend more time with his children or you are just not feeling well, ITGx gives you the freedom to decide and also offers an opportunity for fully remote working.
We try to encourage self-care through a healthy working environment – fruits at the office, sports activities like playing football with our company team, and different games in the office space.
For us, there are some company benefits that impact the employee’s life and make it easier. We offer Multisport & Public transport cards, Additional health insurance, and many others. For all benefits that we offer see here.
- Demonstrate a “People First” attitude
We are absolutely certain that our teams and their well-being are the most important part of the formula to success. Attracting, developing, and retaining the best talent, demonstrating a “can-do” attitude, and fostering a collaborative and supportive environment are a must for ITGix. We recognize that the skill, dedication, and enthusiasm of our team are crucial to our success and the success of our customers.
Support a DevOps dream team
At ITGix we empower our people to accelerate their skillset, growth, and well-being. In order to ensure success in your digital transformation and DevOps transition, you must realize that nurturing company culture and talented people are the foundation for being able to move forward. The welfare and happiness of every person are now more than ever the most essential element for the prosperity of teamwork, successful achievement of projects, and business strive.
Join our dream team!