DevOps Transformation

DevOps – call it an ask or name it as a mainstream subject, it is a driving force for many IT organizations today. Organizations who have started their journey towards modernization or are transforming themselves, have considered DevOps as their key need. And they often struggle with questions like – where to start, who to approach, how to socialize, need of the hour, etc, etc. This blog intends to answer these questions based upon my experiences.

DevOps Adoption

The adoption of DevOps is driven by 3 key factors – people collaboration, integrated and optimized processes + automation.

Most organizations start their DevOps journey by introducing tools and automating their delivery pipeline. This is a low hanging fruit for them and it is easy to quantify the benefits. Next comes the processes, wherein teams re-look at their current processes and try to make them lean and simple. Lastly, the difficult and trickiest part is the People. I say this because a major population in the organization resists change and thats where organizations struggle and slow down in their journey. It is challenging to break the silos but it is not impossible. Just that a strategy is needed to drive the new change that ultimately will benefit the people.

So, from where / how should we start? A single solution may not fit into every organization but at least the key basics can be done to understand and plan DevOps adoption.

DevOps Strategy

Organizations definitely need a strategy / road map to work on adopting DevOps. And they need consultants / practitioners to drive this road map with the support from senior leadership. Setting a Core team (say 3-4 members) of practitioners who will drive the strategy really helps. Make them accountable for driving the new change. Let them socialize and bring the transition towards new ways of working. Define quarter wise milestones that focuses on the aspects of DevOps. And yes very important is to collaborate with the OCM – organization change management team to facilitate the communication on the changes. Now this change could be related to a change in the IT organization structure or defining new roles and responsibilities or defining metrics or setting up goals.

The end target definitely is to setup Enterprise DevOps for the organization. And this is where the Core team of practitioners help. They need to assess, define and redefine road map, measure maturity and success, socialize and revisit their plan of action with agility.

Hope this blog provided a good insight into how to start with DevOps adoption. Keep watching this space for more information on driving DevOps with agility !!