At Grape Up, we define DevOps as an engineering culture that unifies software development and operations, from first designs through development to production. If followed correctly, DevOps bridges the gap between these two IT groups. DevOps engineers often work at the crossroads of coding, process re-engineering and communicating with others.
Cloud, without a doubt, is inseparable from the DevOps approach. As a philosophy built on mutual collaboration and streamlined development, DevOps can still pose many challenges to IT experts attempting to apply these practices to the cloud. We’ve put together this ultimate guide to help you avoid the top barriers to implementing DevOps in the cloud.
Top Five Tips for DevOps in the Cloud
1. Invest in Proper Cloud and DevOps Training
There are many technological obstacles that people new to DevOps must overcome—from fragmented toolsets to neglected test automation while focusing on CI/CD deployment. In addition, there are cultural differences specific to every company and challenges all IT teams must face and to which they must adapt. Companies should build a collaborative culture that focuses on shared goals, which means finding team members who are DevOps champions within the organization.
2. Go Cloud-Native
If you’ve already decided to go for the cloud, you should be all in! The world’s digital-first companies like Facebook or Amazon already designed their applications completely removed from physical resources and moved them to cloud application platforms such as Cloud Foundry. In this way, they can abstract away the infrastructure and spend more time innovating. Doesn’t this prove cloud-native is the way to go?
3. Make Containers an Option
Containers help make your applications easily transportable and manageable. If applications are split into modules, changes can be made to each of them without needing to touch the entire application. Since a limited number of components require sophisticated adjustments, using Cloud Foundry for running customized containers is the most productive way to handle any type of workload.
4. Make Security your Priority
Since cloud security constantly changes, you must ensure that your security doesn’t end where your DevOps tools begin. It should be an essential part of automated testing. Including it in the CI/CD processes is a good idea. Some companies even decide to hire a Chief Security Officer to monitor DevOps security in the cloud.
5. Earn Support from the Board
Sometimes, all it takes to gain resource and budget support is the encouragement and assistance of the senior executives. Take the time to educate your Board about the benefits of DevOps so you can start putting the DevOps practices into place as soon as possible.
