Decoding DevOps managed services for application support & solutions

DevOps Methodology: Some of us have been doing “DevOps” even before it had a name. DevOps is a methodology and not a technology. Today, DevOps methodologies are proving to be big game changers. A combination of tools, processes, and people, DevOps adds speed to systems. The introduction of DevOps principles into your IT service and engineering teams dramatically improves service quality, team morale, problem-solving, and business productivity. Statistics state that companies adopting DevOps principles report an average of 45% higher customer satisfaction, 43% higher employee productivity, 41% improvement in defect rates, and 38% reduction in IT-related costs.

But what is DevOps and how does it bring this turnaround in organizational processes? Let us decode DevOps and understand how it enables efficient application support and quicker time to market.

Understanding DevOps

DevOps offers a methodology to link processes, people, and technologies to enable the continuous delivery of IT services. From software engineering, and system administration to quality assurance, DevOps ensures close communication between developers and operations to accelerate software deployment and improve product delivery.

Simply explained, DevOps is about eliminating the silos between development and operations. In a DevOps model, development and operations teams work together across the entire software application life cycle, from development and test through deployment to operations.

DevOps workflow

DevOps practices rely on effective tools to help teams rapidly and reliably deploy and innovate for their customers. These tools should automate manual tasks, help teams manage complex environments at scale, and keep engineers in control of the high-velocity pace that is DevOps.

The DevOps process flow is all about agility and automation. Each phase in the DevOps lifecycle focuses on closing the loop between development and operations and driving production through continuous development, integration, testing, monitoring and feedback, delivery, and deployment. DevOps workflow provides a visual overview of the sequence in which input is provided. The DevOps workflow consists of phases:

• Plan and schedule the product’s development cycle

• Design and build the code.

• Test and deploy the code in the production environment.

• Deliver product updates.

• Monitor and log software performance.

• Gather customer feedback.

DevOps Managed Services

From cloud infrastructure to data and access management (DAM), just about anything in the IT space can be delivered as a service or more precisely, a managed service. That includes DevOps managed services.

Organizations procure DevOps managed services as part of their app development engagements. DevOps managed services provider invests in the necessary staff and resources to meet customer’s needs for DevOps-accelerated app development while delivering successful outcomes.

DevOps managed services enable numerous services and technology solutions to simplify provisioning and managing infrastructure, deploy application code, automate software release processes, monitor application, and infrastructure performance, and optimize each stage of the software development lifecycle.

The Benefits of DevOps Managed Services

While the benefits associated with Managed DevOps vary based on the service provider’s capabilities and customers’ specific needs, they usually include:

• Access to expertise to cloud-native app

• Faster innovation and quicker time to market

• Project management by the service provider

• Mentorship for in-house teams

• Faster software development life cycle

• Enhanced deployment frequency

• Better alignment with business goals

• Reduction of waste

Role of DevOps Managed Services in Application Support

DevOps Managed Services ensure the smooth functioning and transitions of various applications and services of a business. On experiencing disruptions, application support ensures timely identification and rectification of such issues. Application support is often correlated with technical support that ensures the applications can run without any issues. A good approach to application support ensures timely restoration of services with minimum downtime, quick troubleshooting, and fast resolution of any technical glitches.

1) Measurement of Performance Indicators

Helps teams to assess issue occurrences and estimate the costs involved per incident.

2) Leverage from Self-Healing Solutions

Facilitates an enterprise to leverage self-healing solutions for many repetitive and error-prone processes, enabling flexibility and responsiveness.

3) Easy and Quicker Debugging

Helps teams to monitor application-related issues related and address the issues in a time-bound manner.

4) Ensure Automation

Encourages automation of processes for release management, change management, configuration management, to quickly sort out issues in the product and accelerate its release.

5) Change Management

Realigns the organizational culture by establishing a governance structure to monitor changes and facilitate collective team accomplishment.

6) Adopt Emerging Technologies

Serves as the gateway to exploit new generation digital technologies and incorporate the latest features in the products.

A well-devised and adopted DevOps strategy guarantees a successful and efficient application support strategy. DevOps managed services has helped business bottom lines in a significant way, which is probably why 4 out of 5 companies say that they are using at least some DevOps principles. DevOps improves employee and team satisfaction, collaboration, and recognition. It smoothens processes, speeds up tasks, and removes a layer of bureaucracy that has long caused tensions across IT, development, and other interrelated teams.