The Cloud, DevOps & Managed Services – A virtuous circle?

BSO’s Cloud Computing Glossary continues with a look at the world of DevOps. Being an application developer is challenging at the best of times, however since the cloud first emerged, things have become a little easier. 

Instead of waiting for server capacity, developers can use the cloud to build, assess and deploy applications in a variety of environments, which not only speeds up the development process, but allows teams to experiment with greater freedom and less risk.  

DevOps, Meet The Cloud; The Cloud, Meet DevOps

Developing an application today, particularly web or mobile apps, requires multiple tools, many different languages and several platforms before it is ready for customers. The more time a project takes, the more complicated it becomes as the input data multiplies, the number of programmers expands, the lines of code stretch further, and the testing period grows longer. 

Providing a suitable environment for DevOps projects allows organisations to better control this complexity and provide end-users with their programs more quickly, which is why the cloud has become so important. 

According to research, using cloud or DevOps independently accelerates software delivery by just over 50%, but when they are used together, the incremental benefits grow to 81%. When it comes to cost control, the DevOps advantage is 75%, but by using both, this figure shoots up to 117%. 

This is why the DevOps methodology, which was not always best served by the distributed nature of enterprise systems, is benefiting from the cloud. Public and private enterprise cloud providers support continuous integration and development tools which help not only to centralise governance but also to keep control over the costs of development resources.  

DevOps and the Enterprise Tech Stack

The cloud and DevOps are clearly a powerful pairing. 

As organisations migrate to the cloud it makes sense for them to encourage their development and operations teams towards closer collaboration. DevOps has become the methodology they can adopt to create a more integrated model, removing geographical barriers, minimising siloes and improving business continuity.  

When it comes to developing software, selecting the right tech stack will impact how the application or product scales in the future, the cost to the organisation and, of course, the time it takes to create the app in the first place. 

Typically the tools used for back-end development include programming languages, databases, frameworks and servers. For the front-end or client side, HTML technology enables the structuring of the data and how content is arranged, while the CSS is used to manage colour, layout and fonts, and JavaScript controls interactivity.     

When choosing a tech stack for application development and the cloud’s role, there are multiple factors that need considering:

• The size of the project and the likely complexity 

• The specifications of the app or product and how it will meet audience needs

• Scalability, both vertically to add new tasks, and horizontally to enable growth 

• The performance and speed expectations of the app or product 

• The security it offers to users and whether it needs to include authorisation algorithms or limited periods of access to data 

• The impact it will have on the system when loading to ensure the tech stack can support it efficiently

• The needs and abilities of the developer team as the tech stack must work to their strengths

• The costs, particularly of maintaining the application once it is live

Cloud Managed Services for DevOps

With DevOps competencies being highly volatile and difficult to retain, many companies are opting for DevOps managed services. These provide real-time visibility across the integrated development and operations lifecycle, allowing organisations to identify issues, improve processes and provide feedback to aid with continuous improvement. 

Through automating the delivery of information, all teams can access data simultaneously and act instantly, which reduces outages, and keeps developments on track. 

Like with all managed services, including those offered by BSO, companies can derive great value from access to best-of-breed technology that is constantly updated and refined.
Moreover, DevOps-as-a-Service providers benefit from a broad experience in various verticals which guarantees a wide pool of competencies.

Given the complexities and the pressures that developers already face, simple access to highly resilient, secure infrastructure removes one challenge, while services can be centralised to provide access remotely as well as storage and backup infrastructure.  

Beyond DevOps, BSO provides their customers with other on-demand managed services adapted to their projects: 

• 24/7 System support

• DBA as a service

• Storage experts

• Network architects

• Sys admin

• Project manager