InformationWeek: Build a DevOps-Focused Enterprise
Posted by InformationWeek on June 20, 2017:
If DevOps is such a great idea, isn't it time to get other parts of the enterprise to adopt the concept?
It's already being done, says Antony Edwards, CTO of Testplant, a London-based test automation tools developer. "DevOps -- in particular Agile -- is fundamentally about how to productively manage a team in a highly dynamic environment, so the principles are absolutely applicable to any team," he notes.
Edwards says he has rolled out DevOps and Agile to a variety of non-technical business operations, including customer service teams, business development management staff, and even book publishers. "If you look at Agile it's based a lot on the management principles of Japanese car manufacturers. Think the 'Toyota Way'," he says. "So if it can work in both Japanese manufacturing and Californian software development, then it's pretty flexible."
Matthew Perry director of IT Operations at St. Louis-based WWT's software development group, says employee onboarding is one area where a DevOps approach can have a positive impact. "I am sure many of us have seen examples where a company's onboarding process is very ad-hoc and the communication between the teams involved is almost non-existent," he says. IT might not even be aware of a new employee until they show up on their first day. "If we apply the principles of DevOps to this situation, all teams could agree on a timeline for onboarding employees and start to implement automated workflows to accomplish tasks before an employee's start date," Perry notes. "This would help make new employees productive on day one and leave them with a good first impression of the company."