Is it time your organisation started to implement a DevOps way of working? From speaking to customers, industry colleagues and our own DevOps team we have come up with 5 signs that indicate it’s time to start implementing DevOps.

1. Unacceptable time taken to fix defects
Have you ever been in the situation where you’re about to run a software release and a software defect or code error is spotted at the last minute? Whilst this can be problem, the real issue we see here is the mean time to fix the issue. We typically see two patterns which can lead to slow progress:

• The company insists on following a rigorous manual process with full test regression happening at each stage. This can really slow down progress. Whilst IT are technically doing the right thing, the defect may be costing the business or the customer money.
• A manager puts pressure on the team to “just get it done”. In this scenario, quality gates often get bypassed. This almost always results in the team pulling heroic hours to resolve further issues created by rushing out a fix without fully testing (see issue no.4 – Stress/burnout of staff!)

2. You’re using agile methodologies but not moving as fast as you expected
Agile development is widely used and is a great way of speeding up the development process. However, if you’re not integrating Operations into the process, time can be wasted when issues arise in operation and have to be raised with development. Also, if you’re not working on Continuous Delivery then the whole process will be slower and you’re more likely to encounter errors.

3. There’s too much waiting around
In organisations not utilising DevOps, Development and Testing teams can experience frustration when they’re unable to get on with the project. This “waiting around” can be caused by access to production environments, waiting on code from other teams or waiting on business requirements to be signed off. Effective communication is absolutely essential to ensure successful delivery. In a non-DevOps environment there isn’t that continuous feedback loop.

4. Stress/burnout of staff
The seemingly relentless release cycle in some organisations can put real stress onto staff. Stressed-out staff can only ever have a detrimental effect on output with sick days on the rise and mistakes becoming more frequent.

5. The blame game takes over
If people aren’t in an environment where they can work collaboratively, when issues arise, the default position can often end up in finger-pointing and apportioning blame. People and teams need to be empowered to work together, collaborate and co-operate to get the best out of both individuals and processes. According to the 2018 Global Developer Report 94% of respondents said it’s important to them to work in a collaborative environment.

One of the core tenets within DevOps is around breaking down barriers and increasing communication between all stakeholders. Successful software is built and maintained by everyone in the business not just by IT departments.

If any of these scenarios sounds familiar then perhaps it’s time you considered how you can implement DevOps into your organisation.