devops: unlocking the value from digital … unlocking the value from digital transformation - a...

DevOpsGuys | 1

DevOps: Unlocking the Value from Digital Transformation

- A CxO’s Guide

A DevOpsGuys Whitepaper

DevOpsGuys | 2

ContentsDocument overview

1. The Background: What Are Digital Transformation & DevOps and What Value do They Deliver?

2. The Problem: What is the Challenge in Scaling Digital Transformation & DevOps Initiatives?

3. The Solution: How do I implement DevOps at Scale within a Digital Transformation Strategy?

4. The Benefits: What happens if I get Alignment Between Digital Transformation and DevOps at Scale?

5. The Action: How do I Start and How Would Using a DevOps Partner Help?

6. What do DevOpsGuys Offer and How do I Contact Them?

3

4

14

20

31

35

41

DevOpsGuys | 3

Document OverviewThis whitepaper is aimed at CxOs of large enterprises and public sector organisations and explains how DevOps is key to the success of any Digital Transformation initiative.

We examine the different market pressures that are forcing organisations to digitally transform themselves and highlight specific examples in several key industries. We demonstrate the value that can be unlocked by Digital Transformation and provide some real world illustrations. We also explain the relationship between DevOps and Digital Transformation and show how the two are intrinsically linked.In the second section of the paper, we examine the problems that organisations are having in starting and then subsequently scaling Digital Transformation and DevOps initiatives.We then discuss how these problems can be overcome by aligning Digital Transformation and DevOps strategies and putting an appropriate roadmap in place. This leads onto an examination of how organisations can successfully implement and grow these initiatives with case studies on some of our large enterprise customers.In section four we reference some statistics on the benefits that DevOps can generate together with information regarding the results that other organisations have experienced.Finally, we examine how CxOs should start on this journey, what models are available, what benefits external consultancies can bring and what to look for when selecting a specialist DevOps partner.

DevOpsGuys | 41. The Background: What Are Digital Transformation & DevOps and What Value do They Deliver?

1. The Background: What Are Digital Transformation

& DevOps and What Value do They Deliver?


1.1 What is the Problem DigitalTransformation is Trying to Solve?

In the age of digital disruption, organisations are fundamentally measured by the speed at which they deliver new products and services, how they innovate and the reliability of their operations. Every industry will see one-third of its top 20 companies seriously disrupted. Although it’s the example of Uber in the taxi market that is routinely cited in the media, the shockwaves are being felt across all markets. To highlight the scale of the issue, we have selected examples in six major sectors below where technological advances are significantly changing the landscape:

Aerospace & Defence has historically been viewed as a conservative sector with business models that have remained largely unchanged for years. This is now changing as customers have become more sophisticated with heightened expectations. They now require a seamless digital experience whether placing orders during the manufacturing process, reserving airline seats online or supporting soldiers on the battlefield.

In Retail, the ecommerce model has allowed online retailers such as Amazon and Rakuten to win market share by offering a wide selection (they have no constraint on shelf space), provide convenience (via mobile apps and accelerated delivery), scale rapidly (with easy access to global distribution) and offer cheaper pricing (with lower overheads). The rapid rate of change has significantly altered customer’s experiences and expectations. They can now easily compare prices online, check whether products are in stock at physical stores and access reviews from other customers who have used the service.

The Financial Services sector faces significant challenges as new entrants, unrestricted by technical debt, enter the market and change the landscape. While financial institutions struggle to keep up, financial-technology or “FinTech” start-ups are on the rise. They are changing the way in which consumers save, borrow, send money abroad and make payments. Rather than coming from one new entrant defining a market, this disruption has come from hundreds of players all along the value chain. These entrants are all concentrating on providing one service incredibly well and thereby outperforming the incumbents.

In Telecoms, there is an irony that the industry which provides the backbone to digitization is itself a laggard when it comes to Digital Transformation. However, competitive pressures are mounting for telecoms service providers, making Digital Transformation an increasingly urgent imperative. Customers are now demanding an integrated omni-channel experience on desktop, on mobile, on telephone and in stores. The physical networks that telecoms companies operate are becoming


software defined, which has drastically altered the business operations of traditional switch manufacturers such as Nokia and Ericsson.

The Media sector has been quicker to digitise and the business models for television, music, publishing and film industries have largely adapted to “on demand” services on any digital devices. Books, magazines, newspapers and other forms of publication have also reinvented themselves on mobiles and tablets. However the situation is constantly evolving and Media companies now need to offer “multi-touch” media where text, video, audio, games, and other interaction types are blended together.

Travel & Leisure was one of the earliest industries to be significantly disrupted by digital technology. This has grown to the extent that Travel is now the single largest online sector, accounting for thirty-five percent of all sales on the Internet. Advances in software applications have shifted the balance of power from traditional suppliers to new market entrants. For example, there are now fewer travel agencies in business and far more aggregators such as Expedia, Booking.com and Trivago. The sector has also seen digital disruptors creating their own markets – Airbnb, started in 2008 is now the world’s largest provider of accommodation and is valued at $20Bn.

Often it is not so much what companies are offering that is better or different, but the way it’s packaged and delivered (i.e. the business model). This is where new value is being created – anyone with a flash of inspiration can redefine a whole market overnight. To cope with this disruption and remain competitive, businesses are putting Digital Transformation strategies in place.

1.2 What is Digital Transformation?Digital Transformation involves harnessing the four digital disruptors of Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (together known as “The Third Platform”) to do something fundamentally different. Other advances are also coming into play such as the Internet of Things, 3D Printing, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The potential results of employing these technologies could be significantly more efficient internal business processes, new business models or revenue streams, or a completely new customer experience.

For example, servers have historically been expensive acquisitions which were difficult and slow to implement, scale and manage. The advent of Cloud technology has changed this – now computing infrastructure can be spun up quickly and cheaply with automated deployment and management.

When Spanish bank BBVA appointed a new President and Chief Operating Officer in 2015, it chose its current Head of Digital Banking. This signalled just how far digital


expertise now matters to the whole business. A simultaneous move to close its digital banking unit as a distinct group makes it clear that digital activity is no longer a fringe concept to the organisation, but a core operating model.

1.3 What is the Value that can beUnlocked by Digital Transformation?

We are on the cusp of a new phase in Digital Transformation, where market leaders begin to progress from being digital players to being true digital transformers and disrupters, demonstrated through ambitious new business models and ecosystems. We have picked out some key examples from the same previously mentioned industries below.

In Aerospace & Defence, airframe manufacturers Airbus and Boeing have 12,000 commercial aircraft orders stacked up for the coming decade and need to leverage digital innovations in order to increase production to meet this demand. New Aerospace companies such as SpaceX are redefining how their industry operates, creating new and different business processes based on their backers’ experience with high-tech digital businesses. Defence companies including BAE Systems are also adapting to shrinking budgets and diversified security challenges by employing new advances such as drone and robotic technology.

In Retail, traditional retailers including John Lewis and Marks & Spencer are fighting back, using physical retail space to their advantage. Click & Collect has proven to be popular and consumers are now “reverse showrooming” where they go online to research products, but then head to a bricks-and-mortar store to complete their purchase. House of Fraser has augmented its physical stores with a significant investment in its ecommerce platform and now offers services such as the True Fit tool to minimise clothing returns by helping shoppers to find their perfect fit.

Established Financial Services institutions are reacting by making their services as seamless as possible for customers who expect an increasingly personalised and relevant experience across all channels, including mobile and social engagement. For example, Barclays now offers bPay – a wristband that customers can use for contactless payments by scanning it against one of 300,000 UK terminals.

In Travel & Leisure, major theme park operators such as Disney and Ardent Leisure have introduced new applications that allow customers to purchase tickets, reserve restaurant seats and get notified when attractions are available. Traditional holiday operators such as Thomas Cook and TUI Group have made workflow improvements to enable innovative pricing and offers to boost customer loyalty and goodwill. Gym


operators such as Fitness First have also introduced new technologies that allow their members to self-serve the joining process, record their own training plans and measure their performance and achievement.

These are just some of the new models emerging. Connected people, vehicles and homes provide infinite scope for new business streams that can redirect established brands from stagnating markets and low-margin businesses into new and more profitable fields.

1.4 What is DevOps?DevOps is an emerging model of product delivery and full lifecycle management that emphasises a holistic, end-to-end process. It seeks to remove the silos between Development and Operations, and indeed all key stakeholders in the application lifecycle.

DevOps means people, process and the right tools working together to make the product delivery lifecycle faster and more predictable.

Traditional models of application development and service delivery, which have multiple handovers between silos, face challenges when trying to achieve higher rates of change. Some of these existing models of delivery such as PRINCE2 and ITIL are over 20 years old, and pre-date many of the recent innovations in IT such as the Cloud, Infrastructure as Code, software defined networking, improved version control and collaboration tools.

DevOps is a response to the perceived weaknesses of these existing models and seeks to draw from Agile, Lean, Systems thinking, the Theory of Constraints and many other areas to create a new model that emphasises the fast flow of work across the entire application and product lifecycle.

Gene Kim, co-author of “The Phoenix Project”, talks about the “3 Ways of DevOps”1:

1. Systems Thinking – focus on the entire system and flow2. Amplified feedback loops – shortened feedback cycles to reduce waste and

re-work

1. http://itrevolution.com/the-three-ways-principles-underpinning-devops/

DevOps means people, process and the right tools working together to make the product delivery lifecycle faster and more predictable.

“

”


3. Culture of Continual Experimentation and Learning – “creating a culture that fosters two things: continual experimentation, taking risks and learning from failure; and understanding that repetition and practice is the prerequisite to mastery.”

1.4.1 CALMS ModelA commonly discussed model for DevOps is CALMS2

• Culture • Automation • Lean • Metrics • Sharing

One of the key messages of the CALMS model is that this is a cultural change, not just “technology”, and as such it extends beyond the boundaries of just the IT department.

DevOps challenges organisations to be “product-centric” and to look beyond the “project model” of IT. Teams should be fully responsible for everything that concerns their software product all the way from inception through to retirement. This collective responsibility prevents individuals from just performing their one element of the work without considering its impact further along the software delivery chain. As well as developers and operations staff, Product Teams should include roles from all facets of the organisation, including business analysts, user experience designers, testers, quality assurers, database administrators and security professionals. Product Owner roles should also be created to bring the team together.

Any product that is brought to market must be considered as a whole “system” as part of the value chain that runs from the initial idea through to the delivery of that idea as a finished product to the client. The mantra for this is adopted from Lean product development i.e. that staff must focus “from concept to cash” and not just on their own silos within the value chain.

2. http://itrevolution.com/devops-culture-part-1/

CALMS DevOps Model

Culture • Hearts and minds • Embracing change

Automation • Automate everything • Software, infrastructure, manual tasks

Lean • Focus on producing value for end user • Small batch sizes

Metrics • Measure everything • Show the improvement

Sharing • Share everything • Open information, collaboration


1.4.2 SecurityPreviously we mentioned that security professionals should be included in Product Teams. Traditionally, standalone security teams would only get involved in the delivery cycle once software had been deployed to computing infrastructure, typically by hardening perimeter network security. We believe that security should be included in Products from the outset, rather than bolted-on afterwards. By considering exposure and risk at the start of the DevOps cycle, fewer issues will arise afterwards. The responsibility for security should also be shared across various IT functions. For example, developers ought to consider the security implications of their code and not just pass responsibilities to others. The Continuous Delivery approach of DevOps can also be applied to security – with policies being applied on an on-going basis, rather than the conventional “set it and forget it” method. Automated security software should be configured so that policy violations are consistently visible with alerts being put in place.

1.5 Why does Digital Transformationneed DevOps to Succeed?

In our experience, Digital Transformation can only be achieved when it is underpinned by a solid platform to deliver and support these new applications, services and technologies.

Organisations that continue to use traditional methods to release software on quarterly or six monthly intervals will lose out, even if their ideas are sound. Infrequent releases not only mean that innovation is too slow to market, but crucially it is not delivered to customers who can then voice their opinion. The organisations that will thrive in this environment are the ones who quickly put their ideas into the hands of consumers, take rapid feedback and then quickly refine their software to launch the suggested improvements.

Figure 1: DevOps Teams Are All-Inclusive

Quality Assurance (QA)Database Administration (DBA)DeveloperOperationsProduct Owner

Business (BA)SupportUser Experience DesignerTesterSecurity

DevOps


Ad HocDigital Resister

Business and IT digital initiatives are disconnected and poorly aligned with enterprise strategy and not focused on customer experiences.Business OutcomeBusiness is a laggard providing weak customer experience and using digital technology only to counter treats.CultureCultured developed organically. Lack of awareness as to how culture is impacting day to day business. Culture misaligned to goals.AutomationNo automation.LeanReactive approach. Little to no involvement. Ad-Hoc Learning.MeasurementNo monitoring or metrics collecting.SharingPoor ad-hoc communication and coordination

OpportunisticDigital Explorer

Business has identified a need to develop a digitally enhanced, customer-driven business strategy, but execution is on a project basis. Progress is not predictable nor repeatable.Business OutcomeDigitally enabled customer experiences and products are inconsistent and poorly integrated.CultureAware of aspects in culture that may help or hinder. Programs implemented to address specific issues.AutomationSilo’d automation, no central infrastructure.LeanFormal structure. Only specialists. Team learning.MeasurementNo monitoring or metrics collecting.SharingPoor ad-hoc communication and coordination

RepeatableDigital Player

Business-IT goals are aligned at enterprise level around the creation of digital products and experiences, but not yet focused on the disruptive potential of digital initiatives.Business outcomeBusiness provides consistent but not truly innovative products, services and experiences.CultureDesired elements of the culture are identified, ingrained and sustainable – ‘The way we work here’. Continually enhancing the employee and customer experienceAutomationCentral automated processes across the application life-cycle.LeanGoal orientated. Selected teams. Value stream learning.MeasurementMonitor resources consistently.SharingCollaboration, shared decision making and accountability.

ManagedDigital Transformer

Integrated, synergistic business-IT management disciplines deliver digitally enabled product/service experiences on a continuous basis.Business outcomeBusiness is a leader in its markets, providing world class digital products, services and experiences.CultureCultured view as an assets to be managed. Ability to adapt to changing business needs.AutomationCollect and analyse metrics of the automated process and measure against business goals.LeanDriven deployment. Majority involvement. X-process learning.MeasurementMonitor using business and end-user context.SharingCollaboration based processes are measured to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies.

OptimisedDigital Disruptor

Enterprise is aggressively disruptive in the use of new digital technologies and business models to affect markets. Ecosystem awareness and feedback is a constant input to business innovation.Business outcomeBusiness remakes existing markets and creates new ones to its own advantage and is a fast-moving target for competition.CultureCultural traits that support business strategies have been identified. Ability to analyse trends in culture and predict issues.AutomationSelf-service automation, selflearning using analytics and self-remediationLeanAutonomous habit. Full empowerment. External learning.MeasurementMeasure to customer value.SharingEffective knowledge sharing and individual empowerment.

3. IDC’s MaturityScape Digital Transformation (DX) Stage Overview, IDC: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25494215

Figure 2: Idc’s Digital Transformation Maturityscape3


This is where DevOps comes in and why it is fundamental to the success of Digital Transformation. We view DevOps as the “engine room of change” that allows new ideas to be delivered quickly.

DevOps concepts such as Agile, Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery mean that new iterations are released faster and faster meaning that production software is improved faster and faster until the end product is in a state of continuous improvement.

Uber is a great example of this. It was a brilliant idea, but not a particularly complex application. However, its success was due to its speed to market and then subsequent rapid refinement and improvement until its service came to dominate the taxi market.

1.6 What is the Value that DevOps canUnlock Within an Organisation?

DevOps has been proven to increase the speed, efficiency and quality of software delivery as well as improving staff morale and motivation.

One of the key benefits of introducing DevOps processes and culture is that it removes silos (the communication barriers between teams), from an organisation and therefore removes the reliance on the availability of an individual person or team in order for software delivery to progress.

By working in small Product Teams, responsibility is shared and a team ethos is established. The quality of work improves when staff collaborate closely with all those who are directly impacted by it. For example, a developer is more likely to ensure that their code is up to standard if they work closely with colleagues in operations who will be directly affected if there is a problem. Efficiency is also increased as decisions are made collectively by all involved and feedback to those decisions is rapid.

Work quality is further improved by the introduction of automation software which removes wearisome, monotonous tasks. This delivers applications in a consistent fashion and removes the mistakes and anomalies that human beings typically make. As the burden of manual work is removed from staff members, they can then focus on more creative work that increases their job satisfaction and adds real value to the organisation.

By establishing automated services, the ongoing operational costs are drastically lower than the human equivalent. There is also a significant speed advantage as automated processes are much faster than their manual counterparts. The quality of the entire


release process improves because steps in the pipeline become standardised, thus creating predictable results.

By taking a DevOps approach to the software delivery process, the resulting ease and reliability inspires the confidence to release frequently. This allows for continuous feedback to be rapidly incorporated into future releases and for software delivery to be truly Agile.

DevOpsGuys | 142. The Problem: What is the Challenge in Scaling Digital Transformation & DevOps Initiatives?

2. The Problem: What is the Challenge in Scaling

Digital Transformation & DevOps Initiatives?


2.1 What is Preventing Organisationsfrom Getting Started with DigitalTransformation or DevOps?

While organisations are keenly aware of Digital Transformation, getting started on the journey is no small deal. The barriers to these changes can be strongly felt and a strategy for dealing with them is a must. Implementing DevOps means having the right process, technology and culture to facilitate significant IT change.

Based on our experience of working with enterprise clients, we have listed below the top 5 obstacles that we believe are preventing organisations from getting started:

2.1.1 Failure to Appreciate the UrgencyAs described in the previous chapter, markets such as Retail, Travel & Leisure and Financial Services have had little choice but to respond to the demands of the millennial generation and radical market disruption. In Kotter’s 8-step change model, this would be the ‘burning platform’ firing a sense of urgency.4

Figure 3: Barriers To Change

4. 8 steps for successful change management, Raconteur, April 2015: http://raconteur.net/business/8-steps-for-successful-change-management

Fear of the new

Immature methodologies

& a shortage of training

Failure to appreciate the urgency

Old ideas about risk

Inflexible command & control structures

Over-dependance on outside IT resource

Change


In these markets, many of the big decisions have been made, and Chief Digital or Chief Innovation Officers appointed - to bridge the gulf between traditional IT and the business, and drive tangible progress. In other markets that have been slower to realise the need for fundamental change, the journey hasn’t even begun.

2.1.2 Fear of the NewChange is daunting. Any major change can threaten the status quo that teams are used to and DevOps is likely to represent a major shift in employees’ thinking and their approach to their role. Most businesses do not know how to innovate efficiently – which probably means a lot of trying and failing. But resistance to change is preventing progress. Using current models, experimenting (key to innovation) would take too long, cost too much, and invite unacceptable risk.

2.1.3 Misunderstanding of DevOpsThere is a common misconception that DevOps simply refers to the adoption of automation tools. Many organisations claim to be “doing DevOps” just because some of their teams have automated elements of their software delivery pipeline. In our view, automation is just one component of DevOps, with culture and process being of equal importance. Without taking a holistic view, these initiatives will not make a significant impact and the value of DevOps will not be recognised by the business.

2.1.4 Inappropriate Change MethodologiesWhere organisations have already put Digital Transformation at the top of their agendas, the next challenge is how to fill the gaps in their internal knowledge and capabilities. Senior management may be fully on board, beginning to draw up a strategy, budget and organisational structure to enable digital innovation and disruption. But, if they follow a traditional approach to deliver change, its relevance will be very limited. Methodologies such as Waterfall and PRINCE2 only deliver working software to users late on in the project, but by then requirements may have changed or competitors may have already stolen a march. Similarly, standard enterprise finance models for projects are often incompatible with Agile. Models that require accurate estimations of labour costs in advance are inappropriate when requirements gathering, planning, designing, building and testing are all done concurrently and continuously.


2.1.5 Skills ShortageThere is currently a significant DevOps skills shortage in the UK and hiring experienced people is extremely competitive and costly. In general, graduates from academia do not have the required knowledge of DevOps and therefore need further training before they become productive. Without the ability to hire appropriately skilled people, organisations are struggling to get DevOps initiatives off the ground.

2.2 What is Preventing Organisationsfrom Scaling

Digital Transformation & DevOps initiatives? Successful DevOps initiatives in large enterprises are often launched from within by small discrete teams, usually by their own accord. This can be a good strategy as it can demonstrate the “art of the possible” to other teams and departments. However, we have seen many of these schemes fail to be adopted across the enterprise or even fade out entirely. Below we have listed the top 5 factors which we believe are preventing early DevOps adoption from scaling throughout large organisations:

2.2.1 Lack of Senior SponsorshipWithout the appropriate level of senior engagement and endorsement, existing DevOps initiatives will not get the exposure and financial backing to spread through the business. While individual teams are creating value from their specific DevOps

Figure 4: Waterfall Vs Agile Project Delivery Success

Waterfall• Higher Risk• Later and Lower Value• Accumulating Technical Debt

Agile• Lower Risk• Earlier and Higher Value• DIminishing Technical Debt

Risk GrowsSteadily

TIME

No value delivered

VA

LUE Risk Starts

High

Risk StartsLow

Risk DeclinesSteadily

RISKAccumulatingTechnical Debt

Product is delivered at the end of the SDLC

TIME

VA

LUE

Working product is delivered much earlier

in the SDLC

LateLowValue Early

HighValue

EarlyHighValue

EarlyHighValue

EarlyHighValue


projects, it requires senior leadership to realise the value of this work, understand how this can be applied to the business and then use their authority and budget and to drive these initiatives through.

2.2.2 Inflexible Command & Control StructuresOne of the main reasons large, established organisations struggle with Digital Transformation is that they have grown up with a culture of hierarchy, command and control, and meticulous planning and accounting - the legacy of Frederick Winslow Taylor’s ‘Scientific Management’ (Taylorism)5. Here, projects and spending must go through complex cycles of approval, scheduling, measurement and reporting, with huge processes, systems, teams and partnerships put in place to make all of this happen. This is the enemy of rapid progress.

2.2.3 Over-dependence on Outside IT ResourceAs technology progress has accelerated, companies have increasingly relied on external resources to plug internal knowledge gaps, retaining project managers but outsourcing much of the detail. This has reduced internal software skills, which have not kept up with the market. When business teams are pulling their hair out because they cannot respond to the new demands of customers, IT finds it is stuck. Due to the inflexible nature of outsourcing models, it cannot deliver the required transformation quickly enough. Outsourcers’ internal processes, infrastructure and skills are not conducive to suddenly changing direction or trying something new. It is this kind of scenario which gives rise to ‘shadow IT’ where users take applications and services into their own hands.

2.2.4 Reinforced Change ResistanceAs previously mentioned, employees can be adverse to change, especially those established staff who have been delivering and supporting software using traditional

“

”5. Understanding Taylorism and Early Management Theory, MindTools: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_Taylor.htm

When business teams are pulling their hair out because they cannot respond to the new demands of customers, IT finds it is stuck. Due to the inflexible nature of outsourcing models, it cannot deliver the required transformation quickly enough


methods for decades. However there will also be staff that wish to further their careers by learning new approaches and technologies. If these staff are not fulfilled then they will be attracted to other companies where this opportunity is provided, thus reinforcing the change-resistant culture in the organisation they leave behind. Because of the pervasive nature of DevOps, it has a relevance to management and operational teams as well as departments outside of IT such as Finance and HR. These business functions will also need to be educated on DevOps to ensure that they appreciate the benefits.

2.2.5 Old Ideas About RiskThe outdated structures still seen in many large organisations today hark back to the economics of scarcity – a time when computers were large, costly and CAPEX-intensive, inviting control from on high. Now that servers are cheap, ubiquitous and disposable, the need to wring every last drop of value from the investment has gone.

Many of the above concerns are perception issues. Perceptions that need to change if companies are to deliver value from Digital Transformation.

DevOpsGuys | 203. The Solution: How do I Implement DevOps at Scale Within a Digital Transformation Strategy?

3. The Solution: How do I Implement DevOps

at Scale Within a Digital Transformation Strategy?


3.1 What are the Key Elements ofAligning Digital Transformationand DevOps?

To have the required impact, Digital Transformation must be approached comprehensively and the willingness and capability to innovate must be present at all levels. If IT wants to maintain its position, it needs to take a lead and have a sense of purpose. IDC’s IT Leadership Framework for Digital Transformation emphasises the need to Innovate (with the business to create a digital enterprise); Integrate (digital capabilities with the existing enterprise platform), and Incorporate (new techniques and technologies into the IT organisation).

In order to ensure that the maximum value is derived, CxO’s must have a thorough understanding of their business’ needs before structuring their DevOps transformation. As such, there is a direct three-way correlation between business performance, strong digital capability and strong digital leadership.

In the book “Leading Digital”6, The “Digital Master” quadrant is achieved by organisations with both strong digital capability and leadership. The IT characteristics of these organisations are a strong overarching digital vision, excellent governance and a strong digital culture which results in many digital initiatives generating business value in measurable ways.

Therefore CxOs need a very clear picture of factors such as why the business is pursuing its strategy, how it intends to deliver innovation and what Product it wishes to develop before setting an appropriate DevOps strategy.

3.2 Why is Being Agile notEnough Anymore?

Agile approaches to software development offer a way to take back control of errant IT projects. Agile is a light-touch, flexible approach to getting software products shipped out in an incremental way. The beauty of Agile as a concept is that it allows you not just to deliver, but to provide (potentially) better products than the customer had originally envisioned, thanks to regular interaction and demonstrations with the customer. An Agile approach to development fosters continuous learning,

6. Leading Digital, Westerman, Bonnet and McAfee: http://www.leadingdigitalbook.com/


improvement and innovation, with an impact felt beyond software development teams. 7The Agile concept works especially well where a project’s requirements are likely to evolve as the project progresses – which, as many seasoned project managers know, is most of the time.

Agile allows for users’ requirements to change over time, in a way that traditional development approaches simply cannot. It supports trial and error (“fail fast”) and development can easily be adapted to meet new and evolving requirements.

However, the missing element in many Agile projects has been at the execution stage when code is released into production. This is because of a failure to include operational teams early enough in the development cycle.8

Operational factors such as scalability, deployability, testability, supportability, maintainability, resilience, disaster recovery,

Figure 5: Waterfall Vs Agile Project Delivery Success

The Solution: How do I implement DevOps at Scale within a Digital Transformation Strategy? | 81

Source: The CHOAS Manifesto, The Standish Group, 2012

Waterfall Agile

ChallengedFailedSuccesful

67%

17%42%

28%

9%ChallengedFailedSuccesful

49%

7. Gartner Highlights 10 Things CIOs Need to Know About Agile Development, Gartner, July 2015:http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3085517

8. 8 Things IT Ops Hates—And What Devs Can Do to Help, New Relic, April 2015: https://blog.newrelic.com/2015/04/15/things-it-ops-hates/

“

”

the missing element in many Agile projects has been at the execution stage when code is released into production. This is because of a failure to include operational teams early enough in the development cycle


monitoring and alerting all need proper consideration. Without this, you soon get deployment bottlenecks, delaying the business rewards from new development work.

3.3 What Does Good DevOps Look Like?It is due to the inadequacies of Agile that DevOps is rising up the corporate agenda.9

DevOps is a way of managing IT delivery that matches the need for progress in an aggressively competitive digitally-enabled world. It’s no coincidence that IDC has predicted that 80 percent of large enterprises will harness DevOps by the end of 2016.

DevOps takes a more holistic perspective to Agile, encompassing the whole IT organisation and its relationship with the business, rather than focusing solely on software development.

A DevOps-based approach builds on the best Agile principles, driving progress on a ‘little and often’ basis in the pursuit of better and better functionality. It brings together small teams, fostering continuous collaboration – but crucially, in the case of DevOps these teams also include operations people. The DevOps model bridges the gap between creating software and delivering a service to users, by treating software delivery as a single unified activity, rather than a collection of responsibilities spread over several different departments.

DevOps focuses on the end-to-end activities involved in delivering software to users, meaning the ability to deploy, maintain and scale an application are treated as high-priority features rather than afterthoughts. By considering such features right from the beginning of a product’s inception, DevOps teams are able to deliver applications that are far more fit-for-purpose, maintainable and stable when deployed to the production environment.

3.4 What is a DevOps Roadmap and whydo I Need One?

The importance of keeping the business value in central focus is well articulated in the book, The Art of Business Value10, by Mark Schwartz, the CIO of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). For Schwartz, DevOps cuts to the chase by

9. Why Fortune 1000 CIOs and CEOs should make DevOps investments a priority now, IDC opinion, CIO.com, June 2015: http://www.cio.com/article/2926724/cloud-computing/why-fortune-1000-cios-and-ceos-should-make-devops-investments-a-priority-now.html10. The Art of Business Value, Mark Schwatz: http://itrevolution.com/books/the-art-of-business-value/


“setting up a value delivery factory -a streamlined, waste-free pipeline through which value can be delivered to the business with a predictably fast cycle time.”

Conway’s Law shows us that organisations that are optimised for high performance and innovation will produce high-performing, innovative software (dysfunctional organisations, on the other hand, will reveal themselves in dysfunctional applications).11

DevOps strikes right at the heart of this, presenting a 21st century model for high-performance software delivery. Inevitably, this will challenge existing cultures and structures. But this is a good thing. It’s also essential to progress.

Therefore once the benefits have been realised, organisations then need to consider how they are going to implement DevOps. Before embarking on a DevOps journey,

organisations should build a roadmap to tackle the required organisational change. This plan should range from detailed in the short term (2 to 6 weeks), to aspirational in the long term (9-12 months) and include the practical elements that are essential for a successful DevOps Transformation.

The roadmap should consider factors such as what the business is ultimately

trying to achieve, who needs to be involved, what skills are required and how success will be measured.

3.5 How do I Build a DevOps Roadmap?The roadmap should begin with an initial assessment session, involving the key stakeholders and individuals involved in the initiative. The purpose of this session is the get a helicopter view of the organisation and understand the unique driving forces behind the need for change.

11. DevOps Insights into Conway’s Law, IntellyX, June 2015: http://intellyx.com/2015/06/22/devops-insights-into-conways-law/

“

“”

”

For Schwartz, DevOps cuts to the chase by “setting up a value delivery factory -a streamlined, waste-free pipeline through which value can be delivered to the business with a predictably fast cycle time.”

DevOps strikes right at the heart of this, presenting a 21st century model for high-performancesoftware delivery


Once complete, this should be contrasted against a visualisation of what the ideal scenario looks like. This should be drawn out to envision the flow of information and work, and the ways that teams and individuals collaborate.

The next recommended stage on the roadmap would be for organisations to ask themselves the following questions – “Why adopt DevOps?”, “What are we trying to achieve?” “Why do we need to make this organisational change?”. In our experience, a DevOps Transformation is unlikely to succeed unless it aligns closely with one (or more) of the top organisational objectives.

Organisations should then determine areas of responsibility, and establish who can support who. Organisational change initiatives (especially technicallyfocused ones) often suffer from a lack of direction especially if they are “grassroots-led” and the role of senior management within the initiative is unclear.

Next in priority is to examine the communication channels and collaboration structures. What communication channels and collaboration structures are needed? How will they be created? Does the organisational structure need to be changed? The ideal structure for effective software delivery that fits with the organisation needs to be identified.

At the roadmap planning stage, organisations should consider who will suffer the most? Which teams? Teams who have entrenched processes? Teams who don’t like change? It could be Security, Compliance, Operations, Project Management, anyone. These teams should be engaged early and made to feel like they are actually influencing this change and not just on the receiving end. By co-opting and incentivising them to join the change programme you can simultaneously remove an obstacle and gain a vigorous, energetic champion – ultimately the goal is to move individuals and teams along the “commitment curve” until they have bought into the change.

We recommend that organisations avoid the temptation of going “big-bang”. Be agile. Fast feedback loops are essential. If you’re going to fail, you need to know as early as possible. If failure is not an option then you still need feedback on what’s working and what isn’t. Get those quick wins to create visible success and momentum. The DevOps roadmap should identify those potential quick wins – small projects or changes that are unlikely to fail spectacularly.

Internal marketing should also be incorporated into the roadmap - you’re going to need to communicate effectively in order to keep up the enthusiasm and motivation. This means you’ll need to get good at marketing your successes and communicating them effectively. Do you have an effective communication process that engages staff? If not, how are you going to get one?

The roadmap also needs to detail how much time and money will be invested. What


are the expected costs? Also consider the cost of not doing this - it could be the biggest of all.

Organisations will need to perform an assessment which examines what capabilities are required and how they will be gained or developed and what training will be needed. Similarly, metrics need to be put in place so that progress along the DevOps journey can be measured and then articulated to the rest of the business.

3.6 How do I Scale my DigitalTransformation & DevOps Initiative?

As previously mentioned, successful DevOps initiatives in large enterprises are often launched from within by small discrete teams. However, once one part of the business is reaping the benefits – and, let’s face it, glory – of streamlined innovation-to-market, the rest of the organisation is soon going to develop DevOps envy.

The ideal now is to replicate that success incrementally. Otherwise there is a risk that a two-speed IT operation will develop: a ‘Bimodal IT’ setup, to use Gartner’s term. As a persisting state of affairs, this is not to be recommended12. Mike Bracken, head of the UK Government’s digital service, GDS, which is driving the digitisation of Central Government services, notes that the new approach must become ‘a way of life’; that “a jerry-rigged mishmash misses the point” and “is going to end up giving you the worst of both worlds13” Absolutely right. Being committed to change can and does lower risk14.

Others highlight the widening gap between good and bad15, and note that Bi- Modal IT dilutes the impact of continuous innovation and delivery16. “Toyota didn’t win by just getting cars to market faster than the competition17” warns Jez Humble, author of Continuous Delivery. “It won by building cars faster and cheaper and at higher quality than the competition, and then accelerating away from other companies by working to continuously improve their capabilities along all of these axes.”

The Bi-Modal IT model is fine - as long as it’s viewed as a transition state, and not an end goal.

12. Bimodal IT: Gartner’s Recipe For Disaster, Forbes, September 2015:http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2015/09/26/bimodal-it-gartners-recipe-for-disaster/#576ee25c4937

13. You can’t be half agile, (UK) Government Digital Service blog, July 2015: https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2015/07/10/you-cant-be-halfagile/14. Bimodal IT: and other Snakeoil, Automation Logic, April 2015: http://www.automationlogic.com/bimodal-it-and-other-snakeoil/15. Bimodal IT: and other Snakeoil, Automation Logic, April 2015: http://www.automationlogic.com/bimodal-it-and-other-snakeoil/16. Dangers of Bimodal IT, DevOps at Cloud Expo 2016: http://devopssummit.sys-con.com/node/320868517. The flaw at the heart of bi-modal IT, Continuous Delivery blog , Jez Humble, April 2016:

http://continuousdelivery.com/2016/04/the-flaw-at- the-heart-of-bimodal-it/


No one could deny that CxOs need to reclaim and elevate their role,18 and here is that chance – as a champion of DevOps as the basis for Digital Transformation. It’s clear that the old way of doing things just isn’t working. So where next?

An acceptance of the value of DevOps as a new model for delivering IT is half the battle. The next step is for organisations to face up to what this means practically and structurally for the way they operate. Re-integrating ‘digital initiatives’ into the larger organisation is a key step in your digital transformation. But it’s tricky too – it’s easy to destroy value. So here’s a plan.

3.6.1 Set ExpectationsSetting expectations is important. Embracing a DevOps mindset and DevOps practices is likely to mean rethinking everything about how IT is currently organised and managed. Depending on your state of maturity (e.g. existing use of Agile), the transition to a DevOps approach could take a year or more – so be prepared for that. And don’t be afraid to start small – as long as you don’t fall into the trap of making DevOps the exception rather than the norm.

Looking at the trailblazers like Amazon or Spotify may not be the best way to set expectations. These are organisations without the burden of legacy, who embraced DevOps from the outset. And their release rates (in Amazon’s case, more than 150,000 a day) are the result of many years of refining their own processes. For many organisations, aiming for one release per day is a more realistic target and one that should deliver sufficient value for most businesses. Anything more than that is a bonus.

3.6.2 Assess your Current PositionDevOps is not something that can be assigned to a dedicated team of specialists: it is something that will touch every facet of IT – and its relationship with business stakeholders. For this reason, DevOps must be championed from the top of the organisation, and supported from all corners.

Without CxO/Board-level sponsorship, companies risk reducing the impact and ending

18. Next-generation CIOs: The changing role of IT leaders, ComputerWeekly.com, October 2015:http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Nextgeneration-CIOs-The-changing-role-of-IT-leaders

“

”

No one could deny that CxOs need to reclaim and elevate their role, and here is that chance – as a champion of DevOps as the basis for Digital Transformation.


up with the dreaded compromise of Bi-modal IT. Kotter advises that at least half of the organisation needs to share the sense of urgency for the need for change, to create the energy needed to carry it through19.

Start with a ‘DevOps’ discovery exercise – you can get help with this (it’s where DevOpsGuys can help). This is the part where you (we) look at the existing organisational structure and do an honest assessment of how you work and collaborate, etc. Once you know your starting point, it’s easier to chart a course to where you need to be. Often the best place to start transformation is where the biggest bottlenecks are: the critical cases, where the risk of doing things differently is much less significant than the risk of continuing in the current vein (and getting nowhere).

3.6.3 Embrace ExperimentationDevOps fosters innovation through rapid learning - by trying out new ideas, quickly and efficiently. Teams start with a minimal viable product, something that can be finessed as users see and have a go with it. The aim is a continuous loop where teams plan,

19. 8-step process to drive large-scale transformational change points: An interview with David Carder, Kotter International:http://www.kotterinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Carder_Interview_Change1.pdf

“

”

DevOps is not something that can be assigned to a dedicated team of specialists: it is something that will touch every facet of IT – and its relationship with business stakeholders.

Figure 6: Instituting Change

1. Create a Sense of Urgency

2. Build a Guiding Coalition

3. Form a Strategic Vision and Initiatives

4. Enlist a Volunteer Army

5. Enable Action by Removing Barriers

6. Generate Short-Term Wins

7. Sustain Acceleration

8. Institute Change

Creating the climatefor change

Engaging andenabling theorganisation

Implementingand sustaining for change


code, build, test, release, deploy, operate and monitor software. So companies need to embrace this ‘try it and see’ culture, delighting in the successes (e.g. breakthrough innovation), recognising and accepting that there may be a lot of failures (but low-risk, low-cost ones) in between.

3.6.4 Build an Internal CapabilityAs well as embracing a new mindset from the top down, organisations must look to build up their own DevOps working culture and behaviour patterns so that they can innovate quickly and efficiently from within the business. This means addressing any internal skills gaps head on to build a high-performance IT organisation. Augmentation presents a powerful solution: bringing in external DevOps/Agile software expertise as needed, to enable a direct skills transfer into the organisation. Remember that innovation is not a one-off requirement: the aim should be for continuous innovation, development and acceleration, as well as the ongoing optimisation of supporting processes.

3.7 What are Other Organisations Doingto Align Digital

Transformation & DevOps? The most high-profile cases of DevOps successes (including Amazon, Netflix and Facebook) are founded in those companies’ ability to keep reinventing themselves and/or to push out new functionality at a phenomenal rate.

At US retailer, Target, DevOps not only powers the development of products like Cartwheel, Target’s mobile savings app; it also has transformed the organisation’s culture20. Target hosts ‘DevOpsDays’ for its internal teams, featuring demos, open labs, lightning talks, breakout sessions and guest keynotes. The company has also become

“

”

As well as embracing a new mindset from the top down, organisations must look to build up their own DevOps working culture and behaviour patterns so that they can innovate quickly and efficiently from within the business

20. Target Rebuilds its Engineering Culture, Moves to DevOps, Wall Street Journal, October 2015:http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/10/19/target- rebuilds-its-engineering-culture-moves-to-devops/


something of an evangelist for DevOps, which it promotes to the business community at large through sponsorship of external DevOpsDays meetups.

Many DevOps journeys begin by organisations accessing appropriate skills, fit-for-purpose methodologies and automation tools. Ideally, organisations will absorb new skills and a new mindset if shown by example. In some cases, it is through seeing the impact of a DevOps approach to an initial, targeted requirement in one part of the business that begins to seed the interest and learning process on a broader scale – as other parts of the organisation become keen to know more. This is how DevOps evolved at Target21.

21. 4 Retailers Supercharging Development with DevOps, New Relic, April 2014: https://blog.newrelic.com/2014/04/17/retailersand-devops/

DevOpsGuys | 314. The Benefits: What Happens if I get Alignment Between Digital Transformation and DevOps at Scale?

4. The Benefits: What Happens if I get Alignment Between Digital Transformation

and DevOps at Scale?


4.1 What Benefits have OtherOrganisations seen from GettingDigital Transformation and DevOpsInitiatives Working?

Once DevOps has been established within an organisation, the results can be startling. In compiling their annual “State of DevOps Report”22, automation software vendor Puppet surveys more than 4,600 technical professionals on the effects that DevOps has had on their business. The 2016 report uncovered the following statistics:

• High-performing IT organisations deploy 200 times more frequently than low performers, with 2,555 times faster lead times.

• They have 24 times faster recovery times and three times lower change failure rates.

• Lean management and continuous delivery practices create the conditions for delivering value faster, sustainably.

• High-performing IT teams spend 50 percent less time remediating security issues.

• And they spend 22 percent less time on unplanned work and rework.

• High performance is achievable irrespective of whether your apps are greenfield, brownfield or legacy.

• Employees in high-performing teams were 2.2 times more likely to recommend their organisation as a great place to work.

• IT managers play a critical role in promoting diversity and limiting burnout

• Taking a lean approach to product development (for example, splitting work into small batches and implementing customer feedback) predicts higher IT performance and less deployment pain.

• DevOps initiatives launched solely by C-level executives or from the grassroots are less likely to succeed.

22. “State of DevOps Report”, Puppet: https://puppet.com/resources/white-paper/2016-state-of-devops-report


4.2 What benefits have otherorganisations seen from getting DXand DevOps to scale?

A major European mobile operator is currently undergoing an ambitious group-wide transformation to become a digital-first organisation, which has involved a big transition from old ways of delivering change.

Its retail demand and supply planning system had been a real bottleneck: the cycles of change were so slow that it typically took nine months to make an update, by which time it was already out of date again. It’s a common story.

The central system represented millions in investment, and managed stock control for hundreds of retail stores globally. The fact that each country had its own requirements added to the lengthy software change cycles.

There were two major issues for the business. Some countries rejected the software altogether because it wasn’t fit for purpose; more critically, if a major new phone came out and stock was not managed effectively, the operator risked losing out on sales.

The impossible lead times prompted one part of the business to distance itself from the corporate standard for managing IT changes and associated procurement, in favour of a DevOps approach to delivery. It required digital platforms including cloud-based resources to deliver the immediate functionality it needed.

The transition was radical: now the operator can roll out changes in just four weeks, compared with nine months using the old model. This keeps it ahead rather than behind the curve for stock planning and control.

“

”

The transition was radical: now the operator can roll out changes in just four weeks, compared with nine months using the old model

“

”

The transition required some help, of course. Because this was the operator’s first attempt at DevOps, it didn’t have the right skills or experience to get the first initiative off the ground.


The wider business sees the transformation as a proof of concept - a valuable point of reference for other IT initiatives. Two other departments are now replicating the process to deliver their own software improvements.

The transition required some help, of course. Because this was the operator’s first attempt at DevOps, it didn’t have the right skills or experience to get the first initiative off the ground. It decided the best policy would be to bring in external expertise to rapidly provide a template. Its internal IT people would then have a chance to watch and learn.

Fast forward to today, and the company is actively promoting DevOps delivery as a strategic choice to other parts of the business. New environments are now built quickly and inexpensively, with a 97 percent reduction in lead time, resulting in vastly accelerated change/ deployment cycles.

Importantly, internal IT and business stakeholders retain visibility and control over all requirements – whether these are handled in-house or externally using an outsourced partner.

“

”

New environments are now built quickly and inexpensively, with a 97 percent reduction in lead time

DevOpsGuys | 355. The Action: How do I Start and How Would Using a DevOps Partner Help?

5. The Action: How do I Start and How Would Using a DevOps Partner Help?


5.1 Where do I Start?As previously mentioned, the first step on any DevOps journey is to put a strategy plan in place, which documents in detail how the organisation will move from the current operating model to a DevOps world. This roadmap should define the vision for the organisation and will allow staff at all levels to gain an appropriate degree of understanding of what DevOps is, how it will apply to their job roles and what the key benefits are to themselves and the business.

Organisations may wish to seek external assistance when setting this strategic vision and should consider using a specialist DevOps consultancy. Such organisations will typically have experience of working with other comparably sized companies in similar

industries and will therefore be aware of the potential pitfalls and obstacles involved in implementing DevOps. Input from these consultancies can be invaluable in ensuring that the resulting roadmap is appropriate for the organisation and therefore likely to succeed. They can offer advice on what implementation model is suitable once factors such as appetite for change, attitude to risk and opinion on insourcing/outsourcing are taken into account.

5.2 Should I Insource orOutsource DevOps?

In our experience, organisations usually have three options when considering the method that they will use to implement a DevOps initiative: Full outsourcing, creating new DevOps teams using contracted staff or building an internal DevOps competency with their existing teams.

We have examined each option below in more detail.

“

”

Given that Digital Transformation is now a priority for most organisations, software has become an intrinsic core competence of any business

“

”

Many large enterprises are now deciding to rebuild their internal development & operations capability as a central part of their Digital Transformation strategy


5.2.1 OutsourcingMany large enterprises use external outsourced partners to provide their software development and/or software operations. This approach usually has a significant financial advantage, especially if the outsourcer is using overseas labour where staff costs are much lower than in the UK. Outsourcing is also an easy option to facilitate – there is an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality to the model and it does not involve any of the cultural, organisational and political hurdles that are involved in establishing a DevOps model within a business.

However, given that Digital Transformation is now a priority for most organisations, software has become an intrinsic core competence of any business. Therefore there is a substantial risk involved in putting something so crucial to success into the hands of another organisation. By using an outsourcer, organisations are entirely reliant on the performance of that supplier. There is usually little insight into the supplier’s ongoing activity and their performance can be difficult to measure. Therefore the “cost of enforcement” to ensure compliance with quality and design standards is often high.

Close collaboration at all stages of the software delivery lifecycle, including fast feedback loops is one of the key principles of DevOps. However, this is often difficult to achieve in a client/outsourcer relationship – particularly where the outsourcer is based overseas. Time zone variances, language barriers and cultural differences can all come into play. Poor communication can result in a large amount of waste and re-work activity which impacts the quality of the resulting software.

Therefore, while the headline financial costs of outsourcing can look attractive, these are often negated by the resulting low rate of productivity, slow speed to market and poor quality of the software. For these reasons, we have observed that many large enterprises are now deciding to rebuild their internal development & operations capability as a central part of their Digital Transformation strategy.

5.2.2 Create New DevOps Teams Using ContractorsOnce organisations have decided to launch DevOps initiatives internally, they will often rapidly establish new software teams solely using contracted staff. This is a well-used practice in the IT industry and can be seen as an attractive option – recruitment agencies can be employed to swiftly provide people and by using short-term contracts the approach is flexible and the risks are low.

However, we have also seen some issues with this approach. In the current market, recruiting new DevOps staff is difficult due to the scarcity of suitably skilled and experienced personnel. This makes it particularly difficult to attract the right calibre of people in a short timescale. Contracted staff also tend to be difficult to retain for lengthy


periods and the constant turnover of personnel can be highly disruptive to a project. By exclusively using contractor resource to build an in-house team, organisations are also limiting themselves to the specific skillset of the individuals that are recruited.

5.2.3 Build an Internal DevOps Competency withExisting Teams

The third option that organisations are using to implement DevOps is establishing a competency within their existing teams. It is our belief that this is the most appropriate model for DevOps adoption. Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE noted that “Every company has to be a software company”23 highlighting that it is an organisation’s software rather than business activity that really makes the difference. Because software intellectual property defines the value an organisation, it follows that software should be developed and supported by staff who work directly for the business and are invested in and motivated by its success.

Retaining key development and operational staff therefore becomes crucial. The introduction of DevOps creates a virtuous circle as the motivational benefits inspire loyalty amongst forward-thinking employees as well as attracting the best new recruits to join the business.

However, we do think that contracted staff have a role to play – in the augmentation of existing teams to accelerate progress by demonstrating skills and imparting knowledge to permanent employees. Once maximum value from contractors has been obtained then there should be a plan to disengage and for the permanent teams to take over.

We recognise that successfully introducing and then scaling DevOps across a large enterprise is a significant and difficult undertaking that involves changing the culture, organisational hierarchy and operational processes of a business. Existing staff must be educated in order to buy into the vision, senior management must fully engaged in the initiative and political challenges need to be overcome. However, these issues can be worked through and external expertise can be drafted in to smooth the path to the new world.

23. Jeff Immelt, https://www.ge.com/about-us/leadership/jeff-immelt


5.3 Why do I Need a Partner toAccelerate my DevOps Initiative?

Specialist consultancies can be employed to provide assistance throughout all stages of the DevOps journey. Such boutique practices can provide guidance on every aspect of implementing DevOps. This can start with setting a strategy and formatting a plan that can then be sold to the rest of the business. Education and coaching programmes can then be scheduled to disseminate the message throughout the teams. DevOps partners with strong technical capabilities can also demonstrate best practice in automating the software delivery lifecycle.

The experience that external consultancies have gathered from working with multiple organisations will allow them to identify and prioritise the work that will rapidly make a significant difference. This helps to ensure that the value of DevOps is quickly recognised and appreciated by the rest of the business.

Another benefit of using a partner organisation is that their expertise is not limited to the skillset of a small number of individuals. Larger consultancies can usually draft in specialist resource from a wide pool in order to deliver a particular aspect of a project as required.

Certain elements of DevOps implementation, particularly on the technical side can be pushed out to partner organisations for fulfilment. This approach will allow management to focus on setting the strategy for the initiative rather than getting bogged down in the tactical execution.

5.4 Why do I Need a Partner to HelpScale my DevOps Initiative?

A logical place to start when implementing DevOps is to establish it within an individual product or application team. This then becomes an example for the rest of the business to learn from and aspire to replicate. However, to truly scale this initiative throughout an organisation is a significant undertaking, which can also be accelerated by bringing in third-party assistance.

External consultants can help DevOps to scale by working with other individual teams in a coaching, training and mentoring capacity. Automation engineers can also be used to quickly establish CI/CD pipelines while transferring their knowledge and ownership over to the internal teams. By temporarily incorporating highly experienced personnel into established teams, they will be able to demonstrate the benefits of DevOps to


software delivery and will help change the culture of the business from within. External Agile coaches can also lead Sprint planning and backlog grooming as well as coaching team members to help drive and encourage Agile behaviours.

Finally, working with an established DevOps partner over the long term provides stability and continuity that is difficult to achieve by using contractors or small agencies.

5.5 Why Should I Work withDevOpsGuys?

We are experts in all aspects of DevOps and are widely regarded as a global thought leader in the space: our opinions have been quoted in research by Gartner, Forrester and Microsoft. In addition, many of our key members of staff are well known amongst the wider DevOps community and are regular contributors to industry conferences, seminars and meet-ups around the world.

DevOpsGuys partners with our clients for the long term and we provide assistance throughout all of the stages of an organisation’s DevOps journey. We consider all aspects of software delivery in order to formulate a DevOps strategy, evaluating the organisational culture, process and technology before making recommendations. Once a strategy has been created and documented, we help with the execution using our large team of experienced DevOps coaches and automation consultants.

We operate from offices in London and Cardiff and provide services to enterprises and public sector organisations in the UK and overseas. We are well positioned in this market as all of our services draw upon the practical real-world experience that we have gained while working with leading companies such as ASOS, BAE Systems, Fitness First, Vodafone and Waitrose.

With regards to technology, we hold top-tier accreditations with all of the major vendors of automation software including Atlassian, JetBrains, Ansible, Red Hat, Octopus, Redgate, AppDynamics, Dataloop and Microsoft. We also have significant experience with open source tooling such as Git, Chef, Puppet, Jenkins, ELK and Docker.

DevOpsGuys works in partnership with our clients to implement solutions that can be easily handed over to our clients’ internal teams to manage once the engagement is completed. It is not our business practice to walk away at the end of a project leaving the client with no understanding of the delivered solution and hence having imparted no long-term value. Similarly, we recognise that time and budget are finite resources and therefore we aim to deliver the maximum benefit to the client while we are involved rather than stalling in the hope of gaining a lengthy extended contract.

DevOpsGuys | 416. What do DevOpsGuys Offer and How do I Contact Them?

6. What do DevOpsGuys Offer and How do I

Contact Them?


6.1 What Services do DevOpsGuysProvide?

In order to specify a tailored solution for our clients, DevOpsGuys draw from three complementary product areas: Education, Acceleration and Transformation. (E.A.T)

• Education – We provide a range of public and client-specific workshops focussing on DevOps and Agile best practices. We also offer specific technical training courses on individual automation tools.

• Acceleration – DevOpsGuys has significant experience in helping organisations to implement automation tools to accelerate software delivery. We are specialists in the creation of Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery pipelines in both Microsoft and open source environments.

• Transformation – We work in partnership with our clients to define, build and ratify their DevOps transformation strategy and ensure it is aligned to the business objectives and priorities. Our Transformation services remove departmental bottlenecks and improve cross-team collaboration and transparency to allow increased innovation.

6.2 How do I Contact DevOpsGuys?Contact us on 0800 368 7378 or at [email protected] to discuss how DevOps can unlock the value from your Digital Transformation initiative.

To read more on DevOps, Digital Transformation, and how we partner with our clients to aid thier DevOps journey, visit our website www.devopsguys.com and our blog www.devopsguys.com/blog

DevOpsGuys | 43Notes

Notes:


We Transform and Accelerate the Way That Organisations

Deliver Software

0800 368 7378

@DevOpsGuys

[email protected]

www.devopsguys.com

devops: unlocking the value from digital … unlocking the value from digital transformation - a...

Documents