DevOps – A Business Perspective

Acknowledgements VII

1 What is DevOps? 1
1.1 Origins 3
1.1.1 Agile methods for software development 3
1.1.2 Managing infrastructure as code 7
1.1.3 It was inevitable 10
1.2 The definition 10
1.3 Why DevOps? 13
1.3.1 Decrease time to market 13
1.3.2 Reduce technical debt 17
1.3.3 Eliminate fragility 18
1.4 The history of origination 20
1.5 Frequently expressed misconceptions 22
1.5.1 DevOps is a part of Agile 22
1.5.2 DevOps is all about tools and automation 25
1.5.3 DevOps is a new profession 26
1.6 Summary 27

2 The Foundation 29
2.1 Lean production 29
2.1.1 Key facts 29
2.1.2 Challenges 31
2.2 Agile 33
2.2.1 Key facts 33
2.2.2 Challenges 34

3 The Principles 37
3.1 Value stream 37
3.2 Deployment pipeline 40
3.3 Everything should be stored in a version control system 44
3.4 Automated configuration management 45
3.5 The Definition of Done 46
3.6 Summary 47

4 Key Practices 49
4.1 Key differences from traditional practices 49
4.1.1 Release is a routine 49
4.1.2 Release is a business decision 50
4.1.3 Everything is automated 52
4.1.4 Incidents are solved immediately 52
4.1.5 Defects are fixed immediately 53
4.1.6 Processes are improved continuously 54
4.1.7 Act as a startup 55
4.2 Unusual teams 56
4.3 Work visualization 59
4.4 Limit the WIP 62
4.5 Reduce batch size 66
4.6 Mind the operational requirements 67
4.7 Early detection and correction of defects 70
4.8 Controlled improvements and innovations 71
4.9 Funding that enables innovations 73
4.10 Task prioritization 76
4.11 Continual identification, exploitation and elevation of constraints 78
4.12 Summary 79

5 Practical Application 81
5.1 DevOps applicability and limitations 81
5.2 COTS 87
5.3 Evolving architecture 89
5.4 DevOps and ITSM 93
5.5 Cargo culting 96
5.6 Start where you are, progress iteratively 98
5.7 Value stream as the core 100
5.8 Summary 101

6 Conclusion 103

Appendices 105
Appendix 1 Test: Are you doing DevOps? 105
Appendix 2 Recommended reading 109

About the author 110
Index 111