DevOps and agile working methods

DevOps and agile software development usually go hand in hand. 

In the past, software was often developed according to the waterfall model, i.e., chronologically. The planning phase was followed by the implementation phase. However, since obstacles that had not been considered beforehand often arose during implementation, the implementation phase usually took longer than originally calculated. Developers were under time pressure, and it was often only at the end of the project that it became clear whether the software worked as desired.  

In contrast to the rather rigid waterfall method, the agile approach is divided into development phases, allowing for a flexible response to unforeseen difficulties. Another important principle is close interaction and communication between the customer and the IT service provider. 

DevOps goes one step further than agile working: agility requires a change of mindset in the respective team, whereas DevOps requires a change in the entire corporate culture in order to be successful. DevOps and agility ensure that autonomous teams can work independently of each other toward common goals.

Careful software testing has never been more important. The agile DevOps approach also optimizes quality assurance. Whereas it used to be common practice to hand the finished product over to testers, testing is now an ongoing process. This means that there is no longer a dedicated testing phase at the end of development; instead, testing is carried out continuously. Overall, the entire process from design to development and testing to operation is accelerated without compromising quality.

A survey also revealed that testers in companies that work agilely are four times more satisfied than those in companies that work according to the waterfall method.

The DevOps method ensures high software quality despite shorter release cycles.