Software has enhanced every aspect of life. But for a long time, its life-cycle development required enhancement. The process would take many months, from product conception to deployment. Developers had to contend with complexities in functional needs, application architecture, integrations, and development tools and architecture. Hiring a DevOps engineer, implementing agile processes, and using Scrum framework can streamline the development cycle.
The introduction of Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) engineering methodologies has further eliminated all drawbacks.
The Continued Trimming of Development Timetables
Together, the methodologies mentioned above have revolutionized Software Development Life Cycles (SDLC) processes across the industry. A DevOps engineer no longer has to comb through multiple software iterations to figure out and rectify issues or add updates in the respective sections. Businesses are saving on costs, time, personnel, and other resources while enhancing, or at the least maintaining, their operational efficiency. They facilitate the following for shortening development cycles:
Automated Testing
Any product that goes out the metaphorical door must get tested to ensure that it performs as it should. This testing process can be a real bottleneck in the SDLC pipeline as developers have to dig into the product’s every portion to check for issues and sort them out should they be present.
Automation solves this by taking over the bulk of the work. It’s a vital component of the CI/CD method, as it can continuously perform the necessary tasks 24/7. All test cases, including APIs, app functionality, background processes, and integrations, can get covered by it. Engineers will only be needed to handle exceptional instances that the AI isn’t currently capable of solving.
Built-In Security
Security threats to enterprise software and data are on the rise. Of the many types of risk are loopholes present in enterprise software itself. They allow attackers to gain easy access to systems running it. And many of these loopholes are the result of inadequate security implementation during its development, caused by the rush to push the product out within deadlines using outdated development methods.
Agile DevOps comes with real-time security measures implemented to counter such mishaps. CI is preferred because the integration of security is a fundamental aspect of it. With automated testing, the risk potential of the product also gets evaluated, thereby aiding CD without the need to backtest the software repeatedly.
Implementation protocols and tools designed with security in mind further fortify the system against a swathe of attack types.
Support Roadmap Development
In usage models like Software-As-A-Service (SaaS), teams have to monitor the product’s performance not just on their end but also on the client’s. This situation requires support teams to keep tabs on either end while the product gets continuously updated.
An agile-based support roadmap that looks into the development side, and the deployment one, will cut down the time taken to resolve issues. Continuous application monitoring, aided by automation, can flag errors and even solve them before appearing on the client’s side.
Proactive communications between teams and within them will further improve this process’s efficiency.
The world’s increasing its reliance on technology, putting pressure on companies to further shorten the SDLC timings. A DevOps engineer can rely on agile methodology and CI/CD pipelines to make that a reality without compromising security.
