DevOps has prepared for quicker and more nimble programming improvement processes by binding together groups, cycles, and advances to make a steadily developing software development lifecycle (SDLC) and Azure DevOps is one of them. This has prompted more vigorous and effective SDLCs, presently equipped for dealing with any client demand, market interest, or mechanical issue.
A scope of devices is accessible in the market to work with DevOps, like CI/CD tools, artifact repository, version control system, IaC devices, and monitoring tools. With the widening interest in cloud-based technologies, DevOps tools have likewise shifted to cloud services. These cloud services can be utilized by groups spread across the world with almost limitless efficiency and scalability.
In this blog post, we will explore such cloud-based DevOps services by Microsoft known as Azure DevOps.
What is DevOps?
The word DevOps is a combination of two different terms i.e., development and operations. It is intended to address a shared or collaborative way to deal with the tasks/processes performed by the app development and IT operations team of the organization.
Basically, DevOps is a way of thinking that promotes better collaboration and communication between in-house teams or others in an organization. In a crisp or summarized interpretation, we can say, DevOps depicts the acquisition of iterative software development, programmable infrastructure deployment, automation, and maintenance.
Though DevOps isn’t a technology. Whereas, DevOps environments usually implement generalized methodologies. These incorporate the following:
- Continuous Integration and Delivery or Deployment (CI/CD) tools, with an accentuation on automation of tasks or processes;
- System tools support DevOps acquisition, it includes real-time monitoring, incident management, platform collaboration, and configuration management; and
- Cloud computing, microservices, and containers simultaneously implemented with DevOps methodologies.
Overall, the approach of DevOps is one of the multiple techniques that IT experts use to execute projects to address the business requirements and issues.
Benefits of DevOps
The DevOps model is an organization’s response to enhance operational delivery, innovating products, and accelerated delivery. Organizations that have followed a DevOps culture have experienced all these advantages, let’s delve into depth.
1. Collaboration
Taking on a DevOps model aligns the development and operations team. Unnecessary stiffness or miscommunication gets diminished, ultimately everybody moves towards the same objectives and goals.
2. Fluid Responsiveness
More collaboration prompts continuous and real-time feedback, increases efficiency, updates, and improvements get implemented speedier and minimize guesswork.
3. Shorter Time Cycle
The enhanced efficiency and frequent communication between teams shorten the process of cycle time. The new codes get delivered more quickly while maintaining the security and quality of the development.
What is Azure DevOps?
Azure DevOps was introduced in the market in October 2018. It’s a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that contains a complete arrangement of tools that not only serves as an ability for DevOps. Yet, delegates the ability through which the entire product development lifecycle can be managed.
Perhaps the greatest aspect of Azure DevOps is its flexibility. It can easily coordinate with different tools that are present in the market for shared management of the process flow and organizes the entire DevOps toolchain. This aids in utilizing existing tools that are already used by organizations.
Benefits of Azure DevOps
There are three major reasons behind Azure DevOps having an advantage as compared to other existing market tools, and are:
1. Flexibility
Azure DevOps flexibility is such that every service for the Azure DevOps can be integrated and used independently with the existing tools inside the organization. This is a rule as of now used, in this manner, making flexibility more easier.
2. Platform Independent
Although created by Microsoft, Azure DevOps doesn’t only work for Microsoft-developed languages and platforms. It is designed to remain compatible with any platform (including Linux, Windows, and macOS) and programming languages (includes Java, .Net, Php, C, C++, Python, NodeJS, iOS, and Android).
3. Cloud Independent
Azure DevOps Continuous Integration and Delivery model supports not only Azure. However, it extends its services to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) as well.
How Does Microsoft Azure Support The DevOps Model?
The whole DevOps model can be divided into the following stages:
1. Planning and Coding
Set up the visually monitored activities attached to assignments to be worked on and distributed.
2. Building and Testing
Creating new codes and testing it to find the errors and guarantee it meets the requirements given to the development team.
3. Release and Deployment
After testing and validating the new software, the code gets released to a production environment.
4. Operating and Monitoring
To track data about the usage pattern and performance of the application.
Azure Boards support the requirement for teams to work together during all stages, including planning and coding. Likewise, Azure Pipelines can work with any cloud, platform, or activity. For instance, adding a Git provider can incorporate non-stop development, testing, and implementation. Moreover, you can access many Git archives depending on the situation by means of the cloud. Like that, you can utilize pull requests and management of files to assist the team in working more proficiently.
Perhaps the best component of Azure DevOps is its Extensions Marketplace. There, you can access more than 1,000 extra extensions to consolidate into your DevOps environment, including:
- Docker
- Slack
- Junkins
- Kubernetes
Why should you consider Azure DevOps for your Organization?
Here are 4 reasons to consider Microsoft Azure DevOps for your organization;
1. Collaboration
Sharing is at the core of Azure DevOps. Having the option to host and manage code centrally is vital for the goals of any organization which includes optimization. Regardless of whether the main code the team has is an assortment of PowerShell or VB Scripts that you use to arrange accounts or handle servers, storing code in Microsoft Azure DevOps will give a centralized area to manage the code. Versions of code are a significant aspect to manage the codes and regardless of whether you need to use Team Foundation Version control or GIT, Azure DevOps has all this covered.
2. Work Items
If you don’t have any code to take care of or manage, you can facilitate your system management with work Items. Work Items address some “thing”- regardless of whether that is a server, or system bug, or some project risks. However, the power comes when you make the work items with regard to a process template. Utilizing a process template, you can model your work items around an Agile Framework (which functions admirably for software development) or the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), which functions admirably well for system management. Regardless of how you organize them, work things can assist the team in dividing complex systems into manageable work tasks.
3. Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
For software-driven organizations, Azure DevOps gives a robust stage on which can deploy solutions through a pipeline extending continuous integration and deployment. Regardless of whether you are deploying an answer facilitated in Azure or even an answer facilitated in AWS. The Azure DevOps CI/CD pipeline can take solutions from development to delivery.
With a broad marketplace for integration and plugins, infrastructure-as-code can likewise be consolidated into the pipeline to such an extent that the ambitious system administrator can mechanize expansive changes to their surroundings from a single location.
4. Open Platform
Azure DevOps furnishes extensive industry and community tools integration. It is a long way from the deterred single vendor solution that was the basic form of TFS. As a marketplace that makes many extensions accessible, so on the off chance that Azure Developers doesn’t accomplish something out of the box, chances are a tool exists in the market which does.
Under such transparency, Microsoft has been a reasonable forerunner in advancing cooperation even with competitors, which is obvious in the marketplace where it can observe integration extensions from AWS to Slack to ServiceNow. All of this integration is done while keeping customers in mind as Azure DevOps tries to be one of the most potent tools for managing code development needs.
Future of Microsoft Azure DevOps
As the pandemic set in, it changed the manner in which organizations work. People started working remotely or from their homes through their PCs and internet connection. It brought a ton of vulnerability across the business and IT areas.
This vulnerability brought a ton of digital transformations inside the industries. Consequently, with or without pandemic, the accompanying patterns seen in 2021 and beyond:
1. Rising Popularity of Microservice Architecture
The term “Microservice” signifies a framework that resembles a group or collection of services that the groups can work over it, independently. At the point when it is used with DevOps, the groups can decide to concentrate on separately formed units of the system.
This guarantees that the delivery occurs on time despite the fact that the final system is exceptionally complicated in nature. With this methodology, the teams can save a great deal of time, cost, and assets while building the system.
It additionally offers scalability, speedy testing, and simpler maintenance support where the system turns out to be effectively deployable. Furthermore, the groups can likewise offer customizations according to the business requirements.
2. DevSecOps Rapid Adoption
At the point when teams aim to achieve a specific degree of safety within the system, then, at that point, the DevSecOps approach is applied. With the beginning of the pandemic, teams began working remotely which opened a great number of security issues inside the system. Furthermore, cyberattacks have risen which introduces the need for safety as a primary concern.
Consequently, organizations will take up DevSecOps quickly to guarantee agile safety efforts. It additionally offers early detection of weaknesses.
3. Improves Agility through AgileOps
Over the most recent couple of years, hybrid and multi-cloud management of strategies have become a trend. Also, it has carried huge accomplishments for organizations globally. AgileOps works over an IT functional model that exercises the agile working methodology.
This introduces the development of superior quality and high-performing apps. With such applications, the applications become exceptionally steady.
Conclusion
Azure DevOps with its tech-stack helps in designing the way of life that unites the application development team, project managers, and others, like the operating team, and quality assurance to design their work and team up for application development. It empowers these individuals to work together and develop superior quality, and reliable end products. With Microsoft Azure Developers, the team can gain the ability to respond to customers’ needs instantly. Therefore, it is suggested for organizations to take on the DevOps culture quickly for delivering high-quality products with less time to market.
