Many businesses come to a point where they see that frictions between the development and operations teams stagnate their development.
The desired outcomes of faster release cycles, shorter time-to-market, and greater flexibility in operations become unattainable because of the inconsistencies of organizational processes.
At this point, you might realize that you need DevOps consulting services to find an optimal route for automation, process improvement, and changes vital for survival in the modern market.
Which services do you need from a DevOps consulting firm? What to start with? Here is a quick guide to DevOps consulting options and pathways.
5 Goals Of DevOps Consulting:
To understand how DevOps consulting can help your business, we should discuss the steps a consulting firm typically takes to gain a deeper insight into your needs and pain points. A typical provider of DevOps consulting will:
- Research your processes to understand your software delivery pipeline and environment.
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your IT infrastructure.
- Determine the work style, skillset, culture, and mindset of your team.
- Provide an evidence-based plan for improving the weak points.
- Monitor the introduction of the suggested changes and provide technical and training assistance in the transition to DevOps.
The last point is optional, as some companies prefer to tailor their own solutions to the identified problems. But even if you prefer not to use the assistance of your DevOps consultant, their assessment will give you a much better idea of how you can improve and accelerate critical business operations.
1. Automation
Automation always benefits a company, as it typically comes with accuracy and efficiency gains. With automated tools set in place at all software development stages, you will be able to monitor performance, control staff’s compliance with deadlines and milestones, and engage teams more meaningfully.
A DevOps consulting can advise you on the automation tools for numerous manual processes, which promise cost reduction, more optimal resource use, and better team engagement.
2. Containerization
Containerization is a crucial DevOps consulting, specific tool that allows isolating separate apps into containers with distinct operating systems and services needed to run them effectively.
Such a change promises quicker product delivery, significant cost savings, and greater control over release management. Besides, the users of your apps will suffer shorter downtime and delays connected with app updates.
3. Release Management
Software release and deployment are critical stages of any product development pipeline. Your team should work in conjunction to ensure a smooth and frictionless launch, collecting user feedback through multiple channels and reacting to it.
DevOps consulting can help you orchestrate and optimize all these processes with unique customization to your business needs. With a DevOps approach, you will be able to single out separate processes by stages, types, and systems, streamlining them to ensure a faster deployment pipeline.
4. CD/CI Consulting
Continuous delivery (CD) and continuous consulting integration (CI) are the desired goals of any IT-related business as they transform the way software releases are made. With CI tools, you can create a core repository with code for universal access of all team members.
At the same time, CD techniques speed up the product release cycles and enable defect-free product launches. Overall, a DevOps consultant can hand-pick the right toolkit for an IT business to set up automated CD/CI pipelines and enjoy rapid product releases without human error.
5. Cloud Readiness And Migration
Another vital aspect of DevOps consulting is assessing cloud readiness and preparing a strategic plan for a company’s migration to the cloud.
For instance, Azure is a Microsoft-owned cloud provider that orchestrates many software development businesses’ operations and enables product delivery without reliance on offline servers.
For many companies with server-based operations, migration to the cloud is seen as a major business upgrade, with more affordable resources, the robustness of cloud operations, and the endless capacity of cloud-based processes.
Thus, if you’re on the threshold of this change and want to go through it smoothly, it’s time to consult a DevOps firm for a preliminary assessment and a plan of action.
6. Implementation
Some companies are ready for DevOps implementation but cannot choose the right way to proceed. It’s indeed scary to disrupt the traditional ways of doing things and opt for a fundamental change in the operations, tools, and business mindset.
A DevOps consultant can be of much help in this regard, choosing an optimal implementation strategy for your company. Consulting firms typically examine the business infrastructure, software development pipeline, and other organizational processes to identify the best tools for smooth and non-problematic transition.
DevOps Consulting Is Your First Step To Better Results
As you can see, there’s nothing wrong or risky about consulting a DevOps consulting organization to check your current processes and tools for efficiency. All businesses want to reduce time-to-market, cut costs, and achieve productivity gains.
Today, it’s possible with the help of DevOps, and a consultant can help you choose the shortest path to this transformation.
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