Beyond DevOps: Enterprise-wide adoption

Transcription

1 With Agile and DevOps adptin gathering pace in the enterprise, we cmmnly find an unintended misalignment between develpers at the prduct calface and nn-it stakehlders in the wider business. This can result in thse stakehlders becming disillusined and ultimately disengaging, significantly increasing the risk f prgramme failure. Faced with a lack f tractin r even a failed DevOps prgramme an rganisatin may cnsider utsurcing develpment t an agency. Outsurcing wuld mve value creatin further away frm the stakehlder, resulting in a slwer mving, less agile business with a reduced ability t cmpete. We believe hwever that the main reasn fr misalignment and failure t change is that many DevOps adptin prgrammes are t narrwly fcussed n an IT transfrmatin agenda, and that this is best slved inside the business thrugh enterprise-wide DevOps adptin. This paper will explre the cncept f enterprise-wide DevOps in mre detail and prpse sme ideas fr reducing misalignment by increasing the breadth and depth f stakehlder engagement, in turn cnnecting prduct develpment and business-wide peratins mre clsely t the rganisatin s strategic bjectives.

2 Dn t Make a New Sil Much f the talk in DevOps circles is centred n the breaking dwn f sils, specifically thse f prduct develpment and IT peratins. One culd argue that gd prgress is being made in sme rganisatins in terms f bringing these tw related functins clser tgether - but in essence this creates a new sil which still excludes nn-it stakehlders. T gain maximum advantage frm a DevOps apprach businesses need t think beynd the sil and lead frm a business-centric rather than a prductcentric psitin; pening up the apprach and the benefits it can deliver n an enterprise-wide scale. Fd fr thught Many peple talk abut infrastructure as cde, when we shuld be thinking in terms f business as cde. We re nt writing infrastructure here we re writing the business. Figure 1 - The DevOps Sil DEVOPS DEVELOPMENT IT OPERATIONS FINANCE SALES Marketing Business Operatins, nt IT Operatins There s far mre t peratins than just the IT department. HR, finance, client services and strategy/planning, fr example, are all peratinal parts f the enterprise, each respnsible fr its part f the business. Currently, their invlvement in DevOps is limited t defining their prduct/ feature requirements, writing a user stry and kncking n IT s dr with sme budget. The request then sits in the develper backlg until the prduct wner decides it s their turn. Fr functins such as finance it can be a struggle t get airtime and pririty: a user stry that reads as a financial analyst I wuld like t be able t use this metric t track business perfrmance against prduct updates in real time, fr instance, is unlikely t get a develper s pulse racing. If an rganisatin can bring all f the business functins int the heart f the DevOps cnversatin, it will be in a psitin t create mre digital value thrughut the enterprise. Stakehlders in the strategic layers f the business will be able t cmmunicate and cllabrate effectively with each ther, at every level. They will als be empwered t d mre fr themselves, and play a mre active part in develping sftware prducts fr their wn area f the business. 2

3 Back t First Principles Making this pssible requires a rethink f the business peratins and structure. Lking back at Figure 1, DevOps is usually seen as a vertical activity within the business that prvides the framewrk fr prgrammers and system administratrs t wrk mre clsely tgether. What wuld happen if this culd be switched s that DevOps became a mre hrizntal activity? The answer is that culture and practices wuld becme cmmn t all parts f the business slving the misalignment prblem. Figure 2 DEVOPS DEVOPS DEVELOPMENT IT OPERATIONS FINANCE SALES Marketing Widening the CAMS principles Lets cnsider the fur pillars f DevOps - Culture, Autmatin, Metrics and Sharing (CAMS), and imagine hw they might apply in a nn-it functin. There s n gd reasn why the DevOps sil shuld keep the CAMS principles t itself; they can be applied t any peratinal department as instruments fr transfrmatin and cntinuus imprvement. Culture: In a classic DevOps envirnment, the culture sets the tne fr the way the team wrks tgether t meet the business and prduct bjectives that have been set. Aspects that characterise the DevOps culture such as a can d and what if mentality twards making the envirnment mre effective and efficient may well nt be cmmnplace in ther departments. Tasking nn-it functins with cnstantly thinking What wuld make ur life easier, and ur functin mre prductive? and then empwering them t take their ideas frward, is the first step t building a true culture f digital imprvement. 3

4 Autmatin: There s still a lt f time cnsuming manual activity invlved in the day-tday peratins f a department such as finance. Buttn-pressing, reprt creatin, cllating and prcessing data...while tls such as SAGE and Excel take sme f the strain, they nly g s far. As part f the new culture f imprvement, finance prfessinals wuld be encuraged t cnsider which activities culd be autmated t free peple up t fcus n value creatin. With the right supprt frm the develpment team, r given the ability t design and create its wn cde directly, finance culd find ways t generate a huge amunt f value frm expliting an API n an existing platfrm, fr example. Measurement: With the culture and autmatin principles in place hrizntally acrss the enterprise, the business will be in a psitin t build new intelligence and make it available t everyne. The strategic heads within the business will have the pwer and the ability t design and track mre meaningful metrics. Increased autmatin will make it pssible t gather, analyse and derive intelligence frm large vlumes f up-t-date data that wuld therwise have been unmanageable. Fd fr thught The first step t applying the CAMS principles hrizntally is t identify wh yur stakehlders are, and map the level f invlvement they have in DevOps tday. Nt nly will this supprt better engagement, it will als help the enterprise t establish where it s at and where it needs t be. Lk at cmmunicatins and feedback lps. Which teams dn t talk t each ther, and why? What culd be dne t remve that barrier? Sharing: This principle is all abut cnnecting the business internally. While the manifestatin f this is the culture, the implementatin invlves the sharing f data, best practice, tls, cde, discveries and learnings. Sharing is a great enabler f agility, as well as cllabratin. If the marketing team has direct access t financial intelligence in real-time, fr instance, rather than needing t wait fr the next bard meeting, it can determine the impact f its actins n sales and adapt campaigns n the fly if they re nt achieving ROI. In this new hrizntal DevOps envirnment, senir stakehlders in all peratinal parts f the business will be able t cnnect much mre easily with each ther and with IT. They ll be pulling the business bjectives, the prduct and the users clser tgether, crrecting any misalignment alng the way. Rather than being islated frm the data, they ll be tracking metrics that are meaningful t them using data that cmes live frm the systems generating it. But why stp there? 4

5 In Search f a Bigger DevOps What if departments such as finance had the ability and mandate t perate their wn backlgs, priritise their wn enhancements, and even prduce them within their wn department? They wuld n lnger be dependent n IT t get things dne, which wuld ease pressure n the prduct develpment team as well as bring the prductin f new capabilities much clser t the stakehlder. This culd be achieved by hiring prgrammers directly int nn-it departments, secnding develpers frm IT, r perhaps anther way altgether: By caching, training and empwering the rganisatin s digital natives t unlck any latent capability in thse teams. Prgramming is n lnger a cmpletely freign cncept utside f IT and there s a surge f peple cming int enterprise with the skills and mindset t think digitally. As a result, there are nw many peple in nn-technical rles with an interest in prgramming ffering a ptential capability which is ripe fr develpment. By lcating, nurturing and mbilising these digitally-minded peple in ther parts f yur business, yu can empwer them t independently fast track the develpment that s needed fr their department. In the same way that cntent management systems (CMS) were intrduced a decade ag t enable nn-technical team members t create and deply cntent, it s cnceivable that anyne in the business culd be given the ability and freedm t cntribute t business prcesses r prducts. With sme training and mentring there culd be develpers in every department, prducing new value fr the rganisatin. Find and equip yur digital natives The digital natives in yur business first need t be identified. Chances are they re everywhere; ften they will be vcal abut the status qu, and ready t take up the challenge. Wuld a hrizntal DevOps mdel enable the rganisatin t draw them ut f hiding? G n a prgrammer hunt ask fr a shw f hands and see what yu get. Once yu knw where they are, yu can find ut where their strengths lie. Ask them t talk abut the prblems and frustratins they face in their department, and think abut hw a DevOps apprach culd slve these prblems. Perhaps give them the pprtunity t be secnded t the IT team. If there s a lack f digital talent in the business, think abut building relevant cmpetencies int the recruitment prcess. Yur digital natives will need t be given access t tls such as cnfiguratin management sftware and these may well require persnal develpment and training prgrammes t enable peple t cntribute effectively. 5

6 The imprtance f buy-in Fr any f this t wrk, IT and develpment teams will need t be much mre inclusive f peple in ther parts f the business. At first it s likely this will be met with resistance, but just as cntent management systems psitively redefined the wrking practise and rle f cntent creatrs, DevOps systems will redefine many f the peratinal rles acrss the business, and enterprises will need t face this challenge head n. Sending develpers t wrk directly with ther departments is ne way t activate the necessary engagement and create better awareness and alignment within the business. Experiencing the ways ther departments wrk can bring abut awareness and empathy with their specific challenges as well as reduce any plitics. Cnnecting peple wh dn t usually wrk tgether can als bring new psitive alliances, inspiratin and energy. Anther way t bring abut whle business alignment is t create a cde f cnduct r manifest a written cmmitment that DevOps shuld be smething fr everyne which the whle rganisatin signs up t. This culd articulate hw the wider business shuld be invlved in develping prducts and prcesses, and what the benefits and utcmes will be. In Cnclusin It is becming increasingly apparent that drawing IT and develpment teams clser tgether was nly ever ging t be the very first step in building a DevOps envirnment. The pririty must nw be t braden this ut far beynd the sil which this has created. We must draw the stakehlders within enterprise mre clsely tgether with the digital value being generated n their behalf. The mst pwerful way f achieving this is t bring all peratinal departments int the DevOps culture and ways f wrking, enabling the apprach t becme a truly hrizntal activity which is pen t the entire business. The critical drivers will be the ability t engage stakehlders acrss the enterprise, encurage inclusivity within IT and find, marshal and mbilise digital natives wh can act as catalysts within each individual department. D this, and every part f the business will becme an engine fr cntinual imprvements that make it mre agile, respnsive, efficient and cmpetitive. 6

7 Abut ypb: We are DevOps Adptin Specialists. We transfrm rganisatins thrugh the pwer f DevOps and Clud Cmputing, wrking with clients t acquire insight, knwledge and ways f wrking that effect pwerful change. We believe that hw yu apprach develpment has an impact n every part f yur rganisatin. Our methdlgy fr cllabratin kick starts prgressive cultural change, enables business-wide digital thinking, and ultimately delivers better prducts t market faster. Talk t us t kickstart yur change. Cntact Us: E: inf@ypb.cm, mark@ypb.cm T: W: 7