DevOps and agile are modern software development, providing a framework to produce a part of a product, a launch or a release.
Understanding the difference
Although both DevOps and agile result in software development, they have different approaches. They involve other groups and departments and structure production differently.
However, the most crucial thing about DevOps versus agile is that they are not mutually exclusive. Additionally, DevOps is a culture that fosters collaboration amongst participants involved in the development and maintenance of software. Furthermore, Agile is a development methodology designed to maintain productivity and drive releases with the common reality of changing needs. Although DevOps and agile are different, these two methodologies lead to greater efficiency and more reliable results when used together.
DevOps and agile: An at-a-glance comparison
Furthermore, when evaluating DevOps versus agile, it’s essential to understand the overall philosophy of each. For instance, where they’re similar and where they’re different, as well as how to integrate each within your team. Also, DevOps and Agile are not mutually exclusive – you can incorporate aspects of each in your business. The information below will help you understand DevOps and agile’s key similarities and differences.
DevOps definition
Firstly, DevOps is a software development practice that brings people, processes and technology together to deliver continuous value. Moreover, the approach comprises planning, tracking, development, building and testing, delivery, monitoring and operations. DevOps is unique in that development, IT operations, quality engineering, and security teams work together to create efficiency across all tasks involved in launching a new product, release or update.
DevOps philosophy and focus
Rooted in stability, consistency and planning, the DevOps culture seeks to identify new ways to improve and streamline processes. As a result, DevOps focuses on maximising efficiency, identifying programmable strategies and increasing automation.
DevOps scope
DevOps represents the intersections of development, operations and quality assurance. Cross-disciplinary teams unite and collaborate in the development and delivery of software.
DevOps manifestations
- Continuous integration
- Continuous delivery
- Continuous deployment
Agile definition
Agile development is a delivery approach that relates to lean manufacturing. Furthermore, it centres around creating a working prototype or building amidst the realities of changing needs and requirements. Moreover, adaptability is a core attribute of agile, bridging the gap between the development team and the end-user, giving precedence to the needs of users and stakeholders over rigid plans.
Agile philosophy and focus
The fail-fast mindset centres around adaptability and keeping pace with customer needs and expectations. Features are described as user stories, focusing on the individual user, what they need and why.
Agile scope
Agile development is specific to the development team, its productivity and progress towards completing the project. Moreover, growth ends in incremental sprints, and different teams manage each release’s software delivery, deployment or ongoing maintenance.
Agile manifestations
- Scrum
- Kanban
- Lean development
- DSDM
- Extreme programming
- Crystal
- Feature-driven development
How DevOps and agile work together
DevOps and agile offer a structure and framework that can speed software delivery significantly. However, you do not need to choose between DevOps or agile. Albeit, you can make use of both methodologies. Agile is strong on methods for organising work, such as via Scrum or Kanban, and DevOps drives a broader culture of delivering software faster and more reliably.
Instead of choosing between DevOps and agile, the question is how to practise both. When considering building a development practice with the best of DevOps and agile, here are some key benefits and features that can help you create a highly optimised development environment.
Top features from DevOps
Broader scope, wider reach
DevOps addresses all stages of software development and delivery, seeking to make releases faster and more reliable.
Inter-department collaboration
A culture of reducing friction and fostering cross-functional teamwork can produce an improved work environment and more effective teams.
Efficiency from automation
The DevOps practice seeks opportunities to create programmable processes and automate workflows where possible, driving efficiency.
Top features of agile
Workflow productivity tools
You can track work with Kanban, Scrum and other familiar planning tools from agile. It helps to organise requirements, tasks and progress.
Incremental progress
Using sprints or other time-boxed production approaches helps create a consistent development cadence.
Needs of the customer
Agile’s fail-fast, fail-early mentality helps provide a constant feedback loop, bringing customer expectations to the forefront.
Tools for DevOps and agile
Furthermore, as you build your approach and software delivery practice, you’ll want to find a set of tools to best match your workflow. Additionally, Azure DevOps provides everything you need to plan smarter, collaborate better and ship faster with a group of current dev services.
Moreover, Azure DevOps includes Azure Boards, a set of tools that help you plan, track and discuss work across your teams. Scrum-ready and Kanban-capable Azure Boards make it easy to bring agile software development into your DevOps approach.
Moreover, Azure DevOps lets you customise your experience to fit your workflows – build, test and deploy with continuous integration and delivery; use proved agile tools to plan and track work, and test and ship confidently. With modular, mix-and-match devices, this comprehensive suite is flexible for development on any platform.
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