DevOps as a Service is a term that resonates in the global tech arena. The traditional way of collaboration between software Development and operations teams is changing its course when Devops as a Service is adopted.

The global DevOps market is forecasted to reach $21 billion by 2027. The US made up nearly 41% of the market in 2020, followed by countries like India, China, Canada, and Japan. The numbers are growing, and due to its excellent benefits to users and developers, DevOps as a service model will dominate the IT industry.

Let’s have a quick catch-up about what DevOps is.

What is DevOps?

You can think of DevOps as practices, philosophies, and tools that increase an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at an accelerated rate. It helps organizations improve and evolve products quicker than organizations that use traditional infrastructure management and software development processes. DevOps helps organizations serve their customers better and compete more efficiently in the market.

The development and operations teams in a DevOps model are not “siloed”, that is, they do not operate separately from each other. In some organizations, these two teams are merged to form a single team, where professionals work across the entire application life cycle. From development, testing, deployment, and operations, these professionals develop a wide range of skills that are not limited to a single function.

In certain DevOps models, security and quality assurance teams are also integrated with the development and operations teams throughout the software development lifecycle.

DevOps teams use industry best practices to automate processes that have historically been manual and slow. They use various DevOps tools and technology stacks that help them operate and evolve apps reliably and quickly. These tools also help DevOps teams independently complete tasks that would normally have required the help of others, increasing the speed at which they work.

What is DevOps as a Service?

The DevOps as a Service model is a set of tools that facilitates collaboration between the software development and operations team of an organization. It moves traditional collaboration between the development and operations team to the cloud, where many processes can be automated using various stackable development tools.

Most organizations feel more confident having an in-house DevOps team. However, building your own DevOps team can be expensive and time-intensive. You may be required to spend a considerable amount of time recruiting the right talent. A lot of time may also be spent in the training of new hires. The process is also an expensive one because you will need to invest a considerable sum into employee wages and other resources.

What do organizations do that lack the capital or resources to create their own DevOps teams? They use DevOps as a Service or DevOps managed services..

How does DevOps as a Service work?

In the DevOps as a Service delivery model, the DevOps managed service providers provide the necessary tools that cover multiple aspects of the overall software development process and connect them so that they can work as one unit.

The best DevOps as a Service companies ensure that all actions carried out in the software delivery process can be tracked. They help organizations achieve their desired outcome and follow numerous strategies, including Continuous Delivery (CD) and Continuous Integration (CI), to deliver value to their clients. These companies also provide feedback to the organizations when they identify a problem in the production environment.

What are the benefits of DevOps as a Service?

 Most organizations choose DaaS or DevOps as a Service because it helps them accelerate the development pipeline through various cloud-based development tools. It helps organizations fully leverage the benefits of the cloud to ensure that the delivery process is efficient and the production environment is seamless.

Here’s why DevOps as a Service would work best for your organization:

Improves efficiency and deployment time.

The core of DevOps as a Service is to move the tools to the cloud that facilitate and orchestrate the DevOps process. As per the 2021 State of DevOps Report, cloud and automation facilitate better DevOps evolution. Highly-evolved organizations make better use of the cloud and are likely to implement more all-round automation. Among the 65% of organizations that use the public cloud, only 20% use the cloud to its full potential. Therefore, the cloud has always been a differentiator for the forward-thinking and elite performers in the field of DevOps.

According to data in the State of DevOps report 2019, high-performing organizations have:

• 106 times faster lead time from commitment to deployment.
• 208 times faster code deployments.
• 2604 times faster than other organizations in recovering from incidents, and
• 7 times lower change failure rate.

To keep things straight and simple, using DevOps as a Service helps organizations focus on automation that improves the performance and efficiency of their software delivery process.

Simplifies the flow of data and information.

The complexities of data and information flow are hidden in a DevOps as a Service model across the toolchain. Team members are, thus, able to focus on their respective tools instead of worrying about the details of the entire toolchain. For instance, in a DaaS model, a developer can keep track of all the modifications using SCM (Source Code Management) tools. Similarly, a tester can test the performance of the application using APM (Application Performance Management) tools.

By integrating various elements of DevOps tools in an all-encompassing system, service providers offer collaboration, monitoring, usability, and reporting, making the process simple and efficient.

Better customer experience.

DevOps as a Service mainly focuses on automating various DevOps processes to accelerate the development, testing, and deployment processes. According to a mabl survey, organizations that automate have 25% more customer happiness levels compared to teams that have no automation. However, the same survey also reveals that testers are more dissatisfied with the testing process with increased automation. The reason could be the burden of maintenance associated with automated functional and end-to-end tests.

Also, tools for effective UI testing call for specialized skills that are quite difficult to hire or train for. By opting for DevOps as a Service, you offload these problems onto your service provider, who helps you with the implementation as well as the maintenance of the automated DevOps system.

Enhances safety and performance.

Best-in-class service providers can help your organization continually optimize your DevOps system with the latest techniques, ensuring that you have a safer and more efficient system. Cybersecurity has become a top priority for organizations worldwide, considering the number of security breaches that are happening every day.

DaaS providers use DevSecOps practices and principles to automate essential security tasks to minimize risks and fortify your system. DevSecOps combines the development, security, and operations aspects to automate the integration of security at every phase of the software development lifecycle. Shifting to DevSecOps helps improve the collaboration between the software development and operations teams, ensuring that the development process remains efficient and error-free.

Mentoring for your in-house IT team.

By partnering with a reputed DevOps as a Service provider, you get access to DevOps experts who offer their expertise right from the implementation process. These service providers have a dedicated team of DevOps professionals who can provide your in-house IT team with the tools, training, and resources needed to master the new DevOps system.

The best thing about using DevOps as a Service is that you do not need to relinquish control over your internal DevOps processes. What service providers do is provide you with the resources to help you focus on business-critical activities by implementing effective and efficient automated mechanisms.

What is the cost involved with DevOps as a Service?

The DevOps as a service pricing varies from service provider to provider. Most of them offer a monthly subscription plan. Some of them may even offer a customized pricing plan according to your business requirements.

You could request quotes from different service providers to understand the services, tools, and resources included in the cost structure. Depending on your organization’s needs, you can choose the right service provider that suits your business requirements.

Which cloud computing model is the best for DevOps as a Service?

Is DevOps a SaaS? Is DevOps a PaaS? Like many other IT services, the role of DevOps has evolved immensely. It has become a lot more than just a means of bringing the development and operations teams together. In the broader sense, DevOps can now be considered as an agile development environment, where applications interact with services to handle tasks, such as document management and background services necessary for mobile applications.

In modern times, software deployment has become more challenging because a lot of resources are distributed across various complex infrastructures on the cloud as well as on-premises. For a project to succeed, it has become essential to break down the boundaries between development and operations teams. You also must have the necessary tools and resources to get the job done in this complex environment.

The tools and services necessary for agile development are an essential part of systems modernization. Their job is to help you create, deploy, and manage service-based applications. When it comes to the cloud environment, this is the middle ground that occupies the space between SaaS and IaaS, also referred to as PaaS or Platform as a Service. PaaS is often the platform of choice for most new cloud-based projects or for customizing SaaS products.

Semantics aside, it is important for organizations to understand and identify the tools and services that can help them build their cloud applications. The cloud is a complex and evolving landscape. PaaS is evolving with intense speed and new products and services are continuously being offered by leading service providers, such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Oracle Cloud.

Besides the coding and back-end services for modernizing DevOps systems, organizations also need the tools for managing the agile project itself. Collaboration and project management are integral parts of DevOps. DevOps is more about PaaS, as this is where more exciting things are happening.

The next step

DevOps as a Service, without doubt, is incredibly beneficial. However, opting for DevOps would be great provided you have someone to guide you through. Understanding more about what is DevOps, and its benefits, and identifying the best DevOps tools can help your organization avoid costly mistakes.

For organizations that want to leverage the benefits of the cloud for their DevOps initiative, partnering with a qualified DevOps as a service provider is definitely worth considering. By collaborating with the right service provider, you can accelerate delivery, improve performance and quality, and deliver greater business value to your clients. Let’s talk.