What does DevOps mean?

DevOps is a de facto acronym made up of two words - "Developer" and "Operations." The name refers to a methodology that aims to achieve close cooperation (based on effective communication) between the departments responsible for software development (Dev) and those in charge of the company's operations (Ops).

Thanks to the integration of two divisions and the overall improvement of cooperation between members of the organization, it is possible to achieve the desired objectives faster, easier and safer. Despite the fact that the assumptions of this methodology are contrary to the idea of narrow specialization, the quality of the final product does not lose in any way, and it often even turns out that the results are outstanding. This is due to the flexibility that this methodology brings, as well as that of people in the DevOps Engineer position. A broad technology stack and the ability to handle multiple tools make DevOps specialists versatile employees, and as a result, bugs in the code are resolved quicker.

How did DevOps come into being?

The DevOps methodology was born in large product companies. Although it is strongly corporate in origin, it is also applicable to smaller organizations. What's more, DevOps is not limited to software development - it will work well wherever agility is desired and the product is frequently changed. We can easily imagine this methodology in engineering companies, marketing agencies or some factories.

The universality of this strategy is evidenced by the research, according to which the largest number of organizations saw improvements in the quality of deployments, the frequency of releasing new product versions, and in insight into processes and requirements. Only 38% of respondents perceive an improvement in code quality, which may suggest that DevOps primarily affects the company's operations, rather than the quality of the product itself.

However, some disadvantages should be taken into account. First of all, DevOps should be implemented in the organization as a whole, not just in a specific part of it. Admittedly, the adaptation process itself may take only a few weeks, but the technological changes that should be implemented often involve additional costs for the organization. It can also happen that the deployment of DevOps involves a major effort for the entire company. Usually, however, it is a very worthwhile investment. 

What do you need to know about DevOps?

A key advantage of DevOps is the pace of process execution. The time it takes to produce an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is much shorter than it would be in a company that does not integrate development and operations departments. 

Operating in an iterative model and an Agile approach, DevOps teams implement changes in stages, allowing faster market data acquisition and ongoing application of fixes.

DevOps is based on the automation of deployment processes. Since automation is essential to the implementation of this methodology, organizations as a rule ( though not necessarily intentionally) gain from reduced labor costs and are able to update their products several times a week or even every few hours. 

In organizations that use DevOps, the CI/CD or Continuous Integration/ Continuous Development approach reigns, or at least it should. It means that the product/solution the team is working on is tested, checked and monitored testing, checking and monitoring the solutions being developed at almost every stage of development. This approach is focused on quality and allows to eliminate bugs quickly and release solutions in smaller batches, but more often. 

So, who is a DevOps Engineer?

If you've read or have read this article carefully, you already know that the role of DevOps Engineer is characterized by a broad range of responsibilities, and candidates must have extensive, though not necessarily highly specialized, knowledge. What is expected of those working in this role? First and foremost:

• Comprehensive knowledge of the entire software development cycle;
• Skills to improve the code development process;
• Familiarity with a range of process automation tools;
• Basic knowledge of software testing;
• Knowledge of scripting languages and database skills.

A DevOps engineer is not a programmer strictly speaking - while they don't code all the time, this is often within the scope of their duties. On the other hand, employers often expect more network-based competencies, for example, operating systems, cloud solutions (AWS, Azure, GCP) and server support and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).

Reading about DevOps, you probably came across the term IaC (Infrastructure as a code), which of course is no coincidence. The two methodologies are consistent with each other and often coexist. After all, the IaC approach is all about streamlining infrastructure configuration, and as a result, speeding up and automating deployments.

DevOps recruitment

We wouldn't be ourselves if this article didn't include at least a few words about IT recruitment. When it comes to DevOps, recruiters have to contend with some challenges. First of all, the role we are describing is very versatile - although the knowledge required of candidates does not have to be very deep, a high degree of versatility and a general understanding of many fields is necessary.. Accordingly, adequate preparation should be made to check the competency of a potential employee - either through tests or an interview with a competent person, usually another DevOps engineer or a Hiring Manager.

Recruiting DevOps Engineers is troublesome due to the fact that it requires a deep understanding of the specifics of both the position opening (including knowledge of specific technologies and tools) and the client's business needs. As with the Product Manager role, we often find wide variations regarding the expectations and responsibilities that will fall to the hired DevOps specialist. Nomenclature is also fluid - for a position with these characteristics, we sometimes search for System or Cloud Engineers. This creates some confusion, of course, as our actions can potentially reach the wrong target group, and as a result, the efficiency of the recruitment process decreases. 

Why should you consider the outsourcing of DevOps Engineers recruitment?

Our observations show that tech companies are very keen to outsource the recruitment of DevOps Engineers. The previously mentioned complexity and inconsistency of this role means that finding the right candidate consumes a lot of human resources and time. 

Additionally, the broad technology stack means that finding the right candidate requires extensive search mechanisms and sophisticated tools. As a specialized IT recruitment agency, itMatch uses know-how that has been collected over the years. As a result, when you choose to work with us, you are assured that your organization will find the best possible candidates for open positions.

Summary

Although DevOps methodology is a topic we could write about endlessly, we decided to leave you slightly underwhelmed 🙂 However, if you want to learn more about IT recruitment, be sure to read our other blog posts and start following us on Linkedin!