Why do you think the DevOps movement is growing so fast?
I’ll tell you what I think. It’s because DevOps is sexy!
Here’s how Wikipedia defines sexy:
Sexy is an adjective to describe a sexually appealing person or thing.
There you have it. “…appealing person or thing.”
Take the wheel in the picture above. Doesn’t it also qualify as sexy, too?
Word Appeal
Before we get started let’s do a quick test and compare some common terms from DevOps with some from ITIL and see what happens?
- Lean
- Agile
- Improving
- Adapting
- Framework
Which words are more appealing and made you feel something? I bet 1, 2, 3 and 4 had positive feelings, right?
The word “framework” on the other hand is the ITIL term. How did it make you feel?
I’m ITIL .v3 certified so I feel qualified to say ITIL terms are too – well – IT!
- Processes
- Procedures
- Documentation
- Reports
- CMDB
- ITSM
Do these words sound attractive or sexy? No!
Now that I have you thinking let’s begin:
1. Take the Word “DevOps” for instance. Already the connotation is mutual agreement. Dev and Ops together. And doesn’t it just resonate as different than an acronym that stands for an organization (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)?
2. Do you know DevOps is Culture based which means it’s not just a bunch of “Dos” and “Don’ts.” It’s founded on trust and selflessness. Communication. Feedback.
3. DevOps takes the complexity out of day-to-day. In the book The Lean Startup, Eric Ries defines the MVP or minimum viable product. When properly instituted, solutions are kept simple.
4. I love this one. Fail-fast! You don’t have to be perfect. When things are not working out the way you planned “fail-fast” and pivot. DevOps allows us to be human. Humans fail. Plans fail. Move past failure fast…
5. I just used the term “Pivot”. This is another term used often. It means to adapt or change direction. You’ll find more about it in The Start-up Owners Manual.
6. Cool software solutions and tool names, like: Git, Opscode, Puppet, Jenkins, Sensu, Salt, Ansible, Vagrant and many more. Check out this article for more.
7. DevOps delivers results. Now that is attractive as hell!
The bottom line why organizations are moving towards DevOps is because traditional IT processes are failing to keep up with changes.
DevOps works well with Agile, Scrum, and other lean processes developers are using.
The list could go on but Seven is a lucky number so we’ll stop here.
Let’s review.
- Mutual Agreement
- Culture Based
- Reduced Complexity
- Adaptable
- Agile
- Cool
- Delivers Results
Doesn’t that make you want to learn more about DevOps?
Let me close by saying there’s more to DevOps than attractive words and tools. At the end of the day it delivers results and that is what’s fueling the movement!
I named a couple of resources where you can find out more about DevOps. I’ve also written a free eBook, Shades of DevOps: Kick Starting Your Plan.
IT needs a change and if it’s sexy, so much the better!
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