With the right DevOps tools and techniques, your business can increase the speed, efficiency, security, and transparency of its software development life cycle (SDLC). This means smarter project planning, superior user testing, and faster deployment of new websites and applications—along with more rapid updates to existing products.
DevOps offers a remedy to common workflow errors and bottlenecks that occur when stakeholders, development teams, and operations managers work in silos. This philosophy emphasizes unified collaboration and communication between teams via a wide range of cloud-native tools.
But there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Every organization has its own goals and technical requirements, which means every organization needs its own unique set of tools and processes.
So how do you know which approach is right for your growing business? And how do you maximize the value of DevOps practices, given the many challenges associated with their implementation? Here at Codal, we help our partners answer these questions, then plan and execute strategies to modernize their internal ecosystem.
Let’s take a look at nine modern technologies—with examples of each—that successful DevOps teams use to boost productivity, save money, and increase scalability.
Version control
Also known as source control, version control has become a mandatory tool in the software development field. It allows developers to keep track of changes made to their code throughout the project lifecycle, as well as include annotations describing why those changes were made.
With version control, multiple developers can work on the same code without interrupting each other’s workflows, and new developers can hop onto a project without missing context. Also, when it comes to fixing bugs, version control provides valuable insight, as the team can refer to previous code changes and annotations to investigate where the bug originated.
Examples of version control tools include GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab.
Container management
Containers are lightweight packages that—on a single operating system—bundle an application’s dependencies, making it easier to manage that application across multiple IT environments.
With container management software, you can efficiently build, optimize, and manage containers in your business’ ecosystem, which becomes increasingly important as your business’ applications grow more complex. Modern container management tools will automate certain tasks, like load balancing and storage orchestration, as well as provide simplified administration over containerized environments—resulting in smoother workflows for DevOps teams.
Examples of container management tools include Docker, Kubernetes, and Mesos.
Application performance monitoring (APM)
APM tools enable DevOps teams to track the availability and user experience of a website, web application, or mobile app. This often involves web performance monitoring (WPM), which runs routine checks on a site’s speed and uptime. Developers can perform load testing on specific components of an application, more effectively troubleshoot problems, and identify critical bottlenecks. This tool also provides insightful data on which features are most used by customers, and the impact of modifications to an application.
Examples of APM tools include Prometheus, Dynatrace, and AppDynamics
Deployment & server monitoring
With deployment and server monitoring tools, DevOps teams can track the performance of an application’s servers in real-time, and ultimately prevent front-end issues from occurring. A modern server monitoring tool will provide easy access to metrics regarding network traffic and packet processing, along with hardware health, memory utilization, and event logs.
Examples of deployment and server monitoring tools include Splunk, Datadog, and Sensu.
Configuration management
Configuration management tools help increase the speed of deployment, avoid repetition, and make DevOps systems more scalable by allowing administrators to define and maintain system settings for multiple environments. For instance, you can configure the same settings for both testing and production environments—as well as roll out new settings and eliminate outdated ones—from a centralized location, reducing the risk of deployment issues.
Examples of configuration management tools include Chef, Puppet, and Ansible.
Deployment automation
By reducing the need for human intervention, DevOps teams can more rapidly advance software from testing, to production, to deployment. This is an essential piece of a continuous integration/ continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline. When software is uploaded from a repository like GitHub, it gets automatically tested and scanned for bugs. The deployment automation software intelligently validates the new code, ensuring that any of the changes made won’t break the app.
Examples of deployment automation tools include Bamboo, Jenkins, and IBM UrbanCode.
Test automation
To support the continuous, uninterrupted cycle of DevOps, test automation tools are key. Automating the QA testing process reduces the risk of human error, and allows applications to go to market faster. For teams managing a simple website or application, basic test automation software can get the job done, while those managing multiple, complex digital solutions will need more advanced programs with specific test-script-writing capabilities.
Examples of test automation tools include Test.ai, Ranorex, and Selenium.
Artifact management
Artifacts are files created by developers during SDLC. This includes documents, packages, containers, repositories, configurations, and dependencies. With artificant management tools, you can centralize these files so they’re easily accessible to current and future DevOps teams. Having a single source of truth for all artifacts leads to smarter collaboration and less redundancy among teams.
Examples of artificant management tools include Sonatype NEXUS, JFRog Artifactory, and CloudRepo.
Codeless test automation
For simpler and faster QA testing, DevOps teams can implement codeless test automation tools. These tools don’t require developers to write a single line of code when creating test scripts. Instead, they offer out-of-the-box solutions that make it easy for developers with little experience.
Examples of codeless test automation tools include AccelQ, Appvance, and Testim.io.
Implementing cutting-edge DevOps tools and processes for your business
Building a fast, efficient, and secure DevOps system—one that harnesses the best technologies and methodologies, given your business’ unique needs—requires significant time, effort, and technical expertise. That’s where Codal comes in.
We’re a digital transformation agency with over thirteen years of experience implementing solutions that solve real business problems. With modern DevOps tools, you can prevent common software development issues, like communication errors between departments, high operational costs, slow deployment times, and so on. Our team will evaluate, implement, and maintain these tools, so you can focus on running your business.
Ready to get started with cutting-edge DevOps tools and processes for your business? Get in touch with Codal today!
