How to become a DevOps engineer

The DevOps engineer is one of the positions that has garnered quite a bit of attention in recent years. For a better understanding of what such an engineer does, it’s important to know what DevOps actually means. In today’s article, we’ll explain all the details.

DevOps meaning

DevOps is a concept that almost every expert or literature explains a little differently. Simply put, it’s a specialized way of approaching software development. Its main aim is to improve collaboration and communication between developers and other specialists.

DevOps is a relatively new term. The term was first coined around 2007 when experts began expressing concerns about the traditional software development model. It worked in such a way that developers who wrote code worked independently and separately from those who deployed and processed the code. Such processes often led to unnecessary errors or complications that could have been avoided by communication.

The term DevOps is derived from two English terms, development and operations, and reflects the integration of these disciplines into one continuous process.

The growing importance of DevOps

The DevOps methodology has many benefits, which is why it has become popular with many companies, organisations and businesses. The biggest of these is regular communication between IT professionals. This increases the accuracy of results and reduces the cost of expensive repairs.

Currently, there is a high demand for experienced DevOps engineers, especially in the banking and telecommunications sectors. However, interest is also slowly growing among companies in the e-commerce sector.

How does DevOps work?

DevOps involves developers and IT operations working together throughout the product lifecycle to increase the speed and quality of software. It’s a new way of working that brings many benefits to teams and organizations operating in the IT field, or organizations that utilize various programs or software, such as banks or e-commerce platforms.

In the DevOps model, traditional development teams and other specialised professionals work closely together or merge into a single team. In this team, engineers work together throughout the application lifecycle, from development and testing to deployment and operations. They communicate with each other to achieve the most accurate and best results.

DevOps teams use multiple tools to automate and accelerate processes, helping to increase reliability and ensure better results. Today, there is a wide range of different tools available to ensure that every professional can find what they need.

What does a DevOps engineer do?

The job description of a DevOps specialist is quite diverse. However, their main role is to help bridge the gap or rift that may exist between some experts or teams. The DevOps engineer communicates with everyone, thereby increasing productivity and work efficiency.

A DevOps engineer also ensures that the end result is of high quality and meets the exact needs of the company or client. Other tasks included in the job description are:

• ensuring smooth flow of information,
• creating project infrastructure,
• selecting optimal technology,
• managing project iterations.

DevOps specialists use a variety of tools that help automate work processes and allow them to monitor the work of individual employees.

The qualities of a DevOps engineer

If you want to be a DevOps engineer, you need to have several qualities. These include:

• Basic programming skills – A DevOps specialist needs to understand the coding basics to ensure that other team members are doing things correctly and that the result is not only up to the task at hand, but also up to the required quality.
• Knowledge of basic protocols and network services – The same principle applies here as for programming. Only if the engineer knows at least the basics can they determine whether others are working correctly.
• Programming language skills – A DevOps engineer doesn’t need to be a Java developer senior to do this job. A basic knowledge of popular and well-known programming languages such as Java, Python, or C++ should not be missing.
• Communication skills – Since a DevOps specialist aims to bridge the gap between various workers who may have otherwise worked individually or in smaller separate teams, they must be able to communicate effectively to avoid communication noise that could lead to unnecessary complications.

Other qualities and skills will depend on the environment in which the DevOps engineer will be working, and what they will be working on. For example, DevOps experts in the banking sector must have different specific qualities than those working in the online retail sector.

DevOps techniques

DevOps engineers use various techniques and practices, such as:

• monitoring,
• continuous integration, continuous delivery, continuous deployment,
• containerization.

Monitoring

This technique monitors individual workflow processes and alerts you to any issues or complications that may arise. In addition to alerting you, the system can also guide you to the error, saving you a lot of time and money. Instead of tedious searching, you can dive straight into problem-solving.

When it comes to monitoring, it’s important to remember that you need to set it up correctly if you really want it to deliver all these benefits.

Continuous integration, continuous delivery, continuous deployment

This technique is often referred to by the acronyms CI/CD. Continuous integration, or CI, involves automatic versioning, checking, and subsequent reporting of builds.

The second technique is Continuous Delivery, or CD. In this case, it’s the process of testing changes to applications before committing them to the repository to ensure they’re bug-free. And let’s not forget Continuous Deployment, which refers to the automatic sending of changes from the repository to production.

Containerization

This method is used to isolate processes from the rest of the software. The advantage of containers is that they can be started and stopped very quickly and easily, making it easier to build, deploy, and run applications.

When you decide to create a container, you should follow the rule – one container = one service. Then you need to consider three basic principles of containerization, namely:

• standardization,
• simplicity,
• isolation.

DevOps cycle

DevOps is characterized by continuity, which is why many experts represent it in the form of an endless loop. This allows them to demonstrate the different phases of the DevOps lifecycle, which influence each other. Again, the phases and their number vary depending on the source you’re reading.

The DevOps cycle typically consists of:

Discovery

During the preparation phase, individual teams need to explore the specific area in which they will be working, document all ideas, communicate with each other and prioritize. Ideas must be in line with strategic objectives and what the customer, client or supervisor wants.

Planning

Once all the ideas have been written down, the teams need to sit down and plan the steps so that the processes are fast and efficient. If necessary, a DevOps engineer can break the work down into smaller pieces and assign them to individual team members.

Building

When teams start working on individual tasks, it’s essential for them to communicate with each other. This is the only way to ensure accurate and high quality results. To improve communication, a DevOps engineer is available to deal with disputes or various complications.

Testing

Once the individual tasks have been merged into one and the first version of the software has been created, initial testing can take place. Automated testing will identify any problems and areas for improvement.

Deployment

The next step in the lifecycle is deploying the successfully tested code into production. This allows teams to regularly introduce new features that enhance the usability of the software.

Operation

DevOps teams also implement, configure and maintain the entire IT infrastructure. Again, individual experts must work together to ensure a fast and seamless process.

Observation

Through careful observation, teams can proactively identify and address issues before they affect the speed or functionality of the final product. Observation and alerting can be facilitated by various practical tools, saving time and energy for the workers involved.

Continuous assessment and feedback

DevOps teams should evaluate every release of the product. The evaluation should include all information about the software’s strengths and weaknesses. In this way, team members can improve their processes and avoid mistakes in the future.

The evaluation should also include feedback from customers or clients who will be using the software.

DevOps benefits

DevOps offers a wide range of benefits, which has made it very popular with many companies and organisations. Here are its main benefits:

Speed

Teams that use DevOps deliver results much faster and with higher quality than those that don’t practice DevOps. The 2019 DORA report found that professional DevOps teams deploy new projects 208 times more often and 106 times faster than regular teams. DevOps enables not only the acceleration of individual processes, but also the regular testing and improvement of all outputs.

Better collaboration

The essence of DevOps lies in improving collaboration between individuals and teams working on the same task or project. Regular communication saves time, accelerates processes, eliminates communication noise and produces more accurate and higher quality results.

Rapid deployment

By keeping team members in constant communication and streamlining their work, it’s possible to deploy final products much faster. Testing can be initiated earlier and carried out more regularly.

Quality and reliability

Continuous communication and regular testing increase the quality and reliability of the resulting product. Individual teams thus avoid unnecessary errors that could cause issues either during testing or later during the use of the software or application.

Security

Another major benefit is security, which is built into the product through active security audits and repeated testing of workflows and the entire application or other end product.

Become a DevOps engineer!

DevOps is a job position that attracts many people. No wonder. In addition to the varied and interesting job content, there is currently a high demand for DevOps engineers. The skills you need will typically vary depending on the area you choose to work in. Of course, you need to have a solid foundation in programming.

Think the DevOps Engineer job offer is for you? Take a look at what we have to offer and start doing something you love!