DevOps transformation is one of the most popular IT services nowadays. DevOps services can significantly increase the efficiency of your internal processes. In this article, we will discuss what is DevOps, what it can bring to your business and do you need exactly DevOps Azure services?
What is DevOps and what are DevOps goals?
DevOps is not in vain called the most efficient approach to software development. DevOps culture provides automation of routine actions, flexible approach and strong collaboration in teams. The common goal of DevOps implementation are the following:
- reducing time-to-market;
- reducing time for bug fixing;
- faster releases;
- faster recovery time.
There are a lot of platforms providing DevOps services and DevOps Azure one of the most popular. Let’s have a look at the services you can get, the advantages and disadvantages of this platform.
What is DevOps Azure?
Azure DevOps is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform from Microsoft. This platform provides multiple tools for DevOps transformation.
Azure provides the following services:
- Azure Boards – tool for planning and reporting;
- Azure Pipelines – conveyors that help to set up Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) and supports containers and Kubernetes;
- Azure Repos – provides unlimited private Git repositories;
- Azure Test Plans – provides solutions for manual and automated tests;
- Azure Artifacts – integrated package management supports Python, Maven, npm and NuGet.
DevOps Azure provides the full-cycle toolset for software development and can automate every step of your work.
Advantages and disadvantages of DevOps Azure services
DevOps Azure provides all the necessary services for your business. This is one ecosystem and you can be sure that all the services will correctly work with each other. So, you don’t need to pay attention to compatibility and can easily implement new tools and services on the platform if you need them.
But one ecosystem is also a disadvantage because you risk facing vendor lock-in in case you’ll want to change the platform or use third-party services. Choosing one platform you should be ready to be “bounded” to the provider. Also, big providers like Microsoft Azure usually sell their services in packages, so you can overpay for unnecessary tools.
Thus said, if you want to work with Azure, you should estimate risks. This variant will suit you if you need long-term collaboration and Azure provides all the services you need at work. In another case, you can choose a different provider or several providers with different services.
Wrap up: how to choose the appropriate provider?
There are a lot of great providers of DevOps services and it is always hard to choose the one that will suit you the most. We recommend you to collaborate with a Managed Service Provider (MSP). Such companies provide different IT services including DevOps implementation and transformation. MSP can provide you a dedicated DevOps team that will assess the current state of your infrastructure and offer necessary services. Thus, you will save your services from potential vendor lock-in.
But there is still one risk. You can face the unscrupulous contractor that will spoil the project. But this is a very rare situation. To protect your project from such a risk, look for reviews from previous customers and try to find case studies. Also, you can discuss with the contractor further strategy of DevOps transformation to make sure you’re on the same wave.
