DevOps has transformed the process of software development and testing. It is a multidisciplinary approach that brings together the development and operation departments together. This strategy leads to a cultural shift where professionals from both groups work together, thus, leading to better synergy, usage of automation across the board, and more flexibility. DevOps strategies lead to streamlining multiple processes, reducing errors, and building a faster and more successful deployment process.
The smooth collaboration between the development and the operations team offered by DevOps promotes quicker product delivery. Here, testing is performed alongside the development giving scope to identify bugs earlier in the product development cycle. This approach expands the scope of software testing and reduces the occurrence of bugs significantly.
6 Quality issues with DevOps and how to solve them
Performance Issues
Practicing continuous integration and deployment tends to make processes in any industry faster. However, sometimes a team’s performance could be slower with continuous deployment than with manual work.
Solution: DevOps team should analyze if their processes are efficient enough. Although automated processes are faster than manual ones, they still need to be analyzed to choose the right tool that will help them to meet their business goals.
Users should check if all the steps in their DevOps processes are necessary. Removing unnecessary steps is an excellent way to reduce complications and get consistent results. User metrics also helps to analyze the stages of the process, such as how much time each task takes. When analyzing metrics, it is recommended that the team figures out the maximum capacity. Some tools may not work fast enough, so they need to be replaced with upgraded technology.
Security Issues
Sometimes development teams could take shortcuts due to a production rush, either due to an extended holiday period or a huge deal. This could lead to a compromise of the system’s security. Huge incidents could lead to loss of billions of dollars and potential bankruptcy, and also affect the brand reputation adversely.
Solution: The team should maintain consistent security hygiene. This includes keeping access to vital tools for CI (Continuous Integration) and CD (Continuous Deployment) secure. Highly secure passwords are still the safest bet.
Contrary to popular belief, CI/CD jobs should be executed with the fewest number of privileges, not the most. If a hacker reconfigures a system that has more permissions than necessary, it could break the production cycle. When the system has been reset to safety, plenty of data could be hacked and stolen, leading to losses to intellectual and monetary property.
Separate Tools Set for Development and Operations Teams
One of the biggest challenges is the implementation of different sets of tools for both the development and operations teams. Identifying and synchronizing the differences between the two teams is vital for running a business smoothly.
Solution: Better collaboration would lead to increased productivity for the DevOps teams. Teams should strive to work towards a unified goal and be trained to understand how to achieve them.
A complete set of instructions and better communication would guarantee the best results. Data could be tested to see if the team has successfully deployed understanding the business problems, training tests, and work schedule maintenance.
Version Control Management Issues
The CI & CD processes are created specifically, keeping the company’s goal in mind. But sometimes, the software undergoes a major update, especially at the time of deployment, and everything could crash, or an urgent task could completely stall.
Solution: One solution could be to disable auto-updates so that any impediments do not arise in the work schedule. The team must prioritize stability over the newest release date. During deployment, it is a better option to use the stable version of the software rather than the latest one.
In addition, we believe there should be a DevOps team that can be responsible for version control. They could maintain a record of newer versions and features and check to see if they can still support previous systems.
However, not updating the software for a long time can leave the DevOps team vulnerable to viruses in the system as well as outdated technology. While newer updates need to be analyzed, they should not be avoided and put to good use when necessary.
Regular Testing
If testing software is not well-strategized, or a wrong approach is taken to it, it can lead to problems in production and distribution.
Solution: Developers must take test results as seriously as possible. Sometimes, assumptions are made that some minor glitches during testing would not appear in real-time, but the company would have to pay a heavy price if something goes wrong.
Developers should deploy approval procedures for new features to prevent software with bugs from being deployed. They should also focus on writing automation and unit tests. Experts have suggested that as a bare minimum, DevOps should ensure that there are UI and API automated tests.
Finally, developers should test their optimizations regularly. Initial iterations could be lighter and faster to deploy. However, as one keeps adding more code, each optimization could become more complex and bring lesser value. Developers should approach it carefully, as the gains derived from optimization may not match up to the constant investments made to upgrade it.
Resistance to Change
Sometimes the organization may feel resistant to the idea of shifting to a DevOps setup. Proposing that the change is necessary may not go well with certain team members, who think that it reflects poorly on their current efforts.
Solution: Like any significant change, DevOps’ change would be gradual and not happen overnight. When employees are shown the importance of DevOps and given different essential roles that contribute to the development process, the DevOps culture becomes more ingrained.
Teams must find a product or existing application and replicate its performance in a DevOps setup. If employees can see the benefits, they are more likely to adopt the changes to employ the DevOps strategies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we would say that while the DevOps pipeline can bring certain limitations, those changes are manageable and can help an organization soar to amazing heights post its implementation.