Lifecycle of DevOps: 7 Phases Explained

Quick Summary

When harnessed with advanced insights, the DevOps lifecycle becomes the North Star guiding organizations towards impeccable implementation. This article delves into the profound significance of each of the DevOps 7cs phases, meticulously unraveling the accompanying tools. Here you can see the Lifecycle of DevOps with illustrative examples; this narrative serves as a compass for enterprises, navigating them toward superior software quality and expedited delivery timelines.

Introduction

While transitioning from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud, Netflix realized the need for a novel approach to manage their colossal cloud infrastructure effectively. This marked the fortuitous encounter between Netflix and DevOps, particularly through the application of the 7 Cs of DevOps, a fusion that has since proven to be a monumental success.

In the early stages, Netflix introduced the concept of containerization to instill uniformity across diverse environments. This move laid the foundation for their container management tool, Titus, which emerged as a robust solution for orchestrating and optimizing this process. Not stopping there, Netflix engineered Chaos Monkey, a remarkable tool automating the injection of failures. This ingenious approach ensures the maintenance of application performance, even in the face of specific AWS service disruptions.

The question arises: how does Netflix provide an uninterrupted experience to its vast customer base, despite the intricacies of thousands of microservices, frequent production changes, and millions of users? The answer lies in their profound adoption of the DevOps culture, which is inherently rooted in continuous improvement. The realm of reality is replete with examples showcasing how the DevOps culture bolsters business values when embraced wholeheartedly.

Suppose your organization finds itself on the cusp of embarking upon the DevOps journey, aspiring to automate developmental workflows yet grappling with the nuances of the DevOps lifecycle and its phases. In that case, you’ve arrived at the perfect juncture. Here, we embark on an illuminating exploration of the DevOps lifecycle, dissecting its stages meticulously, all underscored by tangible real-world instances.

However, before we delve into the intricacies, it’s crucial to grasp the essence of DevOps itself.

What is DevOps?

• DevOps represents a cultural ethos around collaboration, effective communication, and seamless integration within development teams. Its inception aimed to bridge the gap between development, operations, and quality assurance teams, addressing the historical disconnections. Consequently, adopting the best DevOps practices has become pivotal not only for streamlined software development and operations but also for ensuring the impeccable deployment crucial for the triumphant delivery of products.

• DevOps embodies a fresh paradigm that enterprises embrace to conceive, deliver, and sustain software products. Yet, how has this innovative methodology garnered widespread acclaim and is currently revolutionizing the entire IT industry landscape? To illuminate this phenomenon, let’s delve into the intricate details of the DevOps Lifecycle.

What is the DevOps lifecycle & how does it work?

• The DevOps lifecycle for business agility embodies automated developmental procedures or workflows integrated into an iterative development cycle. This lifecycle is visually depicted as an infinite loop operating on a perpetual continuum. This loop signifies the perpetually collaborative and iterative nature across the entirety of the application lifecycle, encompassing a diverse array of tools and technology stacks tailored for each phase. The left segment of this loop is dedicated to the realms of software development and rigorous testing. Conversely, the right facet of the infinite loop symbolizes the deployment and operational facets of the cycle.

Let’s take a brief journey through the various stages of the DevOps lifecycle, focusing on key DevOps principles to understand how each stage unfolds:

1. Plan

• At the outset, teams identify business requirements while gathering invaluable insights from end-user feedback. This stage lays the foundation for success as teams craft a project roadmap meticulously, aiming to optimize business value and ensure the realization of the envisioned product.

2. Code

• The code development phase emerges, where the intricate process of crafting code comes to life. Here, development teams harness the power of tools and plugins like Git to streamline the development trajectory. This strategic utilization aids in sidestepping security vulnerabilities and poor coding practices.

3. Build

• Following the coding phase, developers transition into the build stage. Once their tasks are complete, the code finds its place within the shared code repository. This synchronization is made possible by employing build tools such as Maven and Gradle, cementing the foundation for subsequent stages.

4. Test

• With the build ready, it takes its first step into the testing environment. Rigorous testing ensues, spanning various facets, including user acceptance, security, integration, and performance. Tools like JUnit and Selenium play pivotal roles in ensuring that the software emerges impeccably, a crucial aspect of this stage.

5. Release

• The culmination of testing paves the way for the release phase. Here, the build stands ready for deployment in the production environment. Successful passage through all tests propels the operations team to schedule releases. The flexibility to deploy multiple releases to production echoes the adaptability catered to the organization’s specific requirements.

6. Deploy

• DevOps infrastructure plays a crucial role as Infrastructure-as-Code comes to the forefront during the deployment stage. This phase orchestrates the creation of the production environment, setting the stage for the release. The build’s deployment is carried out with diverse tools, ensuring a seamless transition into the operational realm.

7. Operate

• The release steps onto the stage, embracing real-time use by customers. The operations team configures and provisions servers, utilizing tools like Chef to ensure a finely tuned operational landscape that supports the live release.

8. Monitor

• The DevOps pipeline takes center stage in this final stage as teams diligently monitor its dynamics. Insights harvested from customer behavior and application performance serve as the compass guiding this monitoring process. By watching the entire environment, teams uncover bottlenecks that might hinder the collaborative productivity of development and operations teams.

DevOps lifecycle phases: the 7Cs of DevOps lifecycle

• As previously highlighted, the essence of DevOps lies in its seamless continuity across every stage, from the initial planning to the ongoing monitoring. With this integral notion of continuity, we can dissect the complete DevOps lifecycle into seven distinct phases. What’s noteworthy is that each of these phases is marked by its iterative potential, capable of cycling through multiple iterations throughout a project until the desired outcome is achieved.

Here is a comprehensive guide to explaining the 7Cs of the DevOps lifecycle or devops phases:

1. Continuous Development:

• At the outset of the DevOps journey lies the phase of continuous development. This pivotal phase forms the bedrock where the vision for the entire software development voyage takes shape. Here, meticulous project planning and coding activities unfold. The process commences with gathering project requirements and engaging stakeholders in vital discussions. Notably, customer feedback fuels the creation of a product backlog, which then transforms into smaller releases and milestones. Nordstrom, a beacon of innovation, opted for DevOps to streamline its development, testing, and release procedures. This retail titan transitioned from a waterfall model to continuous planning and development, yielding enhanced build quality and accelerated product releases.

2. Continuous Integration:

• The heartbeat of the DevOps lifecycle resonates with continuous integration. In this crucial phase, the fusion of updated code and novel functionalities with the existing codebase occurs. Bugs and errors are detected through rigorous unit testing, ushering in a refinement cycle. DocuSign, an e-signature technology pioneer, underwent a transformative journey. Their adoption of DevOps eliminated collaboration gaps between development and operations teams. By employing the tool “mock” for their internal API, they expedited product development, fortifying their integration and delivery processes within the DevOps process.

3. Continuous Testing:

• The realm of continuous testing is where software quality is honed to perfection. Teams continuously scrutinize the software program for bugs and discrepancies, facilitated by automation testing tools like Selenium and TestSigma. Continuous testing bolsters examine assessment, curb provisioning, and maintenance prices for check environments. Tangerine Bank, a Canadian financial institution, exemplifies it. By embracing non-stop remarks, they orchestrated a remarkable enhancement of their cellular customer experience, accentuating the significance of feedback-driven development.

4. Continuous Deployment:

• The crux of the DevOps narrative unfolds within the segment of continuous deployment. 

• Configuration management takes center stage as the final code finds its home on production servers, ensuring precision and consistency throughout the deployment process. Notably, containerization tools like Docker and Kubernetes provide the scaffolding for this practice, enabling agile, consistent, and scalable deployments. Adobe, an industry titan, harnessed DevOps to unleash a stream of small software updates, optimizing their deployment process through tools like CloudMunch.

5. Continuous Feedback:

• In continuous feedback, the essence of customer insights drives iterative enhancement. The software’s performance is evaluated through structured and unstructured approaches, shaping future releases and deployments. Tangerine Bank’s embrace of continuous feedback exemplifies the transformative potential. Swift collection of valuable customer feedback guided them towards rapid problem-solving and application refinement, channeling resources effectively.

6. Continuous Monitoring:

• The continuous monitoring phase is the vigilant guardian of software functionality. Its persistent watchfulness identifies anomalies, from low memory to non-reachable servers. Such detection empowers IT teams to diagnose issues swiftly, ensuring optimal application performance. DevOps tools like Nagios, Kibana, and Splunk illuminate this phase, revealing insights crucial for seamless operations.

7. Continuous Operations:

• The grand finale of the DevOps lifecycle arrives with continuous operations. In this phase, planned downtimes and maintenance are streamlined to minimize disruptions. Through the magic of container orchestration tools like Kubernetes and Docker Swarm, developers embrace high availability and swift deployments. This practice DevOps saves precious time and amplifies application uptime, accelerating time-to-market. Kubernetes and Docker Swarm orchestrate this phase, ushering in a new era of operational efficiency.

Conclusion

• DevOps has undeniably instilled a transformative culture in software development, elevating quality standards. The DevOps lifecycle is laser-focused on maintaining seamless continuity and optimizing automation. This approach hinges on the synergy between developers, testers, and operations, ensuring swift software delivery and an enhanced user experience. Seeking to automate your development process for amplified business value? Simform offers a robust DevOps solution, streamlining workflows through CI/CD pipelines and fostering collaboration. Hire Our DevOps experts champion best practices across the product lifecycle while facilitating cross-functional teams. Unlock the benefits of an efficient DevOps cycle – contact us today.

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