In these times of immediacy, it has become increasingly necessary to deliver software quickly. And to speed up those developments and functionalities, you need to use DevOps.

DevOps is the software engineering practice that aims to unify software development (Dev) and software operation (Ops).

This framework enables the continuous delivery of value to users through the union of processes, tools and people.

This is something Florencia Polcaro, operations manager at BigCheese, a company specializing in software development and consulting services, knows all too well.

“We have become very good at building software and we do it faster and faster thanks to platforms like GeneXus. But that agility cycle also raises the expectations of our customers, driving the bar of demand higher and higher. To meet those requirements, you need good tools, but also empathy, communication and very good teamwork culture. As this depends more on people, the challenge is much more cultural than technical”, explains the computer engineer.

Below we share the keys to start a DevOps culture, extracted from the talk The importance of fostering a DevOps Culture, given by Florencia as part of GeneXus LIVE 2021:

1. No to silos

“In terms of culture, the first thing we must avoid are silos, which are those teams that work separately and independently.”

2. Foster a sense of shared responsibility

“People in teams are equally responsible for maintaining that product and making it possible to build new things.”

3. Encourage collaboration and empathy

“If there is something that the development team needs to put into production and the infrastructure team says no  because it might be risky; instead of assuming that you can’t “because someone doesn’t want to”, the right thing to do is to talk between the parties to understand why it might be risky and try to see if, from the other team, you can collaborate to lower those risks. It is to have empathy, to work together”.

4. Always think about the system

“It is important to have a global vision of everything that happens. It is not a matter of each one fixing the part that corresponds to him or her. It is a system. Systems are complex and getting more and more so, and we need to have that sense, that way of thinking about the system as a whole.”

DevOps: 6 talks to understand its importance, strategies and uses