How can non-technical departments participate in Devops?

DevOps It is a very popular concept , In the past few years, many enterprises have plunged into DevOps In relevant practice , Preparing for transformation . however , The successful ones are a few .

Generally speaking , We are joining in DevOps Before the army , You should ask yourself ： Why do we use it DevOps？ undoubtedly , Most enterprises are to reduce costs and increase efficiency 、 Improve competitiveness . However , If we only focus on IT The team itself , It is likely to put the cart before the horse .

On a large scale ,DevOps Transformation should be beyond the existence of development and operation , It must contact other departments of the enterprise . Some non-technical departments are DevOps Important participants in the team , The different positions they stand on can play a balancing role , Avoid the technical department falling into “ Only technical traps ”.

This is particularly important for some traditional enterprises facing digital transformation . Because inside the traditional enterprise , The business department is the main body , and IT Departments are empowered for business departments . besides , stay DevOps In practice , Some legal and financial risks also need to be avoided in advance .

One 、 Why should these non-technical departments participate DevOps？

Involve non-technical teams DevOps In the to , This does not mean that every employee in the organization needs to know DevOps And the context of software requirements .

contrary , The participation of some departments is DevOps I just need , The core DevOps Establishing strategic connections between the team and colleagues in non-technical roles is absolutely worth the money .

1、 Business team let DevOps More aim “ Bull's eye ”

The importance of business teams is self-evident . Some point of view is that , stay DevOps There should no longer be business and technology out of sync in culture , Sales organizations can convey customer feedback and requirements to the development cycle , Let the next version contain the functions required by customers faster .

But actually , People know this better than DevOps More lagging .2020 year , A group of people who care about this topic posted “BizOps declaration ”. The declaration advocates fundamental changes IT The way teams and business users collaborate in the software development process .

The specific term ,BizOps requirement ：1） Business results Higher than individual project and execution metrics ;2） Trust and cooperation Above individualism and hierarchy ;3） Data driven decision making Above opinion 、 Judgment and persuasion ;4） Learning and transformation Above following a strict plan .

https://www.bizopsmanifesto.org/

And then ,BizDevOps This concept came into being , It is called DevOps 2.0. In this way , Business teams not only set requirements , They also work directly with developers , Set priorities for agile software development sprint and backlog . They become business partners , Work with management to solve problems , Achieving business goals .

2、 The legal team is DevOps Escort

“ Software engulfs the world , Open source software .” This famous saying became a prophecy . The present , Open source software is everywhere , Some statistical results show ,90% Modern applications of include open source code , Software has been occupied by open source components , Enterprises can neither bypass nor avoid . and , Open source software can also bring cost reduction to organizations 、 Improve code quality and many other benefits , The vast majority of enterprises are also willing to participate .

But it also brings compliance problems , Because of lack of consciousness and other problems , Many developers do not understand the relevant provisions of the open source software license , Illegal use of open source software , It's going to cause trouble . In the face of similar MIT、Apache It may be OK to wait for a loose License , But some highly contagious licenses need special attention .

Actually , Not just open source compliance , There are still many patents and process problems in the software industry , Will cause compliance and legal issues , If you don't pay attention , It is likely to become a defendant .

therefore , The legal team is DevOps The important role of ： Ensure that the software is compliant even when it is continuously released . More time , Legal affairs are more like DevOps Non staff personnel of the project , It seems that I can't use it at ordinary times , But the critical moment is indispensable .

3、 The finance department emphasizes value , Work for profit

stay DevOps During the transformation , It is inevitable to need the continuous investment of capital and manpower . But the bottom line is this , quite a lot DevOps Team building is a “ Business conduct ”, The purpose is also a commercial purpose , Everyone works for profit . If you leave this aside , It's a bit of a hooligan .

Previously, we mentioned the business department and DevOps combination , be called “BizOps”, That is to say Business + DevOps; Finance and DevOps There is also a concept of the combination of , be called “FinOps”, yes “Finance” and “DevOps” The combination of , By helping the project 、 financial 、 Technical and business teams collaborate on data-driven spending decisions , Enable the organization to get the maximum business value .

Now ,FinOps It is an indispensable part of many enterprises' digital transformation . This needs to be DevOps Cooperate with the finance department as soon as possible , Incorporate financial control and monitoring DevOps Planning phase of .

Two 、 These people who don't write code , How to participate DevOps？

Whether it's business 、 Legal or financial team , In fact, it is difficult for us to find cross industry talents who understand both code and law or finance , It is also unrealistic to blindly pursue such cross-border talents . This will increase our investment in talent recruitment and training .

that , What else can we do to make these people who don't understand the code , Give full play to your professional strengths and join DevOps Well ？

First , Documents are always a powerful tool to lower the threshold of communication .

stay DevOps The idea of , The collaboration of technical documents should be incorporated into the whole DevOps In the life cycle , Document writers must adapt DevOps The rhythm and way of . at present , Many open source projects have provided API file , This type of document is also used in large-scale enterprises DevOps Use in the team , Let document writing follow DevOps In the footsteps of .

and , Document in DevOps It also plays a vital role in the transformation process , These documents can record some DevOps Best practices for achieving efficiency and benefits in . These things can hardly be passed on by word of mouth , Must be preserved by documentation . meanwhile , If there are multiple DevOps The team , Documents will also play a unified role , It standardizes best practices , Finally, the benchmark indicators are formed .

If you want to cooperate with other non-technical departments （ Especially the business department ） Carry out basic collaboration , Document transparency must be increased , Open document access to them . Besides , You can also demonstrate 、 Or try the test version , Increase the participation of non-technical teams .

secondly , In the process, we must leave specific for non-technical departments “ Communication interface ”.

Throughout DevOps The top-level design of the process , We should consider the law 、 Finance and other non-technical departments “ Entry time ”. But in practice , There are many emergencies and special situations , Especially in DevOps The characteristics of , Timeliness is particularly important . therefore , Almost every size node should be left “ Communication window ”.

these “ Communication window ” It can be a synchronization tool , It can also be a regular meeting , It can also be specific docking personnel . say concretely , The timely intervention of non-technical departments is an effective measure to prevent risks , This requires that all parties have enough sense of cooperation , Deal with in time , Avoid “ Mend the fold after the sheep have been stolen ” The situation of .

Last , Use the advanced automation tools on the market , It is also a good way for non-technical departments to cut in .

DevOps Automation can reduce manual assistance , Simplify work interactions , Thus, iterative updates can be deployed to production applications faster .

Automation is DevOps Top priority . For some non-technical departments , Especially the business department , It is necessary to understand how automation changes the way software is delivered . Some experts also suggest , From continuous integration / Continuous development (CI/CD) Generate automated data reports in the tool chain , It is a good way to make the marketing department profitable .

at present , Many automation tools have appeared on the market to help DevOps Teams solve problems . Among them, it adopts the automation platform of full stack development SoFlu Software robot is one of the best .

say concretely ,SoFlu Software robots use “ Visual development ” To change the traditional development method of writing code . The business logic equivalent to writing complex code is realized through drag and drop and parameter configuration , Visual display of business logic , Greatly reduce the development threshold , Let non-technical departments participate more smoothly DevOps in .

just as SoFlu Software robots are 5 Annual assistance 5 Junzhi consulting, with a revenue of more than 10 billion yuan, is in the application of digital intelligence transformation project , Junzhi Consulting CTO Han Zhifei's feeling ,“ Jun Zhiyong SoFlu Software robot development system , Most of the time, the partners who do requirement analysis in the previous stage become programmers in the next development stage , And the developed functions are more accurate , The quality is also very high . With SoFlu Software robot , It can be used by business analysts who do not understand development but understand business SoFlu Software robots and complete the development work based on their assumptions .”

Overall ,SoFlu Software robots have two major values . One is , It can reduce the entry threshold of software development ; The other is to make technology simple , Less dependent on people , So as to reduce labor cost and communication cost .