DevOps has contributed to major advancements across enterprises. With innumerable benefits, it has become an IT industry choice for firms of all sizes.
Despite its popularity, DevOps is not a good fit for every company. DevOps adoption or utilization of the cluster of its practices varies with business objectives, changing work practices, the industry’s growing needs, and the company’s business culture and compliance practices.
Therefore, DevOps advocates must assess the factors that make a complete DevOps transformation unfavorable for an organization.
According to a consulting and training organization, DevOps principles were meant to create a set of values that companies can adopt based on their requirement. However, some companies have become particular about doing it in a specific way.
The consultant explains that only a few DevOps tools or processes are manageable, and each component must be considered critically. Based on the above insights, some scenarios indicate that DevOps does not apply to every organization.
Let’s take a look:
#Scenario 1 – Businesses That Won’t Do Regular Releases
Suppose an organization operates in a business model that doesn’t require frequent releases to serve customer requirements. In that case, it indicates that DevOps may not be an option. This applies to organizations that don’t have regular releases, generate minimal levels of release, or have no release prospects for the future.
Since DevOps is a process that aims to drastically reduce costs, adding it to the above business models would only increase the organization’s financial burden.
#Scenario 2 – Businesses Satisfied with Their Current Software State
It is important to consider the business value that DevOps delivers. While the continuous delivery mechanism is driving faster production cycles, traditional software delivery methods are still meeting the needs of many organizations. In such cases, DevOps transformations seem void if they add to the business burden and do not generate the desired results.
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#Scenario 3 – Businesses That Operate in a Highly-Regulated Industry
DevOps services can be risky to implement in highly regulated environments such as healthcare device manufacturing. Regulations can call for some severe alterations to the DevOps process.
According to research, highly regulated industries prioritize safety over speed, not part of the DevOps philosophy. They believe that the cost of removing a bug is minimal because high-performing DevOps teams can roll back changes quickly before customers notice them.
#Scenario 4 – Businesses Awaiting Heavy M&A Activity
Even organizations with frequent releases often challenge DevOps implementation, especially those preparing for heavy M&A activity. With such a major transformation in progress, an organization is unlikely to make a significant IT shift or make any significant IT investments.
According to Nebulaworks CEO Ciborowski, businesses undergoing Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity have end goals that do not align with the attempt to change the business culture.
He recommends a complete focus on automation and measurement initiatives, which can help business objectives on the immediate horizon.
#Scenario 5 – Business That Still Rely on Legacy Processes or Architecture
One or more legacy systems, processes, and architectures may still be relevant even in the current context.
While DevOps can significantly improve the business, the organization is responsible for underlying process issues, which can often delay the transformation process.
Moreover, using the waterfall delivery model is highly recommended if an organization’s CTO requires direct intervention or the QA staff has limited automation.
Overall, it’s on the top executives to identify and communicate a clear vision, the real deciding factor in determining DevOps’s benefits to an organization.
Conclusion
All the above scenarios indicate that not all companies can fit the DevOps approach into their organizational structure, and there are times when even DevOps can disadvantage businesses.
Therefore, companies need to assess business needs and existing practices before taking the DevOps dive.
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