The two questions to ask about DevOps and technology
Computer Automation is one of the hottest topics of not only past decade but few. We are tirelessly trying to use the machines to make our lives easier, being more efficient and cutting costs. When it comes to the current state of Automation, it is on a rise, DevOps / SysOps / SecOps are rapidly developing with new tools coming and going at such a rate some CTOs and even DevOps engineers are probably scratching their heads thinking “how on earth…?”. Trends such as this, have obvious pros and cons.
Some of the pros include:
- Diversity of technologies available and reduced in-house development effort
- Use of the open-source software and reduced costs
- Often, only a need to develop an integration framework using provider APIs
- Ability to create truly tailored solutions using only off-the-shelf products
Cons include:
- Effort is required to choose the most appropriate technology
- In-house engineering time is required to managed multiple technologies
- Multiple points of failure are introduced with larger complexity
- Time-consuming integration platform changes to comply with providers
This quick article is only intended to show that as with everything there are challenges as well as benefits, and it is in hands of well-qualifies specialists and business people to ensure that the benefits are greater than the drawbacks.
I believe that it is important to understand that only in-depth Cost/Benefit analysis can help to take a good direction when it comes to technology, not only in short but long-term. The time invested in planning will indeed be a cost to the business, however when it comes to a mid and long-term spending a lot of time and effort will be saved.
Two questions you should really ask are:
- How does technology diversity benefit my business/customer?
- How much planning for technology should be involved?
With those two questions in mind, we can start looking at technologies and cooperating with the business to enhance it and truly gain value.