Broadly speaking, DevOps refers to both structural changes and a state of mind: a way to enhance the co-operation and communication between software developers and IT operations personnel. It’s a bit agile, a bit lean...and perhaps all a bit familiar? So is the demand really there, and should IT professionals be looking to invest in it?
Back in 2015, Gartner’s DevOps survey claimed that 61% of businesses had already implemented DevOps or were planning to, and postings for ‘DevOps Engineers’ had increased by 142% from the previous year, the second largest rise among IT roles. As we head into 2021, those figures will no doubt be much higher. Meanwhile many roles citing DevOps are still classified under Site/Server Reliability Engineer, or the more generic System/Automation Engineer, making true demand hard to quantify.
There are definitely those who see DevOps as little more than a branding exercise. Developers in particular already have some experience ‘cross-pollinating’ with IT operations. With the term seeing a lot of recent marketing traction, putting ‘DevOps specialist’ on your CV could buy you a better job doing much the same things. Given that there’s no official certification for DevOps yet, it can be fairly easy to claim it’s in your kit bag if you understand the principles behind it.
In theory, this isn’t that dissimilar to how it should actually work. The idea properly applied seeks to utilise creative thinking to problem solving to make teams more efficient, rather than having everyone do a bit of everything. Having developers find out that what they’re doing isn’t supported by infrastructure at an early stage is obviously helpful, avoiding unnecessary costs, wasted time and worker frustration. Being open-minded, a good communicator and having a basic knowledge of how other departments operate makes the transit and continued support of software more straightforward, and lends more pairs of eyes to fixing issues as they arise.
Communication between developers and operations departments can be a bit fraught, as you might expect from two teams whose job it is to tell the other what they can’t do. But there’s a larger problem than interpersonal skills, or even the breadth of IT capabilities. Some companies, willingly or otherwise, seem to be misreading DevOps as an opportunity to hire and exploit ‘full-stack developers’: jack-of-all-trades types who can cover both development and operations.
On paper, this makes a deal of sense. After all, if your development process is quick with differently-skilled departments communicating on a level, it would be quicker with no different departments at all. The issues with this are threefold: few people with these wide-ranging proficiencies actually exist (what recruiters call a ‘purple squirrel’ - the mythical perfect worker); staff become overworked; and as the niche becomes more populated, salaries and day rate may suffer.
Where businesses are not transparently seeking to cut corners, they might still have a job persuading people to join. The high ratio of jobs to available talent means many IT professionals with the requisite skills are already comfortably employed, leading some employers towards contract workers, or tapping specialist forums and networks. And neither employers nor recruiters always know what the parameters of the role are, hence the variation in job titles.
The rush to convert existing IT departments to DevOps is also outpacing the image of certain companies. The experience of the former DevOps transformation lead for supermarket Sainsbury’s shows how even giant companies face significant hurdles. The company had to do a significant amount of networking and conference work in the sector to shake off their image of a digital dinosaur, and convince workers that they would actually enjoy and improve themselves.
In spite of this, the signs are positive for those looking to pursue a career in DevOps. The statistics indicate that it’s here to stay, and becoming familiar with the concept can only stand people in good stead. Learning a few new skills, keeping a cordial relationship with the departments around you and keeping an ear to the ground are already hallmarks of an ever forward-thinking industry. But even if this proves more of a realignment than a DevOps revolution, the short-term prospects look positive for everyone.
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