The Top DevOps Trends for 2021
DevOps have improved significantly from a list of best practices to a leading model in software delivery. In the wake of new digital transformations, we can expect to see DevOps take over as we move towards a more efficient and productive digital world. Let’s highlight some of the top DevOps trends.
In this article, we’re going to highlight some of the top DevOps trends you’ll want to pay attention to in 2021—that is, if you want to remain competitive.
Here are the top eight we’re looking at this year:
1. Migrate to Microservices
Microservices have replaced the traditional monolithic architecture, and for good reason. Monolithic architecture is a single or unified unit while microservices are parts of a whole—but independently connected.
With microservices, DevOps teams can focus on the individual parts—or units—enabling overall operational efficiency, saving both time and effort when an issue arises because they’ll be able to focus directly on one unit or a group of units that affect one another.
This will inevitably leave monolithic architectures in the dust and be forgotten.
2. Expect More Migrations to Serverless
Serverless architecture, also known as function as a service (FaaS) primarily works through third-party services hosting software applications. This is something that has also stepped into the limelight recently as it eliminates the need for server and hardware management by the developer.
As more and more businesses move away from traditional IT structure to serverless architecture, DevOps is needed to ensure that the migration process is not only completed but successful. This is especially true for the initial phases of the migration when IT support is needed the most.
3. The New Deployment Method Will Be Hybrid
Remote work has been on the rise for the past few years, however, the need for it severely increased as the world became swept up in 2020’s global pandemic. In turn, there was also a sharp increase in cloud migration to create greater accessibility for remote teams making DevOps a critical part of maintaining every business.
Now that remote work is here to stay for reasons beyond the pandemic, businesses will be expected to fully embrace remote and on-site hybrid staffing as well as hybrid business models and even products.
Hybrid will also become the new deployment norm as companies continue to embrace the cloud and cloud-related technologies while understanding that not all systems can be moved off the premises.
4. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Will Be Prioritized
Infrastructure as code (IaC) goes beyond simple automation as it involves managing IT infrastructure through configuration files. That includes the serves, networks, and storage devices—both in the cloud and on-premises.
IaC also comes with a host of benefits, including more deployment consistency, accountability, traceability, better speed when setting up an infrastructure via running a script, and more efficiency during the software development cycle.
IaC has become a key DevOps practice, especially when used in combination with continuous delivery while also being the most efficient approach. In other words, IaC equates to rapid recovery and reduced downtime.
5. Cloud-Native Approaches Will Become the Standard
Cloud space has advanced significantly since its earliest beginnings. This has made operating system virtualization—or containerization in DevOps speak—a fundamental pattern in embracing DevOps as a mainstay rather than a best practice.
The building and running of applications as they exploit the advantages of cloud computing delivery models are now the best way for companies to build and operate applications as it allows them to bring new ideas to the market faster while also responding sooner to customer demands.
Once again, it’s all about efficiency, which is what most of these DevOps trends bring to the table.
6. Automation and Chaos Engineering Will Be at the Top of the List
The work of DevOps is entirely based on the notion of automating everything that can possibly be automated. Automation, in essence, aims to increase delivery speeds, minimize lead time, improve workflows, increase flexibility and agility, and much more.
Of course, whether it be building, deploying, or monitoring at a faster pace, minimizing human error will also play a critical role—enter: Chaos engineering.
Chaos engineering will be the means to build confidence in a system’s capacity to handle human error and other issues that arise in software system production. Within the next few years, more than half of the DevOps teams in practice will be using chaos engineering as a standard best practice during their suit tests, which will result in the reduction of unplanned downtime by 20% overall.
7. Keep an Eye Out for BizDevOps
BizDevOps is premised on breaking down the boundaries between development and operational teams. It’s a means of encouraging the two teams to work together so that an organization can develop its software quicker, more efficiently, and with minimal error.
In terms of DevOps trends, the rise of BizDevOps has a primary focus on cost optimization in regards to architectures and hierarchies. As FaaS becomes more prominent, BizDevOps will extend its capabilities from enterprise-level packages to smaller organizations to help sort out operational issues.
8. Greater need for better monitoring tools to Validate Automated Deployments
In terms of best practices, DevOps has multiple ways of tracking success metrics. In post-deployment, it has become highly relied upon to validate whether the release was a success or a failure via instant logs and new kinds of application monitoring tools.
Instant logs, end-to-end traces connected with proper application monitoring tools are the most efficient way to validate successful deployments, performance issues, and spot failures in managed apps when instant logs can be used to set up an automated trigger to a rollback of unsuccessful releases. We will need better tools to gather information on new deployments and manage automation and tests within the CI/CD pipeline.
Once again, this contributes to the overall efficiency of new software deployment as well as quality.
2021 will be quite an intense and competitive year for DevOps teams across the globe. The companies that adopt the above DevOps trends are the ones that will stay above the curve as they’ll be able to improve their designs, builds, deployment rates, and successes, as well as their software maintenance.
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