DevOps is a hot topic that has been circulating in the industry for a long period. Despite its popularity, there is mounting concern about how it differs from Agile. What could be worse? The Agile and DevOps discussion is a never-ending one in the information technology industry.
Are you an ambitious engineer interested in learning all about DevOps and Agile?. If you want to learn how they differ and preferable, then stick around until the end of this ‘Agile vs. DevOps’ article, where I will share detailed information about both methodologies.
We will discuss the two methodologies in this article, as well as the differences between these two.
What is Agile?
Agile is a project management style that emphasizes the continuous delivery of small, manageable project increments. It is done through iterative development and testing. It was created to replace the conventional waterfall technique, which is recognized for its organized, linear, and sequential life cycle.
Agile facilitates the day-to-day management of complex projects by enhancing communication and cooperation between team members and clients.
What is DevOps?
DevOps is a methodology of software development in which the development team collaborates with the operations team to increase cooperation and efficiency. Additionally, the process requires integrating DevOps ideas and strategies and testing using a set of DevOps tools.
Site Reliability Engineering is the next phase of DevOps implementation. DevOps is a concept that may be implemented in a variety of ways. SRE is much more rigid in terms of the way of doing things and what the team’s clear goals are; particularly, the objective is to maintain the site’s reliability and availability, and to prioritize the activities that contribute to achieve the goal.
The key aspect to remember is that DevOps is not a substitute for Agile! Does it sound incorrect? No, Agile is not on the verge of extinction. However, is DevOps superior? Yes, this is an advancement.
Agile vs. DevOps
Let’s begin by learning about the similarities and differences between the two methodologies. They are not the same, despite their similarities, and some may claim that one is better than other. Therefore, it is critical to know the exact details to clear this uncertainty.
How Agile and DevOps are similar?
How are both methodologies similar if they follow the different methods? Doesn’t it sound wrong? The answer is yes they have some similarities.
Both methodologies depend upon rapid software development. Moreover, their ideas support rapid growth without compromising the client or the processes.
Both emphasize efficiency, effectiveness, and quality across the software development lifecycle. Additionally, they prioritize shorter release cycles.
Both techniques place a greater emphasis on automation and cooperation. When you use Agile or DevOps methodologies, risk tends to decrease with time. On the other hand, risk tends to grow when other techniques, such as Waterfall, are used.
What are the differences between Agile and DevOps?
How Agile differ from DevOps? While both systems promote cooperation to increase speed and efficiency, they vary significantly regarding achieving the target. Before I talk about the technical differences, I want to set the context straight. Hence, I will be talking about a few technical differences which you should be aware of. The following are some crucial differences in the Agile vs. DevOps debate.
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Procedure
The difference between DevOps and Agile methodologies is how specific tasks are completed. Agile ensures regular communication between teams and clients while DevOps emphasizes testing and delivery. Communication between developers and IT operations is predominantly between programmers and IT operators. Additionally, the Agile approach is a better fit for complex projects, while the DevOps technique is more adapted for end-to-end procedures.
Teams
The organizational structure of the teams is one of the major differences between DevOps and Agile. For instance, bigger teams often use DevOps, with the skill set shared across operations and development team members. It implies that each team member will be responsible for completing a particular job or task at each step of the process. On the other hand, agile is better suited for smaller teams that need to accomplish work quickly. Typically, the Agile methodology does not assign particular tasks to team members but instead encourages everyone to share responsibility equally. As a result, all Agile team members should be capable of managing or delegating any aspect of a project at any point in time.
Tools
Agile and DevOps methodologies also use a variety of tools, depending on the nature of the project. Kanboard and Jira project management software and Bugzilla server software are popular Agile project management solutions. While DevOps utilizes Amazon Web Services cloud computing, Puppet automation software, TeamCity servers, OpenStack software, and Chef infrastructure.
Attention and Feedback
Agile and DevOps also have significant differences in terms of focus and feedback. While DevOps initiatives prioritize operational and business readiness and get feedback from internal team members, an Agile approach often receives input directly from customers.
In addition, agile teams often use sprints to keep focus, with each sprint lasting shorter than a month. Agile teams design sprints to ensure that available tasks are accomplished in manageable chunks, with the next sprint beginning just after the previous sprint is made.
With DevOps, specific deadlines and standards must be met, some of which might occur daily.
| DevOps | Agile |
|---|---|
| Self Evaluation | Customer Feedback |
| Shorter release cycles, instant feedback | Smaller release cycles |
| Emphasis on efficiency and automation | Emphasis on speed |
| Business-friendly | Not optimal for business |
Conclusion
To conclude, both methodologies strive to provide high-quality software on schedule. The contrast between agile and DevOps is that agile emphasizes the optimization of the development lifecycle, while DevOps unifies development and operations in a continuous integration/continuous delivery environment.
Agile and DevOps do not have to be mutually independent. Any firm undergoing a DevOps transformation should not quit its current agile operations. DevOps is an extension of agile that focuses on techniques that are not central to agile. Hence, these methods enhance software development and result in higher-quality products.