Why IT struggles

Welcome! I'm Michael Forrester, and in this lesson we'll explore the common challenges faced by IT teams and how DevOps can help address them. We’ll follow the journey of an idea as it develops into a fully functional, customer-centric application, highlighting the evolving roles and the eventual need for effective integration.

From Vision to Action

The process begins with a visionary business leader who secures funding, lays down the foundations, and builds a team. Initially, this team is dedicated to transforming the idea into user-friendly, functional code that evolves into an application.

Next, another team member is tasked with deploying the code to a production environment, ensuring that consumers can access and use the application. Simultaneously, a product manager works closely with customers to define a minimally viable product, gathering valuable feedback and incorporating features that truly delight users.

Scaling for Reliability and Performance

As the product matures, the need for scalable, reliable, and highly available systems becomes evident. An architect is brought on board to address scalability challenges through proven design patterns, while quality assurance engineers rigorously test the application to guarantee an exceptional user experience.

A data engineer is implemented to collect, process, and analyze customer behavior data, guiding essential business decisions. In parallel, a security specialist works to protect the application, its data, and the company's resources from potential threats.

The Communication Breakdown

At the outset, effective communication unites everyone—from business leaders to engineers—in a shared objective: delivering value to customers. However, as the team and product expand, maintaining this quality communication becomes increasingly challenging.

Over time, this once cohesive unit begins to fragment. Communication slows, silos form, and the original shared vision gradually fades. Individual roles become isolated, focusing on their specific objectives such as customer satisfaction, feature development, system stability, or securing the infrastructure, ultimately undermining the smooth delivery of software.

The DevOps Solution

DevOps emerges as a solution in this fragmented landscape. It is a set of practices, cultural philosophies, and technological tools designed to reunite disparate roles, enhance communication, and streamline collaboration. With DevOps, every team member's perspective is acknowledged, ensuring that the focus remains on the company's ultimate objective—providing continuous value to the customer.

Looking Ahead

This lesson marks the first in a series of ten. In upcoming lessons, we will dive deeper into the distinct roles within an organization, shed light on recurring challenges, and examine how DevOps provides effective solutions tailored to each role.

Thank you for reading. We look forward to exploring more about DevOps and its impactful methodologies in the next lesson.