What is the link between Cloud and DevOps?

March 19, 2021

Cloud, and in particular application migration to the cloud, and DevOps are two important and current trends for any IT team wishing to anchor the digital transformation of their business.

They have many things in common. We can note the same ambition to make companies evolve in a more flexible and more responsive environment, to reduce the delays and therefore the costs of software development, or to make the development, deployment and security processes more reliable.

Indeed, DevOps involves close collaboration between development teams and operations teams in order to reduce delivery cycles, optimize resources, improve the quality of developments and put people back at the heart of the system. These are both employees and the user, for whom we are seeking to create value.

For its part, the Cloud makes it possible to benefit from sizing as close as possible to its needs and from significant gains in terms of operating load, which allows greater flexibility and greater cost control. The Cloud also makes it possible to secure your data.

In this article, we will see:

DevOps, facilitator of cloud migration
Migration to the Cloud and DevOps: capitalizing on change
DevOps, facilitator of cloud migration

DevOps is a method based on agile principles and therefore implies a certain reactivity of the teams. However, when the rest of the business is not keeping up, they can be limited. This is particularly the case when the infrastructure, too rigid, does not evolve as quickly as would require the deployments of the application, made more regular by the implementation of DevOps processes. This is why, when DevOps is already implemented in companies, the migration to the cloud makes all the more sense. It will make it possible to benefit from an infrastructure that is also more responsive, more agile.

Cloud providers have understood this. Many of the tools needed to set up DevOps are already hosted in the Cloud. This is the case with Azure DevOps, which enables simplified deployment directly in Azure, Microsoft’s cloud offering. The centralization of all data relating to automation processes (tests, deployment, integration, etc.) through the same platform is a real asset to facilitate its management. In addition, DevOps methods are considered to allow IT teams to manage large and complex projects such as a transition to the Cloud with greater peace of mind. Indeed, DevOps aims to reduce risks through:

Process automation: which makes it possible to avoid human errors and to concentrate skills on tasks with high benefit.
Shorter but more numerous cycles, which make it possible to set reasonable and therefore attainable objectives.
A rapid escalation of difficulties and other bugs, which allow the teams to react very quickly.

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Migration to the Cloud and DevOps: capitalizing on change

Conversely, a cloud migration project presents a favorable context for the implementation of DevOps processes.

These two transformations bring major changes in the organization and corporate culture. In addition, contrary to what one might think, it can be interesting to combine them. Migration offers the opportunity to modernize its application architecture. This is therefore an opportunity to modernize its processes as well.

First, as mentioned above, these two trends are grouped around common goals. An ideal context for companies, which can thus capitalize on a desire to automate, rationalize, streamline, secure and improve performance.

Then, Cloud providers offer complete tools that allow the implementation of DevOps. However, as mentioned in this white paper, the tools present a critical issue in the success of a DevOps approach. We were talking about Azure earlier. In addition to Azure DevOps, Microsoft offers other native cloud technologies to automate the entire development chain. The platform also allows integration of other open source DevOps tools such as Jenkins, Ansible, Docker, Kubernetes, etc.

Migrating to the Cloud therefore makes it possible to be guided in the DevOps process through powerful tools.

Finally, combining a migration to the Cloud and DevOps makes it possible to:

Set up a coherent whole where the needs of each project will be taken into account to find the most suitable solution.
Involve DevOps teams and those in charge of the transition around a common goal for optimal results.

Therefore, it seems that the Cloud is a performance engine for DevOps processes and vice versa. So whether you want to modernize your applications or your processes, this might be your chance to think bigger.