From Conflict to Collaboration: How Dev and Security Teams Can Finally Align

One of the longest-running tensions in software development is the push and pull between developers and security teams.

Developers are under pressure to ship fast, meet deadlines, and deliver new features.

Security teams are responsible for mitigating risk, enforcing policies, and ensuring compliance.

These goals often feel misaligned - developers want velocity, security teams want control. And in traditional workflows, security is often treated as an afterthought - a final review stage that slows things down, frustrating developers and creating bottlenecks.

This friction is costly. It leads to delayed releases, security gaps, and last-minute firefighting that could have been avoided if security had been part of the development process from the start.

So, how do we fix it?

The Root Cause: Fragmentation and Late-Stage Security Checks

In many organizations, security operates in silos, separate from development. Security teams use their own tools, run independent audits, and enforce policies at the final stages of the SDLC. By the time security issues are found, they are expensive and disruptive to fix.

A vulnerability discovered in production can take weeks (and actually usually months) to remediate. Security teams often work reactively, trying to catch issues at the end rather than preventing them early. Developers see security as a roadblock, not an enabler - leading to workarounds and tension between teams.

In short, security is often treated as something separate from development, rather than an integral part of it.

The Fix: Security Built into the Development Workflow

The way forward isn’t about forcing security into existing workflows—it’s about making security part of the workflow itself.

This is where GitLab’s single DevSecOps platform changes the game. Instead of bolting security onto the end of development, GitLab embeds it directly into the pipeline, allowing security teams and developers to collaborate seamlessly.

How GitLab Bridges the Gap

GitLab provides a unified platform where security is built-in, not bolted on. Here’s how it enables both security and developer teams to succeed:

1. Security as Code: Automated and Continuous

Security isn’t a checkpoint - it’s continuous. GitLab integrates security scanning directly into CI/CD pipelines, allowing vulnerabilities to be detected as developers write code, not weeks later.

• Static Application Security Testing (SAST) catches vulnerabilities in the code itself.
• Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) finds issues in running applications.
• Dependency Scanning ensures third-party libraries don’t introduce risk.
• Secret Detection prevents API keys and credentials from leaking into source code.

Developers get immediate feedback, and security teams can trust that issues are being caught automatically.

2. One Platform, Shared Visibility

The biggest challenge in DevSecOps is context switching—developers and security teams work in different tools, leading to misalignment.

With GitLab, both teams work from the same source of truth:

• Developers see security results in their merge requests, allowing them to fix issues early.
• Security teams get visibility into security posture, without needing to chase down developers.
• No more manual handoffs, no more email chains - just real-time collaboration.

3. Policy-Driven Security Without Bottlenecks

Security shouldn’t rely on manual enforcement. With GitLab, policies are built into the pipeline, so security is applied consistently and automatically.

Security teams can define compliance requirements (e.g., every merge request must pass a security scan). Developers can self-serve security insights without waiting for approvals. Vulnerability management is streamlined, with automated remediation suggestions to speed up fixes.

Now security teams can enforce guardrails without slowing developers down.

The Future of DevSecOps: Security as an Accelerator, Not a Roadblock

For too long, security has been seen as something that slows down development. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

With the right approach - one platform, shared visibility, and automation - security can actually become a catalyst for better, faster software delivery.

• Developers write secure code by default - without extra effort.
• Security teams enforce policies without blocking innovation.
• The entire organization benefits from faster, safer releases.

This is the power of GitLab.

Instead of choosing between speed and security, teams can have both - because when security is built into the workflow, it stops being a burden and starts being a competitive advantage.

How is your company handling the balance between security and development?

#DevSecOps #GitLab #Security #DeveloperExperience