Solving the CI/CD Puzzle: Piecing Together Consistent Releases

We're all under pressure to deliver new updates as quickly as possible. It’s like asking about the deadline only to receive the reply, "It was due yesterday!"

But in our rush to get things out the door, it's easy for processes to become inconsistent. One team might be operating one way, while another team has its own approach. And before you know it, you've got a tangled web of different release practices and tools across your organization.

In situations like these, standardizing release processes becomes make-or-break for smooth software delivery. Release standardization means having the same processes, configurations, and tools across all the different environments used to build, test, and deploy software. Here’s how we standardize our releases at IT Outposts:

• Identical environments. The golden approach is to have dev, stage, and prod environments. Sometimes, we even create a sandbox — a copy of prod for clients to test or showcase the product. The dev environment can be a bit slimmed down to save costs, but the system should be the same. The stage environment, on the other hand, should be a prod’s twin. That way, when we run apps on stage, we know they'll perform just as well live.

It's a two-way street, though. Both Dev and Ops teams must be on the same page. We can make the infrastructure identical, but if developers’ backends differ between stage and production, predicting stability becomes a real headache.?

• Delivery. Whenever we make changes to software, there's a series of steps involved — integrating the code changes, running tests, and deploying it to different environments. If we're talking CI/CD, the process should also be identical (or at least as close as possible) for each branch. It’s the foundation of consistent releases. We want the same build artifacts and test results every single time.
• Uniform testing is an integral part of standardization, too. This way, we can use the same test data and follow the same testing practices across all environments. This uniform approach catches any issues consistently, regardless of whether we test a new feature in development or the live production system.?
• Automation. At IT Outposts, all the processes, from building the software to running tests and deploying to different environments, happen automatically without any human involvement. This is how we reduce the risk of errors caused by manual steps and ensure consistency.

Achieving standardization in DevOps takes upfront effort. But once it's in place, almost everything runs on autopilot, allowing you to sit back, relax with a cup of coffee, and enjoy seamless releases. That's because you've applied the golden DevOps standard to each of your environments across Dev and Ops teams as well as pipelines.