The Value of Transitioning from One Operating Model to Another: A Focus on DevOps and ITIL Integration using AI

It may sound quite strong, but figuratively, DevOps software development and managed services complement each other's strengths to create a powerful synergy.

It is quite obvious to me that the application lifecycle is much more complex than one could think. Let's dive into an example. Imagine you started an application development project with a well-defined budget for a certain period. This budget is sufficient to run a DevOps team. They worked for several years from MVP, establishing CI/CD pipelines and processes that must be in place for DevOps-managed apps. The application becomes a strong foundation for users on a daily basis. A few more years pass, and the application, which was once an innovative tool, starts to become a commodity. Many similar apps grow in the market; you could potentially buy and configure one, but the initial investment and user familiarity with the app make changing it a less attractive option. The DevOps team grew too; a solid team with solid knowledge became the foundation of this app, perfectly running and optimized without a glitch.

All of a sudden, the market changes, introducing an option you would like to take a closer look at, but there is no budget left as you are already focused on the existing app.

You decide that while your app is still quite popular, it has not changed over the last few years. It's common, and you calculate that you might have a business case for changing the operational model to outsource it to a Managed Service Provider.

It's a change! Users start to complain about the future of the app. The app suddenly becomes crucial, and you have to prepare yourself for Organizational Change Management, especially since reaching the DevOps team was simpler. Now, a user needs to lodge an incident (what a pain!). This state may be a long-term journey. Service Management can help with complaints and escalation management, and you can plan a strategy for the app with them as well.

So be it. Done. You announce a successful transition to Managed Services. People finally get used to the new circumstances and processes, and you finally get funds out of the business case that you can reinvest in potential future blockbusters.

What you learn is an experience you never lose, regardless of the outside talk—"Yeah, but DevOps and DevSecOps are key!" Not everywhere. We tend to spend a lot of money on "nice to haves" and features that have limited value just to find a backlog for our IT colleagues to work on. But sometimes, bold decisions need to be made and some risks taken to create space for other opportunities.

Continuing our story, you live with the new operating model for some time. From time to time, the app requires investment and changes, but after several more years, the app accumulates significant tech debt, making it harsh to maintain. Tedious workarounds and automations are required just to operate the app. This only highlights inefficiencies and frustration associated with the existing status quo.

Increasing costs of managing these services bring another idea—maybe we should go back to DevOps now? Or even add "Sec" in between as it has become more crucial over the years.

Another period of consumed time, planning, and changes in strategy, workshops, and business process adaptation follows (yes, some of them change over time, some might even disappear, and some app functions become obsolete). You have it—a business case for getting funding for DevSecOps. The app is transitioned, you live a different life with a backlog to track, and all the ups and downs of having a dedicated team. But this is the plan for the next few years.

The story now stops but is not concluded. There are a few takeaways I want to highlight:

• If it's good, why change? Prepare yourself for opportunities you might miss.
• Is the value delivered by new features or changes sufficient to justify the spend on highly skilled programmers, testers, and designers?
• At which point does it make better sense to move those apps or platforms to managed services?
• Does it make sense to move it back and forth? Remember that each time you move the application back and forth, it costs transitions. This cost varies depending on your perspective.
• Developers might change roles, move to different projects driven by self-development, or change companies as existing solutions are not interesting anymore (legacy systems are not fancy—sorry).

Having a business case worth the time to evaluate options is crucial. Do it every time as it changes. In IT, if you are not moving forward, you're moving backward. That includes changes in platforms used by dev teams or incoming new features that can be applied to optimize applications. Your app could be redeveloped from scratch based on changed or optimized business processes over time. It could be developed faster in a newer tech stack, using cloud and better user experience, also with reusable components. Some apps that were tedious can become faster, nicer, and potentially simpler, saving on training costs too.

The Role of AI in Transitioning Operating Models

So you have the context. Now we can move to the AI aspects of this process.

While AI is growing significantly, you may consider building AI agents to help with transitions of your app. Using LLM's also helps to predict future trends and user needs, so you may better understand users' priorities and their expected experience, which improves the application usage. Start slowly, one at a time, because the trend is so high that people tend to put AI into everything regardless of whether it really brings value or is just another overused phrase like "agile" in the past.

Optimizing resources where needed, based on data analysis, you can see proper utilization of resources allowing for data-driven decisions while maintaining alignment with business objectives. This either shows you are under or over, but you may also refer to ITIL?4 Workforce and Talent Management Practice to get the most out of it.

As generative language models are so accurate, they significantly increase capabilities in Organizational Change Management. You could prepare for individual change processes for each user based on the analysis of behavior or by making user profiles. The content will be generated based on profiled users, helping those who need more justification and being concise for those who don't. After all, agility and speed for successful organizational change can increase user and business satisfaction too. Keep this in mind.

There is of course more, the only limit is the creativity of the people... but you can use any of the GPT to brainstorm for it too...