Why DevOps engineer is a crucial part of successful team
DevOps engineers are a lot like bass guitar players: you can’t hear them, but every successful team should have one. They implement a methodology aimed at improving digital products and their development with a combination of tools, philosophies, and practices. In this article, we will tell you all about their involvement at the different stages of product development.
Table of contents:
What is the job of a Development and IT operations engineer?
DevOps is short for Development and IT operations. A DevOps engineer is “a person who contributes to the development of the digital product by taking care of the tools and processes used by programmers.”?
DevOps engineers make programmers' life easier by automating some of the mundane and repetitive tasks and processes. They improve the overall view of the system’s health by introducing appropriate monitoring mechanisms and automatic mechanisms to scale the application/guarantee availability.?
DevOps engineers at the different stages of product development
At Boldare, DevOps engineers act as consultants who support the development of a product and help solve problems. Their involvement takes place at every stage of product development - from beginning to release. Here’s how it happens:
The responsibilities at the beginning of product development
At the initial stage of product development, the DevOps engineer creates an app infrastructure that meets both development and client needs, without insisting on any particular frameworks on the back-end or front-end. They also help with the architecture of the app, environmental variables, and the selection of appropriate technology.
The support during product development?
Once the testing environment is ready, DevOps engineers prepare the app for the cloud environment. They run the app in a testing environment and help troubleshoot any issues with the product.
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They also build the production environment, but only a few weeks before the product’s release. Doing so sooner would generate additional costs, such as subscription fees for databases and virtual machines.?
DevOps engineers during release…
At this stage, the DevOps engineer's job is to advise the client on how to best handle their product’s launch. That depends on whether the product release is going to be loud or quiet.?
Loud releases are usually heavily advertised, so the job might be to prepare multiple servers to handle significant traffic on release day. Quiet releases are easier - the app is launched on the app store, and the user base grows gradually.?
But, there is a third option: some clients decide to release their product in a single country and then move on to the next. In that scenario, DevOps engineers can suggest setting up a multi-regional back-end (appropriate for working in multiple countries) and call attention to appropriate data privacy legislation.
… and after release
Once the product is released, the DevOps engineer works on analysis, maintenance, improvements to workflows, infrastructure, and sometimes even the development of the product.?
They are also available for troubleshooting. If a back-end developer spots a problem, they can always call the DevOps engineer involved in that product. And even if that person is not available, every product built at Boldare follows the same standard practices, which makes it easier to solve the problem.
A summary of the role of a Development and IT operations engineer?
At Boldare, DevOps engineers take on many roles. They act as consultants, but also as architects who help us to choose the right technologies. Later, as the product matures, they help with its security, debugging and hosting cost management.?
It’s a role that can be challenging, yet fulfilling, and includes being part of a product team that benefits the business in the long run.?