Why One Environment Is Never Enough in Modern DevOps

Different organizations handle their development setups in all sorts of ways. Some are careful and keep their development, staging, and production environments separate. Others might be a bit daring (or maybe just a little reckless?) and only operate in the production environment. Then, there are those that take a middle ground.

So, what’s the point of having all three environments in your software delivery??

Let's start with the development environment. It's our playground, our sandbox, where we can experiment, break things, and learn without consequences. In the dev environment, we're free to try new ideas, test different approaches, and push the boundaries of what's possible. It's a safe space where mistakes are not just allowed but expected and valued as learning opportunities.

But we can't stay in the dev environment forever. The staging environment is designed to mimic the production environment as closely as possible but without the risk of affecting real users. In staging, we can catch bugs that only show up when the system is under realistic conditions. It's where we fine-tune performance, test integrations, and make sure everything plays nicely together before the big show.

And then, there's production — the main stage where our software performs for its actual audience. This is where our code meets the real world, handling real data and serving real users. We treat it with respect and caution because any misstep here can have significant consequences.

So, why not just develop and push straight to production? Well, multiple environments aren’t just about avoiding disasters (though that's a big part of it). They’re about creating a pipeline that allows for continuous improvement and risk mitigation. Each environment serves as a checkpoint, a layer of protection that catches potential issues before they can cause real harm.

Moreover, having these distinct environments fosters better collaboration between development, QA, and operations teams. It creates clear handoff points and allows each team to work in the environment best suited for their needs. Developers can innovate freely in dev, QA can thoroughly test in staging, and ops can maintain stability in production.

As we move towards more complex architectures and faster release cycles, the importance of these varied environments will only grow. If you're ready to use the benefits of multiple environments, our IT Outposts team will be glad to assist you!