The term DevOps first appeared about 15 years ago. Since then, DevOps has been removing the traditional silos from IT. But now we’re being bombarded with all kinds of variants: FinOps, DataOps, DevSecOps, GitOps, and more. What’s all the fuss about?
“It’s old wine in new bottles.”
Dries Dams of BRYXX has a firm opinion: “It’s old wine in new bottles.” Despite all the new, hip names, at its core it’s still just about DevOps — just like when it started in 2009. “The goal remains the same: to remove the silos from IT. If there’s anything different, it’s that we’re now also including business silos in the exercise.”
Let’s take FinOps as an example. This is a way of getting the financial part of IT more in touch with the current, agile way of working. “In the traditional IT environment, the IT department requested a budget for a new server every four or five years. Now that IT is increasingly working in the cloud, finance is losing track of costs. So FinOps is a way to involve finance more closely and remove the wall between finance and IT and keep costs under control.”
The ultimate marketing slogan
Juggling with new terms sometimes has unintentionally funny results. DevSecOps underlines the importance of security and puts it on an equal footing with development and operations. But what about SecDevOps? The term is intended to emphasize that security comes first. The ultimate marketing slogan these days might be AIOps. A double blow, as it were, that captures both AI and DevOps in one concept.
“We see through all that at BRYXX,” laughs Dries Dams. “These are often empty terms thought up by consultants. So ChatOps is a nice term to sell a chatbot, GitOps encourages investment in GitLab or GitHub, and so on. As far as I’m concerned, that’s beside the point. The starting point of BRYXX remains unchanged: first look at the process, then at the team, and then determine what’s needed to improve the functioning of both. That’s much more important than the term you assign to it.”
New organization
In short, don’t believe the hype. Or not always. The way companies and teams organize themselves has certainly changed over the past 15 years. A programmer today no longer works as they did back then. So, DevOps does exist. The traditional accountant is no longer an island within the company. In other words, FinOps is also a reality. And we can continue in this vein . . .
“That analysis is correct,” says Dries Dams. “At the same time, we see that many functions are looking for something to hold on to within the new way of working. Determining structure and roles comes before selecting a tool.” That’s also the approach that BRYXX is putting forward. It develops tailor-made programs, including workshops, for companies that want to examine and renew their traditional way of working.
Secure, stable, affordable platform
“DevOps — or whatever you want to call it — is about sharing information between departments,” explains Dries Dams. “That information forms the basis for automating and then working in a more agile and lean way. To achieve that goal, communication is essential, not only between development and operations but also between finance and IT, security, marketing, and so on. Everyone brings their expertise to the table so that together we can achieve a safe, stable, and affordable platform. That’s what it’s all about.”