Effective DevOps

Foreword by Nicole Forsgren

In 2003, Nicholas Carr declared to the world that IT didn’t matter—and because he said it in Harvard Business Review, organizations (and the executives that run them) believed him. Well, times have changed, and so has IT. Since 2009, the most innovative teams and organizations have shown that technology can play a key role in delivering real value and competitive advantage. This technology revolution is known as DevOps, and this book can show you how to join those innovative companies to deliver value with technology as well.

Here, Jennifer and Ryn draw on their experiences at innovative companies as well as their backgrounds as prominent experts in the community to highlight what it really takes to do DevOps—or as they call it, devops—effectively. This vantage point brings unique insights that can be applicable and useful to any reader, because they combine knowledge from several companies and across industries. This gives readers something to take away regardless of where you are in your journey, no matter how big (or small) your organization is.

The tales and advice found in Effective DevOps parallel those I’ve seen in my own work for the past decade. As a leading researcher in the field and the lead investigator on the State of DevOps Reports, I know that a strong organizational culture that prioritizes information flow and trust is a key component of any DevOps transformation, and the factor that sets the DevOps movement apart from traditional IT. Data I’ve collected from over 20,000 DevOps professionals also shows that this culture drives IT and organizational performance, helping the best IT organizations see double productivity, profitability, and market share when compared to their peers. It’s no mistake that Jennifer and Ryn start the book with a discussion on aspects of culture, communication, and trust, and devote a good portion of their time addressing the importance of these factors to any transformative work. As technologists, we love to start with the tools and maybe even the processes, but time and again, the data shows that culture is essential for tooling and technology success in addition to the aforementioned IT and organizational performance. Parts II–III on collaboration and affinity, respectively, are must-reads here, whether you are just starting your DevOps transformation and want to know what to implement and watch for, or you are taking your existing DevOps practice to the next level and looking for ways to optimize and troubleshoot.

As a consultant to some of the most innovative companies, I’ve found that the most challenging part of implementing DevOps and planning a technology transformation roadmap is helping teams and organizations understand that there isn’t just one right answer—it always depends on what is right for your team and your organization. I love that Ryn and Jennifer embrace the ambiguity so well in this book, knowing that there is no way to “plug and play” a single solution, and lay out the tools and pieces you need to construct your own DevOps solution and journey successfully. In addition to Parts II–III, be sure to check out Part IV on tools, which are essential to any DevOps transformation. I especially love how they’re framed as not only technology, but also key components of the culture in which they perform.

My favorite aspect of this book is how accessible it is to so many different audiences. Part V on scalability is particularly relevant for individual contributors and team leaders, and I’ll be using it as a reference both personally and for my clients. Chapter 4 on terminology and Chapter 11 on ecosystem overview come in handy both for technologists (to make sure we’re all on the same page, as different tribes often use different words) and for executives who could use a current reference. The whole book is a welcome and much-needed introduction to the field for university students who just don’t get this training in their studies, and I wish I’d had it when I was a professor.

We live and work in exciting times, and the integration of technology into our core businesses has made every firm a software firm. Technology now provides opportunities to deliver features to customers in new ways and at speeds not possible before. Organizations often find themselves struggling to keep up. Old IT and waterfall methods just don’t allow organizations to deliver value fast enough—I’ve seen it in the data, and I’ve seen it among the customers and companies I work with to create solutions for their own DevOps journeys. Jennifer and Ryn have also seen the challenges to technology transformation in the old way, and the exciting opportunities that are possible with DevOps, and they’ve responded by writing this book to guide us all through our own journeys. So read through, and choose your own adventure! Iterate, learn, grow, and choose your own adventure again!

Nicole Forsgren, PhD

Director, Chef Software

Seattle, WA