Similar to server virtualization, the business value of DevOps is that it allows businesses to streamline operations, which delivers a significant reduction in the complexity and time to deploy new applications. During the March 6, 2012 Wikibon Peer Incite, J. Wolfgang Goerlich, an IT practitioner, discussed how the vendor ecosystem need to become enablers of the DevOps trend.
Vendors need to understand the impact their products have on the ecosystem. Vendors need to evolve beyond the thinking that they are done once the product is shipped. Both hardware and software vendors need to be aware of the changes in a DevOps environment. In order to minimize disruptions to operations, vendors should strive to deliver code that can be managed by and be part of the existing infrastructure and management tools. For software and software-as-a-service companies, there is no “done”, the vendors must commit to continuous improvements. Another change in mindset for vendors that building into the existing environment is more important than piling up a list of features that add to the burden of managing the solution. Leveraging existing tools, plugging into frameworks and working with industry APIs are preferred to trying to build new ones.
Wolfgang pointed out that support from the vendor community needs to match the needs of a DevOps environment. This is an overhaul for most vendors who have a wall between development and operations. For many suppliers today, the customer knows that they have hit a very bad issue when they hear, “we’re getting the development team involved”. The goal is to create closer coordination so that the software development team can feel the pain of the customer.
Wolfgang did have a positive experience with the support of storage solutions from Compellent (prior to its acquisition by Dell). Compellent pairs up Copilot Support with their development team, so that going from support to development is right across the cube wall. The development team knows how its solution impacts support and therefore is more in tune with the needs of the customer.
Action Item: Vendors that embrace the DevOps movement can deliver more strategic value to customers. Closer alignment to DevOps will allow vendors to keep close tabs on customer adopting this trend, perform superior service and have early signals of potential new revenue opportunities. This new methodology pairs well with the ITaaS and SaaS solutions that vendors have been rolling out over the last few years.
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