A systematic mapping study about DevOps

Abstract

DevOps is a very trendy term these days in the software development companies (SDC), term that emerges as a possible solution to finally reach an acceleration and a rise of productivity expected with the appearance of agile development approaches, but that until now had not materialized, through automation practices, continuous integration, continuous build, and continuous deployment. This paper aims to show current knowledge about the process of adopting DevOps in SDC through a systematic mapping of the literature. However, the results obtained show that there is little detailed information regarding activities, tasks, roles, and other important process elements for the adoption of DevOps. Similarly, it has been concluded that there is no a unified terminology, therefore, it is important to standardize it to simplify the understanding and application of DevOps. Furthermore, this paper shows the preview of the framework that it is being developed for the adoption of DevOps in the SDC.

DevOps model in practice: Applying a novel reference model to support and encourage the adoption of DevOps in a software development company as case study

“…From a systematic mapping of the literature presented in [1], it has been possible to identify some efforts related to the design of solutions related to DevOps. First, it was possible to observe different definitions about DevOps, with which it can be inferred that there is still no common unified conceptualization and what prevails in the literature are different specific perspectives about it.…”

“…The development area is responsible for: analysis, design, and construction of the source code, which is tested and that allows to subsequently generate a version of a software product. On the other hand, the operations area is responsible for the configuration of the hardware that is required with the necessary services, in order to carry out the deployment of the versions of the software product, versions that are generated by the development area in productive environments for use by the end customer, and additionally; monitor the behavior of the software product during the time it is in use and ensure the stability of the software product in productive environments [1]. In this sense, with DevOps the teams are more empowered and the steps to production are more reliable due to automation and trust in the process.…”

“…: from the development area or the infrastructure area, which has created a kind of dividing wall between these two areas significantly affecting the development process of a software product from its conception to its final delivery [20], because the proposed frameworks define workflows, roles and artifacts only from a particular perspective or area, which is often complementary to the objectives and / or needs of the other area involved, e.g. : development areas implement practices to be more agile and be open to changes in requirements at any time, while the infrastructure area implements practices to control the stability of the requirements, since these directly affect the processes related to the enlistment of the technological infrastructure, this mean the main priority of the infrastructure area is to take care of the integrity of the deployed applications and based on this, the policies and processes are defined [1]. For that reason, the approach known as DevOps is currently gaining strength, which, as its name indicates, focuses on improving the relationships between the development area (Dev) and the operations area (Ops) [1].…”

“…: development areas implement practices to be more agile and be open to changes in requirements at any time, while the infrastructure area implements practices to control the stability of the requirements, since these directly affect the processes related to the enlistment of the technological infrastructure, this mean the main priority of the infrastructure area is to take care of the integrity of the deployed applications and based on this, the policies and processes are defined [1]. For that reason, the approach known as DevOps is currently gaining strength, which, as its name indicates, focuses on improving the relationships between the development area (Dev) and the operations area (Ops) [1]. Some of the benefits of implementing DevOps in a software company are: (i) eliminate the existing barriers between development area and infrastructure area [21], (ii) significantly improve in reaction times (time to market) [22], (iii) favor the improvement and automation of processes [23], [24], product quality improvement [3], faster software delivery [3], among others.…”

“…Taking into account the above, and after carrying out a systematic review of the literature [1], the lack of clarification and formalization of DevOps in the development of software products is evident, e.g. : the need to standardize a formal definition for DevOps, in addition to providing a detailed description of the fundamental and complementary practices that could be taken into account when using this approach.…”