Today, DevOps can mean a lot of different things so why do we still call it that? Although some in the application development and software services may question why it is still relevant to think from a DevOps perspective in 2023, the industry still uses this model widely. Ultimately, this is because it is still useful from both technical and commercial points of view.
Indeed, there are some discernible trends in DevOps – notably in the fields of Low Code and DevSecOps – to take note of. In this article, we’ll explore what can be expected from DevOps this year and its likely evolution.
How DevOps Is Still Important for Business
To begin with, DevOps engineering is still extremely useful for businesses and those with the right skill sets will often enjoy strong career pathways. Not only does it still enable faster development times and the release of new products with lower development costs, but it also usually makes for a simpler deployment strategy with existing software systems. Businesses that use this model are still more likely to innovate more quickly than competitors which don’t. Crucially, this is still the case in 2023 when AI in software development is being increasingly deployed.
How Will DevOps Continue Evolving in 2023?
As mentioned, DevOps remains at the centre of many companies’ software development strategies. Although few development enterprises don’t think about other models from a strategic perspective, few in the industry think that there is going to be a wholesale shift away from this development methodology this year. Far from it, in fact. That’s especially so when you consider some of the DevOps trends to look out for in 2023, many of which have more of a sense of evolution – not revolution – about them.
1. CI/CD as a Main Driver
Continuous integration, continuous delivery has long been used to help produce code that is free from error. However, CI/CD is going to evolve in 2023 to help businesses in new ways. Typically, CI/CD processes involve rebuilding a product after each and every code change. After that, it is down to a pre-set testing regime to help ensure that all those alterations are working correctly throughout the entire system. However, this can take time and, in some cases, tie up resources, as well.
Consequently, the deployment of automation techniques in CI/CD processes is going to take off within the next twelve months or so. Of particular note will be how automated testing that is embedded within CI/CD pipelines will start to free up resources but it is likely that more and more automation will be leveraged at each stage of the CI/CD pipeline. Ultimately, the aim will be to allow teams to adopt extra quality factors without slowing down the deployment of code into software systems.
Furthermore, such automation deployments should also help to make sure that all of the components of a software product have been thoroughly tested before they are released into production. This means that automated CI/CD tools will drastically shorten the length of time it takes for a product to be built and deployed while also mitigating the risk of errors. In the end, it will allow developers to move faster when l fixing existing problems with patches or launching new features.
2. Low Code Applications
Numerous forward-thinking businesses have turned to a Low Code DevOps strategy in the recent past. Given how this has been shown to be extremely beneficial to development teams, it is hardly surprising that the Low Code approach is gaining traction. After all, it enables greater agility in software development. In turn, this offers every development organisation a significant competitive edge. How? Essentially, Low Code platforms mean that businesses are able to design applications without needing to importing coding skills from outside.
As such, the adoption of Low Code working practices means that non-technical professionals can participate in software development from start to finish. This is appealing to professionals who have the ‘vision’ for a particular sort of app, for example, but who want to maintain oversight despite their lack coding experience. Typically, Low Code systems mean non-technical operators can manage the entire development phase through a straightforward visual interface. Such systems allow you to create logic structures and workflows by simply dragging and dropping elements. In fairness, this is one of those DevOps future trends that has been spoken about for years. However, because it can speed development and deployment up without technical know-how, it is likely that 2023 will be the year this user-friendly approach really takes off.
3. AI/ML in the DevOps Framework
Artificial intelligence and machine learning – AI/ML – can already be seen as a trend in how developers access primary data. In addition, as we have already seen, it can be deployed in CI/CD pipelines as a main driver for progress. However, it is also now widely predicted that 2023 will see AI/ML being deployed optimise resource allocation and improve quality assurance in development processes, as well.
Business that already use use AI and ML to optimise their resource allocation processes will often find they are able to provide an on-demand model that is very efficient. In other words, resources can be allocated in near to real-time depending on business objectives and workflow pinch points. One of the most popular uses of AI/ML in software development is the automation of repetitive tasks. For example, a client could demand an app is validated before they are willing to proceed with the next phase of the project roll-out. With AI/ML, a human operator won’t be required to spend hours performing validation tasks manually.
4. Serverless or Moving Everything to the Cloud
It is primarily the economy of scale that serverless software development affords that will make it more and more attractive in 2023 and the coming years. Moving everything to the cloud might not suit all developers depending on the data legislation regulations in their particular jurisdiction – or their client’s. That said, cloud models offer convenience, lower costs and enable globalised working patterns.
Cloud-based technologies now include containerisation and micro-services as well as serverless computing so they are highly adaptable, too. Not only can adopting a cloud-based model help developers to enjoy greater reliability – they aren’t so reliant on their own server connectivity with such as model, after all – but it will help with scalability, too. That’s something all growing software development companies can take advantage of, of course.
5. DevSecOps to Have Better Security
By integrating security practices and protocols from the start of a development project with DevSecOps, it is possible to deal with all security matters throughout the entire development phase. This is important because, in the past, security matters tended to be tagged on towards the end. As a result, there has often been a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to security in software development.
Today, it is more apparent that developers are turning to DevSecOps to help them offer a more integrated approach that considers security matters from the outset. Not only does this offer the benefit of all security matters being more tailored to each software project but it should also allow for a faster roll-out when the core project has been completed. Simply put, this is because there won’t be any requirement to finish a project only to then have to design a security system for it down the line. Of particular note is the trend towards using open-source software for DevSecOps as means of increasing visibility.
The Role of DevOps in IT Projects
So far as software is concerned, DevOps will remain at the core of development for many years to come. Far from AI and ML constituting a threat to this IT methodology, automation will enhance DevOps throughout 2023 and, in all likelihood, for some time to come thereafter.
Conclusion
To sum up, DevOps, like any practice or system in software development is constantly changing. The trends this year don’t represent anything other than an evolutionary process that aims to make workflows better by design. As such, developers have little to fear since the future holds many exciting opportunities for progress in the industry.