Adaptavist predicts 2022: top trends in DevOps

2021 was a big year for DevOps as organisations looked to scale their initiatives and embrace new tools. In April, we were proud to share our expertise at Atlassian Team 21, where Adaptavist’s experts tackled the topic of scaling DevOps while allowing agile teams and IT to work together with transparency.

We know how vital it is for organisations to stay on top of how DevOps is evolving – from the most important metrics to banish bottlenecks from your pipeline to building a DevOps-compatible culture. Last year also saw software producers engaging with security like never before. DevSecOps came into its own, as organisations sought to ensure buy-in from stakeholders as they brought development, operations, and security teams together. And DevOps faced new challenges as teams shifted even more towards remote-working amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, Adoption of DevOps continues to grow year on year as per our annual State of Atlassian report 2021which showed an increase from 48% in 2020 to 54% in 2021.

The need for DevOps transformation expertise is at an all-time high. And at Adaptavist we are more than happy to share ours. Our CEO, Simon Haighton-Williams spoke at length with DevOps.com about the key building blocks for enterprise digital transformation, while DevOps expert Matt Saunders was featured in EcommerceAge discussing how Kubernetes can help teams to deliver a seamless customer experience across busy periods.

All that’s to say, we know our stuff. So with 2021’s DevOps discussions behind us, let’s take a look forward at what’s around the corner.

Cloud-native architecture takes off

The cloud provides a unique set of possibilities, offering theoretically limitless scaling without the upfront costs associated with on-prem infrastructure. We expect to see more organisations embracing cloud-native architecture leveraging the advanced functionality and flexibility that cloud provides, and embrace the architectural and policy changes needed to make the best use of it. 

This means a largely self-healing system that’s cost-efficient, and easily updated and maintained using continuous integration/continuous delivery CI/CD. Successful cloud-native architecture is resilient and scalable. It achieves this through horizontal scaling, automation, and distributed processing.

Embracing everything as code 

An everything as code (EaC) approach centres around codifying all aspects of software development, delivery, and management. That means policy files govern the way software is built, deployed, monitored, and more to ensure best practice is unambiguously and visibly defined and then followed with the least amount of effort. Scalable and repeatable, EaC is going to pick up. Partly because tool vendors have embraced it, partly because of a trend towards common configuration formats, and partly because it’s just becoming more popular. Why? EaC lets you manage everything from application and configuration to infrastructure through code so you can standardise the way you work with ease.

VSM takes centre stage

Value Stream Mapping has grown up. Now it’s not enough to be recognising streams and tracking flow – you need to be harnessing all that data to make continuous improvements for your customers. That’s where Value Stream Management is making a name for itself. With new solution providers offering dynamic VSM platforms,  such as our partner Plandek who embed metrics, enabling organisations to become data-driven and reduce bottlenecks.

Focusing on culture

Development and operations teams that have adopted DevOps tools and processes are starting to reap the benefits. But where DevOps isn’t delivering, there’s typically a people issue to contend with. DevOps requires a mindset and cultural shift across the organisation. It depends on buy-in at all levels, ongoing training, as well as more experienced team members championing the approach. We expect the sector to shift its efforts away from tool and process implementation towards reassessing corporate culture and what can be done to help those struggling to make the shift.

Stepping up security

If 2021 was the year DevSecOps enrolled in college, 2022 will be its graduation. Most organisations have recognised the undeniable significance security plays in producing software that’s fit for purpose. Now, it’s about shifting left and ensuring a security-first approach is the only approach moving forwards. This transformation can take time, with all teams taking on responsibility for the security of the pipeline and its products. But with an ever-present need to protect against cybercrime, which is increasingly prevalent and effective, we’re going to see organisations putting more of their weight behind securing products.

All about Ops

DevOps has become essential for digital transformation, encouraging shared responsibility, transparency, and a speedy feedback loop. Hot on its heels is GitOps, Git being the world’s most widely used version control system. GitOps helps teams implement developer best practices while maintaining infrastructure as code. Its workflows allow IT teams to manage infrastructure through processes they’re already familiar with. Typically  they’re carried out by an underlying orchestration system like Kubernetes. We’ll see new GitOps tools coming to the market in 2022, as well as a focus on other kinds of ‘Ops’ practices, including ChatOps, DataOps, and AIOps to name a few. 

Cutting back on code

We’re predicting a rise in low-code and no-code solutions, with more and more vendors offering low-code tools for a variety of purposes – identity management and data integration are just some examples. Low- and no-code solutions automate much of the development and deployment process, removing friction and increasing velocity. As these tools improve, offering everyone more capabilities in the automation space, we could see a marked shift in team composition, with non-developers playing a bigger role than ever before. 

As the use of low-code platforms becomes more common for iteration and continuous improvement in critical projects, they’ll be a number of organisational benefits. Businesses will be able to expand their technical capabilities without having to hire more developers. Basic tasks can be spread more widely across the organisation, freeing up developers’ time for more high-level, strategic work. No-code can help speed-up innovation, especially when it comes to prototyping. And there will be whole new career paths to consider, particularly in the area of no-code consulting.