Improving developer experience and productivity with automation
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Improving developer experience and productivity with automation
Jobin Kuruvilla
24th June, 2024
6 min read
Jobin Kuruvilla
24th June, 2024
6 min read
When your developers get bogged down with mundane and repetitive software development tasks, it’s to the detriment of their productivity. There are many repetitive tasks involved in developing code, and when your developers are tied up dealing with these tasks, it wastes opportunities for innovation as well as time, which creates friction.
A study by Forrester found that 53% of decision-makers are now prioritising the automation of repetitive tasks to free up time for their developers to innovate. By automating the repetitive tasks that comprise the development process—for example, manual testing, manual code checks, and change ticket requests—your developers can focus on more meaningful tasks, like working on creative and strategic solutions.
For most, the chance to do more interesting work means more job satisfaction, which increases staff retention rates. Plus, it means a better chance of attracting better talent for future generations of developers. With that in mind, many are focused on how to ease the burden on their developers so they can increase efficiency.
Automation can boost your developer experience
Developer experience (DevEx) has become more of a focus recently, and that's because by improving it, you can benefit both your developers and your organisation.
By automating processes, you can help developers achieve more with less effort needed from their side, which increases their efficiency. Automation can handle basic and repetitive work faster, more effectively, and more economically. This means your developers can focus on more lucrative projects that will drive the business. Increased efficiency and productivity will reduce setup times and streamline workflows, which will allow developers to dedicate more time to writing code. It reduces the amount of friction in the development process, resulting in a happier and more engaged workforce. This then leads to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates, reducing recruitment and onboarding costs.
Rather than replacing jobs, automation removes the burden on your developers. It empowers them to innovate and create while remaining confident that the code being overseen by automated tests is of the best standard.
Automation in self-service developer environments
Self-service developer environments (SSDEs) enable developers to use automation to shortcut tasks, eliminating friction by enabling streamlined workflows, seamless collaboration, and customisation. Using a user-friendly interface, your developers can browse the tools and resources and choose from pre-configured options, including databases, programming languages, and testing tools.
SSDEs empower developers to independently access, manage, and deploy the resources, services, and tools they need. This means they no longer have to rely on IT or DevOps teams; instead, they can focus on coding and building innovative features. SSDEs can boost developer productivity and accelerate the software development lifecycle (SDLC) by automating tasks and streamlining access to resources.
Three ways SSDEs leverage automation:
- Pre-configured templates—Templates based on project requirements, including pre-installed tools, libraries, and configurations. Your developers simply choose the right template for their needs and get started, without the need for manual configuration and installation.
- Cloud-based deployment—SSDEs are often in the cloud, which means developers have access to the most up-to-date versions of tools and libraries from any location or using any device.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC)—Self-service platforms often follow IaC principles, which means infrastructure configurations (including dev environments) can be written in code. This automation empowers developers to provision environments with the desired settings quickly and easily, reducing setup times and ensuring consistency across environments.
Continuous integration/continuous deployment pipelines
SSDEs can be further enhanced by integrating them with continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. This enables developers to automate the build, test, and deployment process, which eliminates friction and streamlines the SDLC. Here are some of the ways CI/CD pipelines enhance SSDEs:
- With CI/CD pipelines, code changes trigger automated builds, ensuring developers don't waste time on manual build processes.
- CI/CD pipelines can integrate automated testing frameworks, enabling developers to catch security issues, threats, and bugs. early in the process. Developers can ensure code quality is maintained throughout the development process.
- CI/CD pipelines automate deployments to various environments including development, staging, and production. This reduces the risk of human error and streamlines the process of releasing new features and updates.
Ready to get started?
By embracing SSDEs, you can empower developers, unlock innovation, and ultimately drive business success. If you’re ready to harness the benefits of automation, contact us to get started.
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Written by
Jobin Kuruvilla
Head of DevOps Practice
Jobin ia a DevOps expert and app developer, with certifications in Atlassian, GitLab PSE, AWS, Kubernetes, and Jenkins. He has led digital transformation initiatives for teams and enterprises and leads the DevOps practice at Adaptavist.