Becoming a Successful DevOps professional in 2020

In current scenario Devops Engineers or Devops professionals are the most sought after profiles in software industry. Most of the companies are hiring DevOps experts, be it large enterprises or a small startup.

But an important thing to remember here is that DevOps is not only about methods and tools but more of a Cultural Shift. It works to break down silos and create collaborations between various teams within an organisation.

Thus, a DevOps engineer should be an expert in not only software development but also in operations. A DevOps engineer will work together with both – Developers and Operations Team.

Essential Skills to become a successful DevOps Engineer

There is an ever increasing demand for DevOps experts in the industry. Everyone is trying to adapt to DevOps nowadays. But only a few are doing it right. Let us discuss some fundamental skills a DevOps person must acquire to be successful in this profile.

Linux Fundamentals and Scripting

Most of the organisations are adopting open-source tools and preferring Linux for professional use. As Linux is more secure as compared to other operating systems and also, it is an open-source operating system. That is why a good knowledge of Linux is essential for a DevOps engineer. Also a DevOps engineer should have good hands-on experience in code scripting. He/she should know scripting languages like bash, shell, python, perl, etc. Because DevOps engineer will be responsible for automation and required to write codes in any of these languages.

Knowledge of Various DevOps Tools and Technologies

DevOps is implemented with the help of various tools. Additionally, DevOps is achieved in different stages and each stage requires a different set of tools. Some of these tools and technologies are described below:

• • Knowledge of Source Code Management: there is a need to constantly create and update the software codes. Source Code Management will store the codes, merge new and old codes, and control the code versions. Tools used for Source Code Management: Git, Github, Gitlab, etc
  • Knowledge of Configuration Management tools: as the name suggests, it is used to manage software and operating system configurations. Configuration Management tools will take a remote connection to the target server and push the configuration changes. They can manage thousands of servers at once suing code. It is achieved through click of a button or execution of a command. Examples of Configuration Management are Puppet, Chef, Ansible,Terraform.
  • Knowledge of Continuous Integration: It is the process of automating the code with the master copy between various developers. Some examples of CI tools are VSTS, Bamboo, Jenkins,circleCI, TravisCI, Buildkite etc.
  • Knowledge of Continuous Testing: Continuous testing will reduce the feedback time after code testing. The code will be tested in the development department automatically using tools. Famous testing tools are Selenium and TestComplete.
  • Familiarity with Continuous Monitoring It is used to do continuous monitoring of application performance, downtime, and errors. Some examples of Continuous Monitoring tools are Nagios, Splunk, Zabbix,Promethues, Datadog,Icinga,New Relic.
  • Understanig of Containerization (Containers & Docker): containerization will virtualize the operating system. So different containers running different applications can share the operating system. Some examples are Docker, Kubernetes, Vagrant.

Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery

CI/CD is one of the most popular and in-demand skill for DevOps implementation. Good knowledge of CI and CD will help DevOps engineer to develop a high-quality product at a faster speed. This will save a lot of time. It will also help to detect any errors in integration in the early stages.Continuous Delivery is like an extension to Continuous Integration. Here, a recently integrated code is made ready for deployment automatically. If this process is done manually, it will take 2 to 3 days to complete. Traditionally, the development team used to release new code to the testing team. Then the testing team used to do their part. These delays are now possible to avoid using CD – Continuous Deliver

Infrastructure as Code(IaC)

Knowledge of Infrastructure as Code is again a must have skills DevOps engineer. This will basically help to manage infrastructure. With technologies like cloud computing, it is now possible to provide the needed infrastructure to the developers. This is done using automated scripts. These scripts will execute the required commands and will do configuration management. The requirement can be fulfilled in seconds using Infrastructure as Code.

Key Concepts of DevOps

DevOps is a methodology where different teams of an organisation collaborate to break down traditional silos. This is accomplished using various tools and concepts of DevOps. There is no strict framework for DevOps. Each organisation can adopt and implement DevOps as per their criteria and needs. Any DevOps professional must have in-depth knowledge about the key concepts of DevOps. The job of a DevOps professional is a high responsibility job that will affect each department within an organisation.

Knowledge about Public Cloud

If you are planning to get into DevOps, you must have this some knowledge of public clouds. This can be one of the most in-demand skills for a DevOps engineer. Companies are now using cloud technology. Cloud provides a centralized platform for various processes like testing, deploying, and releasing the code. So, you must have the skill and deep knowledge of various cloud platforms and the services they provide. Some of the key public cloud services providers are Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud(GCP), Microsoft Azure, Digitalocean etc.

Soft Skills/Communication Skills

DevOps highlights the work environment and people more than tools and practices. Hence, soft skills play a great role in DevOps. Some of these skills are:

• • Clear Communication
  • Empathy
  • Taking Ownership
  • Positive Attitude
  • Pressure Handling skills
  • Listening Skills

Other than these skills, trust also plays an important role. The trust of the teammates can be achieved by active communications and creating a positive and supportive environment. The implementation of these skills will be reflected in the overall performance of the team and eventually the whole organization

DevOps is all about breaking silos within the organisations and making a friendly and supportive environment at workplaces.

With the help of DevOps, development, operation  and business teams collaborate. They will deliver high-quality products to the customers at a faster pace. Other than these essential skills, other DevOps skills that can be adopted are collaboration, flexibility, security skills and customer-first mindset.