How DevOps is Transforming IT, and What it Can Do for AcademiaNicole Forsgren, PhD Director, Organizational Performance and Analytics, ChefResearch Affiliate, Clemson University
@nicolefv
Outline
Listening to industry: the good and the bad
The promise of DevOps● What it is -- and isn’t● What it is doing for the industry● What we’ve found● What it can do for academia
@nicolefv
Listening to industry
Whenever I have industry peers come to me, I warn them:
Faculty own curriculum! If we listen too closely, our students will end up learning COBOL!
● We know what is best for them● We will focus on fundamentals
Industry laughs at the COBOL example…
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Listening to industry
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Listening to industry
So we’re back to the beginning!
Faculty own curriculum! If we listen too closely, our students will end up learning COBOL!
● We know what is best for them● We will focus on fundamentals
… But which fundamentals?
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Listening to industry
Which Fundamentals… ?
What we learned?
HBR? That will point you to Agile.● We KNOW they’re overly conservative
DICE salary survey? That points to technologies, and runs the risk of COBOL
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The promise of DevOps
What is DevOps?
A cultural and professional movement, focused on how we build and operate high velocity organizations, born from the experiences of its practitioners. -- Adam Jacob
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The promise of DevOps
What is DevOps?
A cultural and professional movement, focused on how we build and operate high velocity organizations, born from the experiences of its practitioners. -- Adam Jacob
● People -- and not just technical people● Mindset
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The promise of DevOps
What is DevOps?
A cultural and professional movement, focused on how we build and operate high velocity organizations, born from the experiences of its practitioners. -- Adam Jacob
● Technology● Process and management● Culture
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The promise of DevOps
What is DevOps?
A cultural and professional movement, focused on how we build and operate high velocity organizations, born from the experiences of its practitioners. -- Adam Jacob
● Lived experience● Different in every team/org
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The promise of DevOps
What is DevOps NOT?
● Agile (“capital A Agile”)● Technology (though tech is very important)● Prescriptive processes● One size fits all● EASY
But it most definitely is WORTH IT
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What is DevOps doing for industry?
“IT doesn’t matter”
-- Nicholas Carr (2003)
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What is DevOps doing for industry?
IT Performance:
● Throughput/ Speed○ lead time for changes○ release frequency
● Reliability/ Stability○ time to restore service○ change fail rate
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What is DevOps doing for industry?
Firms with high-performing IT organizations were twice as likely to exceed their profitability, market share and productivity goals.
http://bit.ly/2014-devops-report/
http://bit.ly/2015-devops-report/
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High performing IT organizations
More agile
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High performing IT organizations
More agile What does this mean for:
New content deliveryValue/savings around A/B testingValue around speed to marketCompliance/regulatorySecurity
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High performing IT organizations
More reliable What does this mean for:
Value/savings around reliabilityValue/savings around uptimeComplianceSecurityReputation around uptime, compliance, and security
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Evaluating well-designed and executed experiments that were designed to improve a key metric, only about 1/3 were successful at improving the key metric!
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High performing IT organizations
More reliable
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DevOps promises – and deliversMore throughput
More stability
In tandem. Without the tradeoffs that ITIL calls for.
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Culture is also a key piece
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Google also found this
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Intuit
“By installing a rampant innovation culture, we performed 165 experiments in the peak three months of tax season.
Our business result? Conversion rate of the website is up 50%. Employee result? Everyone loves it, because their new ideas can make it to market. ”
- Scott Cook, Intuit founder
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Amazon
“I think building this culture is the key to innovation. Creativity must flow from everywhere. Whether you are a summer intern or the CTO, any good idea must be able to seek an objective test, preferably a test that exposes the idea to real customers. Everyone must be able to experiment, learn, and iterate.”
- Greg Linden
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What is DevOps doing for industry?
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What is DevOps doing for industry?
DevOps is transforming technology. Imagine the impact on Minnesota’s economy:
● Major employers: United Healthcare, Robert Half, Wells Fargo, Accenture, TEKSystems, US Bank…
○ Healthcare and Finance are areas embracing DevOps
● InfoSec is an emerging field-- and becoming a major player in DevOps
● DevOps skills command top incomes (source: DICE.com)
Source for MN employment info: www.realtimetalentmn.org, IT 2015 Report
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What can DevOps do for us?Let’s take some cues from the movement itself:
● It’s not just technology○ Updating our LMS won’t solve it.
● It’s not just process○ Making all of our lectures a flipped classroom won’t
solve it. ● Culture is really important. Foundationally important.
○ Open communication - across silos - is important● Embrace the blameless post-mortem
○ Default to a position of trust
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What can DevOps do for us?
Curriculum development is HARD and takes a lot of time.
● Sharing is a key aspect of this -- use your academic networks and your industry contacts. They are willing and eager to help.
● Embrace the MVP (minimum viable product) and iterate.● Every team or organization’s DevOps will look different
-- so will yours.
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We’ve talked about
Listening to industry: the good and the bad
The promise of DevOps● What it is -- and isn’t● What it is doing for the industry● What we’ve found● What it can do for academia
It’s an exciting time!
@nicolefv
Thank you
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