DEVOPSdigest

A DevOps strategy helps drive tangible business benefits to enterprises, according to a new study conducted by Vanson Bourne for CA Technologies titled DevOps: The Worst-Kept Secret to Winning in the Application Economy.

Out of 1,425 senior IT and business leaders surveyed worldwide, the study found 88 percent of them already have or plan to adopt a DevOps strategy.

According to the study, respondents with a DevOps strategy have experienced anywhere from a 14 to 21 percent improvement in business in the form of increased numbers of customers, faster time-to-market and improved quality and performance of applications.

US respondents have seen more improvements than the global average, for instance about 27 percent increased collaboration between departments, a 26 percent reduction in time spent fixing and maintaining applications and a 24-25 percent increase in the number of customers as well as software and services that would otherwise not be possible.

“DevOps is a powerful revenue driver. About 34 percent of respondents working at organizations with greater than average profit growth said they had already adopted DevOps while only 17 percent of those with less than average profit growth had done so,” said Andi Mann, VP, CA Technologies. “The argument against DevOps is over. Global business and IT leaders need DevOps to transform their enterprises into application-led businesses, drive their competitiveness and create business growth.”

Respondents reported that DevOps delivers the following improvements:

■ 21 percent reduction in time spent fixing and maintaining applications

■ 19 percent increase in revenue

■ 19 percent improvement in quality and performance of deployed applications

■ 18 percent reduction in time to market

■ 21 percent improvement in new software and services that would otherwise not be possible/explored

■ 21 percent increase in collaboration between departments

Other study findings include:

■ DevOps adopters are likely to invest in people and tools over the next year as part of their implementation of the strategy: The top investment item is hiring new resources with necessary skills (63 percent global and 72 percent in the United States), followed by engaging a consulting firm (51 percent global and 53 percent in the United States). More training for dev and ops personnel was cited by 46 percent.

■ A need to improve quality and performance of the applications as well as the end customer experience are major drivers (44 percent and 42 percent in the United States, respectively).

■ Nearly all organizations with greater than average profit growth have experienced tangible benefits by adopting a DevOps strategy. About 95 to 97 percent of these companies have seen increased frequency of deployments of software and services as well as applications made available across more platforms.

■ Security and organizational complexity remain as major obstacles in adopting the strategy (28 percent and 27 percent respectively).

Survey Methodology: Vanson Bourne conducted the CA Technologies-sponsored study of 1,425 senior IT and line-of-business executives at enterprise organizations with revenues of $500 million or more in financial services, healthcare, retail, telecommunications and media/entertainment industries. The study was conducted in 13 countries including United States, Canada, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Australia, China, India and Japan.