The DevOps journey takes time — here’s how to tell if you’re on the right track
99% of organizations report that DevOps has had a positive impact on their business. Thus, for CTOs, creating a culture of innovation and building a resilient DevOps infrastructure should be a top priority. But it doesn’t happen overnight. It’s an ongoing journey that requires:
- Strategy
- Testing
- Implementation
And let’s not forget an honest assessment of what’s working and what’s not. To stay on the right path, it’s important to adopt a framework for your team.
This framework is called a DevOps Maturity Model. It helps engineers and CTOs assess where they are in the DevOps adoption pipeline. It also assesses their current initiatives and DevOps practices.
Using a DevOps Maturity Model helps developers and engineers improve performance. Basically, DevOps Maturity Models help you reach your project management goals.
Before that can happen, however, it’s critical for leadership teams to understand the building blocks of DevOps maturity. You need to grasp the DevOps process and how the framework acts as a roadmap for success.
Key Takeaways
- DevOps maturity is a journey CTOs take their team through that includes cultural shifts, automation adoption, and process refinement.
- Measuring KPIs like deployment frequency, lead time, and failure recovery traits is critical to assessing progress.
- Working with the right tools, like DuploCloud, can accelerate success by reducing human error and speeding up time to market.
Understanding the DevOps Maturity Model
When it comes to DevOps maturity, or DevSecOps maturity, there are several different schools of thought. Fortunately, they all lead to similar conclusions. Depending on the source, the DevOps Maturity Model might be referred to as any of the following:
- DevOps Maturity Assessment Framework
- DevOps Maturity Matrix
- DevOps Capability Maturity Model
Yes, there are minor differences in verbiage. But these models generally focus on several core values that can be summarized as:
- Culture
- Technology
- Structure
- Collaboration
Culture
To successfully implement DevOps initiatives, companies need to make an organizational shift. This should be aimed towards a culture of DevOps, DevSecOps, and the DevSecOps Maturity Model.
This means fostering an environment that prioritizes continuous learning and improvement. It also means helping teams apply their expertise and best practices at different points along the pipeline.
Technology
Automation and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) are cornerstones of DevOps culture. By embracing this technology, developers and engineers can stay agile. They can more carefully monitor software development and ultimately produce top-tier DevOps practices.
In order for a DevOps Maturity Model to work, teams should aim to automate as many repetitive tasks as possible. That way, they can build an efficient, scalable development pipeline based on DevOps principles.
Structure
Does your DevOps maturity level account for every stage of the software development lifecycle? Are they aligned with corporate policies and business goals? Are you able to test and deploy new builds quickly? Your structure and development process must be clearly defined from the start.
Otherwise, you run the risk of slowing down production and running into roadblocks during critical stages. Your DevOps success depends on structure.
Collaboration
Because DevOps implementation requires different teams to work together, collaboration is a must. The developer and the DevOps engineer should be well aware of their shared goals.
They must be able to work towards a DevOps strategy together. Too often, these teams only focus on their individual DevOps strategy. From the beginning of the DevOps lifecycle, teamwork must be a priority.
Collaboration should remain solid throughout:
- Continuous integration
- Continuous deployment
- Continuous testing
- And even continuous learning
When everyone is on the same page and working toward shared DevOps metrics, the whole project succeeds.
How to Measure DevOps Maturity and Boost Performance
Step 1: Know the 5 Stages of the DevOps Maturity Model
You want to successfully create a culture of DevOps and achieve development goals. You have to start with understanding the five stages of the DevOps Maturity Model. Different CTOs and IT experts might describe the stages in different terms. But they essentially boil down to these core concepts:
- Initiation: At the initial stage of DevOps maturity, you’re just introducing your organization to DevOps concepts. You’re bringing together the development and operations teams.
- Repeatable/Adoption: At stage two, you should be seeing the foundation of a strong DevOps culture. Developers and engineers should understand the core principles of DevOps. Then they begin applying them proactively.
- Defined/Integration: As your DevOps culture strengthens, it’s time to ensure that your processes are standardized and easily repeatable. This is typically the time to implement automation wherever possible.
- Measured/Transformation: The fourth stage is defined by effective management and continuous improvement. By now, your teams should have a comprehensive understanding of the role automation plays in DevOps. They should also know how to share their knowledge. At the same time, they must incorporate feedback into the next iteration of software.
- Optimized/Innovation: After working through the four previous stages, your DevOps processes should be fully automated and streamlined. Teams should know how to handle any issues that arise without missing a beat. Your organization is now free to keep innovating and iterating at a speedy pace.
Step 2: Conduct a DevOps Maturity Assessment
Which of the five DevOps maturity stages does your organization fall into? You can answer that question using the key metrics, or Key Performance Indicators, established by the DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) program’s Accelerate State of DevOps 2023 report:
- Change lead time: This measures how long it takes changes to deploy. The shorter the change lead time, the more productive your team will be.
- Deployment frequency: How frequently are these changes being pushed? Alongside change lead time, deployment frequency reflects your team’s agility and shows how quickly they can pivot.
- Change failure rate: Over time, changes that result in critical failures should become less frequent. This happens as your software becomes more stable.
- Failed deployment recovery time: Those change failures can provide valuable data. This includes how long it takes teams to recover. Be sure to monitor the period of time after such a failure. This will ensure that recovery processes are improving. It also ensures your organization’s DevOps culture is becoming more resilient.
Step 3: Identify Areas for Improvement
Maybe your organization is still in the early stages of the DevOps Maturity Model. Perhaps your key metrics indicate slow or stalled progress. In this case, it’s time to take a closer look at what’s not working.
It could be:
- Technical debt,
- Skill gaps
- Scaling bottlenecks
- Security concerns
- A combination thereof
The bottom line: defining these areas for improvement is the first step toward improving.
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for resolving these issues. Your next steps will be defined by:
- Your DevOps teams
- The software itself
- How well you’ve implemented automation
- A number of other factors specific to your organization
First, you identify the problem areas. Then, work with your developers and engineers to implement fixes and ensure the problems don’t repeat in the future.
Step 4: Measure the Impact
As you move through the five stages of DevOps maturity, continue to reassess the Key Performance Indicators above. By the later stages, your change lead time should be significantly reduced.
Also, failures should be not just rare, but easily fixed. If you’re not seeing improvement in these areas, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. There, look for more effective solutions to your biggest challenges.
Step 5: Find the Right DevOps Partner
Don’t worry. You don’t have to find these solutions on your own. Instead, adopt a no-code/low-code automation platform. That way, you can more easily make your way through the stages of the DevOps Maturity Model. This means you’ll speed up your time to market.
For example, DuploCloud works with DevOps teams. We automatically turn high-level application architecture specifications into low-level cloud infrastructure services. This reduces cloud operating costs by 75% and reduces human errors. The results are streamlined operations that meet regulatory guidelines and security standards.
Want to know more? Get in touch to set up a demo.
FAQs
What is a DevOps Maturity Model, and why is it important?
A DevOps Maturity Model is a framework. It helps organizations evaluate how advanced their DevOps practices are. It also enables CTOs and engineering leaders to:
- Assess their current capabilities
- Identify gaps
- Create a roadmap for improvement
The model covers key areas like:
- Culture
- Automation
- Collaboration
- Structure
This helps teams align development goals with business objectives.
How do I know what stage of DevOps maturity my organization is in?
You can determine your DevOps maturity stage by conducting an internal assessment. You’ll do this by using the five standard stages:
- Initiation
- Repeatable
- Defined
- Measured
- Optimized
You can gain clear insight into your current stage and what needs to improve using KPIs like:
- Deployment frequency
- Change lead time
- Change failure rate
- Recovery time
What are the biggest challenges organizations face when advancing DevOps maturity?
Common roadblocks include:
- Technical debt
- Skill gaps within DevOps teams
- Scalability issues
- Lack of automation
Security and compliance can also be major hurdles. Identifying these bottlenecks early allows teams to build a plan for resolution and sustained growth.
How can DuploCloud help accelerate DevOps maturity?
DuploCloud simplifies and accelerates the DevOps journey with its no-code/low-code automation platform. It translates high-level application requirements into a fully configured cloud infrastructure. It also helps teams reduce operating costs, minimize manual errors, and stay compliant. This enables faster progression through the maturity stages.
