“I have a feeling it’s going to be a good, long battle…” – Clint Eastwood (as Blondie, in the original “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.”)

 

We may not be remaking the classic 1960's Western here, but we are trying to make over your DevOps strategy for 2015. It doesn’t have to be a long battle as Blondie observes, either.

 

In our recent Modern Service Delivery Benchmark Survey, we found that many I&O professionals’ DevOps game isn’t as strong as it should be. But fear not – you’re probably already inadvertently putting into practice some of the things that will bring you success. The findings from our survey will help you determine how to rethink, modify, and move forward with your DevOps strategy in 2015. These findings were the basis for the following series of four reports.

 

The overarching "Six Trends That Will Shape DevOps Adoption In 2015 And Beyond" report by Amy DeMartine outlines the top six trends currently dominating DevOps adoption, and how these trends will affect your capabilities and relevance. The individual trends themselves were then broken down and explored further in the three following briefs by Elinor Klavens – those practices that were good, those that were bad, and those that were downright ugly.

 

Our survey showed that many I&O professionals have already adopted the baseline first steps of a strong DevOps strategy – check out "Good DevOps Requires Collaboration, Automation, And Cultural Change" to see if you’re already doing some of these best practices and why they are beneficial. If you’re not, don’t stress – Elinor outlines ways for you to take these first steps in the ways that are best for your organization. We found that the motivation and desire was there, so what are the missing pieces? Read on to find out!

 

Then there’s the bad… if you’re like the majority of our survey respondents, your organization is lacking in some crucial analytical and customer experience areas. Fortunately there are practical next steps that will help you reap the biggest benefit of a satisfied customer. Bottom line: eliminate your fear of failure. Think it’s easier said than done? Read up on "Break Your Bad DevOps Habits" to see how we suggest you approach it.

 

And finally – the ugly. We found that some common practices among many respondents were actually negatively affecting their teams and aspects of their organizations as a whole. "Embrace The Need For Speed To Avoid Ugly DevOps Practices" outlines certain massive hurdles that your organization most likely has, that you must overcome to ensure your DevOps practices are as relevant and timely as possible. Could you be in need of Elinor’s tips to identify and correct your practices before they detract from your productivity?

 

No matter where your organization stands, one thing is for sure – to get the best bang out of your DevOps practices, you’re going to need to figure out your baseline, prioritize your next steps, and measure your success for the future. The conglomerate advice from the aforementioned four reports is sure to bring your DevOps strategies into alignment with the Age Of The Customer mindset and prepare you for your own DevOps battle.