Comparison Between Agile and DevOps Methodology

Agile and DevOps

There are two standard methodologies most of today’s development teams use to bring software to market faster and more efficiently: Agile and DevOps. While both methodologies have a lot in common, there are notable Agile and DevOps differences. Agile and DevOps are two software development methodologies with similar aims; getting the end-product out as quickly and efficiently as possible. A mix of both methodologies can be used to ensure increased efficiency. Both have major roles to play when it comes to software development and deployment, and one can be used to enable the other.

What is Agile?

The agile methodology is also a software development methodology that came circa 2001, when the agile manifesto was introduced. It employs four values and twelve principals that help build an “agile” software development culture. Generally speaking, agile encourages adoption and a leadership mindset that promotes teamwork, self-organization, and accountability. More importantly, the agile approach focuses more on continuously aligning development with customer needs and trends — even when those needs and trends change late in the development process.

What Is DevOps?

DevOps is a methodology that combines software development (Dev) with operations (Ops). At a mile-high level, DevOps is a collaborative process between development and IT operations teams used throughout the software development lifecycle. The goal is to improve the speed of product development and deployment. It is an agile approach that breaks down traditional silos between teams that makes the process flexible enough to be able to respond to the need for changes and fixes at any stage.

Agile vs DevOps

Fundamentally, DevOps brings together two large siloed teams together to allow for quicker software releases while Agile is focused on getting smaller teams to collaborate with each other so it can react quickly to the ever-changing consumer needs.

Both DevOps and Agile can work in tandem since they can complement each other. DevOps promotes a fully automated continuous integration and deployment pipeline to enable frequent releases, while Agile provides the ability to rapidly adapt to the changing requirements and better collaboration between different smaller teams.

One difference in the DevOps vs. Agile methodology is how specific tasks are performed. With Agile, communication between teams and customers is constant, with necessary changes being made frequently throughout the production process to ensure quality. With DevOps, the focus is on frequent testing and delivery, but the communication is primarily between developers and IT operations. The Agile process is also more ideally suited for complex projects, while the DevOps method is more suitable for end-to-end processes./p>

Agile and DevOps also differ when it comes to focus and feedback. While DevOps projects tend to focus on operational and business readiness with most feedback coming from internal team members, an Agile approach typically means feedback comes directly from consumers.

Another DevOps vs. Agile difference is team structure. Larger teams tend to use DevOps, with the skill set divided among team members within operations and development. This means each team member has a specific task or set of tasks to complete throughout each stage of the process. Agile, on the other hand, is better suited for smaller teams to complete work faster.