DevOps-as-a-Service: Why You Should Consider DevOps Outsourcing

The buzzword DevOps has been widely discussed in the information technology world in the last few years. Combining software development and operations has led to an increase in the speed at which products are developed, deployed, and put on the market. And this new trend in software development has been continuously and successfully used by companies like WhatsApp, Slack, Amazon, Netflix, Nordstrom, Facebook, Adobe, and many more. However, not everyone seems to be quite clear on what DevOps outsourcing is and how it can help businesses maximize efficiency and speed up their new software products’ release to market. This article will discuss why outsourcing DevOps services could be the best choice for businesses looking to get an extra edge over competitors and build their products faster than ever before.

What is DevOps?

DevOps – short for Development and Operations – is a set of processes and techniques aiming to expertly shorten the software development life cycle and make it more agile. According to GMI Research on DevOps, the market exceeded $7 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow by 20% from 2022 to 2028, reaching nearly $30 billion.

DevOps integrates the two areas, intertwining and combining the components, i.e. technology, methodology, and people, of both into one smooth, continuous development and operations process. The practice itself was born out of two concepts — continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) — and has evolved into something bigger than just the next big thing; it has spawned entire departments within companies dedicated to providing expert DevOps consulting services.

DevOps teams are, therefore, made up of top talent engineers experienced in both software development and operations – resulting in well-oiled, collaborative, and expert machines working together on everything from design and development to product releases and support.

A DevOps operation's primary practices include design, automation, testing, cloud services, monitoring and logging, releasing, and configuration management.

Why companies choose DevOps

Traditionally companies kept these two silos separated, measuring their success and progress individually. But this also meant two teams, disconnected communication, and a prolonged back and forth when working on the same product, meaning a lengthy process before launching a product to market.

Companies utilizing DevOps enjoy the following advantages:

• Technical benefits: quicker release, better product, faster response time, etc.;
• Business benefits: focus on quality, improved relationships with end-users, efficiency, agility, etc.;
• Company-culture benefits: better communication, collaboration, and a move away from silo mentality.

However, the most important benefits are technical – combining development and operations within DevOps allows for:

• Continuous integration;
• Continuous delivery;
• Continuous deployment.

All in all, combining the two helps simplify and shorten the time to release the product to the market, fix bugs, ensure security and address concerns in real-time.

What is DevOps outsourcing?

Outsourcing services, otherwise known as DevOps-as-a-service, are available to those who would like to benefit from them without taking on all of the challenges of hiring an in-house team.

Going with a trusted outsourcing provider will mean getting only the best and most experienced DevOps engineers and all the tools needed for every part of the process. It's pretty simple – just imagine a group of highly skilled expert DevOps engineers ready to handle unique business needs with all the technical tools needed from beginning to end and available for hire based on project needs, length, and company budget.

Why your business needs DevOps outsourcing

There are many reasons a business would choose outsourcing DevOps services rather than hiring an in-house team – let's go over the main ones:

Better hiring process

Firstly, hiring engineers from a DevOps outsourcing company allows a business to leave it up to the provider to choose the best team for the job, saving time and money for companies.

Quality and varied levels of talent

As well as having engineers of different levels of experience and a more comprehensive range of skill sets, outsourcing companies ensure that all engineers receive professional training, adhere to the latest standards, work and develop well in teams, and maintain all relevant certifications.

Fast delivery and a better end product

When choosing DevOps outsourcing solutions, a business can rest assured that the engineers live and breathe DevOps methodology, working on hundreds of projects and being a part of a DevOps environment day-to-day. Therefore, when working on your specific assignment, everyone is already well-versed in the process and maintains existing professional dynamics.

Reduce risks and costs

An outsourced team made up of experienced experts can easily predict potential risks and avoid making mistakes which could cost a new team a lot of company money. Experience, therefore, is everything and can save businesses thousands of dollars that a new team would lose during an inevitable trial and error phase.

Outsourcing DevOps avoids spending thousands, scouring the Internet for experts, and saves your business hours and hours of wasted time. And that's not to mention, when you work with a well-established DevOps team you know you're getting the best talent with plenty of experience. For instance, at Andersen our engineers previously collaborated on a system migration project and a larger-scale enterprise-level migration project.

DevOps outsourcing technology stack

When outsourcing, a DevOps services company will provide tailored services with comprehensive technology stacks that cover your specific assignment needs. Therefore, a trusted DevOps-as-a-Service provider will ensure they include everything in their stack from tools for database management, integration, monitoring and logging, configuration management, orchestration, cloud storage, code analysis, and anything extra.

For example, at Andersen, you can outsource a full suite of software and tools to implement your business’s IT initiatives.

How to get started with DevOps outsourcing

Andersen’s team has worked on hundreds of projects, creating a process that will help you outline, find, and hire precisely whom you need.

To successfully outsource DevOps services, just follow these steps:

1. Analyze your unique business requirements.

First, you must analyze the current state, quality, and vulnerabilities of DevOps implementation in your business’ existing IT infrastructure. Think through such issues as:

• What you want to achieve with this project;
• What the end-user expects from the final product;
• The scalability of the project;
• Expertise needed;
• Budget;
• Risk analysis.

2. Find a trusted company.

Ensure you’re conducting expertise research, checking reviews and experience with cloud platforms, technologies, and tools. The perfect company will have both a proven track record of successfully delivering projects similar to yours promptly and engineers with comprehensive tech stack knowledge and experience.

3. Proposal and NDA.

A pre-sales manager submits a comprehensive project proposal. It may include estimates, timelines, lists of CVs, etc., for a particular situation.

Your business needs total privacy and transparency. Therefore, you should ensure that the contract includes an NDA which gives you complete peace of mind when outsourcing teams for future products.

4. Assembling your expert team.

This is where you should assess the engineers’ tech stack, experience, and abilities. Ask yourself: Does the team have everything you need to complete the project from beginning to end?

Once assembled and agreed upon, the team for your IT project should start delivering within a couple of weeks.

5. Getting started.

All that's left is signing the contract and getting started on your unique assignment.

Conclusion

DevOps-as-a-Service is slowly becoming the number one service for companies creating, launching, and monitoring new software and products and has become integral to staying ahead of the competition.

Over the past few years, DevOps service providers have been perfecting the process of software development, building top talent teams, and training and nurturing engineers to provide one of the best DevOps outsourcing solutions available.

At Andersen, we live and breathe DevOps. Our engineers have collectively worked on over a thousand projects, so you can trust that you're getting the best expertise and experience for your software development needs.

If you want to boost the efficiency of your tech and business processes, contact us and start the process of hiring the best in DevOps outsourcing services.