While the fact that 20% of small businesses fail within their first year is grim, there’s nothing to fear. Assuming that you take the appropriate measures to build your business from the ground up and help your team collaborate properly, it’s unlikely that you’ll wind up as part of this statistic.
Using DevOpsDevOps DevOps is a set of practices that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops). It aims to shorten the systems development life cycle and provide continuous delivery with high software quality. DevOps is complementary with Agile software development; several DevOps aspects came from Agile methodology. services is one of the best ways that you can motivate and encourage all of your employees. But what is DevOps and how can small businesses use them to boost the quality of their products and services? Read on for some expert insight into these questions.
What Is DevOps for Small Businesses?
The term ‘DevOps’ is a portmanteau of the words ‘development’ and ‘operations.’ In the simplest terms, it’s a business philosophy and actionable strategy that encourages developers to create products with those who will be operating them in mind.
This is beneficial for a few reasons. First, it ensures that products and tools that other employees are using in their day-to-day operations are optimized for their specific jobs. It also ensures that developers remain motivated to monitor, maintain, and tweak the tools they have built to maximize their efficiency.
DevOps tools like Slack also promote interdepartmental communications across a small business. Poor communication in a business with 100 employees can cost the company an average of $420,000. DevOps tools allow your employees to communicate and collaborate on projects in a way that avoids miscommunications.
How Can It Help With Innovation and Development?
One of the main ways that DevOps helps developers is by telling them exactly what is necessary when creating their products. Developing a service for other employees (or consumers) to deploy requires a lot of research into what similar operators want to see in the technology they’re creating.
This research can take a long time to collect and implement. It also may not be entirely accurate since all operations teams have their own unique needs. Encouraging DevOps collaboration allows developers to talk directly with those who will be using the software so they can develop the most relevant software as fast as possible.
Developers also won’t need to waste time going back and recreating better versions of software that they’ve already made. It will have been tailored to the needs of end-users during the initial innovation process and won’t need to be greatly altered after receiving feedback.
They will therefore have time to create new solutions and move forward with their other ideas.
This is essential especially at small businesses where development teams may only have around 15 people. Everyone needs to put their heads together 100% of the time or solutions may take ages to roll out. By the time these products are finished, operators may have moved on to the next best thing.
How Does It Benefit the Operator/User?
DevOps usually focuses on in-house communication between developers of products and operators within that business who use this software to create the goods and services that consumers buy. Development teams often create applications and interfaces for these operators to use to develop their core product.
In these situations, DevOps benefits the operator by making their job faster and more user-friendly. They have the option to ask developers for specific features that they know that they will use to create and innovate.
They also will be able to monitor their campaigns more easily with DevOps analytics tools and relay their findings to development teams that can do something about software malfunction.
Does It Benefit Other Workplace Teams as Well?
Other areas of your small business beyond developers and operators will experience the benefits of DevOps. Customer service will be more efficient because representatives will know all about the applications and SaaS solutions that people inquire about to them. This will make customer service faster and more accurate, leaving people satisfied with your quality of service.
Marketing teams also will gain greater insight into the products that they’re aiming at consumers. The collaborative and open culture of your small business will encourage them to use DevOps communication tools to ask production teams about the services that they’re trying to make relevant to your target audience.
The ultimate impact is that all areas of your workplace will have an easier time performing their jobs.
How Do Consumers View DevOps?
Consumers that have heard of DevOps and implement these strategies in their own businesses will be more likely to support your startup. They will enjoy supporting businesses with similar values. They also will understand that they’re receiving a higher quality product off the bat when they hear that you use DevOps, which will obviously drive sales.
However, depending on the solutions that you offer, the bulk of your clients may not have heard of DevOps. That’s okay- they still will reap the benefits of your collaborative culture.
Consumers who use businesses that have implemented DevOps strategies will see enhanced software quality and constant improvement to the products that they use. They also won’t need to deal with bugs because DevOps tools catch them before or immediately after they appear. Bugs will be fixed quickly and efficiently so consumers can remain satisfied with the service.
This leads to better reviews and higher customer retention rates.
Reap the Benefits of DevOps Services Today
Now that you know what DevOps services are and how small businesses like yours can benefit from using these services, it’s time to learn more about the DevOps tools available to your organization.
Contact our experts with any remaining questions that you may have. We’re excited to hear more about your business so that we can pair you with the perfect collaboration, monitoring, and management tools for your specific needs.