DevOps
Definition
Development and Operations combined - practices that unify software development and IT operations for faster, more reliable releases.
Use Cases
- Amazon: Frequent, low-risk deployment of changes across many internal services — Adopted a microservices-oriented architecture and standardized automated build, test, and deployment pipelines to support continuous delivery across teams. (Enabled rapid iteration and frequent releases by reducing manual deployment steps and improving repeatability through automation.)
- Netflix: Reliable software delivery for a large-scale streaming platform with high availability requirements — Built an automated delivery approach with extensive testing, deployment automation, and resilience practices (including failure testing) to support frequent changes without sacrificing reliability. (Improved deployment confidence and operational resilience, supporting frequent updates while maintaining service reliability.)
- Etsy: Moving from infrequent releases to continuous deployment for an e-commerce marketplace — Invested in deployment automation, monitoring, and a culture of shared responsibility between development and operations to make releases routine and safer. (Increased deployment frequency and reduced the risk and stress of releases by making changes smaller and more observable.)
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the difference between DevOps and CI/CD?
- DevOps is the broader culture and set of practices that align development and operations (collaboration, shared ownership, automation, measurement). CI/CD is a set of technical practices and tools within DevOps that automate building, testing, and deploying software. You can implement CI/CD without fully adopting DevOps culture, but CI/CD is commonly a core part of DevOps.
- When should I use DevOps?
- Use DevOps when you need faster and more reliable software delivery, especially if you have frequent changes, multiple teams, or production incidents caused by manual processes. It’s a strong fit for web apps, APIs, and cloud-native systems where automation, monitoring, and rapid rollback reduce risk. Start with a small service or team, automate the pipeline, and expand as you see improvements.
- How much does DevOps cost?
- DevOps costs are mainly people/time plus tooling and infrastructure. Tooling can range from free/open-source to paid SaaS or cloud services (CI/CD, artifact storage, security scanning, monitoring). Infrastructure costs may increase if you add more test environments, build runners, or observability data retention. Many teams offset costs by reducing downtime, speeding delivery, and lowering manual operational effort.
Category: software
Difficulty: intermediate
Related Terms
See Also