The 13th Principle: DevOps Takes an Extra Injection to the Agile Manifesto

Take a look at the 12 Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto and you may or may not notice a glaring Principle that is missing.  That Principle is this:

You MUST bring your awkward and distant cousin (a.k.a. IT Ops & Architecture) into the mix.

Let's be honest ... you see your distant cousin only as needed - maybe only a few times a year - so that means each time you have to spend the first 3 hours with uncomfortable "getting to know you again" chit-chat before you can get to the real meat of the family reunion.  That is, unless you keep them involved from the beginning, and throughout all stages of the SDLC, starting with business requirements gathering, you will always go through an uncomfortably awkward dance.

The question is "How do you propose we do that"?  

"I mean, they don't understand what we're trying to accomplish (and many times I question whether they even care), and they speak with a strong brogue of Klingon that makes it very challenging to communicate."

Some talk about creation of a Tiger Team made up of ... everyone.  Yes, everyone:  Dev, the LOB, IT Ops, Security and so on.  This "special forces" squad will challenge the way each group does what they do.  They will - through friction and osmosis - create empathy and understanding of the bigger picture, starting and ending with what the business is trying to accomplish, and filled in with agility, supportability, risk reduction, and consistency.  

SIDE NOTE:  If you haven't read The Phoenix Project, get on it.  Everyone in the org from top to bottom needs to have this perspective.  Hold a book review to ensure everyone gets it before endeavoring on any transformation.  My 2 cents.

Here's the main ingredient:  Executive backing and involvement.  Assuming your edict to "create DevOps" is going to result in a magical transformation is a fairy tail.  It will fail without your constant involvement and servant leadership.

And here's the main thing:  If you don't have a business reason to do DevOps, don't do it.  Doing DevOps because everyone else is, or because you just "think you should" is no way to begin.  So, think long and hard about what business (not just IT) outcome you are looking to accomplish before starting any effort.  For more on this, read the short book, Leading the Transformation.  It's chuck full of great guidance around establishing a strong and purposeful DevOps practice within your ranks.  

---

Greg Robert Dean is a Transformation Advisor in VMware's Software Defined Enterprise Business Unit.