Is devops becoming a cloud-only sport?

Google just released its latest devops report: “Accelerate State of DevOps 2021.” The report found that respondents who use hybrid or multicloud were 1.6 times more likely to exceed their performance targets. These “elite performers,” as summarized in the report, deploy 973 times more frequently than poor performers. Moreover, these elites have a 6,570 times faster lead time to deploy and a three times lower change failure rate. Elites also recover 6,570 times faster from failures if they happen.

According to the report, continuous testing and continuous integration are both markers of success for elite performers. Another key to their success is trunk-based development. 

Trunk-based development is a source-control branching model where developers collaborate on code in a single branch, known as the trunk, and restrict their work to within that trunk. The purpose is to streamline merging and integration phases. This development process increases the optimization of continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) services, which in turn increases software delivery efficiency. 

The study also found that elite performers were 3.4 times more likely to execute database change management. That adds database maintenance to the list of critical success factors. Observability was another metric that defined an elite performer. Organizations that leverage observability tools such as AIops are 4.1 times more likely to have solutions that incorporate observability concepts and technology.

What does this all mean?

Here’s the first and most obvious observation: Organizations that use hybrid or multicloud are more likely to deploy devops best practices and toolchains. In this scenario, the appetite for risk is higher, as are the budgets to experiment with emerging technology such as cloud-based devops tools, databases, and observability. The ability to leverage new technology relates directly to the amount of risk and cost an organization is willing to invest in its future. 

Putting that aside for now, this report makes clear that most IT leaders with heterogeneous cloud deployments, including multicloud and hybrid cloud, have more choices of platforms for deployment and more choices of available tools. These leaders have access to better devops weaponry, which draws a straight line between the ability to pick best-of-breed technology and elite performer status.

Another bonus? Because they can choose options from a larger pool of technology, the end-state solutions are more likely to be optimized as to capabilities and cost. When comparing the abilities of elite performers to the rest of the pack, here’s the best analogy I can think of: The elite performers shop in a large department store that has all the best brands of coffee makers at all the best price points. Everyone else shops at a small-town hardware store that only offers a few brands with limited price selection. 

This does not mean that those who leverage multicloud and hybrid cloud will be elite performers by default. It does mean that those who open their cloud platforms beyond a walled garden are more likely to have optimized solutions for development, deployment, and operations. 

Once again, those with open minds who don’t limit their selection of solutions come out on top.