DevOps is a fast-growing field that encompasses the tools and processes used to streamline application development and delivery. And with the advent of the era of the cloud, the role of DevOps is now important more than ever before. It is also a crucial element for any company interested in staying competitive and delivering quality products.
People with DevOps skills are in high demand, but it’s not always easy to determine exactly what those skills are. But DevOps skills are essential for anyone looking to work in a software development environment.
If you’re interested in learning more about what it takes to succeed in this field, here are some of the top DevOps skills that you should consider so that you can implement DevOps best practices while developing:
Top 10 DevOps skills a developer must have
1) Communication and Collaboration
Communication and Collaboration skills are important in DevOps because they ensure that everyone is on the same page. This is especially important when it comes to teamwork.
If you’re working remotely, communication skills can help you build effective relationships with your team members. You can also use collaboration tools like Slack to make sure everyone’s on the same page when it comes to tasks and goals.
2) Soft Skills
Soft skills are important for all DevOps professionals, but they’re particularly important for those on an operations team.
Soft skills are the interpersonal and relationship-building skills that you need to be a good collaborator and communicator in the workplace. Other types of soft skills include negotiation, conflict resolution, cultural sensitivity, and emotional intelligence.
3) Understanding of Relevant Tools
The most important part of being a successful DevOps professional is understanding how to use the tools that they’re responsible for. This includes not just mastering them but also knowing how they interact with the other tools used in their organization. If you don’t understand how each tool works, then you can’t be expected to know how they fit into an overall DevOps strategy.
4) Security Skills
Security skills are a must-have for DevOps teams. Good security skills are especially important in an environment where DevOps teams are responsible for all aspects of the software development lifecycle. According to Gartner, “DevOps encompasses the entire SDLC, from design through production support, with security and compliance built-in from the start.”
DevOps professionals need to know how to secure applications throughout their entire life cycle, from design and development to deployment and production support. They also need to be able to identify vulnerabilities that might exist in their applications before they can be exploited.
The ability to understand how various security measures affect application performance is also essential for DevOps professionals who need to make sure applications run as efficiently as possible. They need to know how certain security measures might slow down applications or cause them to crash unexpectedly during testing or production use.
5) Automation Skills
The primary focus of DevOps is automation, which in turn is a key component of continuous delivery and deployment. The core skills for DevOps automation are programming, scripting, and systems administration.
Programming and scripting are necessary to write the code that automates the build process, tests, and deployments. Systems administration skills are required to install and configure the software needed to support automation tools.
Automation skills include:
- Scripting languages, such as PowerShell or Python
- Source code management tools like Git or SVN
- Continuous integration tools like Jenkins or Bamboo
6) Coding and Scripting
DevOps is a culture that embraces the idea of collaboration between developers and operations teams. A good DevOps engineer should have a basic understanding of both sides of the equation, but it’s important to know where your strengths lie.
If you’re more comfortable in the code than in operations, you can still contribute to DevOps by writing scripts and tools that automate tasks or otherwise improve productivity. If you like managing servers and networks, then automation might not be your thing.
For example, if you’re good at Ruby on Rails or Python but not so great at Bash, then consider using your language skills to write code that automates common tasks like deploying applications or checking system health. This is an area where many companies are currently looking for talent because there aren’t enough people with these skill sets available in the marketplace today.
7) Cloud Computing Skills
Cloud computing has become an increasingly important part of DevOps practices because it allows organizations to manage resources more efficiently than on-premises systems do. It also provides greater flexibility for customers who want access to resources at any time or place without having to invest in hardware or software themselves.
You don’t have to be an expert in cloud computing to do DevOps work, but it helps if you understand how clouds work so that you can choose the right services for your particular needs, says Forrester Research analyst Josh Greenbaum.”Cloud computing is an enabling technology,” he says.”It allows people to scale up very quickly.”
8) Testing Skills
The most basic DevOps skill is testing. In a traditional development process, developers often don’t test their code until right before it’s deployed. This means that bugs might go unnoticed until they’re shipped to customers.
But DevOps requires a different approach. It’s all about creating a culture of testing throughout the entire development process. This means that new features are constantly tested as they’re being developed and bugs are fixed before they make it into production.
To do this effectively, you need to have an understanding of what makes a good test case and how to write one. You also need to be able to automate your tests so that you can run them quickly and easily to test every change made by developers.
9) Customer-Focused Approach
The DevOps movement has been gaining momentum for years, but it’s still not fully understood by many businesses. One of the biggest misconceptions is that it’s about automation and doesn’t require any human interaction. But the best DevOps teams understand that their success hinges on building an agile culture where everyone works together to solve problems and create a great customer experience.
Customer-focused teams use all available data to understand how customers are using the product, what they like or dislike about it, and how they can improve it. They also use this information to guide product development decisions so their teams are always working on projects that will help bring more value to customers.
This approach leads to faster release cycles because you no longer have to wait for approval from multiple stakeholders before moving forward with new features or bug fixes. Instead, everyone knows that improving customer satisfaction is their top priority and they’re prepared to work together to get it done as quickly as possible.
10) Proactiveness
Proactiveness is another essential skill for DevOps engineers, as it gives them the ability to anticipate and prevent problems before they happen. As opposed to acting reactively when issues arise, proactivity allows engineers to identify potential issues before they occur, as well as quickly resolve them once they do appear. Proactive skills are especially important in DevOps environments, where a single failure can cause a ripple effect of other failures throughout the entire system.
Conclusion
Of course, these are only a few of the key skills that you’ll need to succeed in this field. If you’re serious about your career as a DevOps professional, it’s well worth your time to investigate others. As long as you can demonstrate an understanding of the key principles behind these tools and processes, along with the ability to apply them effectively on the job, you should have no trouble finding success.