Advancements in Project Management

Breaking the Software Development Tradition

Traditionally, software development has used a “waterfall” method which follows a rigid process working through required steps. These include gathering, design, implementation, verification, and finally a long-lived maintenance phase. Each phase must be completed before the next phase may begin.

The waterfall approach comes with various disadvantages including “interminable up-front planning” [Loukides] and rigidity that even with extensive planning still “does not cater for the possibility of requirements changing” [Hughey].

Additionally, vendors in some clients’ experience may have been unclear with their development plans and/or unwilling to develop test plans to ensure all project requirements are met. Fresh iterations of software have had slow turn-around time due to non-standard deployment processes.

Clients and end users expect that software will be shipped frequently and on time. In 1991 when Linus Torvalds started development of a computer operating system, the Linux kernel, he chose to implement rapid release cycles and gather feedback often. This was against the norm of the time where typically only large, long development window deliverables were shipped in a practice called "cathedral building" [Raymond] and feedback was sparsely collected.

With small and frequent releases enabling rapid gathering of feedback (which in turn helped plan future development direction), the Linux kernel grew rapidly into an in-demand operating system. Today, billions of devices use the Linux kernel and Torvalds’ early insight into the power of rapid development has become mainstream and a core tenant of DevOps.

Project documentation is another important part of a successful DevOps strategy. Strong documentation helps onboarding new development team members to a project and aids in tracking the myriad of intricate details the team needs to continue progressing. Transparency in testing procedure documentation also helps ensure client satisfaction with the delivered software and, in turn, reinforces project security, reliability, and better utilization of cloud resources [Google, page 21]. The impact of good documentation is felt throughout the entire DevOps cycle and is a great place for everyone to contribute.