DevOps automation is a productive platform where human assistance is reduced. Those processes that drive feedback loops between development and operations teams are pondered upon and worked accordingly through a structured strategy. The deployment of iterative updates can be done faster to applications in production through the tactical use of automation testing services in DevOps. In this article, you will get a brief understanding of the process of incorporating automation in DevOps and optimizing performance.

What is DevOps Automation?

It is a specific technological process wherein information technology and software engineering best practices are designed to enable continuous delivery and automation of software products. The testing, development, monitoring and deployment of software is automated by the automation platform. DevOps processes are automated by DevOps automation scripts, which are considered to be specific tools.

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Which of the following best describes how you currently monitor and manage systems across your hybrid cloud environment?(Required)

Multiple separate tools for different environments

Multiple separate tools for different monitoring and management functions

Single consolidated dashboard

Custom built monitoring and management solution

No full monitoring and management solution

Don’t know

How valuable would it be for your monitoring and management solution to incorporate predictive analytics to help you identify and address system issues that are critical and not waste time or effort working through all the data and “noise” that is not critical?(Required)

Extremely valuable

Moderately valuable

Somewhat valuable

Slightly valuable

Not valuable

How do you most typically address potential system issues BEFORE they impact your operations?(Required)

Automated workflows and playbooks to remediate potential issues as soon as they are detected

An orchestrated response process that leverages automation, AI, and human expertise to rapidly respond to potential issues

Advanced monitoring tools such as predictive analytics and anomaly detection to proactively identify and address potential issues

Respond to issues as they arise, using manual processes and troubleshooting techniques

A combination of automated remediation, orchestrated response, and/or proactive monitoring to address potential system issues

Don’t know

Other

What methods does your organization use to control and monitor cloud/IT spending?(Required)

Centralized procurement processes

Pre-approved budget thresholds

Automated cost monitoring tools

Department-level spending controls

Regular cost audits and reviews

Cloud cost optimization platform

Approval workflows for resource provisioning

Native financial operations tools provided by the cloud provider

No formal controls in place

Don’t know

Other

Please specify:

Which methods do you rely on most to detect security vulnerabilities in your systems?(Required)

Automated scanning tools

Manual assessments

Vendor notifications

Threat modeling (for early detection)

None of these

Don’t know

Other

Please specify:

What are the TWO most common ways you prioritize vulnerabilities to address within your environment?(Required)

Based on potential impact

Based on exploitability

Regulatory compliance requirements

Based on CVSS scores

Risk-based analysis of multiple factors

First-in-first-out approach

No formal prioritization process

Don’t know

How do you typically handle system updates and security patches?(Required)

Automated updates and patches

Manually review and apply updates and patches on a regular schedule

A combination of automation and manual review

Apply updates and patches on an as-needed basis.

Outsourced update and patch management

No defined process

Don’t know

Other

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This ensures that software delivery is carried out at a faster pace and developers can focus and work on other crucial testing tasks. Faster testing and deployment of software are ensured by automation scripts. This process is carried out in a repeatable, reliable and consistent manner.

Through the tactical implementation of DevOps automation, organizations can streamline their activities, enhance software quality and reduce the time consumed for marketing activities. The focus should also be on leveraging automation testing services.

The following are key processes that need to be taken into consideration for optimizing DevOps automation activities:

1. The Necessity of a Platform: A proper platform is required to carry out automation in DevOps. This platform should enable users to monitor, define and execute automated workflows and ensure that processes are provided with the required visibility.

2. Attainable Goals Need to be Set: Well-defined goals need to be set for the automation process. A proper roadmap can be followed by the team to make sure that the process is a success.

3. Used Processes Need to be Automated Frequently: Specific operations that should be automated first need to be identified. Organizations can get impacted frequently through these used

4. Automated Processes Need to be Tested: Testing should be carried out by the team to ensure that it is functioning appropriately. The testing can be conducted regularly to make sure that the DevOps test automation process runs as expected.

5. Automated Processes Need to be Monitored and Adopted: The processes should be monitored and necessary adjustments should be made if required. When the process is carried out properly it guarantees effective results.

6. Automated Processes Need to be Tracked and Reported: The progress of the automation process needs to be properly tracked and reported. The process is provided with the required visibility and areas for improvement are identified.

7. The Continuous Integration (CI) Platform Should be Leveraged: The development team that writes the code is combined by the CI platform into a single main source code Those bugs or errors that arise in the code are quickly identified by developers. It is a coherent part of automation testing services.

8. Continuous Delivery (CD) Platform Should be Used Tactically: The software is delivered to customers and users with reliable, fast and consistent delivery. It in turn helps organizations to ensure that their software is working as per the specific requirements and is always up to date.

9. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Should be Utilized: IaC is a specific process that helps organizations quickly manage, configure and deploy their IT infrastructure. When IT infrastructure management tasks are updated, the costs and time of an organization are reduced to a great extent.

When the above-mentioned processes are prioritized, DevOps automation can be achieved succinctly. This in turn helps quality software to be delivered quickly.

Initiating the Process of DevOps Automation

1. Identify the Current State of the DevOps Environment: Before the DevOps process is automated, the existing domain should be clearly understood. The people, techniques and tools involved in the current DevOps flow need to be properly examined.

2. Highlight the Areas of the DevOps Process that Need to be Automated: Once the current environment is properly understood, the areas that can benefit from automation are required to be identified. The activities that can be automated must be considered.

3. Select the Right Tools: For carrying out DevOps automation successfully, appropriate automation tools must be selected. The type of tasks that need to be automated should be taken into account.

4. Build the Automation Pipeline: Once the right tools have been selected, the DevOps automation pipeline needs to be built. It includes the devices being configured, making the necessary infrastructure and creating the automation scripts.

5. Test and Deploy the Automation Platform: Before the automation platform is deployed, it needs to be tested to make sure that it is working as expected. Once the checking is done (the team must ensure that everything is functioning correctly), the automation platform can be deployed to production.

6. Monitor and Optimize the Automation Process: Once the deployment has been done, it needs to be monitored to make sure that it is running efficiently and correctly. Tweaks or adjustments can be made to optimize the performance.

Here are a few of the best DevOps automation tools:

1. Kubernetes: It is an automation and container orchestration platform and is popularly used among DevOps teams. Containers are managed at a large scale and work well with Docker. The management of hundreds of containers is automated. Containerized apps can be deployed to a cluster.
2. Docker: It is a Linux-based open-source tool. Containerized environments are created for apps wherein they are made more secure and portable, and conflicts are reduced while testing. DevOps is enabled by the Docker tool so that applications can be built and run quickly and efficiently.

The containers can be accessed through the docker engine and then applications can be executed within a remote environment. Those organizations that are focused on minimizing infrastructure costs can opt for Docker.

3. Splunk: Through this tool, machine-generated logs or data are searched, analyzed and visualized in real time. The machine state is analyzed and hardware failure points are identified. The machine data is pushed to Splunk and all the available data is processed by the tool.
4. Ansible: It is an agentless configuration management tool that offers continuous delivery and can be easily deployed. Many repetitive tasks such as intra-service orchestration, application deployment and cloud provisioning are automated. Nodes can be connected through this tool and modules are pushed from a centralized place.

Conclusion

DevOps encourages collaboration and boosts the culture factor among development, operations and other relevant teams. The objective is to embrace the agile model and carry out technological processes at a faster pace. Automation not only improves the efficiency of DevOps but also helps in carrying out tedious tasks meticulously and easily. For more detailed and insightful information on the tactical implementation and execution of DevOps automation, you can consult with a premium software testing services company.