About 2 months ago I wrote an article on “Variable Speed DevOps“.  To be clear I first heard the term used by Carmen DeArdo, Director of Application Development at Nationwide.  It was a response or play on the 2 Speed IT dilemma. In 2 Speed IT, emerging digital processes coexist with traditional ones. The implication is that the “traditional” processes can’t run at the speed of the emerging digital ones (even older digital can’t run at the speed of newer digital processes). But the question is do they have to?

According to Carmen and other folks I have spoken to, the key is not making processes run faster than they are intended to. It is blending all of the different processes and the speeds they run at to mesh together into one finely tuned machine. Like the different size gears within a Swiss watch, perfectly tuned to keep the correct time down to the millisecond. Variable Speed DevOps is about the fine tuning of an organizations IT machine to make all of the different size and speed gears work flawlessly.

Step 1 of 7

14%

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

Δ

Of course this could be much easier said than done. Carmen has spoken about Nationwide’s journey in this regard. I have also had the pleasure of participating in a Google Hangout with Carmen, Sanjeev Sharma and Rosalind Radcliffe of IBM where we discussed this concept as well.

The notion of Variable Speed DevOps existing in Enterprises with traditional Systems of record, co-existing side by side with new Systems of engagement and code is destined to be as dominant in the world of DevOps within enterprises as Hybrid Cloud is going to be the dominant form of Cloud.

I believe that the idea of Variable Speed DevOps deserves a deeper look. There is much that we can learn and share by delving deeper into the concept and hearing from experts who are on the front lines of Variable Speed DevOps.  To do this we are teaming up with our friends at IBM to peel back layers of Variable Speed DevOps and show you how you can bring it to your organization.

We will be kicking of our deep dive into Variable Speed DevOps with a series of webinars, the first of which we are announcing today. I will personally be hosting these webinars. What better place to start our deep dive than with Carmen DeArdo and Sanjeev Sharma. We will feature other guests in future webcasts.

Part 1: May 5 – How Nationwide Insurance is adopting DevOps for variable speed IT systems
In the May 5th webinar, we will focus on the ongoing transformational journey at Nationwide Insurance and lessons learned. (Replay available)

Part 2: May 19 – Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation breaks down IT silos and speeds up mainframe development
In the May 19 webinar, we will focus on lessons learned at the Canada’s national housing agency in their DevOps and Agile transformation. (Replay available)

Part 3: June 2 – Show Me Success Before I’ll Invest in DevOps – A HM Health Solutions Case Study
On June 2 we will discuss the process for quantifying DevOps benefits for your business stakeholder. (Replay available)

Part 4: June 25 – Build, test and deploy mobile apps with back-end mainframe services securely in a hybrid cloud
On June 25 we will look into synchronizing mainframe, mobile and hybrid cloud to support end-to-end mobile development. (Replay available)

Besides the webinars, we will also feature articles and other content related to the topic.  We will build up this new section of our site over the coming weeks, so stay tuned.  But wait there is more. We want to hear from you! What is your view on Variable Speed DevOps? Do you have any lessons or thoughts on the subject? If so you can write me personally at editor@devops.com.  I would love to hear from you. We can have you write your own post on this, we could interview you for a future article or maybe you could be a guest on a future webcast.

Variable Speed DevOps is going to be important in your DevOps Journey.  Join us on May 5th to hear from Nationwide Insurance and stay tuned for additional client stories on this topic.