DevOps CI/CD Services Explained

If you are a developer, system admin or any kind of IT manager you are aware of the concept “integration hell,” aren’t you? This is the situation when altered code is integrated into the core codebase, which almost never happens smoothly and quickly. When done manually, it takes hours, days and in some cases weeks or even months to fix all the bugs and test them and deliver to the core brunch over and over again. This is where Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CD) practices step on the scene to save the day! With CI/CD implementation and, ideally, automation, the process of code building, testing, committing the altered versions back to the core repository and rapid deployment to the user’s environment anytime when needed is fully streamlined, which spares developers, system admins and IT leaders much of their time and nerves. What’s more, CI/CD automated pipelines remove manual errors and provide feedback that enables rapid reactions focusing on product quality improvement.  On the other hand, improperly implied, CI/CD pipelines will not only be inefficient but also significantly delay the software delivery process. That’s where DevOps saves the day. You need DevOps holistic approach to automate CI/CD pipelines properly.

Best DevOps practices 

• Continuous integration: CI allows all the developers to accommodate their code together with all its features into a shared repository countless times during the day. That is how the development team can detect problems immediately and solve them ASAP.
• Continuous delivery and deployment: CD supports the code release into repository or production automatically right away after it is tested. This considerably improves software quality and the customers find it easy to explore it and make the most of the new version.
• Continuous monitoring: The earlier a problem is determined, the faster it is fixed and the software quality is higher. When the product development and release process is constantly monitored, and automatic alerts for any bugs, failures, or errors buzz any situation that can cause system break is controlled.

Why do you need CI/CD services? 

CI, when correctly implemented and automated, means that new code changes to the software are continuously built, tested, and merged to a core repository. It’s a solution if you have a lot of branches in development configured at once which might conflict with each other. The CD term refers to continuous delivery and/or continuous deployment, which can be used as the same concept or separately, depending on how much automation is involved.  Continuous delivery usually means changes are automatically tested and added to a repository, where they can then be deployed to a live production environment by the IT operations team. Continuous deployment, in turn, means automatically releasing changed code from the repository to production, where it can be utilized by customers. To set up and automate CI/CD pipelines correctly is not an easy thing to do, especially for small businesses and startups that experience a lack of skilled specialists. If this is your case you should turn to DevOps companies that provide CI/CD services. Their teams will establish and automate simple, fast and secure CI/CD pipelines for your team to become more productive, and for your business to grow. 

Bottom line: Get CI/CD services?

If you read the article to the end, you already know the answer to this question. And the answer is absolutely positive. If growing an in-house DevOps team is not an option for you, for various reasons, you should consider turning to professional DevOps companies that provide CI/CD services.