Beyond the word.
WHAT IT IS
A way of working where the people building software and the people running it share responsibility for both.
WHAT IT IS NOT
A job title, although it is used as one A set of tools A department
WHAT PROBLEM IT ADDRESSES
Developers throwing work over a wall to operations, and operations blocking releases to protect stability.
WHAT THAT PRODUCED
Infrequent, large, risky releases Blame after every failure Nobody owning the whole outcome
WHAT THE PRACTICE CHANGES
Releases become small and frequent Infrastructure is described in code Deployment is automated and repeatable Failures are treated as system problems, not personal ones
WHAT THAT REQUIRES
Version control for everything Automated testing Automated deployment Monitoring A culture where problems are reported rather than hidden
WHAT A SMALL TEAM NEEDS
The same principles, at a scale that fits.
WHAT TO START WITH
Version control, then automated deployment, then monitoring.
