So what about deployment automation 2.0 and 3.0? What are the key elements that make automated deployments successful?
Tuesday July 26th I participated in an online panel on the subject of Deployment Automation, as part of Continuous Discussions (#c9d9), a series of community panels about Agile, Continuous Delivery and DevOps. Watch a recording of the panel:
Continuous Discussions is a community initiative by
Electric Cloud,
which powers Continuous Delivery at businesses like SpaceX, Cisco, GE and E*TRADE by automating their build, test and deployment processes.
Deployment Automation 2.0 is not just another buzz word. And maybe even more surprisingly: it's not just about automation.
The experts in this panel explained that taking deployment automation to the next level is also a cultural thing. Sure, it's going from scripts to deployment tools, but the real difference is in the mindset of the organization. Are you automating with continuous delivery in mind? And are you really automating everything? Those are the things that make the difference. But the most important one in my opinion is: Are you re-using your automated solutions? Or in other words: Can you really be a learning organization? Deployment automation doesn't always come cheap. Not every team has the capability or the capacity to automate their deployment process. This is why standards and re-use are so important.
Is there any benefit in going to Deployment Automation 3.0? I think there certainly is. Automation can really speed up your delivery, but is it fast enough to beat the competition? New techniques like containers, make it possible to deploy in a totally different way. Using this because it's so cool is not the best option, but if you can speed up your software delivery process it's worth a try. My two cents on this: Don't ever accept the status quo. Challenge it! Always improve! Your customers certainly expect this from you.
Have a look at the video, and learn much more about deployment automation.
Enjoy!