Digital Transformation and the Art of Taming Feral DevOps – Techstrong Con 2023
Feral DevOps sounds like an oxymoron, right? DevOps describes a culture and philosophy where developers and operators closely collaborate and communicate for more efficient and effective system operations. ‘Feral,’ on the other hand, conjures images of lone wolves and scraggly wild cats depending on themselves alone to survive. And you’re right; it is a contradictory term, but one that accurately describes an organization’s first steps on their DevOps journey.
The misunderstanding that DevOps is a tool or team or role has tragically increased the gulf between developers and operators. If you have been unofficially on-call 24/7, toiled away in turmoil, managed initiatives across multiple silos sans project manager with a directive to “influence without authority”… surprise! You have lived the contradiction that is feral DevOps!
Consequences of letting this fester include: Burnout, learned helplessness and missing out on the speed that happens when developers and operators communicate openly. Taming feral DevOps is a journey you can start by gathering feedback on the status quo, iterating on onboarding and training and holistically examining on-call health. Whether you’re an individual contributor, manager or leader you will find ideas to experiment with to “domesticate” DevOps in your organization
