According to the results of a new global study, only 20% of organisations that have attempted to implement DevOps have fully deployed it.

Research commissioned by CA Technologies also found that these ‘advanced’ DevOps adopters were more likely to report that their digital initiatives contributed to competitiveness, customer retention and top- and bottom-line results.

Nine components that are key to maximise DevOps

In the study titled, Assembling the DevOps Jigsaw, more than 80% of senior IT and business executives confirm nine components that are key to maximise DevOps effectiveness. Vital areas of focus include business stakeholder education; security and compliance measures; and cross-functional IT processes.

“To leverage the full potential of DevOps, organisations need to ensure IT is properly skilled and working collaboratively, as well as put in place the necessary enablers and controls,” said Michael Madden, General Manager, CA Technologies.

Having a well-defined strategy and objectives

Even though DevOps is seen as a key component to driving business agility and keeping up with customer demands, only a little over half (55%) of respondents stated that they have a well-defined DevOps strategy and objectives.

Furthermore, while 86% considered business stakeholder education, and the alignment of IT and business priorities to be important, only 33% and 37% respectively had completed these steps.

Although both development and operations teams may have individually implemented modern methods and automation techniques, the majority (63%) of the DevOps adopters say there’s still work to be done in relation to infrastructure and tooling.

Also, with 46% of respondents still working on security and compliance, it’s clear that most activity is not well supported from an enabling platform and risk management perspective.

Benefits of adopting DevOps

According to the study, the cost and effort of implementing DevOps is worth it. Compared to those without, advanced adopters are:

• 2.5 times more likely to have seen improvements in customer retention.
• 2 times more likely to have seen improvements in customer acquisition.
• 3.4 times more likely to have seen progress on market share.
• 2 times more likely to have seen a positive impact on revenue growth.
• 2.4 times more likely to have experienced higher profit growth.

Edited from press release by Cecilia Rehn.