Difference Between Agile and DevOps

What exactly is DevOps?

DevOps is a software development methodology that emphasises communication, integration, and cooperation among IT workers to allow quick product release. DevOps is a culture that encourages collaboration between the Development and Operations Teams. This enables quicker and more automatic code deployment to production. It contributes to an organization's ability to offer applications and services more quickly. It is described as the integration of development and IT operations.

What exactly is Agile?

In the SDLC process, Agile Methodology entails continual iteration of development and testing. Iterative, incremental, and evolutionary development is emphasized in this software development technique. The agile development method divides the product into smaller components and assembles them for final testing. It may be applied in a variety of techniques, including scrum, Kanban, scrum, XP, and so on.

Agile vs. DevOps: The Advantages, Disadvantages, and Differences

Fundamentally, DevOps brings together two big segregated teams to enable faster software releases, whereas Agile focuses on getting smaller teams to communicate with each other to respond rapidly to ever-changing customer demands. Davy Hua, Head of DevOps at Shift left in Santa Clara, California, described how Agile and DevOps are managed. “Agile uses sprints to manage development schedules that span from a week to [months], whereas DevOps concentrates on hyper-releases that begin with many per day,” Hua explained. DevOps and Agile can coexist because they complement each other. 

DevOps emphasises a completely automated continuous integration and deployment pipeline to enable frequent releases, whereas Agile enables quick adaptation to change needs and improved cooperation among smaller teams. Michael Mazyar, CTO of Cary, North Carolina-based Samanage, emphasised the “mutual benefits” of DevOps and Agile. “When utilized in combination, Agile and DevOps may help businesses create and execute technologies at a way faster pace. [In addition], there is a focus on putting customer demands at the forefront of whatever technology you are building, [together with] a knowledge of how the software is utilised and [how it works].

However, the potential downsides of both DevOps and Agile are inherent in the “significant cultural shift” that they both necessitate. DevOps necessitates two segregated teams cultivating a connection to collaborate, whereas Agile necessitates businesses moving away from a traditional static work environment.

Mayzar emphasised that these potential issues are likely to arise in larger companies. “Within a corporation, particularly bigger companies, various teams are likely to possess established in their way of thinking the practice of focusing only on departmental goals. For both methods, enough resources and stakeholder support are required.” Individually, Singaraju noted that while Agile offers numerous advantages over the traditional waterfall methodology, it does have certain drawbacks, particularly for bigger teams. “Agile offers several benefits, including user-focused development, enhanced team communication, rapid product delivery, and flexibility.” However, it does have certain drawbacks, such as the unpredictability of the ultimate objective and making it work for big teams.” Singaraju discussed DevOps and how it may speed up product creation, but if not done correctly, it can be a burden. “DevOps provides improved quality, performance, and faster product innovation.” However, if not done correctly, DevOps may be disastrous.

Agile and DevOps Can Coexist

Agile and DevOps are not the same, but that doesn't imply you should prioritise one over the other. On the contrary, the Agile and DevOps methodologies may complement each other. BoxBoat's CTO, Will Kinard, stated that the company "uses the agile approach as a motivation for building a DevOps culture." In his opinion, both play an important role in building software faster and maintaining software more efficiently. “ the 2 words are distinct; the previous emphasises an iterative approach to development, whilst the latter combines two historically independent practises: development and operations. “However, the last word objective of every is to foster more collaboration,” Kinard added. “So, while Agile and DevOps are two distinct concepts, use one to facilitate the opposite,” he concluded. Finally, Singaraju stated that the biggest advantage of the Agile methodology is that it allows businesses to create apps that are driven by user demands. “Any firm, large or small, that wants to develop apps driven by user demands and generate goods for the market at a faster pace should embrace Agile development practises,” Singaraju added. Singaraju highlighted that DevOps is ideal for rapidly inventing and continually enhancing apps. “Companies that want to develop quicker and be market leaders must be able to provide a high-quality product at a rapid pace. “The majority of the leading technology firms and industry leaders prioritise DevOps in product delivery,” Singaraju added

Conclusion:

With these observations in mind, it is obvious that both Agile and DevOps strive to provide end-user value more efficiently – albeit from distinct perspectives. Agile focuses on increasing the efficiency of developers and development cycles, whereas DevOps involves the operations team to allow continuous integration and continuous delivery.

According to Dave West, author of a DevOps.com post, “their [Agile and DevOps] focus also differs, causing many to assume that they are separate things: Agile stresses team relationships, culture, and ideals, whereas DevOps emphasises delivery pipelines and flow.”