Hire a DevOps Engineer: When & Why You Need Them
DevOps Engineers: Who are they, and how do you know when you need to hire a good one?
As you might have guessed from the name, DevOps covers both development and operations. Your business might be interested in DevOps for a number of reasons. Whatever the reason, hiring or training a DevOps engineer is a must at some point. If not, you could be left wondering why your team isn’t functioning as well as it did even a month ago.
But what does a DevOps engineer do? What are their responsibilities? If you’re not familiar, it might sound a bit intimidating. But don’t worry, it’s not. The role can be complicated, but the benefit of hiring or training a DevOps engineer is plain to see. Of course, by now, you might be asking what that benefit actually is.
Let’s find out. It might surprise you to learn what a DevOps engineer can do for your business.
What’s DevOps?
DevOps deals mostly with software. Namely, software development. It’s a strategy that joins IT, developers, and the rest of your team. That might sound simple, but DevOps can create some much-needed change in your business. It’s the kind of change that has the potential to transform your business into what you’ve always envisioned.
For example, DevOps allows a team to introduce and implement new features much more quickly than usual. These features often stem from feedback and needs from the rest of the team. These almost instantaneous implementations can save your business from getting behind when deadlines are tight.
Without DevOps, your business might suffer from some bottlenecks. For example, you might have an issue on your website that prevents prospects from making a purchase. If you can’t fix that immediately, you’ll miss out on sales, profits, and loyal customers. By employing DevOps, you can enjoy more streamlined workflows with automated processes and purpose-built toolchains.
You can learn more from this article that explains DevOps in more detail.
What’s a DevOps engineer?
Now you have an idea of what DevOps entails, but you might now know the best person to handle it. After all, DevOps encompasses many responsibilities and departments. The good news is that the answer is simple: you need a DevOps engineer. But what does that look like?
A DevOps engineer specializes in IT, but they need experience with both development and operations. Ideally, they should know about toolchains, coding, administration, and infrastructures. On top of those things, a good DevOps engineer should be able to communicate across an entire company between departments.
All these responsibilities come together to facilitate more collaboration in your business. Of course, a DevOps engineer has their role, but employing one means more than a new position in the workplace. DevOps should be an all-encompassing shift toward a streamlined and cohesive workflow across your entire business. That’s the real importance of a DevOps engineer.
What does a DevOps engineer do?
How complex is your business? Does that complexity ever cause issues in your day-to-day operations? That’s what a DevOps engineer helps with. They solve problems in a timely manner and make sure things run smoothly. A good DevOps engineer brings cohesion through automation and communication.
That can look like a number of different things. A DevOps engineer wears many hats, which is what makes the role so valuable. For example, a good DevOps engineer might be in charge of automations, integrations, coding, scripting, administration, management, and communication.
As you can see, a DevOps engineer has more than a few responsibilities. Of course, every business is different. Your DevOps engineer might need to do different things than one in another business. Regardless, a good DevOps engineer automates processes and makes them cohesive across all your departments.
What kinds of skills does a DevOps engineer need?
The skills of a good DevOps engineer vary from interpersonal to technical. In other words, the ideal DevOps engineer needs to handle — you guessed it — both development and operations. Sounds simple, but there’s more to it than you might think. So, what should a DevOps engineer do for your business?
First, they should have great interpersonal and communication skills. This lets them find solutions across a business, regardless of their departments. This is one of the most important parts of being a DevOps engineer between written and verbal communication.
A DevOps engineer should also know your specific toolchain from top to bottom. This is a little harder to define since your toolchain is unique to your business. They’ll often revamp or standardize your tools so your team can work better together.
Past this, the skills you require in your business will vary. You might need someone experienced with QA so they can sync with your team. Maybe you need someone to provide technical support at all times. Or you could just need a great coder who can make changes on the fly. Regardless, a good DevOps engineer will be flexible and adapt to different situations.
How do you know you need to hire a good DevOps engineer?
Whether you know it or not, you can most likely use a DevOps engineer. But you have to make sure you hire or train a good DevOps engineer. The good news is that you now have a better idea of what that entails and what you should look for in the process.
If you’re still not sure, consider a few things. Do you feel like your business needs an overhaul in any sense? Or a fundamental change in operations? Maybe you realize some of your processes and tools don’t work as well as they should.
If that’s the case, you may need a DevOps engineer. One note, though: employing DevOps in your business requires more than just an engineer. Your entire team has to make a shift to accommodate the change. But if you put in the time and effort, you could find your business operating more efficiently than ever before.
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