9 Amazing CI/CD Benefits in DevOps Culture
Before the introduction of DevOps in the IT sector, all the tasks were carried out manually, which often created errors on different levels of the Software development life cycle. This caused a lot of chaos between and among engineering and other functional teams.
Even today, most of the companies which are not aware or reluctant to accept the DevOps culture are using the traditional SDLC processes, and of course, are facing ample issues. Someone misses sending information to a new employee, overlooks a critical action during the testing phase, or uploads code with a single small error that slips through the gaps can quickly become a major issue.
This is where an important part of DevOps i.e., CI/CD answers back to error-prone traditional SDLC methodologies with its automated approach. The goal of CI/CD is to enable software development teams to constantly implement software upgrades into production to accelerate release rates, mitigate costs and nullify risks all across the development phase.
With the need to faster-to-market, CI/CD has now become an important part of DevOps culture to satisfy the requirement of business and accelerate its progress in the highly competitive market.
In this blog, we will be explaining the different and important benefits of implementing CI/CD in your DevOps culture to enjoy the success of huge savings of money and time. But first, let us tell you about what is CI (Continuous Integration) and CD (Continuous Delivery) so that you can have a better understanding of these terms.
What Exactly is Continuous Integration (CI)?
Continuous Integration (CI) is a development practice in which developers frequently, preferably several times per day, integrate code into a shared repository. An automated build and automated tests can then be used to validate each integration.
Continuous Development: What is It?
Continuous Delivery is a software development method in which software is built in such a way that it can be deployed to production at any time. By combining integration and testing, CD strives to ensure that the code is always deployable, even as developers make constant improvements to the codebase.
The intention is to simplify the delivery/deployment procedure so that anticipated activities may be completed on demand.
CI/CD Pipeline: What is It?
A CI/CD pipeline is made up of different subsets of jobs that are bundled together into a pipeline stage. The goal is to optimize the software development and delivery process by incorporating tracking and automation. A DevOps solutions company focuses on the smooth operation of each phase with the help of this CI/CD pipeline.
The stages of CI/CD are mentioned below in no particular order:
- Build: application compilation
- Test: automation testing takes place
- Release: the repository receives the application.
- Deploy: deployment of code to production
- Validate: validation and verification of build
CI/CD is a subset of DevOps automation and before explaining the various benefits related to CI/CD let me show you some key steps of DevOps automation.
These DevOps automation steps subtly consist of the above stages.
1. Consider Your Requirements
To go with this step, you need to figure out exactly what do you want to accomplish so you can concentrate on your objectives.
2. Identify the Bottlenecks in Your Process
Now that you have your goal and requirements in place, it is time to find out the gaps and errors so that you would get an idea of why didn’t achieve your goal yet and will be able to fix those errors quickly with precision.
3. Take into Account the ROI
You have your tasks ready to execute that you may add to the backlog of your project. This gives the ease to prioritize the tasks required to be delivered firsthand, which in turn reduces any hurdle to increase your ROI.
4. Assess and Review Regularly
Reexamining the DevOps pipeline is of utmost importance because, previously you have cleared one of the bottlenecks, assessing on regular basis uncovers other bottlenecks which require your attention. This way, you will be able to come up with minimal-to no-bugs product.
These 4 steps of DevOps make us more confident about the bug-free product and helps us to improve our organization’s process.
How Business Benefits from CI/CD Approach?
Now that we are clear on the important terms related to this blog, CI/CD benefits are the hidden gems we will throw light on for your project:
1. Integration of Small Batches of Code at a Time
Enhanced code quality is the result of the CI/CD pipeline approach. Developers can integrate their code into a common repository in tiny batches using a CI/CD pipeline. The whole team now collaboratively looks out for severe bugs and bug clusters and works on fixing them.
Furthermore, by sharing stable versions more frequently, devoid of any severe bugs, bad code is less likely to make it to deployment.
This approach works well when direct communication is a hurdle between members of a team and remotely working employees as well.
2. Speedy Delivery Rhythms
Detecting faults quickly and fixing them with a snap of a finger makes the release rate happen at an exponential speed. Frequent releases, on the other hand, are only conceivable if the code is produced in a constantly changing system.
Continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) integrates and releases code to production regularly after extensive testing, ensuring that the code is release-ready. This mechanism should be set by companies so that the same processes can be repeated and their effects can be watched closely under each change taking place.
3. Identification and Isolation of Fault
The widely touted benefit of CI/CD is that it identifies the fundamental source of the problem and then pinpoints the precise spot of the problem.
Fault isolations are easier to detect and apply when your system is designed with CI/CD principles. Tracking the system, determining when the issue did occur, and signaling its location are all part of fault isolation, which restricts the scope of bugs appearances in the software.
One of the most compelling reasons to use a CI/CD pipeline is that it simplifies and accelerates fault isolation before it has a system-wide impact.
4. Scaled-down Backlogs
The amount of non-critical bugs in your backlog is reduced when you integrate CI/CD into your development phase. These minute bugs are identified and fixed in the early phase of the development process.
Your development and QA teams gain a lot from this CI/CD approach.
- Concentration on larger issues rather than wastage of time on small issues
- Client satisfaction (cause is lesser or nil bug leaks!)
5. Souped-up Test Reliability
Implementing Continuous integration/continuous deployment enhances test reliability to a greater degree. Tiny and particular changes allow the QA team to run germane positive and negative test cases. Continuous reliability is the exact name of this testing within the CI/CD pipeline.
With the constant merging and release of new products and features, investors can rest certain that quality was prioritized throughout the workflow.
An experienced company focuses on testing parts simultaneously so that with frequent delivery of versions, the product comes out bug-free.
6. Accelerated Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR)
The mean time to resolution (MTTR) is a measure of the maintainability of any or all repairable features.
It essentially shows you the picture of how much time is spent recovering from a breakdown. Smaller code modifications and faster fault separation help keep failures to a minimum. This is a special quality and requirement for any business to smoothly and seamlessly operate their business.
It also aids in fast recovering from any setbacks, as the CI/CD pipeline makes sure that the fix is swiftly tested in conjunction with the rest of the code before being deployed to production.
7. Greater Accountability and Transparency
CI/CD has an even larger benefit like it helps all the team members to stay on the same page. Continuous integration concentrates on this benefit, as the reports it generates detail all build failures, code integration issues, structural bottlenecks, and so forth.
CD is more concerned with getting the product to the end-users as quickly as possible to obtain critical customer feedback.
This way, the perfect combination of CI and CD helps in maintaining transparency and accountability among the team members, thereby reducing the disintegration and clutter.
8. Cost Mitigation
By letting it be deployed during non-critical business hours, a CI/CD pipeline reduces the potential effect and loss that a deployment problem can generate. This provides extra time for developers to fix the issues quickly, as there are fewer code modifications.
The adoption of such a pipeline improves code quality, enhancing the organization’s total ROI.
9. Frequent & Easy Maintenance and Updates
Maintaining and updating the product regularly guarantees shorter and more targeted release cycles, preventing the deployment of features that needs improvement and can be released in the next cycle.
This maintenance work happens during non-critical business hours, giving extra time for the team to focus on other high-priority tasks.
A proficient DevOps solutions company takes care of maintenance by collaborating with its client and arranging a time slot for up-gradation during low-traffic periods.
Winding-up
The mentioned CI/CD benefits are surely going to not only benefit business but also the investors and customers because they induce cost reduction and higher Roi. Cost mitigation and better revenue allow businesses to perform more efficiently and these benefits clearly show that it’s high time to switch to better business operations.
Just remember that the more phases in your CI/CD pipeline you have, the more benefits you can enjoy. It will improve the pace and quality of your releases automatically.
If you desire to see your business operation run smoothly and noticeable growth in ROI, then DevOps is the answer. If you are stuck or still operating your business with traditional SDLC methodologies, now is the time to consult a trustworthy DevOps solutions company and Apptread is one to go for. Consult today over a free 30-minute call to uncover the possibilities for your business growth.