DrupalCon Amsterdam 2014: How we Quantified the True Business Value of DevOps

Speakers: ronald_istosacrollet
It is more or less universally accepted that the DevOps movement has led to better quality projects, improved quality of life for developers, and finally brought peace between the development and operations camps. However, it is still challenging to quantify the real value of DevOps, especially because it is often seen as a cost center rather than a value generator.

At Bluespark we wanted to get to the heart of the matter and present convincing evidence of the true savings DevOps can bring to a project. To do this we inspected a number of different projects (analyzing the tickets and time logs associated with them) to identify which tasks we performed manually before putting DevOps in place. In essence, we were able to quantify the efficiencies gained by implementing automated testing, continuous integration and other DevOps principles.

Finally, we took this approach one step further and extrapolated potential savings using different DevOps techniques. The end result is an interesting analysis of the value DevOps can bring to a real world project, and a comparative analysis of different approaches/techniques.

We will discuss:

The Drupal Development Process Prior to DevOps
How DevOps changes the Development Cycle and what cost benefits (if any) are to be had
How different DevOps approaches impact outcomes (Answering the question “Is more DevOps always a good thing?”)
You will come away with an improved understanding of the ROI of implementing DevOps offers (or indeed what you’re gaining from processes in place). Additionally, the comparative analysis will clarify where to focus limited resources in order to get the most “bang for the buck”.

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