Software development and operations used to be separate departments. Developers wrote code, while system administrators managed server deployments. The two teams’ communication was poor, leading to silos and divergent processes.
The DevOps approach changed all that. DevOps, a software development approach that encourages collaboration and communication between developers and operator’s teams is a method for creating software.
All sizes of organizations have widely adopted DevOps since its inception. While some companies opt for an in-house DevOps group, others outsource DevOps engineering services to third-party providers. You may be reading this because you are considering joining one of these teams that outsources DevOps.
We are here to help. This article will explain what DevOps outsourcing looks like, its advantages and drawbacks, and the key characteristics to look out for when you hire a third-party DevOps staff.
Grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable.
What is DevOps?
DevOps stands for a combination of operation and development. The product development process is divided into various tasks and phases. All of these fall under either development or operation. DevOps software engineers are skilled in operations and development, so there is a bright future for DevOps.
To fully understand the role of a DevOps Engineer, let’s discuss development and operations. The development section covers the product’s UI/UX design and coding. After that, the operations team handles testing and deployment.
This involves going back and forth between testing and development, then back to development for bug fixing. This can slow down the development process. Hiring DevOps experts can help reduce lead times by simultaneously handling development and operations.
This manages development and operations in the chorus, often called the DevOps Infinity Pool.
Why is DevOps important?
Google, the leader in performance due to automation, reported in State of DevOps 20,21 on the practices that enable software delivery and operational success. Data collected over seven years from 32 000 professionals revealed a 26% increase in elite performers. This means that a quarter of the professionals experienced a significant decrease in lead time for production changes.
Having the code developers work separately from the operation engineers responsible for maintaining and deploying the code is no longer necessary. According to a recent DevOps Institute report, 60% of organizations have either already hired DevOps experts or are considering it. The DevOps model is changing, and operations and development teams no longer have to be separated.
DevOps (pronounced “Dev-Ops”) is a method that automates repetitive tasks in software delivery. This improves communication and collaboration and reduces the time it takes to develop software.
DevOps-oriented developers are creators and keepers at the intersection between IT operations and software design. They can write code and deploy new services and understand the importance of maintaining IT infrastructure.
Each year we see the software industry improve and become more stable. This is possible through synergistic collaboration in both delivery and operational excellence.
The speed of delivery is also a critical factor in security issues. There has been an increase in malicious attacks over the past few years. Companies are adapting and shifting from reactive to proactive security measures. DevOps (DevSecOps) also includes security measures.
You must recognize the atmosphere and mood of your team. A healthy environment has a greater impact on team productivity and positively impacts the outcomes. A healthy environment is more productive and helps to eliminate negativity and stress.
Answering one of the most common questions is: DevOps can be used with outsourced development.
What Is DevOps Outsourcing?
In simple terms, DevOps outsourcing is hiring a third-party vendor to perform DevOps services. This could be anything from setting up a CI/CD pipe to managing server deployments or monitoring systems.
The UK, the USA, and Western Europe need more skilled tech talent. Many companies in these areas outsource DevOps to service providers in other countries.
DevOps services can be tailored to meet your project requirements. Still, they typically cover many areas, including configuration management, cloud services, low-code platforms, CI/CD implementation, and more.
Advantages of DevOps Outsourcing Services?
We’ve highlighted the many benefits of outsourcing DevOps services below. Every company is unique, so you need to weigh the pros and cons before you make a decision.
Flexibility
You can scale up or decrease your DevOps team as you need. This is especially useful when you have a large project and need an extra workforce or if your budget allows you to reduce your team quickly.
Suppose you are creating an app to support brand ambassador programs in preparation for a product launch. To ensure that the project runs on schedule and within budget, you may hire additional help. You’ll also be able to spend time on tasks such as writing project management reports. After completing the project, you can reduce your team size (and associated costs) without committing.
Cost-Effective
DevOps outsourcing can be very cost-effective. It is usually cheaper to outsource DevOps services than to hire an internal team, primarily if your company is based in the USA, UK, or Western Europe.
You only pay for what you use when you outsource DevOps. You don’t have to worry about having extra staff or resources you don’t need.
Expertise
Outsourcing DevOps services will give you access to experts who can offer valuable insight and guidance. You’ll be able to access a broad range of skills that can prove invaluable for your project. Scrum release cycles are a great example of something your team could benefit from but which you may need help implementing in-house.
Let’s face facts if you are a marketing genius working in a brand performance marketing company. Likely, you won’t be able to manage test management processes. Therefore, it is a good idea to hire someone who can.
Higher Quality
You can expect higher quality when you partner with a reliable outsourcing company. This is because providers have strict quality control procedures to ensure that their deliverables meet or exceed client expectations.
Let’s take, for example, a digital transformation platform that creates contract templates. Your DevOps team would ensure that the platform is reliable, secure, and scalable.
Shorter Development Cycles
DevOps outsourcing can help you to achieve shorter development cycles. This is because providers often have access to the most recent tools, technologies, and processes.
You are developing an app. DevOps teams would ensure that the app works with all browsers and devices. They’d use the most current testing and debugging tools.
What to Expect from DevOps-as-a-Service?
Remote teams are an excellent option for an in-house team. DevOps as a Service (DaaS) is a term that refers to the outsourcing of DevOps design, build, integration, and maintenance of DevOps solutions for your company to a third-party service provider. DevOps partners form a team of experts that work alongside your software team and manage your day-to-day operations.
A DevOps provider can help you implement best practices and principles in your organization and align them with your business goals. Each client is unique and the services offered are customizable. Each case is unique, and each client has different goals. The client and DevOps service provider need to discuss the scope of work and determine responsibilities. These are some of the many solutions an outsourced engineer can provide:
- Consulting and DevOps implementationinto business infrastructure;
- Plan for disaster recovery
- Automating development and production environments
- Migration of your application infrastructure to the cloud or cloud-to-cloud migration
- Dockerizing and building applications
DevOps outsourcing can be a great way to give businesses immediate access and skillsets with DevOps tools. This can help you avoid hiring an in-house expert team. How does this work?
How to Choose the Right DevOps Services Provider Company?
DevOps outsourcing is different from traditional outsourcing. DevOps is only for some. It is a complex technology integration. But it is a cultural shift. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to get started with DevOps outsourcing. It also explains how to select the right DevOps service provider partner and make it all successful.
Define your DevOps Goals
Start by identifying the areas you need to improve, and then define your goals and solve the problems with DevOps. This will help you choose the best DevOps company for your business, such as cost audit, 24/7 support, migration, big data, or data analytics.
Choose a Governance Framework
DevOps relies on collaboration. Therefore, an outsourcing framework for DevOps must outline the key processes and technologies. DevOps providers bring an outside perspective to the business and provide the expertise that adds value. The client is familiar with the company’s application and customer persona. They can collaborate and create teams with one mindset through a unified operating system.
Conduct Research and Match it to Your Criteria
DevOps outsourcing partners are crucial to your business’s success. The key to successful outsourcing is choosing the right partner. This checklist will help you to do thorough research on potential outsourcing partners. An experienced DevOps consulting firm should have a wealth of experience in DevOps outsourcing services.
- Determine the technical competence of a DevOps outsourcer
Assess your expertise in Cloud technologies, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), DevSecOps, and Monitoring and Logging.
- Do extensive background research.
Ask for referrals, review testimonials, examine portfolios, inspect case studies, look at industry verticals, and search for certifications.
Performance Tracking
The process of successful DevOps outsourcing continues when a deal is closed. Your business must ensure that your DevOps partner follows your operating model to gauge the success of your collaboration. The metrics that matter and are easy to track include deployment frequency, time for a change, recovery time, change failure rate, and so on. These metrics will confirm that you and your partner are on the same page and have a common mindset regarding business goals.
What are the Responsibilities of a DevOps Engineer?
We have now agreed to hire a DevOps Engineer for your company. Let’s talk about the responsibilities of DevOps engineers.
- DevOps engineers will be responsible for security audits and high-end security controls such as Linux/Unix and SSH keys.
- Your DevOps Engineer will be responsible for designing and maintaining continuous integration and delivery in CircleCI Gitlab, Amazon Web Services CodePipeline, or Jenkins.
- DevOps engineers will reduce deployment times and ensure faster delivery.
- With a DevOps Engineer onboard, you can automate scripting for your infrastructure, serves, cronjobs, and other processes.
- DevOps engineers have a wealth of experience connecting VPC networks, setting up VPN services, and troubleshooting network issues.
- DevOps engineers are responsible for troubleshooting web applications, maintaining and administering databases, creating micro-service architectures for SaaS apps, and many other tasks.
You will get a DevOps Engineer, a Linux administrator, and a site reliability expert if you hire them.
What to Look for When Hiring a DevOps Engineer?
Let’s discuss the skills you should look for in a DevOps Engineer. It is a highly-paid job, so candidates must be able to perform at their best.
Technical Skills Required for a DevOps Engineer
Your DevOps engineer should have the following technical skills:
- Experience as a Linux administrator, ideally two years.
- Familiarity and familiarity with open-source services like Nginx.
- AWS experience, such as Amazon S3, RDS, and IAM roles.
- Understanding network protocols like TCP/IP and UDP, HTTPS, networking, and many more.
- Extensive experience in deploying and launching web app stacks, such as Java apps, MERN stack, Python/Django apps, and many more.
- Security-related experience.
- Expertise in Docker and microservices and monitoring knowledge of New Relic Zabbix Grafana Prometheus and Zabbix.
These are just a few skills you must have to hire DevOps engineers that add value to your business.
A few advanced skills are necessary, however.
Advanced Skills Required for a DevOps Engineer
You will need to have the following skills to hire a DevOps expert:
- Expertise in the DevOps practice environment.
- Understanding the 12-factor method
- Experience with Azure EKS, Google Kubernetes Service, and Kubernetes Standalone.
- HIPAA, SOC2, or PCI Experience
- Terraform best practices and IaC knowledge
- Ability to design and implement serverless applications such as Lambda or Amazon Web Services
- Ability to create native cloud architectures
- More
Soft Skills Required for a DevOps Engineer
DevOps engineers work with many teams with various roles. It is, therefore, essential to search for soft skills in hiring DevOps engineers.
DevOps engineers must have excellent communication skills. Excellent communication skills are essential for working with other teams and managing the dev-ops mess. DevOps engineers must communicate effectively with people of different skill levels and be able to understand project requirements and resource requirements. Being familiar with online communication tools such as Slack, Zoom, and JIRA is also essential.
A DevOps engineer must also have a strong sense of teamwork. Collaboration is impossible without teamwork. A DevOps engineer will need to foster trust and cooperation.
When do You Need DevOps Outsourcing?
DevOps can be an integral part of organizations looking to adopt lean and agile methodology for improving the quality of their service delivery and products. It also takes into account the preferences and needs of end users. Organizations need help deciding whether to outsource DevOps. This is due to the many challenges involved. There are many reasons that organizations can benefit from DevOps services providers or consultants as partners.
Here are some reasons to outsource DevOps managed services
Access to Expertise in DevOps
It is easy to have the expertise you need and save time. The vendor and the outsourcing company can access the talent immediately, which is a significant leverage. Because an outsourcing company is focused on DevOps implementation as its core business, teams in these organizations are more exposed to other projects, challenges, and solutions.
Scaling Operations
If the company needs to scale up operations, staffing and administrative expenses will increase. Outsourcing removes the hassle as it can handle all the administrative and hiring needs. The partner company can handle their needs and help the organization grow.
Removes Human Resources Management Activities
The cost of having an in-house DevOps group is high. Continuous oversight is required to manage the costs of training and retention, as well as administrative setup for overseeing the expanded unit. The DevOps service provider handles all aspects of hiring, finding expertise, and structuring pay. Client organizations can save time and avoid the tedious administrative work of managing teams and managing them day to day.
Greater Technological Expertise
Outsourcing companies make sure their employees are up-to-date with the latest technology. Organizations ensure that their staff is appropriately certified and available to take on any project as needed. This is a significant time- and cost-savings for the client compared to hiring an in-house staff.
Wider Outlook for Solutions
The DevOps engineer has a lot of experience and can see the best solutions better than anyone else. Outsourcing companies can better understand the business processes than an insider. This is because they have industry expertise and perspective. You can bring the best solutions to the table.
Optimal Use of Budgeting
Outsourced services partners can reduce the cost of operating an in-house DevOps group. Outsourcing DevOps services eliminates the need to manage and monitor existing teams. An experienced outsourcing company can help you allocate the resources to expand the DevOps scope. This is better than paying for management expenses to oversee your in-house dedicated team.
8 Stages of DevOps Workflow
Continuous development and testing activities can be considered continuous in a DevOps project. We will break down this continuity into eight stages commonly found in many CI/CD pipelines.
Plan
This information is used to prioritize and select tasks for future development. To build and maintain a product roadmap, business requirements are collected. A backlog is created using user stories, epics, and features.
Create/Code
Use various tools, frameworks, and best practices to improve code quality and speed up development.
Verify/Build
Compilation or packaging code, creating artifacts. To deploy their code to production, software developers commit their code to the repository. It also includes automated code quality tests and tests and sometimes codes review.
Package
The programming language and the target environment will determine how to code packaging works. Take the source code and install any dependencies.
The development cycle can continue to the iteration or the release circle after these stages.
Release
After passing all automated and manual tests, the build can be deployed into production. After passing all manual tests, releases are automatically deployed or multiplied to production.
Configure/Deploy
Infrastructure-As-Code (IaC) that built the test environment can be configured to build the production environment. Release automation can be made reliable without outages using several tools and processes.
Operate
The new release has been released. Everything is in good hands, thanks to the operations team. The environment is automatically configured to scale to handle increased load and peaks from a growing number of active users.
Monitor
This stage detects software flaws that could affect the system’s operation. This stage involves a tracking system configuration and feedback collection based on customer behavior.
Outsourcing Models to Hire DevOps Engineers
After considering all the factors, it is time to select a DevOps outsourcing method. It is essential to select a collaboration model that suits your needs. These are the most popular hiring business models:
Hire DevOps Consultants
You can hire DevOps consultants if you need help with specific tasks. Consultants offer services for a limited time to help with specific tasks such as optimizing strategies and analyzing current ecosystems.
Hire DevOps Engineers
You can hire DevOps engineers through the service provider to increase your team. You have control over the technology, processes, tools, and capabilities.
Build a Dedicated DevOps Team
A dedicated DevOps team can be hired to work exclusively on your project. You can have any level of expertise and seniority. They bring new ideas that will help you build a long-lasting relationship.
Managed services: This is the best option for companies that wish to outsource all aspects of DevOps. The DevOps provider is responsible for DevOps implementation.
What Are the Challenges in Hiring a DevOps Engineer?
If this is your first time hiring DevOps developers, you’d be familiar with the struggles of hiring DevOps developers. Filling DevOps engineer vacancies is one of the most challenging tasks you can do as a partner to different companies.
First, finding DevOps engineers with the right skills can be challenging. We look for a combination of programming skills, QA analysis knowledge, experience optimizing software development lifecycles, and soft skills when hiring DevOps developers.
It isn’t easy to find someone who will fit the role. You must have some work experience to hire junior DevOps personnel.
There is no equilibrium between the demand and supply of DevOps developers. The demand for DevOps engineers is much greater than the supply, and there is a lot of competition. This is something that organizations realize and won’t allow to let go of their DevOps employees. DevOps positions are highly-paid, so it is costly to hire.
It is also challenging to assess DevOps engineers’ technical competence, making it harder to hire them. It doesn’t matter how many certifications you have or how much work experience they have.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a DevOps Engineering?
Besides immediate problem-solving, price is a significant consideration when choosing a service provider.
Let’s look at the compensation for DevOps services in different countries based on Talent and SalaryExpert.
Rapid digitization in 2020 has led to salary increases for DevOps specialists. Over a third of US employees receive compensation between $150,000 and $250,000 annually. Companies must find a way to afford such high prices for professional services. They need help to become more agile with automation, even though there are obvious benefits from DevOps over the long term.
The payout for services is affected by more than just the experience level. The top earners in healthcare, life sciences, and pharmaceuticals are the pandemic survivors. The rest of the industries are just a little behind.
The salaries of Swedish specialists in CI/CD have a similar salary bracket to the USA. They receive $120 000 per year for middle DevOps engineers and $137 000 per year for seniors. Canada’s middle specialists start at $110 000 per year, while seniors can expect to earn $156 000 each year. Japan has the highest DevOps salary increase, at $110 000 for middle specialists and $156 000 for seniors.
The average UK DevOps Engineer earns PS60 000 annually, while the highest-paid workers make PS80 000. On average, a DevOps professional in Germany will receive EUR66 500 and EUR83 500, respectively. A DevOps Engineer in Finland can earn an average salary of EUR70 000 and a maximum of EUR86 500.
The Key Takeaway
A valuable partner is essential for successful DevOps implementation. There needs to be more than just finding the perfect vendor. You also need a partner committed to helping you achieve your goals, and DevOps helps you do that. You need to collaborate with the most technical experts in DevOps, as we have already mentioned.
Outsourcing companies with extensive experience can help you seamlessly transition to DevOps’ new culture of collaboration between your IT operations and software development teams. This article may have helped you better understand DevOps outsourcing and how it can benefit you. Partnering with someone available to meet your needs is an excellent advantage.
The Benefits of Outsourcing DevOps Engineers 2023
Published By: Kapil Gupta
Published On: December 22, 2022
Published In: Blog
Software development and operations used to be separate departments. Developers wrote code, while system administrators managed server deployments. The two teams’ communication was poor, leading to silos and divergent processes.
The DevOps approach changed all that. DevOps, a software development approach that encourages collaboration and communication between developers and operator’s teams is a method for creating software.
All sizes of organizations have widely adopted DevOps since its inception. While some companies opt for an in-house DevOps group, others outsource DevOps engineering services to third-party providers. You may be reading this because you are considering joining one of these teams that outsources DevOps.
We are here to help. This article will explain what DevOps outsourcing looks like, its advantages and drawbacks, and the key characteristics to look out for when you hire a third-party DevOps staff.
Grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable.
What is DevOps?
DevOps stands for a combination of operation and development. The product development process is divided into various tasks and phases. All of these fall under either development or operation. DevOps software engineers are skilled in operations and development, so there is a bright future for DevOps.
To fully understand the role of a DevOps Engineer, let’s discuss development and operations. The development section covers the product’s UI/UX design and coding. After that, the operations team handles testing and deployment.
This involves going back and forth between testing and development, then back to development for bug fixing. This can slow down the development process. Hiring DevOps experts can help reduce lead times by simultaneously handling development and operations.
This manages development and operations in the chorus, often called the DevOps Infinity Pool.
Why is DevOps important?
Google, the leader in performance due to automation, reported in State of DevOps 20,21 on the practices that enable software delivery and operational success. Data collected over seven years from 32 000 professionals revealed a 26% increase in elite performers. This means that a quarter of the professionals experienced a significant decrease in lead time for production changes.
Having the code developers work separately from the operation engineers responsible for maintaining and deploying the code is no longer necessary. According to a recent DevOps Institute report, 60% of organizations have either already hired DevOps experts or are considering it. The DevOps model is changing, and operations and development teams no longer have to be separated.
DevOps (pronounced “Dev-Ops”) is a method that automates repetitive tasks in software delivery. This improves communication and collaboration and reduces the time it takes to develop software.
DevOps-oriented developers are creators and keepers at the intersection between IT operations and software design. They can write code and deploy new services and understand the importance of maintaining IT infrastructure.
Each year we see the software industry improve and become more stable. This is possible through synergistic collaboration in both delivery and operational excellence.
The speed of delivery is also a critical factor in security issues. There has been an increase in malicious attacks over the past few years. Companies are adapting and shifting from reactive to proactive security measures. DevOps (DevSecOps) also includes security measures.
You must recognize the atmosphere and mood of your team. A healthy environment has a greater impact on team productivity and positively impacts the outcomes. A healthy environment is more productive and helps to eliminate negativity and stress.
Answering one of the most common questions is: DevOps can be used with outsourced development.
What Is DevOps Outsourcing?
In simple terms, DevOps outsourcing is hiring a third-party vendor to perform DevOps services. This could be anything from setting up a CI/CD pipe to managing server deployments or monitoring systems.
The UK, the USA, and Western Europe need more skilled tech talent. Many companies in these areas outsource DevOps to service providers in other countries.
DevOps services can be tailored to meet your project requirements. Still, they typically cover many areas, including configuration management, cloud services, low-code platforms, CI/CD implementation, and more.
Advantages of DevOps Outsourcing Services?
We’ve highlighted the many benefits of outsourcing DevOps services below. Every company is unique, so you need to weigh the pros and cons before you make a decision.
Flexibility
You can scale up or decrease your DevOps team as you need. This is especially useful when you have a large project and need an extra workforce or if your budget allows you to reduce your team quickly.
Suppose you are creating an app to support brand ambassador programs in preparation for a product launch. To ensure that the project runs on schedule and within budget, you may hire additional help. You’ll also be able to spend time on tasks such as writing project management reports. After completing the project, you can reduce your team size (and associated costs) without committing.
Cost-Effective
DevOps outsourcing can be very cost-effective. It is usually cheaper to outsource DevOps services than to hire an internal team, primarily if your company is based in the USA, UK, or Western Europe.
You only pay for what you use when you outsource DevOps. You don’t have to worry about having extra staff or resources you don’t need.
Expertise
Outsourcing DevOps services will give you access to experts who can offer valuable insight and guidance. You’ll be able to access a broad range of skills that can prove invaluable for your project. Scrum release cycles are a great example of something your team could benefit from but which you may need help implementing in-house.
Let’s face facts if you are a marketing genius working in a brand performance marketing company. Likely, you won’t be able to manage test management processes. Therefore, it is a good idea to hire someone who can.
Higher Quality
You can expect higher quality when you partner with a reliable outsourcing company. This is because providers have strict quality control procedures to ensure that their deliverables meet or exceed client expectations.
Let’s take, for example, a digital transformation platform that creates contract templates. Your DevOps team would ensure that the platform is reliable, secure, and scalable.
Shorter Development Cycles
DevOps outsourcing can help you to achieve shorter development cycles. This is because providers often have access to the most recent tools, technologies, and processes.
You are developing an app. DevOps teams would ensure that the app works with all browsers and devices. They’d use the most current testing and debugging tools.
What to Expect from DevOps-as-a-Service?
Remote teams are an excellent option for an in-house team. DevOps as a Service (DaaS) is a term that refers to the outsourcing of DevOps design, build, integration, and maintenance of DevOps solutions for your company to a third-party service provider. DevOps partners form a team of experts that work alongside your software team and manage your day-to-day operations.
A DevOps provider can help you implement best practices and principles in your organization and align them with your business goals. Each client is unique and the services offered are customizable. Each case is unique, and each client has different goals. The client and DevOps service provider need to discuss the scope of work and determine responsibilities. These are some of the many solutions an outsourced engineer can provide:
DevOps outsourcing can be a great way to give businesses immediate access and skillsets with DevOps tools. This can help you avoid hiring an in-house expert team. How does this work?
How to Choose the Right DevOps Services Provider Company?
DevOps outsourcing is different from traditional outsourcing. DevOps is only for some. It is a complex technology integration. But it is a cultural shift. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to get started with DevOps outsourcing. It also explains how to select the right DevOps service provider partner and make it all successful.
Define your DevOps Goals
Start by identifying the areas you need to improve, and then define your goals and solve the problems with DevOps. This will help you choose the best DevOps company for your business, such as cost audit, 24/7 support, migration, big data, or data analytics.
Choose a Governance Framework
DevOps relies on collaboration. Therefore, an outsourcing framework for DevOps must outline the key processes and technologies. DevOps providers bring an outside perspective to the business and provide the expertise that adds value. The client is familiar with the company’s application and customer persona. They can collaborate and create teams with one mindset through a unified operating system.
Conduct Research and Match it to Your Criteria
DevOps outsourcing partners are crucial to your business’s success. The key to successful outsourcing is choosing the right partner. This checklist will help you to do thorough research on potential outsourcing partners. An experienced DevOps consulting firm should have a wealth of experience in DevOps outsourcing services.
Assess your expertise in Cloud technologies, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), DevSecOps, and Monitoring and Logging.
Ask for referrals, review testimonials, examine portfolios, inspect case studies, look at industry verticals, and search for certifications.
Performance Tracking
The process of successful DevOps outsourcing continues when a deal is closed. Your business must ensure that your DevOps partner follows your operating model to gauge the success of your collaboration. The metrics that matter and are easy to track include deployment frequency, time for a change, recovery time, change failure rate, and so on. These metrics will confirm that you and your partner are on the same page and have a common mindset regarding business goals.
What are the Responsibilities of a DevOps Engineer?
We have now agreed to hire a DevOps Engineer for your company. Let’s talk about the responsibilities of DevOps engineers.
You will get a DevOps Engineer, a Linux administrator, and a site reliability expert if you hire them.
What to Look for When Hiring a DevOps Engineer?
Let’s discuss the skills you should look for in a DevOps Engineer. It is a highly-paid job, so candidates must be able to perform at their best.
Technical Skills Required for a DevOps Engineer
Your DevOps engineer should have the following technical skills:
These are just a few skills you must have to hire DevOps engineers that add value to your business.
A few advanced skills are necessary, however.
Advanced Skills Required for a DevOps Engineer
You will need to have the following skills to hire a DevOps expert:
Soft Skills Required for a DevOps Engineer
DevOps engineers work with many teams with various roles. It is, therefore, essential to search for soft skills in hiring DevOps engineers.
DevOps engineers must have excellent communication skills. Excellent communication skills are essential for working with other teams and managing the dev-ops mess. DevOps engineers must communicate effectively with people of different skill levels and be able to understand project requirements and resource requirements. Being familiar with online communication tools such as Slack, Zoom, and JIRA is also essential.
A DevOps engineer must also have a strong sense of teamwork. Collaboration is impossible without teamwork. A DevOps engineer will need to foster trust and cooperation.
When do You Need DevOps Outsourcing?
DevOps can be an integral part of organizations looking to adopt lean and agile methodology for improving the quality of their service delivery and products. It also takes into account the preferences and needs of end users. Organizations need help deciding whether to outsource DevOps. This is due to the many challenges involved. There are many reasons that organizations can benefit from DevOps services providers or consultants as partners.
Here are some reasons to outsource DevOps managed services
Access to Expertise in DevOps
It is easy to have the expertise you need and save time. The vendor and the outsourcing company can access the talent immediately, which is a significant leverage. Because an outsourcing company is focused on DevOps implementation as its core business, teams in these organizations are more exposed to other projects, challenges, and solutions.
Scaling Operations
If the company needs to scale up operations, staffing and administrative expenses will increase. Outsourcing removes the hassle as it can handle all the administrative and hiring needs. The partner company can handle their needs and help the organization grow.
Removes Human Resources Management Activities
The cost of having an in-house DevOps group is high. Continuous oversight is required to manage the costs of training and retention, as well as administrative setup for overseeing the expanded unit. The DevOps service provider handles all aspects of hiring, finding expertise, and structuring pay. Client organizations can save time and avoid the tedious administrative work of managing teams and managing them day to day.
Greater Technological Expertise
Outsourcing companies make sure their employees are up-to-date with the latest technology. Organizations ensure that their staff is appropriately certified and available to take on any project as needed. This is a significant time- and cost-savings for the client compared to hiring an in-house staff.
Wider Outlook for Solutions
The DevOps engineer has a lot of experience and can see the best solutions better than anyone else. Outsourcing companies can better understand the business processes than an insider. This is because they have industry expertise and perspective. You can bring the best solutions to the table.
Optimal Use of Budgeting
Outsourced services partners can reduce the cost of operating an in-house DevOps group. Outsourcing DevOps services eliminates the need to manage and monitor existing teams. An experienced outsourcing company can help you allocate the resources to expand the DevOps scope. This is better than paying for management expenses to oversee your in-house dedicated team.
8 Stages of DevOps Workflow
Continuous development and testing activities can be considered continuous in a DevOps project. We will break down this continuity into eight stages commonly found in many CI/CD pipelines.
Plan
This information is used to prioritize and select tasks for future development. To build and maintain a product roadmap, business requirements are collected. A backlog is created using user stories, epics, and features.
Create/Code
Use various tools, frameworks, and best practices to improve code quality and speed up development.
Verify/Build
Compilation or packaging code, creating artifacts. To deploy their code to production, software developers commit their code to the repository. It also includes automated code quality tests and tests and sometimes codes review.
Package
The programming language and the target environment will determine how to code packaging works. Take the source code and install any dependencies.
The development cycle can continue to the iteration or the release circle after these stages.
Release
After passing all automated and manual tests, the build can be deployed into production. After passing all manual tests, releases are automatically deployed or multiplied to production.
Configure/Deploy
Infrastructure-As-Code (IaC) that built the test environment can be configured to build the production environment. Release automation can be made reliable without outages using several tools and processes.
Operate
The new release has been released. Everything is in good hands, thanks to the operations team. The environment is automatically configured to scale to handle increased load and peaks from a growing number of active users.
Monitor
This stage detects software flaws that could affect the system’s operation. This stage involves a tracking system configuration and feedback collection based on customer behavior.
Outsourcing Models to Hire DevOps Engineers
After considering all the factors, it is time to select a DevOps outsourcing method. It is essential to select a collaboration model that suits your needs. These are the most popular hiring business models:
Hire DevOps Consultants
You can hire DevOps consultants if you need help with specific tasks. Consultants offer services for a limited time to help with specific tasks such as optimizing strategies and analyzing current ecosystems.
Hire DevOps Engineers
You can hire DevOps engineers through the service provider to increase your team. You have control over the technology, processes, tools, and capabilities.
Build a Dedicated DevOps Team
A dedicated DevOps team can be hired to work exclusively on your project. You can have any level of expertise and seniority. They bring new ideas that will help you build a long-lasting relationship.
Managed services: This is the best option for companies that wish to outsource all aspects of DevOps. The DevOps provider is responsible for DevOps implementation.
What Are the Challenges in Hiring a DevOps Engineer?
If this is your first time hiring DevOps developers, you’d be familiar with the struggles of hiring DevOps developers. Filling DevOps engineer vacancies is one of the most challenging tasks you can do as a partner to different companies.
First, finding DevOps engineers with the right skills can be challenging. We look for a combination of programming skills, QA analysis knowledge, experience optimizing software development lifecycles, and soft skills when hiring DevOps developers.
It isn’t easy to find someone who will fit the role. You must have some work experience to hire junior DevOps personnel.
There is no equilibrium between the demand and supply of DevOps developers. The demand for DevOps engineers is much greater than the supply, and there is a lot of competition. This is something that organizations realize and won’t allow to let go of their DevOps employees. DevOps positions are highly-paid, so it is costly to hire.
It is also challenging to assess DevOps engineers’ technical competence, making it harder to hire them. It doesn’t matter how many certifications you have or how much work experience they have.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a DevOps Engineering?
Besides immediate problem-solving, price is a significant consideration when choosing a service provider.
Let’s look at the compensation for DevOps services in different countries based on Talent and SalaryExpert.
Rapid digitization in 2020 has led to salary increases for DevOps specialists. Over a third of US employees receive compensation between $150,000 and $250,000 annually. Companies must find a way to afford such high prices for professional services. They need help to become more agile with automation, even though there are obvious benefits from DevOps over the long term.
The payout for services is affected by more than just the experience level. The top earners in healthcare, life sciences, and pharmaceuticals are the pandemic survivors. The rest of the industries are just a little behind.
The salaries of Swedish specialists in CI/CD have a similar salary bracket to the USA. They receive $120 000 per year for middle DevOps engineers and $137 000 per year for seniors. Canada’s middle specialists start at $110 000 per year, while seniors can expect to earn $156 000 each year. Japan has the highest DevOps salary increase, at $110 000 for middle specialists and $156 000 for seniors.
The average UK DevOps Engineer earns PS60 000 annually, while the highest-paid workers make PS80 000. On average, a DevOps professional in Germany will receive EUR66 500 and EUR83 500, respectively. A DevOps Engineer in Finland can earn an average salary of EUR70 000 and a maximum of EUR86 500.
The Key Takeaway
A valuable partner is essential for successful DevOps implementation. There needs to be more than just finding the perfect vendor. You also need a partner committed to helping you achieve your goals, and DevOps helps you do that. You need to collaborate with the most technical experts in DevOps, as we have already mentioned.
Outsourcing companies with extensive experience can help you seamlessly transition to DevOps’ new culture of collaboration between your IT operations and software development teams. This article may have helped you better understand DevOps outsourcing and how it can benefit you. Partnering with someone available to meet your needs is an excellent advantage.