What are the Major Differences – Agile Vs DevOps?

Agile vs DevOps is always a trending topic among IT businesses. DevOps vs Agile is a never-ending topic on which developers, experts of the IT industry can debate for hours.

DevOps and agile are the two most popular software development methodologies that share the same goals of making an efficient software product before deadlines.

It means both tell about the software development life cycle (SDLC) in their own perspectives. Requirement gathering, Designing, Development, Testing, Deploying, and Maintenance are six different stages of SDLC.

During each phase of SDLC, the customers demand changes that extend the delivery of the final product. Agile and DevOps development methodology exists to fulfill those demands.

Today, in this Agile vs DevOps article, we are going to tell you the difference between agile and DevOps. Finally, once you are crystal clear with the DevOps and agile differences from scratch, we will tell you –

“What a custom software development service provider in USA can accomplish by integrating Agile in DevOps?”

To find an answer to this, let’s start understanding these software development methodologies!

DevOps vs Agile! Everything You Need To Know!

A decade ago, WATERFALL was the most commonly used software development practice. Ideally in this approach, creating software and applications was taking a lot of time.

The management and collaboration between Create, Test, and Deploy teams was weak as well as lengthy. Due to this, the end result was in the poor software quality filled with defects, errors, and bugs and unmet timelines.

But, suddenly the customers’ demands increased; they wanted to see every process right from software building to the end of the project.With increasing demands, software development started evolving with proper requirements, analysis, and planning.

As a result, the transition happened from Waterfall to Agile. Now, it is gradually changing to DevOps!

Today, Agile is an iterative and incremental development methodology, but the DevOps development methodology is the combination of development and IT operations.

It means, “DevOps is the offspring of Agile; this is the relation between agile and DevOps.”

Now you must be thinking that the debate of the difference between agile and DevOps is nothing. Obviously, if DevOps is Agile’s successor, then there is no major DevOps and agile difference.

Unfortunately, you are wrong here because you didn’t understand the above Wikipedia definition. So, before I differentiate them, let me explain both to you as follows;

DevOps vs Agile: A Complete Introduction

Agile is an iterative development approach, carried out using smaller teams with continuous testing practices. It encourages collaboration, team organization, and customer feedback systems to complete software projects rapidly with more efficiency.

“Some top Agile methodologies in software development are Scrum, Lean, Kanban, & FDD.”

All these are typical project management methodologies,which upon proper usage ensures the team members to quickly complete their tasks without compromising quality.

On the other hand, DevOps is a collaborative process between development and IT operations, which throughout the SDLC follows Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery & Continous Deployment.

DevOps breaks down the traditional silos to make the software development process flexible at all stages of SDLC.

“That means DevOps is a never-ending process of Continuous Improvement.”

Agile vs DevOps: What’s the Difference?

The agile development approach always has some communication gaps among different teams and their members. But, DevOps easily overcome this gap in a unified manner!

Hence, it ensures efficient product delivery, it makes communication, automation, and operations clearly visible to customers and clients.

“Agile’s founding principle is bringing Agility to Development. But, DevOps’ founding principle is bringing Agility to both Development and Operations.”

While Agile became a natural replacement of the Waterfall approach, DevOps is not a replacement of the Agile approach.

Instead, the relation between agile and DevOps is that DevOps is the successor to Agile!

“The goal is to improve the speed of product development and deployment. This is the major DevOps and agile difference!”

Agile Vs. DevOps: Major Differences

  • TOOLS: Agile’s popular project-management tools are Kanboard, Jira management software, and Bugzilla server software. Whereas DevOps use tools like AWS cloud computing services, OpenStack software, Puppet automation software, Chef infrastructure, and TeamCity servers.
  • FOCUS: If DevOps focus operational and business readiness, then Agile uses sprints to focus and sprint must last than a month.
  • FEEDBACK: Feedback in the Agile approach comes periodically, while in DevOps it comes daily.
  • TEAM DISTRIBUTION: Developers of the Agile methodology are all-rounders. Agile follows a cross-functional team approach! But DevOps requires separate teams to handle separate works in the development and operations. DevOps follow the team segmentation approach with the need for more communication and collaboration!
  • AUTOMATION: Agile doesn’t favor automation much; however, for DevOps automation is the heart to ensure smooth and reliable on-time delivery of the software product.
  • DOCUMENTATION: In Agile methodology, documentation isn’t that important but it important in DevOps.

DevOps and Agile: Understanding the Relationship

We already have discussed multiple key differences between these two popular applications and software development methodologies. We understand that DevOps is far ahead in terms of speed development when compared to Agile.

We also learned that DevOps is an advanced version of Agile. That means, they both must have some similarities to each other.

If we find them, then answering this question, “What a DevOps development company in USA can accomplish by integrating Agile in DevOps?” will become easy

Agile and DevOps both focus software quality, on-time delivery, efficiency, and development speed throughout the software development lifecycle.

Even more, both of them try keeping short stages in SDLC!

Thus, the evolution of the software development lifecycle through methodologies like Waterfall to Agile, then to the DevOps helped the software development industry on enhancing business productivity.

Both Agile and DevOps have widely adopted collaboration, reliability, communication, and development productivity.

We can now finish with this single conclusion form our all above discussions –

“But the one difference is quite clear that the Agile is fit to create the applications,while the DevOps stands out best for the application deployment.”

In addition to deployment, the DevOps goes one step further because –

“It focuses to deliver a quality software on time. And that quality is the result of Continuous Monitoring of the software or application, once it is deployed”

That brings us to the last section –

How To Combine DevOps and Agile?

We already know hat we can’t substitute Agile with DevOps because both of them work on the same kind of software building techniques and methodologies. That’s why the point here is to ensure increased efficiency.

Thus, if we mix agile in DevOps, then we can achieve a better process of software development, which will be more flexible and easy to use.

To do so, my suggestion for you is to “Combine Agile sprints with that integrated teamwork, which are offered by DevOps!”

If you are able to do this, then you can incrementally optimize the software development lifecycle. Additionally, you can bring the maintenance of your final product both during the development stages.

Agile in DevOps basically corrects the imbalance of the continuous development phases and put a little influence over the other stages in the development practices.

Hence, you must put the efforts into combining Agile and DevOps in the right way, only if, you are interested in improving your development processes to deliver reliable and scalable software products.

Thus, think Agile and DevOps as synonyms to each other.

Don’t forget to mention your doubts and questions in the comment section below!

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