DevOps has been disrupting the world with its great potential and the massive pile of benefits to offer. Within a few years, it has gained traction from all industries across the globe. Companies have been working towards implementing DevOps practices in their systems and while many have succeeded amazingly, some of them have failed miserably as well.

As the popularity of DevOps rises, it is not a totally unacceptable fact that many organizations have been facing challenges and failure with their DevOps transformation. In this article, we have outlined a few reasons why organizations face DevOps transformation failure.

  1. Forming “DevOps Teams” to work in silos

One of the most significant yet easily avoidable reasons for DevOps transformation failure in organizations is the formation of separate “DevOps Teams” that work in silos. The main aim of DevOps is to break down silos in an organization by facilitating collaboration. Hence, it is ironic and ineffective to put a DevOps team in silos for successful DevOps implementation.

By delegating tasks to smaller teams that work in silos, both continuous delivery and continuous integration become complicated as the true sense of collaboration is lost and each team is working on its own targets only. It is true that the successful implementation of DevOps requires leadership, but the department-based or team-based management approach is not the right way to go. Instead of having a separate team to overlook and manage the process, your DevOps implementation strategy should act as a framework that facilitates collaboration-based work towards the common goal.

A change of culture and stepping away from your traditional mindset for identifying new ways to streamline your processes should be the objective of your DevOps transformation. Just bringing in new people or forming new teams will not help you to fulfill it effectively.

  1. Setting Unrealistic Goals

It is important to set up realistic goals and be honest about your progress. However, for organizations that have always made their teams work in silos, this task becomes exceptionally hard due to the culture shock. Organizations end up being unrealistic with their goals by expecting change overnight and become dishonest about their progress as well. As a result, the implementation of DevOps becomes trickier than it should be.

DevOps transformation of an organization requires the transformation of their well-established processes at all levels, which takes time. The larger the organization is, the longer time it takes to transform and move past the culture shock.

Hence, expecting your teams to change their way of working overnight and produce better results is not realistic. It is important to take a steady and measured approach towards transformation by slowing down release schedules at initial stages and leveraging specific metrics to track real progress. You must allow your teams to ensure that they go through the training and breaking-in periods steadily and with an open mindset.

Having slow progress at the initial stages is natural. Whenever you integrate new technology into your organization, it takes some time to produce the results that match your expectations. However, it is important to move past this phase patiently and honestly. By putting faith in your teams while providing them with realistic goals and honest feedback, you also end up boosting their morale for better performances.

  1. Placing too much focus on tools

It is true that DevOps requires tools for smooth implementation. However, tools do not ensure successful implementation on their own.

Many organizations focus solely on leveraging different kinds of DevOps automation tools to ensure seamless DevOps transformation in their businesses. But, it is important to realize that successful DevOps implementation requires you to make several changes, including a shift in focus from tools. Focusing too much on leveraging tools while making minimal efforts in other directions can pave an organization’s path to failure.

A DevOps tool should be seen as an enabler rather than an ensurer. Tools are not indispensable requirements. They don’t help you to ensure successful implementation, they simply enable you and aid you to achieve your goals.

  1. Micromanagement

Though micromanagement appears to be a concept that ensures optimum productivity and regularity, in actuality, it is a practice that stifles developers while working.

Developers need the freedom to experiment and to figure out the best ways to provide high-quality code work. However, when they feel that their every move is being watched very closely, they may feel burdened. It is important to ensure that your team members have space and autonomy to plan out their work to provide the best results. Having a team that feels suffocated and uneasy can have negative effects on the final results, hence setting up the transformation process for failure.

Adopting DevOps takes significant amounts of time and effort. It requires robust team support, acceptance of change, and strong management to ensure success. By avoiding the above-mentioned mistakes and keeping realistic objectives in mind, organizations can avoid DevOps transformation failure and ensure its seamless implementation in their business.