5 Steps to DevOps Success

1. Form a small, close-working team.

• This team needs to cover all the disciplines of the project.
• This is important because of the friction of making changes in a large group prohibits experimentation.
• Information sharing and ad-hoc coordination is easier in small teams.
• If you need to get approval from someone in another department, they probably need to be on the team.
• Use your autonomy to solve the problem.

2. Choose a greenfield project.

• A project with zero legacy baggage that is important for the company and solves a problem.
• This clears the table and allows the "what if" questions and conversation to flow freely.
• This is where real change happens.
• When someone says "Gosh, we spend so much time doing x." "What if we never have to do that again?" - That is how you know you're on the right track.

3. Implement a process

• This should encompass the ENTIRE experience from code to customer.
• During this process, make small, incremental progress, and evaluate frequently.
• Consistently pick out the next thing that is the most painful.
• Solve it quickly until it is no longer the most painful thing and move on to the next thing.
• Don't focus on problems specifically in the build pipeline.
• Look at customer support issues, operational issues, and development issues.
• This is why ALL disciplines are needed on the small team in the beginning.
• Folks with the right attitude and knowledge of the problem space.

4. Teach By Example

• Slowly add members to the team to learn from the good / working example.
• This is where the maintenance worker mindset can be slowly changed.
• They will need to see how the new methods are so much better right in front of them.
• Resistance to change goes out the window when the new method is easier and better to use.

5. Be Consistent and Facilitate Change

• Every project after this one follows the same process until all projects in the company are under the same process.
• Help those that are new to the process.
• Teach the better methods and easier ways.