By Gologic with the collaboration of Alexandre Couëdelo.
Gologic helps organizations on their DevOps journey through DevOps maturity assessments, training, and on-demand DevOps services … infrastructure and pipeline as code, CI/CD, automation, continuous integration, and much more!
Having the opportunity to participate in and contribute to various mandates accross a multitude of domains, our collaborators are a valuable source of information that help us gain insight into the DevOps trends to watch.
To conclude the year, we surveyed them about what significant topics were part of their daily work with our clients this year. We asked them which technologies they had experimented with and whether our January 2023 article, 15 Years of DevOps: What to Expect in 2023, was accurate.
Here is a brief overview of the DevOps trends and highlights that marked the year 2023!
Our colleagues’ feedback on 2023
1. Technical Debt and Tools Jungle: Challenges to Overcome
Companies are faced with the need to address their technical debts (often a barrier to innovation) to remain competitive while strategically positioning themselves on emerging tools in this constantly evolving IT landscape.
However, we are faced with a true “tools jungle” (just take a look at the CNCF Landscape with over 1200 listed tools to realize it). This complexity of choices leads to difficulties related to compatibility with existing systems (due to technical debt), financial and human costs to find and evaluate options, and operational complexity for teams that have to juggle with a multitude of tools, each introducing its own learning curve and specificities.
2. Migration to the Cloud and DevOps Transition: Still a Long Way to Go
The migration to the cloud has become essential to stay Agile and competitive. Many companies we support are currently engaged in this transition, redesigning their infrastructure to fully leverage the benefits of cloud computing.
3. Less Dev, More Ops: An Inevitable Change in Focus
Staff reduction and cost pressure are leading to a refocus on the existing application portfolio. Fewer new projects and more attention are being given to applications already in production, with increased effort to maximize the efficiency and stability of the systems in place.
4. Reliable Systems: An Essential Asset
Companies are turning to the Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) approach, which focuses on defining acceptable thresholds for operational metrics through Service Level Objectives (SLO). This clarity in objectives helps maintain a consistent level of service and align efforts with expected results.
This ensures operational stability, allowing teams to focus on higher-value tasks rather than emergency fixes. This is particularly important for the company’s image in a context of workforce reduction.
5. Security and DevSecOps: The New Top Priority
Companies understand that security mistakes can have serious consequences on their reputation. This growing awareness of security risks is pushing companies to reconsider their practices in order to adopt more secure development and delivery methods.
6. AI: A Technological Turn Not to Be Missed
AI plays a growing role with tools like GitHub Copilot and AWS Codewhisperer, making the development process easier. Automatic code generation is becoming a reality, promising a “significant” increase in productivity. Companies are experimenting with integrating these tools into developers’ daily lives and by choosing which tasks we can accomplish with these tools while assessing security risks.
Our favourite tools in 2023
Here is a diagram representing the tools discovered or implemented this year by our collaborators:
This diagram illustrates the different tools that have made an impact in the field of DevOps in 2023. It provides an overview of the diversity of solutions used by our collaborators and highlights market trends.
Back on our predictions for 2023
So, did our crystal ball give us the right predictions for 2023? We asked our collaborators what they think, following their summary of what actually happened this year.
In January of last year, we published this article where we listed our 8 trends for the year 2023:
- DevSecOps—Software Supply Chain Security
- DevSecOps—Continuous Compliance
- DevSecOps—Policy Framework
- DevSecOps—Zero Trust Architecture
- GitOps
- SRE —SLO/SLI instrumentation
- CloudFinOps
- AIOps/ChatOps
GitOps and DevSecOps are the approaches on which we have worked the most and implemented solutions for our clients. GitOps is by far the most requested approach.
ChatOps and Policy as Code are making great strides; although these approaches have yet to disrupt the industry this year, they have a strong potential to do so in the future.
Paradoxically, the FinOps (Finance and Operations) approach is gaining less ground than expected. There is still a long way to go (better definition, more tools) for this approach to gain traction or be replaced.
The other approaches listed in our article are gaining ground; they are being talked about more and more, and we have implemented solutions for some clients. However, they are less predominant than DevSecOps and GitOps.
We can say that we were right about the two most requested approaches, DevSecOps and GitOps, as well as two others that are making a lot of noise: ChatOps and Policy as Code. For the others on the list, we need to keep an eye on them because even if they have yet to occupy our time or dominate the market, there is a chance that they will become more prominent in the coming years.
Conclusions
The tech world is always evolving at such a rapid pace. But this year, it is reinventing itself, marked by significant upheavals such as the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) and a profound transformation of the work environment with remote work, hybrid mode, and, unfortunately, layoffs. These changes require a quick and profound adaptation of our way of working. Companies face a unique opportunity, with indispensable requirements to take advantage of the innovation train. The IT landscape will continue to evolve rapidly, and it is essential to stay abreast of new trends and adapt to the changing needs of our industry.
Finally, our review of the 2023 predictions highlights the growing importance of GitOps and DevSecOps, as well as the increasing interest in other approaches such as ChatOps and Policy as Code. We have observed that these approaches are gaining momentum, but there is still a long way to go for some of them.
Stay tuned, our article on trends to watch in 2024 will be available in a few weeks.
Do you want to implement some of the xOPS approaches presented previously? Explore our services or contact us to learn more about our strategic approach. Gologic is a company specializing in DevOps, and which has been supporting local organizations in digital transformation for more than 10 years.
By Gologic with the collaboration of Alexandre Couëdelo.
