Who is a DevOps Engineer and What Does DevOps Engineer Do?

Not a tool, not software, not even a job title. So, what is DevOps, and what problems do DevOps Engineers solve? Let’s address these questions, to determine if DevOps is the right choice for you.

What is DevOps?

The term itself is quite self-explanatory. DevOps is a compound from ‘development and operations’. Rather than a profession, DevOps is a methodology aimed at improving the quality of software. It is a culture that promotes agile relations.

The DevOps movement began in 2008 when software development and operations communities became concerned about how IT companies delivered software. Developers believed that if they could run their code in a local environment, production would also be the case. After that, the Operations team tried to deploy the code. Something went wrong, and they blamed Developers and expected them to fix it.

No wonder this approach delayed product releases. The quality of the final product often suffered. A lot of changes were released at a time, so it was tough to understand what exactly caused issues in production.

DevOps emerged as a solution to this problem. This bridge between Development and Operations helped to improve collaboration and communication. Aligned Development and Operations’ objectives contributed to more efficient and faster delivery processes. 

Who is a DevOps Engineer?

A DevOps Engineer is an IT professional who brings the DevOps methodology to life. DevOps Engineers manage the development and administration departments. 

Currently, the DevOps Engineer role is still evolving. They are either developers who became interested in administration or system administrators who revealed a passion for scripting and coding. In every case, DevOps roles are cross-functional, which presupposes in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience. A DevOps Engineer is somebody who sees the bigger picture and plans infrastructure by juggling between coding and testing, overseeing and facilitating code deployments.
 

What Does a DevOps Engineer Do?

As we’ve already seen, DevOps Engineer is both an administrator and a programmer. And a Security Manager. And a QA Engineer. Let’s look at the primary DevOps roles a bit closer.

DevOps Engineer Job Roles and Responsibilities:

1. DevOps Evangelist. This DevOps role is about contributing to the existing product architecture enhancement. Evangelist is a leader responsible for implementing DevOps practices. This responsibility also implies the development and deployment monitoring.
2. Release Manager. A DevOps Engineer manages product coordination from development to deployment. As a Release Manager, this specialist integrates new features into the existing structure and ensures product stability after release.
3. Automation Expert. This kind of specialist is also called an Integration Specialist. Such an expert understands what can be automated and how one stack can match another stack. Orchestration of the instruments or employment of automation tools also falls under the responsibility of an Automation Expert.
4. Software Developer and Tester role refers to those who develop software and write code, and after that, test what they created.
5. QA Engineer or engineer responsible for product quality. This task involves comprehensive testing and analysis to identify all possible weaknesses and gaps in the customer experience. These specialists also guarantee that the product meets all the requirements.
6. Security Engineer. Monitoring the product performance and implementing security measures is a critical role for a DevOps Engineer. They work directly with programmers to implement security patches as early as possible.

Skills and Tools for DevOps Engineer

A well-versed DevOps should exhibit a specific skillset. These capabilities include:

• Knowledge and ability to work with Cloud Automation for DevOps (platforms such as Azure, AWS, GCP, Alibaba, etc.). 
• System administration skills, which include experience with operating system management such as Linux or Windows.
• Working knowledge of automation tools and technologies such as Puppet, Chef, Jenkins, Ansible, Kubernetes, Docker, Nagios, and Infrastructure as a Code.
• Firm knowledge of various computer programming languages ​​- PHP, Python, Perl, and Ruby. At least one language of the primary programming language like C ++.
• Employing source code management (Version Control System), for example, using GIT. 
• Being familiar with tasks management software like Jira, Trello, or Gemini. - Ability to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues in test and production environments.
• Sufficient experience in working with IT equipment, configuring servers, storage systems, and network devices monitoring (via Nagios and Raygun). 

Conclusion

This article outlined what a DevOps Engineer is, what responsibilities they fulfill, and what skills and tools they need to do it.  

As you can see, this is an expert that spans between multiple roles to ensure continuous successful delivery. Hence, a DevOps Engineer should cut across a vast spectrum of tech to participate in complex projects. 

In Zfort Group, we have substantial hands-on experience in DevOps. Our Engineers know how to balance best practices and productivity while staying on budget. Let’s discuss how you can hire top-performing DevOps Engineers?