Gene Kim - The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations

Continuous Learning

Weve added some additional insights and resources weve learned since the first edition came out. These Continuous Learning sections are highlighted throughout the book as you see here and include new supporting data and additional resources, tools, and techniques to use on your DevOps journey.

Weve also expanded the book with additional case studies to illustrate how far DevOps has spread throughout all industries, especially how it has spread beyond the IT department and into the C-suite itself. In addition, at the end of each case study we have added a key takeaway or two that highlight the most important, though not exclusive, lessons learned. Finally, weve updated the conclusion to each part with new resources to continue your learning journey.

Whats Next for DevOps and the Age of Software

If the past five years have taught us anything, it is how important technology is and how much we can achieve when IT and the business speak openly and honestly, as DevOps facilitates.

Perhaps nothing illustrates this more than the rapid changes that were necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and beyond. Through the use of DevOps, organizations mobilized technology to get services to customers, internal and external, in a moment of rapid, unprecedented change. These large, complex organizations, known for their inability to pivot and adapt quickly, suddenly had no other choice.

American Airlines also was able to take advantage of their ongoing DevOps transformation to build big wins quickly, as you can read about in .

Dr. Chris Strear relates his experiences using the Theory of Constraints to optimize flow in hospitals, as you can read about in .

In 2020 Nationwide Building Society, the worlds largest mutual financial institution, was able to respond in weeks to customer needs versus the typical years, thanks to their ongoing DevOps transformation. You can read more about their experience in .

But while technology is a piece of a successful transformation into future ways of working, business leadership must lead the charge. The bottleneck of today is no longer just technical practices (though they still exist); the biggest challenge and necessity is getting business leadership on board. Transformation must be co-created between the business and technology, and the theories presented here can lead that change.

The enterprise can no longer sustain a binary thought process: top down or tech only. We must achieve true collaboration. Ninety percent of that work involves getting the right people engaged, onboard, and aligned. Start there and we can maintain the resulting motivation into the future.

IT Revolution
Portland, OR
June 2021

FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

I t has been five years since the first edition of The DevOps Handbook was released. While so much has changed, so much has also remained the same. Some of our tools and technologies are no longer in vogue or might not exist, but that shouldnt detract any readers. Although the technology landscape has shifted, the underlying principles presented in this book remain as relevant as ever.

In fact, the need for DevOps is even greater today, as organizations need to deliver value quickly, safely, securely, and reliably to their customers and users. To do this, they need to transform their internal processes and leverage technology to deliver valueusing DevOps practices. This is true for organizations around the world and across all industry verticals.

Over the past several years, Ive led research in the annual State of DevOps Reports (first with Puppet and later with DORA and Google), with co-authors Jez Humble and Gene Kim. The research has confirmed that many of the practices described in this book lead to improved outcomes like speed and stability of software releases; reductions in deployment pain and burnout of our engineers; and contributions to organizational performance, including profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction, effectiveness, and efficiency.