I've been watching Microsoft for quite a few years, with my career being tightly intertwined with the company for 25 years.  I'm amazed by the way the company has changed in the last five years. It's probably been longer than that, but from the outside, the last 5 years have been surprising. Certainly the way Microsoft produces software is a process worth studying by almost any organization with developers. There are some scale advantages Microsoft has, and their mission is to reach and touch people at a level far beyond what many of us deal with, but there are lessons to be learned.

There's a great piece that shows some of the ways in which Microsoft is practicing DevOps in their own software development. I like that the focus isn't just that developers do more, but that operations staff are involved in working closely with the development teams. In fact, there's a quote I like that notes in addition to technology changes and habits, " we found that the organizational changes and cultural shifts required to embrace these practices have been just as significant."

As I talk about smoothing the database development pipeline and creating efficiency in the process, I want people to be aware that cultural change is required. My employer, Redgate Software, can sell you tools that solve the technology challenges, but if you don't change the way you build software in your culture, with your staff, the tools don't help. At best they make a few tasks easier for developers, but you will still have issues releasing your software consistently on your schedule, whatever that may be.

There is also the emphasis on developers deciding when to release. In Microsoft's domain, this probably works, but not likely for many line of business applications in organizations. However, the focus should be getting changes to customers quickly after development. The sooner they see features, the sooner they can provide feedback on whether the software works as expected or changes are needed. This quick feedback also means that developers have the architecture and flow of the code in their recent memory. Always a recipe for smoother continued development and quicker bug fixes.

Testing isn't emphasized much, though I think as developers become more accountable, and they can get changes to customers quicker, they'll start to want automated testing that allows them to check for regressions, as well as ensure requirements are being met. Microsoft has the advantage that many of their internal teams can actually use the end product, something that isn't always easy for those of us in other industries.

DevOps works. The principles are sound, and it doesn't matter if you've followed the principles for decades (maybe under another name) or just started a new process by asking for more coordination and collaboration from your teams. Learn to build a coherent system with your developers and operations staff, throughout your software development process, and your whole organization will benefit.