An Introduction To Azure DevOps And Its Features
When software development (Dev) and operations (Ops) are merged together, DevOps is created. This is an engineering methodology, which focuses on integrating the endeavours and activities of the development teams and the operations teams while promoting a culture of partnership, cooperation and shared responsibility.
It’s all about automation and unification of the processes and DevOps professionals are central and suited to the purpose of linking application maintenance and management, together with code. It’s also an amalgamation of cultural philosophies, software tools and principles that enhances the ability of a business to deliver services and applications swiftly.
On the contrary, organizations with conventional software development and infrastructure management systems are much slower in either churning out or improving products.
Azure DevOps
The Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, Microsoft Azure has introduced comprehensive and in-depth DevOps tools to create and install software. Azure DevOps helps to improve and simplify cloud development.
Applications are deployed and built while support teams can plan their work as well as collaborate to develop code with the help of developer services provided by Azure DevOps. Software development is completed by project managers, developers and contributors coming together which is brought about by the set of processes and culture support of Azure DevOps.
Software development speed and quality can be improved by taking advantage of Continuous Integration (CI). With Continuous Delivery (CD) it can be ensured that infrastructure and code are consistently in a state of production deployment. DevOps tools like Azure Policy and Chef Automate permit managing applications and provisioned infrastructure so that compliance is secured.
The platform was launched in October 2018.
Azure DevOps Features for Business
Azure Boards
It aids developers with customized and interactive tools required for managing software projects. It provides native support with regard to Scrum, Kanban and Agile processes for development of software. Additionally, customized dashboards with in-built reporting for the development team are available which can be scaled with respect to business requirements.
Azure Pipelines
It’s a Continuous Integration and Continuous Deliverey platform with support for Kubernetes or Containers for activating automated creation, testing as well as deployment of code projects. It’s compatible with any major language and project type. It makes working code accessible to anyone and can build and deliver code to any destination.
Azure Repos (Repository)
It’s a set of version control tools used for managing code and different versions of it. The software helps to track the changes made to code over time and assists developers to work collaboratively and manage source code while developing a project. It can take care of any project whether large or small and is suitable for any team irrespective of size. Azure Repos is a private Git repository cloud hosting, which backs up Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC).
Azure Test Plans
It’s a powerful tool offering end-to-end testing of projects for a superlative delivery. This test management module allows all the programmers in a team together with stakeholders to manage test plans, test cases and test suites etc. It’s an uncomplicated, browser-based test management tool accommodating all functionalities required for various testing methods.
Azure Artifacts
This is a library service provided by Azure DevOps. It helps programmers in sharing their code effectively and controlling and distributing all packages picked up through open registries and feeds from a single location. The feature comes pre-installed with both Azure DevOps in the cloud and on-premises. The first 2 GB of storage comes free, while the payment is required for more storage utilization. It is compatible with multiple package formats such as Python, NuGet, Maven, npm and Universal Packages.
Some Advantages of Azure DevOps
1. Collaboration
Sharing is one of the key strengths of Azure DevOps. Code can be managed and hosted centrally which helps to optimize software development or project management.
2. Security
Security is a top priority in the Azure environment. It stringently sticks to conventional security models – Detect, Assess, Diagnose, Stabilize and Shut Down. In addition, there is a robust cybersecurity monitoring in place.
3. CI and CD
The CI/CD pipeline supports a solution from creation to delivery, irrespective of the hosted solution being deployed in Azure or Amazon Web Services (AWS).
4. Open Platform
Advanced unification and incorporation capabilities with multiple industry and community tools are provided by Azure DevOps, together with hundreds of extensions offered by its online store Azure Marketplace.
Verdict
Azure DevOps is an asset for businesses in need of a fine DevOps framework for their users and clientele. It can effectively facilitate a corporate climate with sharing or collaboration of the highest order. This mature, feature-rich and flexible platform can be a viable option for a wide range of companies.
With that, we come to the end of a rundown of some salient points and a brief overview of Azure DevOps.
