ChatOps

Chapter 13. Importance of Persistent Data

One of the important aspects of ChatOps is that the conversations, context, and commands executed are stored indefinitely. Because the data is persistent, topic-based discussions not only evolve over time but are easily searchable and retrievable from any point in the future. Because of this, participants of topic-based rooms or channels can review the chat and command history at any time, allowing them to easily get up to speed on recent or historic conversations and actions and their context. Individuals who join the conversations later can quickly get to the same level of awareness as those who participated in the conversations as they happened.

Topic-based discussions are easily separated by containing specific types of content to their own unique rooms or channels. This means that conversations, context, and actions regarding a service disruption, for example, can and should take place only within the room or channel that is associated with that topic. This helps to create a sterile space for collaboration that is dedicated solely to that topic. As the topics evolve over time, these unique yet specific spaces for conversations provide an ideal location for team members to share ideas, concepts, thoughts about improving processes and tooling, and more.

Unlike with email and instant messaging, the conversations in group chat are always available and searchable, and you can even create rules so you are alerted only about specific topics ...