Modern Mainframe Development

Chapter 9. DevOps

DevOps is a combination of the words development (coders, front-end developers, and quality assurance) and operations (systems, network, and database administrators). Traditionally, these two teams have been siloed in organizations, and this has resulted in slower software development, less quality, and more errors. So the goals for DevOps are to allow for better communication, transparency, collaboration, and agility in the process.

But this usually takes time, and cultural resistance often arises, especially from larger organizations that rely on mainframe systems. Despite this, DevOps has become a growing trend and has shown standout results.

As should be no surprise, this category has undergone much evolution during the past decade. This is typical with any tech category, as dynamic change is ongoing. DevOps is a journey.

In this chapter, we’ll take a look at the main concepts of DevOps as well as its various approaches. We will also look at the different automation tools to help with the DevOps process.

Advantages of DevOps

Perhaps the biggest trend in mainframe development is DevOps. The industry is in much need of rethinking its approaches, such as in terms of faster development. The traditional ways are essentially making it more difficult for organizations to compete against nimbler startups.

DevOps certainly has many advantages. Here’s a look at some of the top ones:

Speed and quality

These two concepts may seem at odds with each other. But they ...