DevOps leaders are engaged in an all-out effort to "shift left" so they can deliver better software faster and at lower cost. Much of this effort entails fairly dramatic re-engineering of the dev/test process. And, if we're honest, much of it also entails a management culture of extreme demands on the development and test team ...

DevOps discussions typically center around process, culture, and technology. But if you work for a global financial institution or a high-end game developer, you probably wish someone would talk about scale. In fact, the differences between DevOps and "Big DevOps" are non-trivial ...

The recent iOS 10 release raises a lot of questions about how mobile apps will respond to the updated system, and how developers can ensure an untarnished user experience. It’s safe to assume that withholding the update from these popular devices may lead to a lower adoption rate for the new OS — large groups of users will continue to use the iPad 2, iPad Mini and iPhone 4S, and will be unable to make the switch. The end result? We're going to see growing iOS fragmentation in various markets, and complex testing ahead. In preparation for this mobile testing overhaul, developers need to take a look at their existing testing labs and plans, and alter them to fit the new market matrix ...

The reason Gartner brought the idea of bimodal IT to light was to create breathing space so that organizations could transform and innovate without crashing and burning. The reason that Agile was created, for instance, was to enable a faster, more responsive process than waterfall practices can offer. However, switching to continuous delivery and integration mode too quickly could prove disastrous for certain systems, as some change carries more inherent risk than other changes. Following are key elements to consider when transitioning to ensure that applications continue to run at optimal levels ...

In spite of the increasing adoption of agile and DevOps initiatives, a recent Tasktop survey identified the need for tools — that increase coordination in the software delivery process — to have stronger alignment with customer and business needs ...

More and more, developers are embracing microservices when it comes to building applications. The growth of cloud and mobile technologies has seeded the need for developers to move away from traditional monolithic approaches to development. That's where microservices provide the strategic tool needed to harness these new and evolving technologies. Today's truly innovative companies are harnessing microservices to succeed, to modify, scale and update their apps continuously in order to meet changing business needs ...

There comes a time when the vendors that serve every subset of the IT industry need to forgo self-interest and put aside competitive drivers to do whatever it takes to advance the cause of the user. Thankfully, such an effort to bring together providers of critical technology to benefit customer implementation has already emerged ...