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Thanks to the advantages inherent in as-a-service delivery models, the days of releasing a single new version of software once a year are now long gone. Today’s as-a-service options make it possible to deliver new versions and updates to customers much faster via the cloud.

The cloud has also greatly enhanced the development process for software developers, which means you are also able to deliver a steady stream of smaller releases in significantly less time. Doing this, however, requires a systematic re-engineering of your development and operations (DevOps) processes with all the technical, procedural, cultural and personal upheavals those changes entail.

This process is well worth the effort, though. In fact, a new Logicalis US DevOps infographic has identified eight significant ways the cloud can facilitate these changes and accelerate innovation within your organization. According to Logicalis, doing DevOps in the cloud:

  1. Speeds Releases: Where you once focused all your energy on one big release, today, the cloud and a proactive, collaborative DevOps environment make it possible to deliver a constant stream of small releases.
  2. Automates Processes: DevOps in the cloud takes previously manual tasks where building environments and executing tests were done by hand and automates them for a more continuous integration process.
  3. Removes IT Barriers: Cloud-based solutions allow for faster provisioning of environments using a templated catalog rather than building testing and production environments in house by hand.
  4. Accelerates Testing: Cloud-based DevOps processes allow you to design, build and test smaller pieces of functionality – often simultaneously – rather than the previous lengthy and time-consuming waterfall method of testing large systems one stage at a time.
  5. Encourages Testing First, Not Last: Rather than evaluating and checking code at the end of the process, you can now write automated test cases prior to building the code.
  6. Promotes Planning Ahead: In the past, you may have waited until the code was built before involving operations and thinking about infrastructure needs, something which can now be done much earlier in the process.
  7. Helps Manage the Infrastructure: Where your IT team once controlled infrastructure components individually, with software-defined solutions, the infrastructure can now be managed as a whole via software tools.
  8. Fosters Better Collaboration: With the right tools in place, development and operations teams can collaborate more easily and deliver better results faster.

Want to learn more? Take a look at Logicalis’ DevOps infographic, then find out why DevOps is taking center stage among software providers. Not yet using software-as-a-service (SaaS)? Read a short article, “7 Reasons SaaS Makes Good Business Sense.”  If you want something more in-depth, download two eBooks: “DevOps and Beyond” and “ISVs and the Software Revolution,” then sign up for a Logicalis SaaS Optimization Workshop. Want to migrate to the cloud, but not sure where to start? Read a datasheet about the Logicalis Software Provider Program, then explore a web site dedicated to the interests of software developers: http://ow.ly/UTr4n.