DevOps vs Agile: What's the difference?

The difference between the two is what happens after development.

Early on, software development didn’t really fit under a particular management umbrella. Then along came waterfall, which spoke to the idea that software development could be defined by the length of time an application took to create or build.

Back then, it often took long periods of time to create, test, and deploy software because there were no checks and balances during the development process. The results were poor software quality with defects and bugs and unmet timelines. The focus was on long, drawn-out plans for software projects.

Agile takes a different approach that moves away from planning the entire project, committing to estimated dates, and being accountable to a plan. Rather, agile assumes and embraces uncertainty. It is built around the idea of responding to change instead of charging past it or ignoring the need for it. Instead, change is considered as a way to fulfill the needs of the customer.

Agile is governed by the Agile Manifesto, which defines 12 principles:

1. Satisfying the customer is the top priority
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development
3. Deliver working software frequently
4. Development and business must work together
5. Build projects around motivated people
6. Face-to-face communication is the most efficient and effective method of conveying information
7. The primary measure of success is working software
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development
9. Maintain continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
10. Simplicity is essential
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams
12. Regularly reflect on work, then tune and adjust behavior

Agile’s four core values are:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

Agile software development requires adaptive planning, evolutionary development, and delivery. Many software development methodologies, frameworks, and practices fall under the umbrella of being agile, including:

• Scrum
• Kanban (visual workflow)
• XP (eXtreme Programming)
• Lean
• DevOps
• Feature-driven development (FDD)
• Test-driven development (TDD)
• Crystal
• Dynamic systems development method (DSDM)
• Adaptive software development (ASD)

All of these have been used on their own or in combination for developing and deploying software. The most common are scrum, kanban (or the combination called scrumban), and DevOps.

Scrum is a framework under which a team, generally consisting of a scrum master, product owner, and developers, operates cross-functionally and in a self-directed manner to increase the speed of software delivery and to bring greater business value to the customer. The focus is on faster iterations with smaller increments.

Kanban is an agile framework, sometimes called a workflow management system, that helps teams visualize their work and maximize efficiency (thus being agile). Kanban is usually represented by a digital or physical board. A team’s work moves across the board, for example, from not started, to in progress, testing, and finished, as it progresses. Kanban allows each team member to see the state of all work at any time.

DevOps is a culture, a state of mind, a way that software development or infrastructure is, and a way that software and applications are built and deployed. There is no wall between development and operations; they work simultaneously and without silos.

DevOps is based on two other practice areas: lean and agile. DevOps is not a title or role within a company; it’s really a commitment that an organization or team makes to continuous delivery, deployment, and integration.

DevOps does not happen in a vacuum; it is a flexible practice that, in its truest form, is a shared culture and mindset around software development and IT or infrastructure implementation.

Despite their similarities, DevOps and agile are not the same, and some argue that DevOps is better than agile. To eliminate the confusion, it’s important to get down to the nuts and bolts.

The difference between the two is what happens after development. Software development, testing, and deployment happen in both DevOps and agile. However, pure agile tends to stop after these three stages. In contrast, DevOps includes operations, which happen continually. Therefore, monitoring and software development are also continuous.

Agile and DevOps are not adversarial in any way (or at least the intent is not there). They are more allies than enemies in the agile revolution. Agile and DevOps can operate exclusively and inclusively, which allows both to exist in the same space.

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