Top DevOps Consulting & Services Companies

DevOps definition refers to the technology that aims to bridge the gap between the Development and Operations departments. This promotes a fluid communication channel between the two units, thus creating, testing, and deploying the product with enhanced effectiveness and agility. Additionally, it aims to shorten the development life cycle of the system while delivering frequent updates in close alignment with business goals.

Before the inception of DevOps technology, the most common software development methodologies were the Waterfall and the Agile model. However, the biggest drawback of these systems was that any changes in the application were difficult to implement due to a linear process flow. Moreover, a lack of communication between the technical team and the client-facing team resulted in a below-par product. The DevOps strategy follows an endless lifecycle from continuous development to continuous deployment. DevOps attempts to merge software development and implementation into a more streamlined operation. It also builds a culture of shared responsibility between the teams, facilitating transparency, faster innovation, and better results.

Incorporating DevOps technology has several advantages, such as:

1. Speed

The technology offered by the above-mentioned DevOps service provider list improves the speed of the software development process, enabling faster innovation. This allows the developers to adapt to the changing industry better and become more proficient at accelerating business goals. 

2. Rapid Delivery

The DevOps consulting firms focus on increasing the pace and frequency of releases allowing you to boost the product's deployment. Quick sprints ensure the rapid release of new features while fixing any bugs, thus enabling you to respond to your customers' needs and gain competitive advantage. 

3. Reliability

DevOps ensures the quality of software updates and its infrastructure changes so you can assuredly deliver the product while maintaining a positive experience for end-users. Continuous integration and continuous delivery to test the application warrants that each modification is functional and safe.

4. Enhanced Collaboration: 

DevOps promotes teamwork between the developers and the operations team. This helps them communicate dynamically, improving the teams' flexibility and agility. Integrating DevOps also encourages cross-skilling and improvement within the functioning of individual departments. 

5. Risk Mitigation:

DevOps plays a substantial part in handling the persistent threat of interruptions and delays prompted due to undetected development errors. The system splits the development process into shorter sprints, enabling rapid rollback in case of a glitch. Hence, teams can reduce risks as they operate through the process.

DevOps is a non-stop process, where the phases repeat until the final product is flawless. The DevOps lifecycle consists of five segments, Continuous Development, Continuous Integration, Continuous Testing, Continuous Deployment, and Continuous Monitoring. 

These segments are further segregated to understand the functioning of a DevOps model better.

1. Continuous Development:

a) Planning - This stage focuses on every aspect that transpires before the developing team initiates writing the code. The project's vision is decided during this phase, prompting the developers to develop the code for the software. The operations team gathers the requirements and feedback from stakeholders and customers to build an efficient product roadmap. The DevOps consulting firms employ a wide range of tools and technologies in this phase to plan out the achievable milestones and the project timeline.

b) Coding - Once all the specifications are determined, the developers can commence with their coding tasks. In addition to the standard coding toolkit, the software developers establish new sets of plugins required for this current project. The team helps execute consistent code-styling and prevents several security flaws and coding errors. This enables developers to implement good coding practices while providing consistency to the codebase.

2. Continuous Integration:

The continuous integration stage focuses on planning various tests that need to be implemented in the upcoming phase. It assists in determining whether the application suffices the desired requirements or not. This phase also deals with the addition of new codes to implement the latest functionalities as well as their integration into the existing code. Continuous integration helps exhibit the variances that end-users would encounter with the updated design.

3. Continuous Testing:

a) Build - Once the developers have concluded the task, they employ their code to a distributed code repository. The development unit merges its new codes with the shared codebase. A separate developer, within the DevOps service companies, subsequently reviews the changes made, and once it is ensured that there are no issues, the pull-requests are approved. By continuously reviewing code changes into the shared repository as well as running builds and tests, the developers minimize integration issues, highlighting breaking bugs early in the development lifecycle.

b) Testing - Once a build operates, it is deployed to a platform for more in-depth, out-of-band examination. A wide range of manual and automated tests are conducted once the application is rerouted to the test environment. An example of manual testing is User Acceptance Testing (UAT). In this, experts operate the software as the customer would, to identify any issues or refinements that must be addressed before sending it into production. Whereas, automated tests run security scans, checking for changes in the infrastructure, and compliance with best-practices.

4. Continuous Deployment:

a) Deploy - Once all the tests are executed successfully, the application is ready for the initial deployment. This release may contain some of the new, untested features that can be hidden from the users until they are available for action, using feature flags. The deployment can either be automatic, once the tests are concluded, or be manually scheduled to release only after the milestones are achieved.

b) Operate - This stage occurs after the end-users commenced working on the application. Now, the operations team must ensure that the entire application is running smoothly. Based on the hosting service configuration, the system environment automatically calibrates with the load to manage peaks and troughs in the number of active customers. This is also the stage where users offer feedback, which is then redirected to the development team to enhance the software's performance.

5. Continuous Monitoring:

The last phase of the DevOps lifecycle is to observe the environment. This is built on customer recommendations presented in the 'Operate' stage by gathering data and curating analytics on customer behavior, system performance, errors, and other instances. The DevOps consulting firms then present the complete data to the Product Manager, restarting the loop. The development team works on new codes to further evolve the software.

There are three types of DevOps Services:

1. DevOps as a Service:

DevOps as a Service (DaaS) is a software delivery model that facilitates cooperation between the development team and the operations team of an organization. In this delivery module, DevOps consulting companies assemble the various tools that encompass multiple aspects of the overall process and unite these tools to work collectively as one unit. The principal objective of DevOps as a Service is to ensure that each action that occurs in the delivery of software is traceable. This system successfully adapts approaches such as continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) to ensure that the clients receive desired results. Moreover, DevOps as a Service offers feedback to the developers in case a problem is distinguished in the production environment. 

2. DevOps Automation:

DevOps Automation has a crucial role in eliminating manual errors while reducing dependency on humans to improve the accuracy and consistency of the application. Moreover, DevOps automation further minimizes the lead time, permitting the software's frequent and faster release. The entire DevOps pipeline is automated, from code generation to monitoring the application and system in production. Automation in DevOps encourages speed, consistency, higher accuracy, reliability, as well as an increase in the number of deliveries. The DevOps service companies automize each and every division of the phase, including software installation, environment configuration, code compilation, system deployment, etc.

3. DevOps Implementation:

DevOps implementation focuses on streamlining the processes in order to improve efficiency. DevOps implementation service empowers businesses in resolving problems with more agility and accuracy. It includes quick and frequent delivery cycles while ensuring a minimum recovery time. In addition to extensive opportunity to scale various functions as required, DevOps implementation also helps in bringing innovation into the business. Moreover, configuration management techniques, along with automated compliance strategies, offer added security to the entire application development process.

The most prominent and useful DevOps tools are as follows:

1. Jenkins:

Jenkins, previously known as Hudson, is an open-source DevOps automation tool. It is coded in Java and includes plugins built to facilitate the Continuous Integration. Jenkins is employed to develop and test the software, which ultimately makes it convenient for developers to incorporate changes to the project. It additionally enables continuous delivery of the software through automation and a variety of testing and deployment technologies. This DevOps tool includes over 1000 plugins to support various development, testing, and deployment tools. Moreover,   Jenkins also provides developers the ability to create additional plugins and share them with the rest of the community.

2. Docker:

Docker is designed to simplify the process of creating, deploying, and operating software by utilizing containers. The docker engine has multiple containers that run the application individually. These separate containers have their own set of dependencies & libraries. This ensures each section is independent of the other, enabling developers to modify the applications without interference. In docker, the applications and the system use the same Linux kernel, which significantly boosts the system's performance while reducing the size of the software. Moreover, since it is an open-source technology, developers can modify their functionalities to fulfill their requirements.

3. Gradle:

Gradle is one of the top open-source DevOps tools that offers extreme flexibility while building any software. Gradle only runs tasks whose inputs or outputs are expected to change to avoid unnecessary work. It allows developers to build a cache that facilitates the reuse of task outputs from previous sprints. Gradle can efficiently run on different platforms since it operates on the JVM. Developers can also include standard Java APIs in the build logic if the system has a Java Development Kit (JDK) installed. Several major IDEs, such as Android Studio, Eclipse, NetBeans, etc., permit developers to import Gradle builds and create an interaction channel with them.

4. Kubernetes:

Similar to Docker, Kubernetes also functions in a containerization procedure. The main concept behind Kubernetes is that it manages the containers at a large scale and groups them into logical units. Kubernetes consists of two components, master and nodes. Master is a controlling device that operates as the primary management contact point for users, whereas containerized apps run on nodes. Kubernetes equips developers with a framework that helps run distributed systems compliantly. This system also supports automated rollouts and rollbacks of the containers at a controlled rate.

5. Chef:

Chef is an efficient automation tool that defines infrastructure as code. Chef performs some of the vital automation services such as infrastructure configuration, software deployment, and configurations management across the network. Chef can function with cloud-based platforms like Amazon EC2, Internap, Google Cloud Platform, OpenStack, Microsoft Azure, etc. to automatically procure and configure new instruments. Hence, it allows the DevOps developers to write and execute the chef infrastructure from any machine, irrespective of the operating system. In case of a failure, the chef server can adapt and recreate the system infrastructure as required due to its high availability and replication feature.

Shortlisting the right DevOps company to manage the development of software can be notably tricky. Businesses must critique several aspects prior to choosing a particular service provider. The client company must evaluate each prospect on the following criteria to find the ideal partner:

1. Portfolio:

Evaluating the DevOps consultant's portfolio is the best means to better understand the working pattern and the past project types managed by them. This also enables clients to recognize the steps exercised by the DevOps consulting companies when facing certain hurdles during their prior contracts. You may ask for recommendations from previous customers to better identify the strengths and weaknesses of the DevOps service companies. It is recommended to explore autonomous, third-party reviews and rating platforms, such as Goodfirms, to receive an unbiased outlook. 

2. Budget:

Before finalizing a deal with DevOps service provider companies, businesses must scrutinize their budget. The main area of interest should include understanding how much you are willing to pay and for which specific features. Once you have a clear notion of your investment capabilities, search for a DevOps consulting services provider that coordinates with your prices. However, it would be best if you stay open to revisions in the budget as DevOps companies can offer certain added services to accomplish the desired goals at a slightly increased budget. It is advisable to obtain quotations from multiple vendors before finalizing the right associate.

3. Certifications:

To ensure that you have the best DevOps company, it is imperative to review the certifications earned by the prospective agencies. There is a vast range of certifications that can vouch for the quality of the services provided by the DevOps consultant. These certifications depend on the type of services you require. For instance, if you are looking for an expert in DevOps tools such as Docker, it is ideal to opt for a service provider that is a Docker Certified Associate. DevOps consulting companies may also hold certificates for professional DevOps courses from companies such as Amazon and Azure.

4. Team:

It is vital to know the experts who will be personally responsible for managing the complete development of your application. Moreover, it is also inevitable to analyze the perception and values of DevOps consulting firms to better attain your business goals. It is better to establish a communication channel with the experts who will act as a point of contact throughout your projects and get to know the team that will be handling the project. You may assess their professional profile on business platforms such as LinkedIn to evaluate their ability, expertise, and previous projects. 

5. Security:

While outsourcing to the most suitable DevOps consulting services provider, interview the team about their security protocols. Security is a vital part of the complete DevOps lifecycle, from inception to deployment and beyond. Analyze the policies concerning code analysis, configuration checks, scanning vulnerabilities, etc. Ask them regarding their plan of action to prevent the leak of crucial data such as APIs, SSH keys, privileged credentials, etc. Ensure that the DevOps company comprises a DevSecOps model, conducts frequent vulnerability management, and automates security processes and tools.

Goodfirms is a well-renowned research and review platform that analyzes the best DevOps consulting companies out of countless available agencies. The participating firms are evaluated on three fundamental parameters, namely Quality, Reliability, and Ability. The above-mentioned DevOps service provider list allows service seekers to examine and ascertain the ideal associate for their organization. Goodfirms' expert researchers have impartially judged the services provided by the DevOps service provider companies and created the list of top companies mentioned-above. The list is curated after a meticulous examination of each participating company's market discernment, portfolios, domain knowledge, and support services. The solutions offered are further assessed on the feedback and critique provided by their former clients.

Goodfirms welcomes market leaders as well as rising DevOps consulting companies to expand our list. If you feel you deserve a spot on our Research page, provide proof of your work and proficiency, and earn a chance to get listed.