True, application development is a job worth acknowledging as it involves deciding on the app architecture, blueprint, functionality, etc., but app development is just not enough. True success lies in how quickly your team can deliver updates, identify and fix issues, and get you aligned with your users’ needs. This is where Cloud and DevOps adoption becomes a game changer.
According to a recent report by Gitnux, companies adopting DevOps best practices deploy code 46 times more frequently and recover failures 96 times faster. Another study by Spacelift reports that 83% of IT leaders say DevOps has improved their business value.
Ever wondered how the best apps are able to launch new app features without breaking things? Surprisingly, the credit here often goes to DevOps implementation strategy.
This article sheds light on the role of DevOps workflows and how they successfully manage to keep the app running — streamlined, and updated.
What Is DevOps?
Development + Operations = DevOps
DevOps is short for Development + Operations. It’s a sector where developers and IT teams collaborate to ensure faster software building and quicker bug-fixing. It is analogous to a partnership between the people who write code and the people who run it on servers. Their task also involves ensuring frequent updates and incorporating automation.
Simply speaking, DevOps = better teamwork + faster results + fewer problems.
How DevOps Powers App Success?
Developers build apps, while DevOps powers them to achieve long-lasting success. Let’s have a walkthrough of how DevOps achieves this!
Step 1: Smarter Code Collaboration
The journey here also begins with mobile app development, but it goes beyond just writing application logic. It involves the simultaneous management of infrastructure and automation scripts.
The teams contribute to a unified codebase using practices like GitOps and Infrastructure as Code (IaC). This means:
- Collaboratively managing app and infrastructure code in version-controlled repositories.
- Using tools like Terraform and Pulumi to define and track infrastructure changes alongside application logic.
- Leveraging platforms like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket for peer reviews, branch policies, and automated checks.
- Maintaining visibility and accountability through shared workflows and version history.
- Automating CI/CD pipelines, version control, testing, environment provisioning, and deployments.
This approach strengthens collaboration, reduces errors, and ensures consistently testable, deployable code.
Step 2: Continuous Integration and Testing
DevOps is all about ensuring early bug detection and improving the app’s overall stability. Continuous integrations and testing play a significant role here, involving automatic code testing and merging throughout the day.
The tools helpful in this regard include:
- GitHub Actions
- CircleCI
- Jenkins
According to Spacelift, 63% of DevOps adopters report significantly improved software quality. That’s because testing isn’t an afterthought—it’s part of the process.
Step 3: Creating Automated Builds
After development and CI-based testing, Continuous Delivery (CD) ensures code is automatically packaged and prepared for deployment. DevOps teams use automation tools for:
- Compiling and packaging apps.
- Creating containers using Docker and orchestrating them with Kubernetes.
- Ensuring seamless deployment.
In this way, DevOps ensures consistency across environments, helping with the delivery of updates with minimal manual errors. Teams embracing DevOps practices can deliver new features up to 22% faster by Scoop Market.
Step 4: Zero-Downtime Deployment with DevOps
Deployment is risky— your one wrong move could crash the app. With DevOps deployment, such crashes are avoidable since their strategies are safer and smarter.
These include:
- Blue-green deployments: Run two environments (old & new) and switch when ready.
- Canary releases: Gradually roll out features to a small group of users.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Use scripts to configure and replicate environments reliably.
These strategies lead to zero-downtime deployments, which allow for easy updates pushed without having the users notice it.
Step 5: Monitoring App Health and Performance
The work on an application continues even after its live release. DevOps continues to work in the background, monitoring app performance, usage, and potential issues in real time. The popular tools used for the purpose include:
- Datadog
- Prometheus
- New Relic
They help teams monitor:
- Server health
- Crash reports
- Traffic surges
Step 6: Rapid Iterations and Upgradation
DevOps is capable of making quick user-based iterations in mobile, web and desktop applications. This is, perhaps, one of the top benefits of a DevOps team. In the case of the appearance of a bug, the DevOps:
- Identify it early and fix it rapidly, often within hours or even minutes.
- Automatically test and build a run.
- The same day deployment of the updated app.
This cycle of continuous improvement allows apps to evolve based on real-time user needs.
Top Companies Leveraging DevOps
From startups to SMEs, companies of all sorts benefit from the skills of DevOps, gaining and maintaining their competitive edge in the market. Some of the top companies include:
1. Amazon
Amazon is a standout example. Amazon Web Services (AWS) adopted a DevOps model and reported a dramatic improvement in its deployment frequency. On average of every 11.7 seconds, its engineers were able to push updates, showing the power of agile practices and automation in business scaling.
2. Netflix
Netflix, a pioneer in tech innovation, developed a suite of automated tools (the Simian Army) for resilient DevOps testing of systems and detecting vulnerabilities proactively. This approach ensures a seamless experience for millions of global users, even during peak traffic.
3. Target
Target, a retail corporation, has also embraced DevOps to drive cultural transformation within its teams. The company is organizing internal DevOps days and sponsoring local tech meetups. In this way, Target is not only enhancing its in-house capabilities but also making useful contributions to the overall DevOps community.
Final Thoughts
The role of DevOps in app development is no longer optional—it’s the secret weapon behind the best apps on the market today. From continuous integration and deployment to proactive monitoring and real-time improvements, DevOps helps businesses with faster delivery of better applications and transform workflows.
So, whether you’re building custom mobile apps, testing MVPs, or maintaining long-term client projects, a DevOps service provider is your key to ensuring app success.
