Agile vs. DevOps vs. Lean - What's the difference and how do they work together?
As businesses embrace the need for faster, efficient software development, the methodologies used for creating products have changed. Agile, DevOps, and Lean are three such methodologies that have emerged as popular options for software development.
While they share some similarities, each methodology is unique and serves a different purpose in the development process. In this post, we'll compare these three methodologies, highlighting their differences and how they can work together.
Agile Development
Agile development is an iterative approach to software development that emphasizes flexibility and customer collaboration. Its primary objective is to minimize the risk associated with software development by delivering software in short cycles known as sprints.
Agile is based on four core values and twelve principles that guide the software development process. Some core principles include customer satisfaction, self-organizing teams, and responding to change.
One of the most significant advantages of Agile is that it allows businesses to produce software that meets customer needs more accurately. Agile teams regularly engage with customers and stakeholders throughout the development process, thereby ensuring that the software product meets customer requirements.
DevOps
DevOps is a software development methodology that emphasizes the collaboration and communication between software developers and IT operations teams. It was developed to address the challenges that arise when software engineering teams and operations teams try to work together but lack common goals.
DevOps promotes a culture of collaboration, transparency, and automation, enabling teams to deliver software products continuously. It employs continuous integration and continuous delivery practices to ensure that software is tested and delivered quickly and efficiently.
DevOps also offers significant benefits in terms of collaboration, continuous improvement, and feedback. By using it, teams can rapidly produce and deploy high-quality software while reducing the risks associated with software development.
Lean
Lean is a methodology that aims to minimize waste and maximize value. It originated from the Toyota Production System and was adapted for software development.
Lean emphasizes five key principles: value, value streams, flow, pull, and perfection. It promotes a culture of continuous improvement and encourages teams to focus on delivering only what the customer needs.
Lean is an excellent approach for setting up a production system that allows teams to deliver products quickly and efficiently while reducing waste. By using Lean, teams can identify areas of waste, eliminate them and optimize their software development process.
How Agile, DevOps, and Lean work together
While Agile, DevOps, and Lean are distinct methodologies, they can work together effectively to deliver high-quality software products quickly and efficiently.
Agile and Lean complement each other perfectly. Agile emphasizes customer engagement, which is an essential component of Lean. Teams using Agile can identify customer needs, and Lean can help eliminate anything that does not add value for the customer.
DevOps also fits well in this equation. It provides the automation and collaboration needed to ensure that products are delivered efficiently.
By incorporating all three methodologies, teams can enjoy the benefit of producing high-quality software products that meet customer needs while eliminating waste and reducing risks.
Conclusion
Agile, DevOps, and Lean are all excellent methodologies that can be used to develop software products quickly and efficiently. Each methodology has its unique strengths and can work together to deliver high-quality products.
Choosing the right methodology depends on the specific requirements of the project, the nature of the team, and the nature of the product. By understanding the differences between Agile, DevOps, and Lean, teams can choose the methodology that best suits their needs, ultimately delivering better software to their customers.
References
- Beck, K., Beedle, M., Bennekum, A. van, Cockburn, A., Cunningham, W., Fowler, M., … Thomas, D. (2001). Manifesto for agile software development. Agile Alliance.
- Balaji, S., & Murugesan, S. (2016). DevOps in software engineering: A systematic map. Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, 28(7), 551–568. https://doi.org/10.1002/smr.1786
- Poppendieck, M., & Poppendieck, T. (2006). Lean software development: An agile toolkit. Addison-Wesley.