DevOps engineers help bridge the gap between the developers and operations teams by automating tasks that would normally be done manually.
Their goal is to make processes more efficient and increase productivity by reducing the amount of time spent on repetitive tasks. They are often responsible for creating new tools or processes that can be used throughout the organization.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is estimated to see a 22% job growth for software developers from 2020 to 2030, which is faster than average.
Do you wish to become a DevOps engineer too? Read on to understand what is a DevOps engineer, what are their roles and responsibilities, and the skills required to become a DevOps engineer.
Table of Contents
- What is a DevOps engineer?
- What is the role of DevOps engineer?
- What are DevOps engineer skills to add to your resume?
- How much does a DevOps engineer make in a year?
What Is a DevOps Engineer?
A DevOps engineer is an IT generalist with a broad understanding of development and operations. He knows coding, infrastructure management, system administration, and DevOps toolchains. A DevOps engineer works across organizational silos to create a more collaborative atmosphere.
DevOps engineers must have a good grasp of common system architecture, provisioning, and administration, as well as traditional developer tools and techniques like source control, providing and receiving code reviews, creating unit tests, and familiarity with agile concepts.
Tools Used by DevOps Engineer
| Tools | Uses |
| Git GitHub | Version control system and source code management |
| Jenkins | Server automation and developing CI/CD pipelines |
| Selenium | Automated testing |
| Kubernetes | Container orchestration |
| Puppet | Configuration management |
| Docker | Software containerization |
| Nagios | Continuous monitoring |
| Chef | Configuration management |
| AWS | Cloud platform integration |
What Does a DevOps Engineer Do?
A DevOps engineer's responsibilities vary per company, but they almost always include release engineering, infrastructure provisioning and management, system administration, security, and DevOps advocacy.
Roles and Responsibilities of a DevOps Engineer
A DevOps engineer’s responsibilities are multi-faceted- they need to be technically expert and manage operations simultaneously.
Some of a DevOps engineer’s responsibilities are:
- Understanding customer needs and project’s key performance indicators
- Using tools for development, testing, automation, and IT infrastructure
- Organizing team structure, activities, and involvement in project management tasks
- Managing external interfaces and stakeholders
- Defining and implementing DevOps operations
- Encouraging and building automated processes
- Mentoring and guiding the team members
- Managing internal coordination and communication
- Continuous vulnerability assessment and risk management to identify and deploy cybersecurity measures
DevOps Engineer Skills
A DevOps engineer should have a thorough awareness of all the components of a delivery pipeline. The technical skills required, however, vary depending on the team structure, technology, and toolkits in use.
Here are some of the skills required for a DevOps Engineer:
Communication and Collaboration
A DevOps engineer's ability to communicate and interact successfully with teams, management, and customers is essential.
This is because they need to communicate with other team members to ensure that the changes made by one team member do not hamper others’ work.
They also need to be able to communicate with customers and stakeholders about their work and how it affects their daily operations.
Also Read: How to develop communication skills?
System Administration
A DevOps engineer should have expertise in system administration, including provisioning and maintaining servers, establishing databases, security monitoring, system patching, and managing internal and external network connectivity.
Experience with DevOps Tools
DevOps engineers must be familiar with and capable of using a wide range of tools such as:
These technologies cover the whole DevOps lifecycle, from infrastructure and development through monitoring and operations.
Configuration Management
An effective way to implement continuous delivery and deployment is through the automation of various processes within an organization's IT system architecture.
DevOps engineers should know how to use configuration management tools like Chef, Puppet, or Ansible to automate system administration tasks, such as installing new systems or patching existing systems.
Containers and Container Orchestration
The code for the application and its runtime environment is combined in the same image with containerization, a Docker-popularized technology. As a result, traditional configuration management solutions are no longer required.
Managing containers, on the other hand, has its own set of issues, and knowledge of "container orchestrators" (e.g. Docker Swarm or Kubernetes) becomes a critical skill for the DevOps engineer.
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery
Continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) is the process of automating software builds through scripts that run at specified times. It helps you build and test software faster and more reliably.
DevOps engineers will often require expertise in setting and installing one or more CI/CD solutions, as well as collaboration with the rest of the development team to ensure that these tools are used successfully.
System Architecture and Provisioning
A DevOps engineer should be able to build, deploy, and maintain computer ecosystems. It's essential to comprehend Infrastructure as Code (IaC), an IT management methodology that applies DevOps software development to cloud infrastructure resource management.
Pro Tip: A DevOps engineer should know how to use Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS CloudFormation, or Terraform to model system infrastructure in the cloud.
Coding and Scripting
Many experienced system administrators have written shell scripts to automate time-consuming activities. A DevOps engineer should know advanced software development processes and how to integrate agile development practices like code reviews and source control, in addition to building automation scripts.
Management Skills
Cross-team communication is a key element of a successful DevOps approach. Whether the engineering team is split solely by roles or in other ways, the DevOps engineer should be a coach and a co-worker across the business.
One of the most beneficial returns on a DevOps investment, for example, is the ability to provide engineers with quicker feedback. To increase the speed, efficacy, and output of testing procedures, a DevOps engineer will frequently collaborate with QA (whether human testers or developers who create test automation).
DevOps Engineer Certification
Getting a job as a DevOps engineer is not difficult when you have the right skill set. Below are some of the certifications that you can go for:
- Certified DevOps Architect
- Docket Certificate Training
- Jenkins Certification Training
- Kubernetes Certification
- Git and GitHub Certification Training
Also Read: DevOps Engineer Jobs in 2022
DevOps Engineers’ Salary
According to Glassdoor, a DevOps engineer earns $1,05,017 /yr on average.
According to Payscale, a DevOps engineer earns $98,534 /yr on average.
According to Talent, a DevOps engineer earns $126,757 /yr on average.
Also Read: What is DevOps Engineer Salary?
Frequently Asked Questions
Some of the frequently asked questions are:
Is DevOps Easy to Learn?
DevOps is simple to understand, but it takes time to master as it is a combination of many processes and tools. You need to get your basics right and keep on acquiring knowledge of tools and processes over time to become a good DevOps engineer.
Key Takeaways
A DevOps engineer is an IT generalist with an understanding of development and operations. They are in high demand with companies looking to automate processes.
- DevOps is easy to learn but difficult to master as it includes a variety of processes.
- Their responsibilities vary depending on the role, team, and technology in place but always include release engineering, infrastructure provisioning and management, and DevOps advocacy.
- The technical skills required for each job, such as configuration management, system administration, continuous integration, continuous delivery, deployment, etc. also depend on the role. General skills such as working in a team and communication are required.
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