ITOPS VS. DEVOPS: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

ITOps vs. DevOps: where does one end and the other begin? These two terms are
commonly confused even within the IT industry, which is understandable since
neither is set in stone and they often overlap, especially when talking about
infrastructure. What does each role encompass and how can you tell the difference
between them?

WHAT IS ITOPS?
There is no one uniform definition of ITOps, but it generally involves IT roles
that can�t be listed under software development, but are responsible for delivering
and maintaining services, applications, and the technologies needed to run a
business. ITOps includes job titles like system administrator, network
administrator, and help desk.

WHAT DOES ITOPS COVER:

Network infrastructure
Computer operations and help desk
Server and device management
In practice, this usually includes tasks such as installing and maintaining
internal and external networks, security and regulatory compliance, data center
management, internal help desk management, licensing and managing software for
internal use, setting up and maintaining desktop and mobile devices, storage
management, configuring and maintaining network infrastructure, etc.

You should take into account that every company�s organization and infrastructure
are different, so not everyone in ITOps works on all three aforementioned segments.
The ITOps role can also stretch over many areas outside the list, so these bullet
points serve only as a guide to the tasks most commonly attributed to the phrase
�ITOps�.

WHAT IS DEVOPS?
The term DevOps was coined as a combination of software development (Dev) and
information technology operations (Ops). Defining DevOps is even harder than
defining ITOps because some use it in a broad context to describe a set of
practices �intended to reduce the time between committing a change to a system and
the change being placed into normal production, while ensuring high quality", while
others use DevOps to describe a distinct role within a company involved in
development, implementation, optimization, and maintenance of custom apps.

WHAT DOES DEVOPS COVER:

Development and testing phases
Deployment, operation, and maintenance of the product
Some of the most common tasks a DevOps person is in charge of are ensuring CI/CD
(continuous integration/continuous development), developing (microservice)
architecture, automating the delivery pipeline, migrating software to new
platforms, deploying custom IT infrastructure, etc.

Similar to the ITOps role, the DevOps position can greatly vary from company to
company.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ITOPS AND DEVOPS?

Due to both ITOps and DevOps being so vaguely defined, differentiating between the
two is not an easy task. One way of setting them apart is by observing the opposing
principles these two are built on.
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RIGID VS. FLEXIBLE

This includes adhering to standards and regulations and various security audits.
ITOps historically follows a precise and linear approach to installing, securing,
and maintaining systems. While this approach tends to reduce risks, it makes it
hard to implement any quick changes. It is typically used for non-application
related IT tasks and with commercial-off-the-shelf software (COTS).

On the other hand, the role of DevOps tries to be as flexible as possible,

experimenting with different approaches to find the fastest and most suitable
solution. DevOps mostly uses agile software development methodology. This
methodology breaks the process into small increments called sprints, which gives
the developers more freedom to apply frequent changes.

DELIVERY TIME
ITOps� greatest concern is to provide a stable and secure infrastructure, and
ensuring this requires a lot of time. Today�s market dictates a fast pace of
product development, which is hard to follow with the traditional ITOps approach.

When it comes to DevOps, everything about their role revolves around speed. DevOps�
main goals include shortening the software development lifecycle (SDLC) as well as
shortening time to market (TTM).

ITOPS VS. DEVOPS: THE PRICE OF SPEED

Since DevOps aims at speeding up the delivery process, they have to act quickly and
may fail to communicate the full extent of the changes to the rest of the the
organization. ITOps is left with a system that changes its complexity at a rapid
rate, which fuels frustration with the DevOps team, especially when tight deadlines
are included.

ITOPS VS. DEVOPS: SHADOWOPS

Every project requires a different approach, which is why the ITOps team needs to
accommodate new infrastructure requirements. For instance, the company can work on
a big data project that requires a lot of storage, then move to a project where
it�s paramount to read data in the fastest possible way. Instead of waiting on
ITOps to develop new infrastructure, some DevOps decide to cut out the middleman
and get the infrastructure they need from a cloud provider. This quick fix is
sometimes inevitable due to time restraints, but it poses a security risk. Since
ITOps has little control over the outsourced infrastructure, they can�t always
perform all necessary compliance and security audits or respond to a security issue
in time.

ITOPS VS. DEVOPS: WORKING TOGETHER

The work of ITOps and DevOps is very intertwined, creating many interdependencies.
The two teams need to work together, and communication is key. If DevOps fails to
keep ITOps informed of changes, system stability and security is at risk, but if
they wait on feedback from ITOps in every iteration, the process will be too slow.

Aligning your ITOps and DevOps teams helps prevent conflicts and misunderstandings
and, what�s most important, optimizes the software development process.

ITOPS VS. DEVOPS: SHARED TOOLS

One way to help with alignment is to ensure everyone is working with the same tools
and data wherever possible. Centralized log management can be used to collect data
for every component - change logs, audit logs, performance metrics, error alerts,
transaction logs - across operating systems, custom apps, networking equipment.

Centralized log management should also be integrated with change management

automation and orchestration systems for a comprehensive tech stack.