The Alignment between DevOps and Business Outcomes

Abstract

The use of software products to achieve business outcomes increases as demand for reliable and quality services increases. DevOps enables organizations to meet market demands and changing environments through much faster delivery of high-quality and stable software features. The success of DevOps depends on how an organization adopts and practices DevOps. Over the years, the adoption of DevOps has increased, as approaches and models are proposed to smooth the adoption process. However, these approaches and models focus more on software delivery outcomes and less on business outcomes. This qualitative study aims to accelerate the adoption of DevOps, focusing on achieving business outcomes. The study found that DevOps does not solely contribute to business outcomes, but operates with other business success factors from different departments. Three main challenges in aligning DevOps with business outcomes were identified, and recommendations were proposed. Specifically, a conceptual DevOps adoption process was proposed to accelerate the adoption of DevOps to meet market demands and to contribute to achieving business outcomes. The study will assist researchers and practitioners in understanding the adoption of DevOps for better business outcomes.