TechOps vs DevOps: Comparison & What to Choose for Your Project?

What is TechOps?

TechOps is a role that encompasses much of the traditional sysadmin. At Medium.com, Feidhlim O’Neill explains that TechOps run systems that are already built. In essence, TechOps professionals manage existing systems, ensuring they remain secure, scalable, and readily available to support an organization’s operations. Now, let’s delve deeper into the specific tasks that fall under the TechOps umbrella.

What Tasks Does TechOps Perform?

The job responsibilities of TechOps experts can vary depending on the organization but typically include:

1. System Monitoring and Maintenance

TechOps maintains and monitors the organization’s technology infrastucture, including the hardware, software, and networking components.

2. Incident Response and Troubleshooting

To ensure that systems are healthy and functioning as expected, TechOps specialists perform routine health checks and resolve IT issues to minimize disruptions.

3. Capacity Planning and Optimization

TechOps optimizes infrastructure for scalability and cost-efficiency, ensuring resources align with organizational needs.

4. Security Management

As for the security part, TechOps experts play an important role in safeguarding IT assets by implementing security measures, monitoring threats, and responding to vulnerabilities.

5. Disaster Recovery

TechOps team develops and maintains data backup and recovery strategies, ensuring data integrity and business continuity in case of unforeseen events.

Pros & Cons of TechOps?

Now that we understand the core functions of TechOps, let’s explore the pros and cons it can offer.

Pros of TechOps

• System Reliability

TechOps excels in maintaining and monitoring IT systems, boosting their reliability, and minimizing downtime, ensuring consistent operation across all IT departments.

• Scalability

TechOps focuses on capacity planning and optimization, ensuring that infrastructure meets all organizational needs without going over budget.

• Improved Security

TechOps teams often prioritize security, ensuring that all systems are protected against both internal and external cyber threats.

• Data Integrity

TechOps ensures data integrity and business continuity, protecting against data loss during unforeseen events.

• Legacy Systems Maintenance

TechOps teams can effectively support legacy systems, which may still be in use in some organizations.

Cons of TechOps

• Slower Deployment

Due to a conservative approach to change management, TechOps may slow down the deployment of new features or updates.

• Limited Collaboration

TechOps teams may work in silos, leading to limited collaboration with development teams, potentially hindering the development process.

• Resource Intensive

Maintaining a dedicated TechOps team can be resource-intensive, particularly for organizations with limited budgets, as it requires continuous training and staying updated with rapidly evolving technologies.

• Lack of Agility

The traditional nature of TechOps may limit adaptability in responding to rapidly changing technological landscapes, potentially causing delays in the adoption of new technologies.

• Scalability Constraints

While TechOps can handle scaling, it may still face limitations in scaling up or down in response to unpredictable workloads, which can hinder adaptability.

What is DevOps? DevOps a Culture, Not a Role

DevOps is a culture and a way of working rather than a specific role in a company. It requires teamwide communication and collaboration. In a DevOps environment, engineers, developers, testers, project managers, and even TechOps professionals work together cohesively.

The idea is that the entire team collaborates to find opportunities for automation, while avoiding the traditional mindset of working in silos. This helps save time and complete projects at a consistently high quality.

For example, Scotiabank found that implementing DevOps culture improved its reputation. Automating security practices helped them protect both their website and their client’s data. In short, DevOps helped create a path for Scotiabank to become Canada’s first fully digital bank. This speed to market is an advantage that will keep on giving for years to come.

What Tasks Does DevOps Perform?

To gain a better understanding of DevOps, let’s delve into the typical tasks performed by DevOps professionals.

Tool Selection and Implementation

DevOps experts assess organization needs, choose appropriate automation tools, and configure them for efficient DevOps pipeline support.

Process Optimization

DevOps teams enhance development and operations processes by identifying bottlenecks, automating manual tasks, and creating streamlined workflows for quicker and more efficient development process.

Collaboration Facilitation

DevOps experts boost collaboration between development and operations teams, promoting effective communication and teamwork to achieve common objectives.

Automation

DevOps experts write automation scripts for tasks like configuration management, deployment, and infrastructure as code (IaC) to enhance resource management efficiency.

Monitoring and Performance Optimization

DevOps specialists continuously monitor all systems, finding and fixing issues, and making sure that the infrastructure runs as efficiently as possible

Pros & Cons of DevOps?

Now, let’s explore the main advantages and drawbacks of DevOps:

Pros of DevOps

• Faster Development and Deployment:

DevOps practices enable quicker software releases, leading to faster time-to-market and a competitive advantage for the organization.

• Improved Collaboration:

DevOps fosters collaboration between development and operations teams, breaking down silos and promoting cross-functional teamwork.

• Automation:

DevOps introduces automation, reducing manual tasks, eliminating human errors, and streamlining repetitive processes.

• Better Product Quality:

Continuous testing and integration lead to improved product quality, resulting in enhanced customer satisfaction.

• Cost-Efficiency:

Automation and streamlined processes in DevOps services can lead to cost savings in the long run.

Cons of DevOps

• Initial Learning Curve:

Adopting DevOps practices can be challenging and may require changes in organizational culture and processes.

• Resource Intensive:

Implementing DevOps tools and practices can be resource-intensive and may lead to higher initial costs due to investments in automation tools, training, and infrastructure improvements.

• Security Concerns:

In some cases, focusing on faster deployment can lead to security oversights if not adequately addressed.

• Dependency on Tools:

Relying too much on DevOps tools may be weakness that comes in when these tools fails or become outdated.

• Resistance to Change:

Just like TechOps, there can be resistance to adopting DevOps practices, especially in organizations with established processes.

Difference Between TechOps and DevOps

In a traditional setting, TechOps is responsible for testing and monitoring a completed system. Their jobs can include rebooting a server after a crash and automating processes that handle bug testing or error reporting. Both of these examples begin after production. These functions are also independent of the production team.

In contrast, DevOps removes the barriers between departments, involving TechOps from the project’s outset. Teams also work together to find automation opportunities and speed up development.

DevOps tests and monitors projects as they are being built. Testing and quality assurance are automated to find problems before, during, and after deployment. DevOps doesn’t only help build digital products faster, but also improves quality across the board.

For a better understanding of the distinctions, here’s a table highlighting the differences when we compare DevOps and TechOps.

TechOps or DevOps: What is Better for Your Organization?

As we have analyzed the TechOps vs. DevOps question, you may have noticed a trend. TechOps isn’t a separate department. It can be one of the components that fits within your DevOps environment.

In contrast, DevOps is a way of working that can benefit many businesses. What business wouldn’t benefit from better communication and collaboration? DevOps, however, really shines when you’re working with complex digital products. Let’s consider a few examples of how DevOps has helped sophisticated organizations.

How DevOps Has Helped Other Organizations?

In a fireside chat with Ken Exner, GM of AWS Developer Tools Ken shared how DevOps helped Amazon. In the early 2000s, they had a traditional organization structure with siloed development, testing, and operational teams. They also followed a release train model — a manual release process, where you manually QA everything and maybe release once a week.

Amazon found that they couldn’t go any faster in the traditional system. They would throw more developers at the problem, but wouldn’t get a comparable amount of productivity or efficiency out of it.

Adopting the DevOps methodology helped Amazon create teams that were more efficient and had all the components they needed. Amazon broke the team into small, autonomous groups that owned their own deployment. Previously, the development team acted as one big structure that got more sluggish as it grew. Looking at Amazon today, it’s obvious how this change allowed them to scale.

Also, consider Netflix. The size and scope of Netflix’s cloud storage required an innovative solution. TechBeacon describes how they collaborate with a team of volunteers for stress testing. This commitment to open collaboration helps Netflix test its code as it is deployed.

Automation also plays a part at Netflix. Images are an important aspect of the site’s appeal. Helpsystems describes how Netflix uses automated monitoring to ensure that image failures don’t disrupt the site. When an image is updated, it’s automatically tested. If an image fails, the system defaults to the old image. This automated approach has helped keep Netflix at the top of the online entertainment market.

These examples show the impact DevOps can have on your organization. Whether you’re in retail, entertainment, banking, or a different field, DevOps can save you time and money, and improve your reputation. The result of DevOps, as explained by BMC Blogs, is that new or innovative products are completed in as short a time as possible.

Conclusion

In the ever-evolving IT landscape, the choice between TechOps and DevOps is not just a matter of preference; it’s a strategic decision that can shape the way the organization functions.

TechOps, at its core, ensures the stability and security of IT systems, providing the necessary support for maintaining consistent operations.

In contrast, DevOps focuses on developing and deploying software applications rapidly and efficiently, fostering a culture of collaboration and automation between operations and development teams.

Both TechOps and DevOps bring their unique strengths to the table, so the choice between these two should be made based on your organization’s distinct needs and project requirements. By carefully considering these factors, companies can harness the power of both approaches to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their IT operations while staying adaptable to future changes and opportunities.

Consider Coherent Solutions Your Trusted Partner

At Coherent Solutions, we firmly believe in the power of partnership. Whether you need to optimize your development processes or strengthen your IT infrastructure, our dedicated team of experts can help you navigate the ever-expanding world of “Ops” with clarity and confidence. Contact us today to learn how our DevOps and TechOps services can elevate your organization, drive innovation, and propel your projects to new heights.