Devops Career Roadmap: How To Become A Devops Engineer Starting From Scratch

A DevOps (Development + Operations) engineer, like the name suggests, is the perfect marriage between development and an operations role. The DevOps concept has made continuous delivery of applications and services to end users a possibility. This is ensured by the minimization of time wasted between the development team's work and its distribution to the end users. If a career as a DevOps Engineer has caught your attention, you might really be on to something.

In 2020, the worldwide DevOps market was estimated at USD 4,311.95. With a compound growth rate of 18.95%, it is estimated to reach USD 12,215.54 million by 2026. Even though the DevOps industry is currently rather large, it continues to grow as a result of the fact that DevOps has proven to be a greater priority than ever before.

Even though the industry is currently rather large, it is continuing to develop as a result of the fact that DevOps has been shown to be a greater priority than it has ever been. Additionally, the DevOps community is observing a lot of extraordinary new breakthroughs. For instance, research from Gartner expects that by the year 2025, more than 85% of enterprises will have chosen a strategy that involves cloud computing. In addition, Gartner forecasts that by 2025, cloud platforms will be used to conduct 95% of all new digital workloads, which is a 30% increase since 2021.

The first step to becoming a DevOps Engineer would be to ask the question:

What does a DevOps Engineer really do?

The short version of the answer is: A DevOps engineer facilitates teamwork and collaboration between development and operations teams, with the aim to catalyze increased productivity. They oversee the efficient discharge and use of new software code and products.

DevOps Engineer is a designation given to an IT professional that has an extensive understanding of the software development lifecycle and holds all the necessary skills to propagate that lifecycle. They need to have an awareness of the reasons why the organization had to convert from one model to another, as well as the downsides of the older model and the advantages of the current one, amongst other things. They also need to comprehend the advantages of the newer model. A DevOps engineer has to be knowledgeable in the use of a wide array of automation tools so that they can develop pipelines for continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD).

This high-demand position asks for a specific set of DevOps skills. There are several distinct stages involved in the process of a CI/CD pipeline. It begins with the process of building an algorithm for a product during the first phase of the process, which is referred to as "planning." The process of designing is followed by the step of constructing, and it is during this step that the algorithm is transformed into a product that can be utilized by the end user. Next, the product is put through its paces in the testing process, during which any and all problems are found and fixed if necessary. The product will now move onto the deployment stage, which is the stage during which it will be presented to the end-users. The DevOps lifecycle stipulates that after the product has been released into production, it must undergo continuous monitoring. This is a relatively new requirement that was only recently introduced into the process.

DevOps engineers devote a more significant amount of their effort to the monitoring stage in comparison to the phases that come before it. It is essential to actively and constantly monitor the product in order to spot any new issues that may arise, so that prompt solutions can be found and then provide to the consumer the most recent version of the product. This stage is conducted after the product has been released into the real world to ensure that the customer is pleased with their purchase of the product. Engineers that work in DevOps collaborate with the teams that are responsible for product development and operations in order to provide high-quality items in the shortest period of time that is practically possible.

What skills do you need to be a good DevOps Engineer?

The job of a DevOps Engineer is a demanding one, it requires you to be a good multitasker and good in a variety of different areas. They must:

1. Have advanced soft-skills
   Coding and Automation are not enough to get you a position as a DevOps engineer. You need to also be good at soft skills, self-motivation, flexibility, and learning.
2. Efficiently collaborate with others
   Communication and collaboration are crucial to success as a DevOps engineer, since they help break down the barriers between the development and operation teams, align goals and implement DevOps culture cross-functionally.
3. Coding and Scripting
   Coding and scripting are two obvious and important skill sets for any DevOps engineer. Ruby, Java, Python, Javascript, PHP, Shell, Bash, and Node.js are among the most recommended programming/scripting languages.
4. Cloud Skills
   Cloud and DevOps always go hand-in-hand. The efficiency of one is directly dependent on and influenced by the other. The cloud allows a process by providing it with the necessary infrastructure to run tests, deploy, and release code. While DevOps methodology drives a process, that process is enabled by the cloud.
   
   Cloud computing makes it possible to automate DevOps by providing the necessary CI/CD tool set and also makes it easier to monitor resources. It would be good practice to keep updating your cloud skills through online courses etc. Readynez offers a large range of Cloud technology courses to help you move further toward success.

The skills required by a DevOps engineer are versatile, and so are the lines of work and teams that they can be a part of.

Options for Aspiring DevOps Engineers

A DevOps Engineer can choose to be:

• A DevOps Architect
• A Software Tester
• A Software Engineer Manager of public releases
• An Automation Engineer
• An Integration Specialist

A DevOps engineer can be a part of the following teams:

1. DevOps Team
   The DevOps team is made up of a collection of specialists that collaborate closely with software developers in order to provide fully functional software applications from the very beginning to the very end. They are in charge of all that is associated with launching an application and putting it into production.
2. App Ops Team
   The engineers that make up this group have strong domain expertise and are well-informed about any developments in the field. They have a strong understanding of how systems operate and interact well with other members from other departments, making them ideal candidates for jobs such as the implementation or administration of payment application software.
3. SRE Team
   Since they collaborate with software developers and hardware engineers on the infrastructure, they must continually weigh the requirements of each party against one another to ensure that there are no snags along the route and that everything operates well.
4. Dedicated Support Team
   To keep your production up and running smoothly, you have a staff of professionals handling any tickets that may arise. This group is equipped with both high-level (L1) and low-level problem-solving abilities, which allows them to get things done in a timely manner.
5. Central Platform Team
   This team is in charge of providing infrastructure in response to specific requests. This indicates that they will be able to scale up or down according to current requirements, without the process causing any disruptions to the availability of the application. The team is responsible for the management of the production systems, which, thanks to the continual platform maintenance, will always be operational.

What is a DevOps Engineer’s Salary

The amount of money you make as a DevOps engineer might change depending on how many years of experience you have and whatever certifications you hold. The following is an estimate provided by Glassdoor on the changing wage trends of DevOps engineers in India and the United States:

• An annual wage of $105,107 is considered to be fair market value for a DevOps engineer's work in the United States.

So Is DevOps Really For You?

Just because something sounds great, doesn’t necessarily mean it is perfect for you. Looking at both the pros and cons and weighing them against your personal lifestyle, qualifications and requirements is a great way to make a decision about any future changes.

Pros:

• You will be entering an industry with high demand, so you are likely to get a well-paying job.
• There is always scope to learn more and evolve as a professional. You will never get bored.
• You can see the physical results of the work you put in. This is gratifying.
• You have the opportunity to learn APIs and other methods of interacting with external services, some of which are not designed for computational interaction.
• You would be a key to the success of your organization. You will be one step ahead of the software developers.
• If you are curious about the latest cloud technologies and willing to learn new things, it can be a very fulfilling role.

Cons:

• Initial entrance into the field can be hard since experience is valued over formal education.
• Dealing with a variety of technology all at once can be a handful.
• There is a steep learning curve, university teaches little to nothing about this type of work.
• While it is rewarding to shift from a traditional IT role to DevOps, you have to be prepared for a large mindset change and be ready to give up the way you have been functioning so far.

So How To Go About Becoming a DevOps Engineer?

A tertiary education in computer science or a discipline closely linked to it is often required, in addition to previous work experience, for someone who wants to work as a DevOps Engineer.

1. Earn a bachelor's degree in computer science or a comparable degree with a curriculum that emphasizes the creation of software. An immersive short course is another option that might offer you skills that are both relevant and useful.
2. Give some thought to advancing your education by enrolling in a postgraduate program and/or earning professional credentials in your field, such as a Graduate Certificate in Computer Science, a Master of Engineering (Software), or a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner certification (ACP).
3. Gain experience in the industry by working in positions that provide you with opportunities to learn scripting and programming languages, as well as cloud technologies and agile methods. It might be useful to have previous experience in a leadership capacity.
4. Additionally, you could take up an online certification course to help you secure a position as a DevOps Engineer. The internet is a wonderful thing and often offers some very comprehensive and intensive education of DevOps. For instance, Readynez offers DevOps Engineering on AWS

The Readynez DevOps course helps you to learn how to distinguish between the array of applications and deployment technologies available on AWS CodeDeploy, AWS OpsWorks, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Amazon Elastic Container Service, and decide which technology best fits a given scenario. It teaches you how to design and implement an infrastructure on AWS that supports one or more DevOps development projects. How to use AWS CloudFormation and AWS OpsWorks to deploy the infrastructure necessary to create development, test, and production, environments for a software development project as well as how to use AWS CodeCommit and AWS CodeBuild to understand the array of options for enabling a continuous integration (CI) environment on AWS.

In Conclusion

Whether you are just starting off or deciding to switch from your current career path to the DevOps industry, it is vital to keep in mind that, success in the DevOps journey is possible if you are adaptable to change, flexible in your operations, and have a mix of both hard and soft abilities. This applies to everyone in the field, regardless of whether they are a professional, a corporation, or service providers. This adaptability translates to always keeping up-to-date with new trends and new programs. Constantly working on your skill sets and qualifications is bound to help you succeed. For example, Microsoft Azure, along with other players such as AWS, and Google Cloud, is a key player in the cloud space and thus a key choice for professionals looking to build a career in DevOps. It is a Software as a Service by Microsoft, which provides DevOps tools for developing and deploying software not just with its own tools, but also its integration with a wide array of 3rd party tools such as Jira, Jenkins, Grades, etc. If you too are looking to become a certified Azure DevOps Engineer, you need to clear the AZ-400 exam. If the preparation for the exam stresses you out, enrolling in Readynez’s 4 days training program may help you ease the anxiety while also giving you the opportunity to ace the exam.

The DevOps industry has a very bright future ahead of it, and a growing number of enterprises are of the opinion that it has had a beneficial influence on their company to this point.

If you are looking to take the Readynez DevOps Course, all you have to do is get in touch!