The DevOps approach requires the merging of IT and software development teams to create a symbiotic, synchronised work pipeline that incorporates increased communication, flexibility and transparency. Crucially, DevOps automates myriad manual processes, allowing software creation and maintenance to become commonplace, automated functions that are self-monitoring and self-sustaining. GreySpark believes that this automation provides financial services firms with numerous benefits, including the faster delivery of products to market, improved responsiveness to shifting business priorities, lower costs and increased data and program flexibility.
For financial institutions to take a full systems- and operations-wide technological DevOps approach will be challenging and time-consuming as many remain wedded to their complex legacy technical architecture and operations hierarchies. Lingering concerns over cost, security and regulatory compliance pose additional challenges. However, GreySpark believes that these challenges are ultimately surmountable and should not prevent firms from beginning DevOps implementation and integration and reaping the operational benefits. Approaching DevOps integration as an evolutionary process by starting integration on a small scale will help financial services firms ensure its correct implementation within the organisation.