DevOps and DevSecOps Approaches to Blockchain Development

Establishment

This article aims to briefly introduce readers with some of the new methodologies in the field of software development – the DevOps and the DevSecOps tools. Traditionally, in the IT-field, two sectors of activity of specialists are distinguished – software development and further support of it. The result of the analysis of such separate work showed its low effectiveness. And after this there was a conviction that the convergence of the areas of development and support will significantly increase the effectiveness of IT projects. As a result, there was a demand from IT service providers to use the DevOps tool in various software projects. For example blockchain-developers strive to master blockchain devops very active, because this allow them to seriously improve the effectiveness of their work.

DevOps methodology

The development and maintenance of any software product always depends on the professionalism and working methods of various IT specialists – these are developers, administrators, testers etc. However, often the functional barriers that have always existed between these specialists did not help, but hindered the effectiveness of program processes. Various unheeded errors, as well as a violation of the processes themselves, significantly slowed down and worsened the IT-activities. As a result, many software products and their updates often had being morally obsolete, which led to customer dissatisfaction, additional expenses for the companies themselves, and a deterioration in their image in the IT services market.

The answer to the problem of disunity of functional specialists was the creation of the DevOps (Development & Operations) tool. Already from the name it becomes clear that the main idea of DevOps is to bring these two most important processes closer together. In practice, this idea is implemented using two postulates:

1. The entire IT infrastructure, which includes both settings and servers, must be presented in the form of a single code. This means, first of all, the impossibility of intervention or adjustment of any component of the infrastructure separately. As soon as there is a certain change in any element of the code, the project as a whole changes.
2. The narrowly focused segmental work of IT-specialists should be replaced by the work of a multifunctional team whose members are interested in the effectiveness of the entire project.

Benefits of DevOps

It should be noted that several years of using the DevOps methodology by IT-companies made it possible to conclude that the chosen approach was correct, which allowed companies to achieve, as minimum, the following results:

– the processes of creating software products from discrete steel are continuous, which significantly reduced the time for their implementation and minimized the number of errors;

– the creative atmosphere of a cohesive multifunctional team focused on the final result of the project has taken root;

– it became necessary to analyze software products prior to their development in order to minimize the impact of individual problems on the performance of the entire product;

– customer satisfaction and motivation of the employees of the companies increased.

DevSecOps methodology

Any useful methodologies can be improved to apply them more effectively. And the DevOps methodology is no exception. As time passed by the practical application of DevOps, the capabilities of this tool were expanded to include such an important component as security. In other words, the multifunctional team began to include security specialists as well. A new tool has appeared – DevSecOps (Development, Security & Operations).

The purpose of this expansion of the team was the desire to create software products that are not only effective, but also safe. And despite the fact that the roles and functions in the process of working on each project were clearly defined, the application of the DevSecOps methodology ensured that the entire multifunctional team was responsible for the security of the developed software products.

Benefits of DevSecOps

The benefits of any innovation are confirmed or refuted by the practice of its application. The benefits of using DevOps have been discussed above, and now let’s look at the additional benefits of using DevSecOps in the context of this statement.

1) The use of this methodology allows specialists to verify their development in terms of security not after its completion, but at each stage of its creation. This means that potential problems are identified in advance, which entails a minimum cost for their elimination and increases the safety of the finished IT-products during their operation by the consumers.

2) Since many software product security items are covered by national and international regulatory requirements, the application of the DevSecOps methodology allows the companies to use system tools to validate compliance with these requirements.

3) In a broader sense, the application of the DevSecOps methodology contributes to the emergence and continuous functioning of the so-called “security culture”. The interaction between individual specialists and between entire teams of specialists is forming a unified approach to the issues of the safe use of software products, and also to the use of tools for the formation and maintenance of such security.