Who Is a DevOps Engineer? Job Description, Role, And Skills

One of the modern, in-demand, and promising professions today is DevOps. The word is fairly new, so not everyone knows who a DevOps engineer is. Together with the experts of essay writing company let's understand the profession of DevOps.

DevOps is an acronym. The full specialty is called "Development Operation." This in turn translates to "development and maintenance." Specialists in this field know how to test, write code, bring a team together and release a new product to the market. The profession is challenging but interesting and highly paid.

What's in a DevOps engineer job

The specialty is unique in its own way. It combines the skills of a manager and a programmer. A DevOps engineer is responsible for developing, running tests to verify the performance of the created product. He also prepares the product for launch. It is very important to have a structured view of all the stages of program creation.

DevOps engineers are in demand in various start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses, IT companies. The specialist also deals with product support and connects the work of several IT departments so that all issues are resolved promptly and in a constructive manner.

The main principles of DevOps-engineer work:

1. Implementing automation of all major product development and update processes. The IT field is focused on continuous improvement. Automation helps reduce routine work, leaving specialists to tackle the really important and complex tasks that require their increased attention.
2. Ensuring a well-coordinated team helps with the rapid development and introduction of a new product to the market. Also, the speed of updates depends on the DevOps specialist. This way users get access to new updates as soon as possible.
3. Measuring and documenting the results of the work. Reports are vital for summarizing the results, conclusions. Reports are also necessary to capture results in a timely manner. They are available for review by all team members, which in turn increases the efficiency of their work.
4. Regular monitoring of the situation to detect bugs early. The sooner a bug is detected, the less damage it does to the reputation of the brand.
5. Uniting specialists of different profiles. This way there is an exchange of experience and knowledge. And new technologies appear at the junction of different fields. This altogether has a positive effect on the implementation of innovative ideas.

Within the specialty, there are three main directions: automation, code assembly, and release to production.

Personal qualities

Personal qualities in programming depend on properly tuned communication between employees both within the team and between departments. Releasing a new product is always the hard work of different people who have to be able to negotiate with each other.

A DevOps engineer is expected to:

• attention to detail;
• technical horizons;
• diligence;
• systematic and critical thinking;
• good memory;
• responsibility;
• efficiency;
• the ability to learn.

Given that the specialty combines both programming and human resource management, each of the above qualities is very important in the correct performance of their job duties.

Skills and knowledge

A lot depends on a specialist in this field. Therefore, knowledge of programming languages is required of them. DevOps engineers should be able to work in different OS, be able to plan and collaborate. They need to have soft skills pumped up.

Professionals work with continuous integration, configuration and source code management, cybersecurity, cloud hosting, and data orchestration. The profession requires in-depth knowledge in each line of work.

Minuses of the profession

Every profession has disadvantages; it's quite normal. A DevOps engineer is constantly required to be immersed in the profession. Consequently, one has to constantly learn and keep up with the news. He also has to resolve conflicts and establish communication within the team. It turns out that the specialist is constantly exposed to high stress, you have to be prepared for that.

Pros of the profession

The positives are much more. DevOps engineer earns well. Employers are willing to pay big money for high professionalism. The profession is in demand in the labor market. It allows solving interesting tasks, finding non-standard solutions. DevOps engineer has a very wide specialization, and it is easier to grow from such a position to an architect, where salaries are even higher.

Where can you get training?

The specifics of the profession require knowledge and skills in different areas of the IT sphere. The specialist should have the skills of testing, development, and operation of the program, to understand the life cycle of the product. It is not enough to know how to write code and look for bugs. It is required a systematic approach. The problem is always solved in a complex way. Each task is unique in its own way. To systematize your knowledge, understand the specifics of each area and the principles of their interaction, it is recommended to train as a DevOps engineer.

It takes a long time to study at the university. Full-time education is too time-consuming. The modern pace of life does not allow all people to go through a long way of university education. Online DevOps courses are a great way to learn a new specialty. They will give invaluable practical experience, which universities can not provide. During the training, the tutors will help to develop a portfolio, which will be a strong argument for the employer in favor of the applicant. The portfolio is made up of homework, which is checked by mentors.

Also, a big advantage of the course was the fact that in addition to learning you can also work. And you can start earning money for your new profession while you are still studying. The student chooses the speed of the course himself. Online classes can be held at a convenient time, not according to a fixed schedule like in high school.

The courses help to structure knowledge and master the specialty in the shortest possible time. You can get information from the lesson on any gadget: from a smartphone to a PC.