DevOps on Microsoft – Seems kind of at odds doesn’t it? DevOps as a movement has been very close to open source roots, allowing developers to really drive the course over operations and infrastructure. Microsoft is moving towards DevOps integration by integrating new features in the forthcoming release of Visual Studio 11. The product remains in beta – and a release date has not been announced. Microsoft has a release-filled schedule ahead for the rest of 2012, and it can be expected that the juggernaut will be a significant player in the movement.

At the core of Visual Studio 11 is an updated Integrated Developer Environment (IDE). Within the IDE a number of new features achieve crossover into DevOps principle functionality. For example, back-end server applications and cloud applications can be built through the new features. There are newly integrated HTML5 functions which include drag-n-drop application building. This is also a feature for JavaScript. A newly implemented bridge to Microsoft’s System Center 2012 builds one piece of this integrated realm. System Center 2012 is a suite of data center tools and features a component that monitors the network for system state and other valuable information.

Application monitoring being one of the key concerns in production and development, tracking and analyzing issues in this construct can make a significant difference in DevOps as well as production. Specialized diagnostic information can now directly be integrated and get that information to developers for analysis. Visual Studio 2011 also feature Intellitrace functionality into programs that are built from the tool. Intellitrace allows trace logs to be generated during debugging and provides valuable, quick to acquire information to developers like never before.

The picture being drawn is that the combination of System Center 2012 and Visual Studio 11 have comprised a formidable platform for DevOps operations to take place. In addition, a number of other current and upcoming Microsoft products and features are starting to offer such integration touchpoints, such as Sharepoint, and SQL. It makes the combination of products a truly viable cloud and DevOps offering that can help organizations gravitate to better functionality altogether and do so with a familiar toolset and technology partner. With increased versatility and nimble operations, DevOps and the technology that drives it has created a need for products that can help deliver on the benefits. Microsoft’s growing offerings are primed to step in to satisfy this need across the enterprise.