UPDATED 18:26 EDT / SEPTEMBER 07 2021

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DevOps’ growing role in driving business will be major focus for Sept. 22 AWS Startup Showcase

There is an element in the current enterprise conversation around DevOps that should not be ignored.

As every company must either go digital or risk going out of business, Dev and Ops become bookends for a process that contains the heartbeat of the organization. It’s no longer the product alone that drives the business; it’s the strength of the operational model that will ultimately determine success or failure.

“The product-centric operating model is a major transformational dynamic,” Charles Betz, lead DevOps analyst at Forrester Research Inc., said in an interview with theCUBE. “The most interesting conversations that I’m in are less about the technology and more about the operating model. The DevOps conversation is morphing into the product conversation; this is what DevOps is turning into.”

The future of DevOps will be on display Sept. 22, when Amazon Web Services Inc. and theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, welcome 15 companies within the cloud provider’s ecosystem during the AWS Startup Showcase: New Breakthroughs in DevOps, Data Analytics and Cloud Migration and Management Tools. TheCUBE’s coverage of the event will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. PDT. The Showcase will feature interviews with founders of fast-growing startups, AWS executives and noted technologist Emily Freeman, author of “DevOps for Dummies” and co-curator of “97 Things Every Cloud Engineer Should Know.” (* Disclosure below.)

Rise of build/run

As IT organizations increasingly embrace a product-centric operational mindset, the concept of build/run has taken on added significance. It is an approach where IT moves from shepherding projects to delivering actual products and services.

The concept was outlined at length by Amazon.com Inc. Chief Technology Officer Werner Vogels during a 2006 interview in which he described the importance of giving developers operational responsibilities for driving the software they create.

“The traditional model is that you take your software to the wall that separates development and operations and throw it over and then forget about it,” Vogels said at the time. “Not at Amazon. You build it, you run it. This brings developers into contact with the day-to-day operation of their software. It also brings them into day-to-day contact with the customer.”

Retail and finance sectors dive in

While Amazon took an innovative approach over a decade ago with its DevOps model alongside building a book-selling business into a massive technology conglomerate, other industries adopted product-centric DevOps out of necessity to survive.

One of these was the brick-and-mortar retail industry that found itself under considerable pressure as sales volume through e-commerce sites began to grow. How to keep shoppers engaged and deliver a personalized retail experience required the rapid adoption of new technology for day-to-day operations.

A “State of DevOps” report compiled by Google Cloud and DevOps Research & Assessment in 2019 found that the retail and financial services industries had the highest rates of DevOps adoption after the technology industry itself.

“Banks were under a lot of pressure to develop mobile applications, you have this burgeoning DevOps movement,” Betz said.  “There’s no question the regulatory burden does not make things easy for them. But they can’t use regulation as an excuse to not pursue faster delivery modes, because they will get their lunch eaten by the PayPals of the world.”

Embracing data analytics

At the heart of a growing industry reliance on build/run and product-centric DevOps is a need for continuous operational innovation. This has brought the use of data analytics tools into sharper focus, as demonstrated by one very non-technical example: the backyard s’more.

When chocolate giant Hershey Inc. analyzed external data during the pandemic in 2020, it found that Americans spent more time toasting s’mores by the fire in the relative safety of their backyards than in normal years. This led to a noticeable rise in sales of its six-pack chocolate bar offering during months when the item was not usually quite so popular. The data allowed Hershey to predict future demand in 2021 and increase supply of the multipack bars this spring to capitalize on higher sales, an abrupt shift from its traditional strategy.

This is the kind of operational agility that the DevOps world, exemplified by a number of the startups that will be showcased during the AWS event on September 22, is positioned to provide. It represents a transformational moment for IT as companies across a wide range of industries enable DevOps practices to drive business outcomes.

“It’s build the thing, run it, keep the lights on, understand the business patterns, and take accountability for how to improve its performance,” Betz said. “That really is the big conversation this year, and it is how so many IT organizations are transforming.”

Livestream of the AWS Startup Showcase: New Breakthroughs in DevOps, Data Analytics & Cloud Management Tools

The AWS Startup Showcase: New Breakthroughs in DevOps, Data Analytics & Cloud Management Tools is a livestream event, with additional interviews to be broadcasted on theCUBE. You can register for free here to access the live event. Plus, you can watch theCUBE interviews here on demand after the live event.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch the live coverage of the AWS Startup Showcase: New Breakthroughs in DevOps, Data Analytics & Cloud Management Tools, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

Guests

Stay tuned for a complete guest list of who will be interviewed on theCUBE during the AWS Startup Showcase: New Breakthroughs in DevOps, Data Analytics & Cloud Management Tools.

Watch hosts John Furrier and Lisa Martin discuss the upcoming Showcase.

 

(* Disclosure: This event is sponsored by participating companies in the AWS Startup Showcase. Neither AWS nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE

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