Strategies to Deliver Apps Faster with Continuous Integration
As a software development company, there is a lot to think about in the modern day landscape of the industry. You have more competition than ever, as revenues in the software market are growing and more and more companies are getting involved. This means you need to be at your best in order to satisfy the customers.
Author: Ashley Lipman
Companies also need to think about security, as hacks and breaches are growing more common. One of the best ways to ensure your apps and software are secure is by using an apache log analyzer or another log management tool. These types of tools can notify you when security issues or other events occur, so you can deal with them.
Another thing that software development companies need to keep in mind is speed. The faster apps are released and updated, the better. People want things immediately, and don’t want to have to wait. As a result, many companies are using continuous integration to deliver apps more quickly than their competition, to keep up with the wants and needs of the customer. Continuous integration is all about automating code changes from many sources into a project.
With that in mind, this article is going to look at some tips, benefits and strategies when it comes to continuous integration and how to implement it at your company.
As with any type of software development technique, the tools you use can have a major impact. You will need a range of different tools, and the kind you choose will depend on your needs. Not only that, but your DevOps team might have preferences and whatever they are most comfortable with, is what you should go with.
The type of tools you will need include testing, collaboration tools, and of course, some continuous integration tools. These tools can help you build, test and deploy a wide range of software. Be sure to take your time to find the right tools. Using the wrong tools because you didn’t do your research, can cost a lot of time and money.
Many options have trial periods before you buy, and it would be wise to take advantage of these. Once you have adequately tested a couple of solutions, you should finally be ready to choose which one is right for you. Also, there are many open source software and programs that are free, that should certainly be considered as well.
A good strategy for every project, especially those in software development, is to create a roadmap. While it can take a while, creating a strategic roadmap can help you identify the right things to do, and the order they need to be done in. This will keep everyone on track and ensure they know what they are responsible for doing. It will also prevent confusion, which can really hamper productivity in many cases.
Your project roadmap should go over everything from the start of the project to the finish. It should include plans for testing, reviews, checkpoints and feedback. If you try to utilize continuous integration without a plan, it simply won’t be as effective. Ensure everyone is involved with, and knowledgeable about, the roadmap.
In order for continuous integration to help you deliver apps and software with more speed, your team needs to be brought up to speed. They need to be trained up on the new processes and best practices. In some cases, you may even need to hire additional people with a specific set of skills to find success.
In addition to your team being trained, you need to make sure they are willing to utilize continuous integration and delivery. While it is beneficial in many ways, sometimes employees are quite resistant to change. As a result, you need to gradually introduce the concept to your team, and be sure to highlight the benefits it will provide your company. If you try to make the change instantly, people could be apprehensive.
In conclusion, there are several different strategies to deliver apps faster and more effectively with continuous integration.
