DevOps is a crucial part of the ever-evolving field of technology, shaping the future of software development and operational efficiency. Here are the trends, transformations and breakthroughs that will redefine the DevOps landscape in 2024.

2024: The Year for DevOps

In 2024, DevOps is poised for a transformative journey. Automation is predicted to surge to unprecedented levels, reshaping development workflows and expediting deployment cycles. Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines are expected to attain new heights of efficiency, facilitating rapid and reliable software releases. DevOps, synonymous with agility, is foreseen as a key driver of innovation and efficiency in software development.
Expert Insight: Ramendeep Bhurjee, VP, Cigniti Technologies.

BizDevOps Redefines Software

2024 will witness BizDevOps redefining how businesses approach software development and operations. The integration of business stakeholders into the development process is expected to reach new levels of maturity. Continuous feedback loops between business, development and operations teams will become standard practice. Automation will undergo further refinement, enabling swift adaptation to changing market dynamics.
Expert Insight: Raghu Krovvidy, chief delivery officer, Cigniti Technologies.

DevOps and Agile Convergence

A convergence between DevOps and Agile practices is anticipated to enhance software development. Breaking down silos and improving collaboration for faster, high-quality development is the goal. Tools supporting continuous integration and delivery are deemed crucial in this integrated approach, streamlining the path from development to deployment.
Expert Insight: Paul Lechner, VP of product management, Appfire.

Faster Development Life Cycles Continue

The relentless march towards faster development life cycles to meet escalating demand is expected to persist in 2024. As organizations push new applications into production more swiftly, a focus on real-time security practices within the CI/CD pipeline is crucial during source code development.
Expert Insight: Dan Hopkins, VP of engineering, StackHawk.

Agile Development Shapes the Future

In the realm of development, agile practices will continue shaping the future of innovation by incorporating advanced technologies and methodologies. The adoption of Scaled Agile Frameworks like SAFe is predicted to be a significant facet of agile development in 2024.
Expert Insight: Nitin Garg, VP of practice delivery, AgreeYa Solutions.

Fostering a Human-Centric Agile Mindset

Companies are expected to realize that agile transformation must be holistic, involving shorter cycles and business-side changes beyond just software. A shift towards reinvigorating the human-centric aspects of agile development is seen as essential for success.
Expert Insights: Tina Behers, VP of enterprise agility, Aligned Agility; Jon Kern, Agile Consultant, Adaptavist.

Moving From Tracking Developer Productivity to Engineering Efficiency

Leaders are anticipated to shift their focus from tracking individual developer productivity to engineering efficiency. The measurement will transition from individual metrics to team-centered metrics around engineering efficiency.
Expert Insight: Ori Keren, co-founder and CEO, LinearB.

Collaboration – The Future of DevOps

In the era of multi-cloud architectures and diverse vendor reliance, the future of DevOps is expected to hinge on strengthened collaboration. DevOps professionals are set to forge robust partnerships with traditionally siloed teams, emphasizing automation to seamlessly engage at critical junctures.
Expert Insight: Erez Tadmor, Cybersecurity Evangelist, Tufin.

Recognition of the 99% Developers

Businesses are predicted to recognize the significance of the “99% Developers” who work outside the limelight but contribute significantly to software development. Understanding the needs of this majority is seen as crucial for sustained business success.
Expert Insight: Jean Yang, Head of Product, Observability, Postman.

Debugging Remains a Challenge

Debugging is expected to remain a challenge as system complexity surpasses the capabilities of existing tools. Engineers are anticipated to yearn for tools that can transform data into actionable information, allowing for effective problem-solving even in highly complex systems.
Expert Insights: Various industry leaders.

Composable Applications Take Center Stage

In 2024, the spotlight will be on composable applications as organizations seek faster development cycles, scalability and cost efficiency. Composable architectures will be the driving force behind streamlined application development, reducing time-to-market and enabling organizations to adapt swiftly to evolving customer demands.
Expert Insight: Bharani Kumar Kulasekaran, product manager, ManageEngine –  The year 2024 marks a significant shift towards more composable and declarative SDKs. This evolution empowers developers to construct complex systems with precision and ease, fostering creativity and efficient problem-solving.

Web3 Technology: A New Era of Infrastructure

Beyond its association with cryptocurrencies and NFTs, Web3 technology is poised to revolutionize enterprise computing in 2024. Developers will witness a new generation of infrastructure leveraging consensus, verification, and transparency to address significant challenges in enterprise computing.
Expert Insight: Blane Sims, head of product, Truebit – The shift to hybrid, multi-cloud infrastructures will align with the principles of Web3, emphasizing security, reliability, risk mitigation, portability, interoperability and cost control.

Resurgence of Monolithic Architecture

Rising costs and complexities associated with monitoring microservice architectures will drive a shift back to simpler architectures. The resurgence of proven languages like Ruby and Python will accompany this shift, allowing developers to focus on advancing applications instead of managing intricate architectures.
Expert Insight: Sarah Morgan, head of product, Scout APM – For small to medium-sized, agile development teams, supporting numerous microservices becomes unrealistic. The adoption of microservices in highly containerized environments will prompt a return to manageable monolithic architectures.

Modular Monoliths: The Next Evolution

The industry will witness a transition from microservices to modular monoliths in 2024. This evolution signifies the next stage in the enterprise software architecture, with an acknowledgment that monoliths have their place, particularly before outgrowing the need for microservices.
Expert Insight: Mike Loukides, VP of emerging tech content, O’Reilly Media – Modular monoliths represent the logical progression, with the understanding that microservices should be adopted when the flexibility they provide becomes essential.

Product-Based Approach Gains Traction

The exponential growth in digital investments will lead to a shift from a project-based approach to a product-based approach in 2024. Enterprises will reimagine their work processes, emphasizing speed and reliability in delivering products to customers.
Expert Insight: Alok Uniyal, VP and head, IT Process Consulting, Infosys – The product-centric approach, built on Agile and DevOps principles, will be a cornerstone for enterprises aiming to deliver products swiftly and reliably.

Standardizing API Design and Implementation

With companies expanding their API estates, the need for maintaining consistency across the ecosystem becomes crucial. Technologies such as linting and style guides will be instrumental in ensuring consistency while enhancing the developer experience.
Expert Insight: Sean Butler, vice president of product management, SmartBear – APIs will continue to be the linchpin of digital ecosystems in 2024. An evolution towards more self-descriptive and standardized APIs will minimize integration times and facilitate seamless interconnectivity.

Generating Detailed SBOM

As the software bill of materials (SBOM) becomes more critical, embedded software developers will focus on efficiently generating detailed SBOMs. This shift will lead to development environments capturing and presenting data at various stages, enhancing traceability and enabling rapid responses to vulnerabilities.
Expert Insight: Vince Arneja, chief product officer, CodeSecure – SBOMs will provide a clear audit trail of software components, ensuring organizations can identify affected products promptly and reduce potential damages.

Rise of Mobile DevOps

Mobile DevOps will become the norm in 2024, as the mobile engineering landscape matures. Mobile engineers will witness an increase in dedicated mobile DevOps teams, mobile-first technologies, and best practices tailored to the unique challenges of mobile app development.
Expert Insight: Barnabas Birmacher, CEO, Bitrise – Mobile DevOps will evolve from borrowed best practices to a standard approach for developing mobile apps, with a focus on expertise, tools and resources specific to the mobile ecosystem.

Need for Mobile DevOps Standards

There will be a growing demand for mobile DevOps standards in 2024. Mobile engineering teams will seek standards that provide a comprehensive view of their performance across critical metrics, addressing nuances and best practices specific to mobile development that traditional DevOps standards might overlook.
Expert Insight: Barnabas Birmacher, CEO, Bitrise – As mobile teams refine their mobile DevOps practices, the need for acute understanding and benchmarks tailored to the mobile landscape will drive the demand for comprehensive mobile DevOps standards.

Git-Based DevOps Modernizes Developer Experience

In 2024, Git-based DevOps will usher in more modern developer experiences. Mainframe development, leveraging microservices and accelerating velocity, will benefit from concurrent collaboration on a single source code. The transformation of Git-based DevOps will make mainframe development feel more contemporary.
Expert Insight: The continued transformation of Git-based DevOps on the mainframe will empower developers to work concurrently, whether re-platforming or refactoring. This modernized experience will align with the accelerated pace of software development.

The Collective Vision

The IT industry has provided predictions on the trends, challenges and opportunities of DevOps in 2024. These will guide organizations in navigating the terrain of software development. Trends like composable apps, Web3 tech and monolithic architectures will shape the future. Adopting a product-based approach, standardizing API design and addressing the challenges of mobile DevOps will be pivotal. The year 2024 promises to be transformative for DevOps and app development, ushering in new possibilities in technology. Stay tuned for more predictions.