Cloud Computing 101: Understanding the Basics

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Cloud computing encourages productivity in the workplace, since you can access its programs and files from wherever you are. With the necessary remote work environments caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, cloud computing got fast-tracked in several businesses. For those companies joining the rising trend, the question is: How do I capitalize on every feature of cloud infrastructure?

From cloud disaster recovery to data centers, this storage solution has loads of professional applications. When implemented the right way, cloud infrastructure gives software development companies improved collaboration, boosted cybersecurity, and room to scale quickly.

You can bring project development to life at your company using cloud computing and DevOps tools.

What is Cloud Computing?

Keeping it simple, cloud computing lets companies provide various services through the internet. If you’re chatting on Discord or collaborating on files in Dropbox, you’re enjoying the benefits of cloud infrastructure.

This remote database system has transformed local data storage into a convenient yet secure cloud platform for anyone with the right permissions. For example, if you don’t have a Discord or Dropbox account, you can’t access the servers or databases. Free Discord and Dropbox accounts can’t use the expanded services that paid accounts can. Being able to change who has access and who doesn’t is a crucial part of cloud computing security.

Hybrid cloud infrastructure is a mixture of on-premise databases, sometimes called a private cloud, with a traditional cloud datacenter. The connection between them allows files and programs to be exchanged from one to the other as needed. It’s typically used for overflow, giving these databases some extra room when activity or capacity requirements are unusually high.

Read more about the history of cloud computing to get a clearer understanding of how the main three providers got their start:

Microsoft Azure, a platform as a service (PaaS)
Google Docs, software as a service (SaaS)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing, infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

What is DevOps?

A combination of “development” and “operations”, the term DevOps is shorthand. It refers to the practices and tools used to streamline software development while meeting high-quality standards.

Continuous delivery is essential to DevOps, since this is what provides the quicker development life cycle it’s known for. DevOps services can decrease the time to market for companies of all sorts and sizes, and each service provider has its own methods within this project development system. All in all, automated end-to-end software delivery from DevOps and cloud infrastructure empowers teams to develop top-notch projects in less time.

This method is sometimes confused with agile software development, which also speeds up project timelines, but uses fast, short iterations to do that. By comparison, DevOps has development and operations teams collaborating very closely to save time on coordinating across departments.

Perks of DevOps & Cloud Software

The benefits of DevOps services can vary by the provider you pick, so keep that in mind when choosing who to partner with. To give you a general idea, here are some examples of how DevOps and cloud computing can help your development team:

Seamless Scalability: When you can quickly expand or downsize your servers, etc., you spend a fraction of the time responding to project needs than you would without optimized cloud computing. Add users, introduce new features, or adapt in many other ways.

Stronger Cybersecurity: In development, security should be a high priority. Providers with this emphasis use a DevSecOps model, adding “security” to the portmanteau and the pipeline cycle. Security objectives that are addressed early in development make a strong foundation.

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6 Example Projects for Cloud Infrastructure DevOps Teams

Strategy & Consulting:

Agencies can help you design a strategy for implementation, whether you want to start right away or rolling it out later on. Experienced cloud engineers will give you professional advice on cloud architecture and DevOps methods. You’ll get a personalized plan on making your workplace more productive at a lower cost.

Cloud Application Development:

After we talked about Dropbox and Discord as a couple examples earlier, you can already tell that these applications are only getting more popular. It’s a good time to build and deploy your own custom cloud software! Be sure to choose a cloud-agnostic team focused on making your product safe, scalable, and affordable–not following tech brand loyalty.

DevOps & Security:

A high-functioning DevSecOps model will ensure that security is taken into consideration as soon as possible. When you put cybersecurity first, you leverage the power of DevOps to integrate your digital safety objectives into project development. Prevent security breaches and other risks with continuous monitoring, assessment, and analysis.

Cloud Migration:

Any digital migration has challenges for you to consider. But skilled cloud engineers are well-versed in various cloud services and operating systems to make sure your cloud migration is seamless. Whether you’re moving your product from remote servers or cloud-to-cloud, be certain to work with qualified cloud engineers you can count on.

Cloud Security & Governance:

Cloud computing security covers a range of technical policies, controls, and more. They work together to keep your cloud applications online, communications encrypted, and data protected. Ask your provider about how they secure your cloud technology with vulnerability assessments, pentesting, continuous security audits, etc.

Continuous Integration & Delivery (CI/CD):

Reliable, regularly merged code changes are a must in repository directories. This updated code should be built, tested, and prepared for release in a production environment as an automatic step overseen by vetted developers. Your resulting prototype should be deployment ready, quickly fixing software bugs.

8 Steps of Modern DevOps Practices

Plan: More frequent but incremental product releases give you regular product updates. With procedures like Scrum and Agile development, you have several opportunities to share your feedback on ongoing work.
Code: Look for an emphasis on core development tasks, necessary security measures, and frameworks. This will deliver well-designed code for your cloud computing plans. Infrastructure as code is one of many efficient practices that DevOps engineers use.
Test: Generally applied in all phases of CI/CD, automated testing guarantees another opportunity for continuous feedback and improvement. These tests are for code enhancements as a critical part of a test-driven development (TDD) approach.
Build: Testing and security validation continue throughout promptly and incrementally merging code. This addition to the development workflow improves productivity by having these safety nets in place.
Release: Once the application is delivered to the repository, engineers should create the documentation you need to keep track of changes and updates. Proactive measures like these reduce bottlenecks and pain points before they come up.
Deploy: The code goes to production with extra attention on avoiding errors. Carrying through these efficient practices, this deployment stage reduces time to market and eliminates friction in the development timeline.
Monitor & Optimize: Collecting data is only one piece of the puzzle for DevOps. Next, your team should send analysis and feedback back to the start of the pipeline. All monitoring and optimization should take place at the same time as step 8 below.
Operate: Capturing user insights through the continuous feedback loop allows engineers to keep an eye on future user needs before they become urgent. Also, the environment can be scaled in response to user activity this way.

Streamline Your Development Processes

Cloud development and DevOps talent has plenty to bring to your business! Whether you augment your internal team or bring together an outsourced team, your product will benefit from having DevOps experts on hand. Who doesn’t want to cut back on development time and errors while gaining scalability and extra security?

The DevOps process is carefully designed to deliver the maximum results with better efficiency to save you time and money. At Devsu, we complement that with a tech talent network that lets you scale your team to meet your needs and control operational costs. A fixed monthly payment, with no placement or recruiting fees, helps you get the most revenue for your business.

Our pre-vetted cloud engineers have impressive industry expertise along with continuous education and training, so you get cutting edge personnel for the job. They’re ready for assignment within 2 weeks to optimize your product using the latest cloud technologies.

Devsu has over 10 years’ experience in recruiting and staffing for digital project development. The tried-and-true DevOps framework only enhances what we can do for your time to market. Contact us today to see how we can get your projects moving!