Citation:

Yogeswara Reddy Avuthu, 2022. "Scaling DevOps: Challenges in Managing Large and Distributed Teams", ESP Journal of Engineering & Technology Advancements, 2(1): 100-106.

Abstract:

As organizations grow and expand their software delivery pipelines, scaling DevOps practices becomes essential to maintain agility and efficiency. However, managing large and distributed teams introduces complex challenges that impact collaboration, tool alignment, communication, and overall productivity. These challenges stem from differences in time zones, cultural variances, fragmented tooling choices, and difficulties in managing visibility across geographically dispersed teams. This paper explores the critical challenges associated with scaling DevOps across distributed teams and offers solutions such as standardizing toolchains, adopting automation, enhancing communication channels, and fostering cultural alignment. Through case studies and industry insights, this paper demonstrates the effectiveness of proposed strategies and provides actionable recommendations for managing DevOps practices at scale. The findings highlight that while scaling DevOps is challenging, success is achievable through strategic alignment, continuous feedback loops, and tailored collaboration mechanisms. Future research can explore further automation and AI-based monitoring solutions to bridge the remaining gaps.

References:

[1] G. Kim, K. Behr, and G. Spafford, The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win. IT Revolution, 2016.

[2] J. M. Bass, “How DevOps aligns development and operations: A literature review,” in Proc. 10th Int. Conf. Global Software Eng. (ICGSE), pp. 265-266, 2015.

[3] J. D. Herbsleb and R. E. Grinter, “Splitting the organization and integrating the code: Conway’s law revisited,” in Proc. 23rd Int. Conf. Software Eng. (ICSE), 2001, pp. 85-95.

[4] E. Carmel, Global Software Teams: Collaborating Across Borders and Time Zones. Prentice Hall, 2011.

[5] M. Shahin, M. A. Babar, and L. Zhu, “Continuous integration, delivery and deployment: A systematic review on approaches, tools, challenges and practices,” IEEE Access, vol. 5, pp. 3909-3943, 2017.

[6] A. Raj, R. Mathew, and P. D’Souza, “Scaling DevOps in large enterprises: Addressing culture and technical challenges,” in Proc. 15th Int. Conf. Cloud Computing (CLOUD), 2021, pp. 202-209.

[7] J. Humble and D. Farley, Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation. AddisonWesley, 2010.

[8] B. Dyer, “Managing remote DevOps teams: Challenges and best practices,” J. Softw. Eng. Practice, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 45-60, 2020.

Keywords:

DevOps, Scaling, Distributed Teams, Collaboration, Toolchain Standardization, Communication, Automation, Continuous Delivery, Agile, Cultural Differences, Software Development.