Shipping the right app with the right functionalities, to the right customer, at the right time is how you boost your ranking in the app store. Some of the key steps in this process are: continuously releasing high-quality software, listening to feedback, and providing new features to users — before they even know that they want them. To achieve all of this, app developers need two main things: automation tools and a growth mindset.
Teams don’t necessarily need a dedicated DevOps engineer to oversee their processes and tell them how to practice DevOps — they can start adopting great tools, build efficient collaboration systems, and great culture on their own. It’s easy to see the benefits over time, but how exactly do developers know early on that they’re heading towards the right direction? The following things are some of the first changes teams experience in a Mobile DevOps environment:
- Your release cycles are shorter
Mobile DevOps, in essence, is also about collaboration across different teams, which is something that is still lacking in the waterfall methodology. Simplified communication generates a more seamless information flow and considerably shortens the time of a project from the ideation phase all the way to the release. Iterative cycles, frequent deployments of code, and automated tests enable a faster path to resolving issues. Both mobile and web applications require fast iterations and a CI\CD pipeline, but to combat the specific challenges mobile development has, a mobile-specific solution is a must for teams that aim to thrive in this space.
- You are able to focus on new functionalities
UX, especially when we’re considering mobile, is one of the most important differentiators in the app scene. The more time a team can spend on designing new features, the better user experiences they can create for their users. Consequently, companies that cannot deliver the experiences that users want won’t remain in the market in the long run. One of the most crucial aspects of Mobile DevOps is enabling instant feedback and reporting and being able to rapidly act on these in order to optimize the user experience. These are made possible by employing the right toolset not only for CI/CD but for internal communication and issue tracking as well.
- You can efficiently allocate your resources
Faster delivery of new features and updates can be achieved when different environments, such as development, staging, and production are stable. When this stability is in place, it makes teams more productive, the entire mobile app development lifecycle more efficient, and helps increase return on investment. An automated, cloud-based CI/CD pipeline takes away the headaches of having to maintain on-premise tools and can eliminate manual tasks from source code management to testing, all the way to monitoring in production, saving up valuable developer time and resources.
- Your toolset fits your specific needs
There are hundreds of tools that mobile developers use on a daily basis. It’s almost as if for each phase, there’s a tool: for planning, building, testing, deployment, and monitoring. However, usually, the fewer tools developers have to use to cover the entire lifecycle of the app, the better. A solution that facilitates automated CI/CD and has a plethora of built-in integrations so users can customize their workflows can solve the majority of their problems. Single-screen Mobile DevOps platforms that enable the traceability of components across all the build and delivery stages serve as a solid base for collaboration for all stakeholders.
- You have fewer or no bottlenecks
Misaligned processes and the lack of traceability and transparency can result in hours spent on backtracking and fixing issues that lead to bottlenecks. The key idea behind Mobile DevOps is to make things transparent and efficient, boost internal communication and documentation, and thereby help companies create better applications. When the mindset, practices, processes, and tools are all in place, inefficiencies, such as unstable or inconsistent development environments, manual interventions, maintenance, or lengthy testing procedures could be eliminated or significantly reduced.
Besides all of these changes, Mobile DevOps also has the power to transform the ways in which companies develop their apps. It does not come as a surprise that by connecting people and processes, it has become the path to the future. If app companies embrace the cultural change, are able to adopt the new technologies, and can keep up with the ever-changing challenges of this environment, in the long run, they will see an even larger result: an entirely better app development process.
Learn more about Mobile DevOps on our site, where we share our insights, experiences, and best practices for mobile app development. If you have thoughts on mobile DevOps and want to contribute, please reach out to us at:
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