Benefits of Microsoft Azure DevOps for SMEs

We’re undergoing the fourth industrial revolution, and the explosion of data is already disrupting conventional business models and impacting decisions. A subtle approach to keeping up with the revolution is by incorporating Microsoft Azure DevOps for SMEs, a suite of services for IT managers to reduce burden and increase productivity of their staff. 

A DevOps culture allows teams to develop, implement, operate and promote team integrations throughout the organisation to become efficient and share knowledge. With Azure DevOps, you can remove all structural issues within your organisation that limit your prospects. 

What is Azure DevOps

Azure DevOps extends development services that allow IT teams to plan their work, collaborate on code development to build, and deploy business applications. Microsoft supports a collaborative culture and processes that bring developers, project managers, and contributors on the same page during software development. 

Microsoft Azure DevOps for SMEs was launched in October 2018 as a SaaS platform consisting of a set of tools to manage the complete product development life cycle. These are the three reasons why Azure DevOps is perfect for Small & Medium Enterprises:

1. Flexibility
   The services provided by Azure DevOps are flexible as each one of them can be used independently. Moreover, you can easily integrate them with the existing tools used by your organisation for seamless adaptation. 
2. Platform Independent
   Even when Azure DevOps is developed by Microsoft, it’s not restricted to Microsoft-built platforms and languages. You can use them with any platform (Windows, MacOS, or Linux) and any language (.Net, Java, PHP, C, C++, etc.) 
3. Cloud Independent
   The Continuous Integration and Delivery model is not only restricted to Azure; it can be easily extended to Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform as well. 

Features 

You can use a web browser or IDE client to use one or more of these standalone features by Microsoft Azure DevOps for SMEs:

1. Azure Repos
   Git repositories or Team Foundation Version Control for control of your source codes. 
2. Azure Pipelines
   Build and release services to support Continuous Integration and Delivery models for your applications. 
3. Azure Boards
   A suite of Agile tools that support planning and tracking of work, code defects, and issues. 
4. Azure Test Plans
   Tools to test your business apps, including exploratory testing and continuous testing. 
5. Azure Artifacts
   Allows your teams to share packages such as npm from public or private sources and integrate package sharing into pipelines. 

Changes brought by Microsoft Azure DevOps for SME

You can employ Azure DevOps tools to enhance your services, increase productivity and ensure efficiency because DevOps changes the following aspects of your business: 

1. Planning
   Your team can connect and prepare for projects by utilising DevOps tools according to your business needs. Azure Boards play an important role in keeping everyone organised through a streamlined workflow management system that can be adjusted to accommodate all of your needs. You can also analyse and optimise your data with Power BI and use Azure Repos to create a schedule with clarity. 
2. Developing
   Azure DevOps also streamlines the process of creating projects and business applications. You can also automate project testing through Azure Pipelines, a cloud-based environment for building, testing, and developing software. 
3. Delivering
   You can accurately test and deploy your software or products with the help of Azure DevOps. You can create multiple cloud environments through Azure Resource Manager, while Azure Pipelines allows you to create multiple pipelines and attach them to the cloud environment. 
4. Operating
   Azure DevOps also allows you to implement monitoring, alerts, and analysis for all of your deployed projects. You can use Azure Monitor to pull and analyse data, while Azure Automation manages your cloud environments and attached tools. 

Benefits of Microsoft Azure DevOps for SMEs

Here are 5 benefits you can take by implementing DevOps at your organisation:

1. Save time
   Since DevOps focuses on increasing the collaboration between development and operations teams, you can reduce the development cycle time as your frequency of code releases into production will increase by Microsoft Azure DevOps for SMEs. 
2. Fix bugs faster
   Azure DevOps makes it easier to handle bugs due to the improved communication and cooperation between various types of departments. All teams are engaged in finding issues and resolving issues immediately. 
3. Better collaboration
   Teams are what combine departments and ensure a good working environment within SMEs. Azure DevOps allows everyone to communicate, share their knowledge, and discuss best practices freely to create a robust process. 
4. High velocity
   Azure DevOps models offer a high velocity to companies, enabling them to gain an edge over their competitors by adapting to changing markets, incorporating faster innovation, and achieving their business goals efficiently. 

Conclusion 

Adopting Microsoft Azure DevOps for SMEs is not a simple task, but it’s the best option to rework and optimise your organisation to reduce wastage, wait times, and process overheads. You can also adopt a continuous learning and improvement culture within your organisation to tackle the fast-paced and unpredictable environment of the IT industry. 

Need help in migrating to Azure DevOps? Our team of Azure Specialists is available round the clock to assist in easy migration, management, and project-delivery services.

Rob Rattray

Rob Rattray is the Sales Director of A1 Technologies, a Microsoft consultancy based in Australia. Rob's focus is settings the strategic and cultural direction for A1 Technologies, while also overseeing Sales and Marketing. Rob is passionate about business and helping good people do good things through technology.