The adoption of DevOps practices has been widely embraced by organizations due to its clear return on investment, as highlighted by the DORA data-based report. Despite its growing popularity, it’s estimated that 75% of DevOps initiatives will fall short of expectations in 2022, largely due to a lack of focus on organizational learning and change.
To keep up with the rapidly changing nature of DevOps, teams must continuously improve and optimize their processes. This requires a comprehensive understanding of the strengths and knowledge gaps of each team member, both as individuals and as a collective.
Skills assessments, using the DASA Competency Framework as a basis, provide a valuable tool for gaining insights into the capabilities of DevOps teams. By using the framework, organizations can identify areas for improvement and allocate resources more effectively. In this article, you will learn about the benefits of skill assessments for DevOps teams, including gap analysis, team building, and talent mobility and growth, all informed by the comprehensive set of skills, knowledge, and behaviors required for effective DevOps and Agile practices outlined in the DASA Competency Framework.
Quick Reminder on the DevOps Competency Framework
The DevOps Competency Framework provides a comprehensive set of skills, knowledge, and behaviors required for effective DevOps and Agile practices. The framework provides a common language and understanding of the skills and knowledge required for individuals and organizations to successfully adopt and implement DevOps and Agile practices. The framework consists of four domains: Technical, Cultural, Professional, and Process. Each domain is further divided into competencies and skills that are necessary for effective DevOps and Agile practices.
Skill Gap Analysis
As mentioned above, one of the main benefits of skills and competency assessments is that they can help organizations identify areas where individuals and teams need improvement. For example, if the assessment reveals a lack of expertise in a particular technical skill or behavior, the organization can provide tailored training and learning resources to fill that gap, enabling targeted skill development. This leads to better role and team structuring and helps build high-performance teams supporting the organization’s objectives.
Increased Team Cohesion
A well-coordinated and cohesive team is the cornerstone of a successful DevOps culture. Skills assessments, such as the DevOps Team Competence Model, provide valuable insights into the abilities of each team member and the team as a whole, allowing organizations to identify areas for improvement and promote team cohesion. Reaching a common understanding of each team member’s strengths and weaknesses, DevOps teams can work together more efficiently towards common goals, supporting each other and sharing information effectively which in turn leads to smoother collaboration, faster problem-solving, reduced downtime, and better outcomes for the group as a whole.
Talent Mobility and Growth Perspective
Skills assessments support talent mobility and growth by providing valuable insights into individual and team capabilities. These assessments help individuals understand their strengths and areas for improvement, promoting career path planning and professional development. They also provide a basis for performance management and succession planning, enabling organizations to measure progress, identify areas for improvement, and prepare the next generation of leaders. Overall, skills assessments play a critical role in promoting continuous learning and development, retaining top performers, and building a strong talent pipeline.
Emphasizing Both People and Technical Capabilities in DevOps
People are at the heart of DevOps, but technical competencies are just as important for achieving its full potential. The key benefits of DevOps, such as automation and process optimization, are only possible with the right technical capabilities within the DevOps team. A comprehensive skill assessment should therefore include an evaluation of the technical competencies of each team member, covering areas such as CI/CD, security, coding and scripting, cloud architecture, and continuous testing, among others.
Holistic View: Make Sure You Have It All
As a starting point, a well-thought skill assessment would be based on underlying values, principles, and a framework, or even a combination of two (e.g. Agile, Lean, and ITIL). This allows for mapping the assessment results with a broader set of practices to choose from, as well as ensures a unified and scalable approach in your DevOps transformation. Performed on a regular basis, a skill assessment with a holistic view ensures the team has all the necessary ingredients to understand and apply DevOps principles and empowers them to improve continuously.
Why Rely on DASA for Skills Assessments?
The DASA skill assessment resources are effective tools for organizations looking to build high-performance DevOps teams. Here are the top 3 reasons why:
- Objective, standardized, and accurate as it provides a vendor-neutral, unbiased, and evidence-based evaluation of each team member’s skills and areas for improvement. This allows for data-driven decision-making and resource allocation.
- Time-saving and efficient with an in-depth analysis and insights into the team’s strengths and weaknesses, helping organizations prioritize areas for development. It also saves time by pinpointing specific needs for the team, even as it changes, grows, and scales.
- Aligned with DevOps values and principles, it is mapped with the Talent Academy and further learning paths, keeping the DevOps values and principles in mind. This helps to ensure that the assessment aligns with the organization’s overall DevOps strategy, promoting continuous learning and development, and helping to build a strong and competent DevOps team.
In conclusion, skills assessments serve as an essential tool for evaluating the performance of DevOps teams and facilitating talent mobility, growth, and team cohesion. By identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a team, organizations can make informed decisions about how to allocate resources and develop the team’s skills. Each DevOps team in an organization is on its own journey. Therefore, different teams within an organization can – and often do – have different skill profiles. By identifying where your own team is, you can determine where you are on your own continuous improvement journey and set goals for the future. In turn, by providing opportunities for growth and development, organizations can create a culture of continuous improvement that will drive the success of their DevOps teams.
Explore the DevOps Competency Framework
The most flexible framework to define the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and attributes essential for your talent success.
