14.09.2021
5 min read

8+1 Skills For a Devops Professional

DevOps is a combination of 2 specialties: Development and Operations. It became a subject of discussion in the market back in 2009. At that time it was called the DevOps movement. From the beginning, it was created to regulate and coordinate the work between the programming and operating groups, to organize accurate and high-quality work. In the same year, “DevOpsDays” events began in Belgium.
In 2021, DevOps already has great recognition and demand in the world. It is rapidly developing and attracting the hearts of many professionals, including programmers and operations specialists. In order to become a good and qualified specialist, in addition to a quality education, it is also necessary to have skills that will help in the correct management of working relationships, to develop quickly and professionally as a specialist and to create a quality work career. Today we decided to present the 10 basic skills of a DevOps specialist.
Let’s go.

1. Knowledge of Linux

Most organizations already use Linux-based operating systems as their primary development environment. Most DevOps operations are based on Linux. The best part about Linux is that it is customizable, which gives developers much more freedom to modify it according to their needs and requirements, thereby providing flexibility. Linux is also known for its security and scalability. Therefore, a good hands-on experience of this Linux is the key to mastering DevOps. Some Linux distributions like RHEL, CentOS, SUSE Linux are preferred due to their integration support. As well as compliance, compatibility and security of critical operations.

2. Testing skills

While DevOps speeds up application delivery, it also takes bugs into your code. Since the focus is on application quality, testing is needed to identify and fix them. Therefore, testing is an important part of DevOps and you should be good at it if you are applying to become a DevOps engineer. Testing means not only checking features or functional tests, but also performance testing. As well as continuous testing of operations.

3. CI / CD

A good understanding of continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) is vital to DevOps because it helps you develop quickly and deliver quality software to your customer. Continuous integration involves integrating completed functionality or new code with residual code. This effectively saves time that would be spent on integrating the entire project.

4. Personal qualities

In addition to high professional qualities, a DevOps Engineer should also have the following personal qualities: 

  • systems thinking, 
  • high concentration of attention, 
  • good memory, 
  • sociability, 
  • wide range of technical skills, efficiency.

Without these qualities, any good and professional specialist cannot achieve success. Develop and improve your personal qualities to succeed in the field.

5. Automation skills

It is very important for a DevOps specialist to have at least minimal knowledge of automation. During his work, a DevOps specialist repeatedly uses them and their main tools. Like CI/CD, continuous testing, performance monitoring, etc. Automation is essential when developing a program with DevOps. This is because to speed up delivery, repetitive manual processes should take minimum time and should be done without any human intervention. Automation not only increases speed, but also improves accuracy, reducing errors and ensuring a high level of product.

6. Coding and scripting 

Proficiency in multiple languages ​​makes coding a key skill to have to become a DevOps engineer. If you don’t have experience in programming, you don’t know languages, then you can just start studying them. Some of those languages ​​are Python, Golang, Ruby, JavaScript, Perl, Java, Bash, PHP, etc. These are the most suitable languages ​​for automation. Good coding skills are required to replace manual processes, even the smallest mistake can lead to huge problems later, so improve your coding skills to become a qualified professional.

7. Knowledge of English

If we think for a moment that DevOps is a technical and operational profession, does not imply creativity and a creative mind, then we will be wrong, because it is so extensive and comprehensive that it includes more than we imagine. Like every branch and profession in the IT field, DevOps also requires knowledge of English, because most of the work is done in English. Without English, the specialist will not be able to understand professional terms and will have difficulty communicating with the rest of the team. Globally, he/she won’t be able to work with the foreign market.

8. Team work

DevOps specialists have no less a role in the team than the rest of the team members. If they are not endowed with the skills of a team worker, they won’t be able to create quality and productive cooperation.

9. Summary + advice

When you start your journey into the world of DevOps and you don’t understand where to start, then work in that direction to develop your programming and communication skills. These two primary components will help you develop your skills to become a DevOps professional. Moreover, if you are interested in these two directions, you have a great potential to become a DevOps specialist.
The next important piece of advice is for programmers. Basically, if you’ve opened this article, you’re probably interested in DevOps or want to make the transition to it. Developers who are interested in deployment and networking have a great chance to enter DevOps. This doesn’t mean that other developers can’t do that, it is just that those interested in deployment and networking will integrate more easily. Quality assurance specialists who are tired of their work or whose job duties already seem small and uninteresting also have a chance to become DevOps.

Remember, there is no profession or job that only consists of professional skills. Any soft skill has its own unique and important role for work, work relations, their improvement and a healthy atmosphere. In addition to the team, these skills are necessary to regulate one’s own thoughts and work. Just always evolve, grow, improve and one day you will reach the farthest heights.


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