What’s the Difference Between Agile, CI/CD, and DevOps? – The Complete Guide

As the digital era is expanding exponentially, many professionals agree that speed and quality are essential to be successful. According to Harvard Business Review Analytics, 86% of the participants agreed to the importance of quickly developing and releasing new software into production. With increasing numbers of companies adopting better and streamlined ways of working, DevOps plays an important role in effectively achieving their goals.

One of the best ways to adapt to efficient and collaborative methodologies is by embracing CI/CD, DevOps, and Agile. If you are new to these terms, worry not! In this blog post, our DevOps engineer Manish Kumar Singh will guide you through what CI/CD, DevOps, and Agile are and how they are connected yet different from each other.

So, let’s get started without any further delays!

What is CI/CD?

CI/CD, comprising Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Continuous Deployment, is an essential part of modern software development. It focuses on automating the building, testing, and deployment processes to ensure a reliable and efficient pipeline.

CI/CD practices aim to automate the process of integrating code changes into a shared repository, followed by their deployment in the product environment. Moreover, CI/CD ensures software changes are tested well while having a faster time in the market.

With CI/CD, companies can reduce integration conflicts, leading to consistent software quality levels. Additionally, CI/CD helps companies minimize human errors while accelerating the release cycle by automating the build, test, and deployment processes.

Characteristics of CI/CD:

  • Continuous Integration:

Developers integrate code changes into a shared repository multiple times a day. Automated tests are run to detect integration issues early.

  • Continuous Delivery/Continuous Deployment:

Continuous Delivery ensures that the software is always in a deployable state, while Continuous Deployment automatically deploys changes to production after passing all tests.

  • Automated Testing:

Rigorous automated testing guarantees the stability and reliability of the codebase throughout the development process.

What is DevOps?

DevOps is a fusion of cultural philosophies, practices, and tools that focuses on seamless collaboration between the development(Dev) and IT operations (Ops) teams by breaking the traditional silos and legacy systems.

Companies implement DevOps to shorten the software development lifecycle without compromising on the quality of the final release codes, leading to improved customer experiences and services.

As DevOps highly focuses on automation, faster and easier communication, and shared responsibilities among the development and operational teams, it becomes possible for stakeholders to accelerate innovation and improve the overall efficiency of software delivery.

Characteristics of DevOps:

  • Collaboration:

DevOps breaks down silos, promoting collaboration between development, operations, and other stakeholders.

  • Automation:

Automation of manual processes streamlines workflows, reduces errors, and accelerates delivery.

  • Continuous Monitoring:

Continuous monitoring ensures feedback is collected in real-time, allowing quick adjustments and improvements.

What is Agile?

Agile is a project management and product development approach that prioritizes flexibility and adaptability. It revolves around iterative development, with a focus on customer feedback and collaboration among cross-functional teams.

Agile in the software development industry represents an umbrella term that includes frameworks and practices expressed in the Manifesto for Agile Software Development and the 12 Principles behind it. With this guide, you can approach software development in a particular manner with set values and principles that help you figure out what you should do in a particular context.

With Agile methodology, companies can quickly adapt to changing requirements and customer feedback, resulting in a more customer-oriented and responsive development process.

The major difference between Agile CI/CD and DevOps is that Agile focuses on end-users contributing to the process and intense team collaboration. With Agile, companies create self-organizing cross-functional teams leveraging the right practices in their contexts.

Characteristics of Agile:

  • Sprints and Iterations:

Agile projects are divided into small, manageable iterations called sprints, allowing teams to deliver incremental value regularly.

  • Customer-Centric:

Constant customer involvement ensures that the delivered product aligns with evolving requirements and expectations.

  • Cross-Functional Teams:

Agile encourages the formation of multifunctional teams, fostering collaboration among developers, testers, and other stakeholders.

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What is the Difference Between Agile CI/CD and DevOps?

In the software development industry, the terms Agile, CI/CD, and DevOps are used quite often, and all three are connected when you look at the bigger picture. The fundamental difference between Agile, CI/CD, and DevOps is at the levels they operate.

To better understand Agile, CI/CD, and DevOps differences, let’s have a quick one-line overview of how and at which level they operate.

🔹 Agile

Agile is a broader term encompassing DevOps and CI/CD practices. Agile philosophy is implemented by various methodologies like Scrum, Kanban, and Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).

🔹 DevOps

DevOps is a part of Agile development practice and mindset that leverages Agile practices like collaboration, communication, and implementation of the right tools to streamline the software development lifecycle.

🔹 CI/CD

CI/CD is part of the DevOps ecosystem, focusing on using the right automated testing tools to implement agile development.

As you have a better understanding of Agile, CI/CD, and DevOps, let’s understand the differences between them now:

➡️ Difference Between Agile CI/CD and DevOpsDifference Between Agile CI/CD and DevOps

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How can Mindbowser Help you With CI/CD, DevOps, and Agile?

With a rapidly evolving environment of software development, elevating to modern technologies like CI/CD, DevOps, and Agile is not a choice anymore but a requirement in today’s time. If you don’t welcome these new changes on time, the world will soon leave you behind.

If you are committed to the growth and scalability of your organization, Mindbowser is there to help you achieve your business objectives empowered with the latest technology. At Mindbowser, we help businesses embrace modern software development practices so that you can achieve faster time-to-market with improved quality and enhanced collaboration.

Our experienced DevOps professionals can guide you throughout the software development cycle and provide custom DevOps solutions that match your business requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CI/CD the same as Agile?

No, CI/CD and Agile are not the same thing. They are two different methodologies. While CI/CD focuses on automating code integration and deployment of the process, Agile focuses on iterative development cycles, customer collaborations, and flexibility.

Is CI/CD the same as DevOps?

No, CI/CD is not DevOps but rather a part of DevOps. The aim of CI/CD is to automate the integration and deployment aspects of the software development life cycle. On the other hand, DevOps focuses on a broader approach of cultural and technical aspects for better collaboration between the development and operational teams.

What are the principles of CI/CD, DevOps, and Agile?

The foundational principles of CI/CD, DevOps, and Agile include automation, collaboration, iterative development, customer-centricity, and continuous improvement. Based on your methodology, the emphasis on these principles will vary.

What is the CI/CD Agile approach?

The CI/CD Agile approach combines automation and rapid deployment of CI/CD with Agile’s iterative and customer-centric approach. When you leverage the CI/CD Agile approach, you can integrate, test, and deploy codes more frequently based on customers’ requirements.

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