The DevOps Handbook

It is what it says on the tin: A handbook. Follow it front to back and you learn how to set up your organisation’s IT with tight infrastructure and processes.

If you have worked in software (or in a startup) you will recognise many ideas: continuous integration, agile projects, an obsession with metrics and experimentation. This book puts these activities in order and guides you through their implementation when you start with nothing.

I enjoyed the book mostly. My only gripe was the obsession with “winning the marketplace.” Why isn’t the focus on humans and how this way of working leads to better organisation of work, focus on important work, less stress, a happier workforce, and eventually better products? The whole reason for adopting a DevOps culture is to be quicker and more flexible than competitors and making more money for the man.

The quotes in the book emphasise the attention to big corp and big money. It consistently follows a pattern: “Some wise words” said Jane Doe, Head of BS at Some Silicon Valley Big Shot, who had a revenue of three gazillion dollars and 2 billion users in 2012. A lot of words are wasted like this not adding anything to the many great ideas in this book.