The transition to a DevOps model has been welcomed by many organizations that are looking to implement more efficient development processes. However, there are multiple models to choose from, with GitOps a popular choice for many. So what is the difference, and which one is better?
In this article, we will discuss what each model entails and their key differences and establish if one is better than the other for your business.
What is DevOps? – An Overview
The DevOps model involves several tools and practices designed to make software development much more efficient. This increase in efficiency is achieved by implementing more automation, adopting continuous delivery practices and improving the communication channels between the developers and operations.
Ultimately, DevOps is designed to assist organizations in deploying new products and systems faster. By establishing more collaboration between development and operational teams, changes can be made quickly to best suit the business’s overall goals.
There is no single tool that is required for DevOps. In fact, your team can use any tool that effectively improves communication and automates key tasks.
How to Integrate a DevOps Strategy
Adopting and integrating a DevOps strategy into your organization’s overall workflow is not a difficult process, and it can be achieved by following these steps:
- Create a continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline.
- Configure this new pipeline to enable the automated deployment of changes to your development/production environment.
- Set up an alert and monitoring system for your development environment.
- Create collaboration channels so operational teams can inform the developers of new opportunities to improve the business’s workflow.
An Overview of GitOps
GitOps is a modern concept that was initially introduced by the Kubernetes management system Weaveworks. This model uses Git, an open source, distributed version control system, to track any changes to a system and who has made them.
The GitOps model uses a Git repository as the single source of truth (SSoT), improving collaboration between developers and operational team members. This, in turn, allows organizations to automate the deployment process.
By leveraging CI/CD pipelines like DevOps, changes are automatically applied to the codebase without any need for manual input. Thanks to Git, these changes can also be easily reversed if needed, reverting to a previous working version.
How to Integrate a GitOps Strategy
GitOps can be integrated into a business’s workflow quite simply by following four key steps:
- Set up a Git repository for your organization’s codebase. When integrating a GitOps strategy, an organization does not need to use GitHub exclusively, as any code repository that uses Git commands can do the job.
- Connect this repository to a CI/CD tool.
- Configure your chosen tool to deploy automatic changes to your development environment. Popular tools include Jenkins and Circle CI.
- Set up monitoring and alerts for your development environment.
It should be noted that the CI part of GitOps still needs to go through your DevOps tool, whether it’s GitHub Actions or AWS CodeBuild.
The Differences Between DevOps and GitOps
The core difference between the two is that GitOps allows teams within an organization to manage and deploy changes to infrastructure using Git as the single source of truth. DevOps, on the other hand, focuses on effectively connecting development and operational teams using a tool of the organization’s choosing.
Either model can offer a number of benefits in terms of development and deployment, but there are notable differences between the two that should be considered. It should also be noted that DevOps and GitOps can work in unison as long as continuous integration (CI) is delivered using your chosen DevOps tool.
DevOps – Key Elements
- The DevOps model is considered a working culture.
- DevOps can use a variety of CI/CD pipelines and is not restricted to any one tool.
- This model increases automation and the regularity of deployment, reducing any human input.
- Cloud configuration can be used for coding, supply chain management and other key requirements.
- The pipeline separates development and operations processes while improving collaboration between the two.
GitOps – Key Elements
- GitOps is a development and deployment technique that relies on the Git version control system.
- Git is used as the single source of truth for all changes to the codebase.
- GitOps can use Kubernetes and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) practices and various other CI/CD pipelines.
- The GitOps model is designed to increase development times and reduce reliance on lengthy scripts.
- It also enables a smoother transition between a project’s development and operation stages.
DevOps Vs. GitOps – Which Model Is Better?
Both GitOps and DevOps are becoming increasingly popular when it comes to adopting new approaches to improve software development processes and making deployment quicker and more efficient. As outlined above, the difference between the two models largely comes down to the tools that are used, but the result is roughly the same in terms of the overall benefits.
Deciding which approach is the right one for your organization or determining which one is “better” will always come down to the needs and requirements of your organization. In fact, the ideal scenario would be to integrate GitOps so it works alongside your DevOps approach.
GitOps is not a replacement for DevOps, as the CI process still relies on DevOps tools. However, GitOps can improve the effectiveness of the DevOps team thanks to continuous delivery processes. Using Kubernetes-native mechanisms and commands and sticking to standard source code principles, GitOps does not require developers to change how they work, guaranteeing a seamless implementation process.
Wrapping Up
DevOps is a working culture that improves collaboration between development and operations teams and utilizes automation tools, resulting in rapid and more efficient software development. GitOps, on the other hand, uses Git as the single source of truth, making it easy to track changes and further increase development times thanks to continuous delivery processes.
Although each model can be used exclusively, they can also work alongside each other to deliver rapid software development and high levels of collaboration. Therefore, it is unfair to claim that one model is better than the other, as they can both play their part in an overall DevOps strategy.
