This document discusses the role of GitOps in IT strategy and hands-off operations. It notes that IT requirements are growing exponentially but staffing is not, so efficiency must increase. GitOps provides an approach to hands-off operations through automation of compliance, upgrades, backups and more using standardized tooling. Adopting GitOps drives automation and helps meet many goals of IT strategy by reducing manual work and dependencies.

1. The GitOps Journey
The Role of GitOps in IT Strategy
03.05.2021 | Schlomo Schapiro | DB Systel | Deutsche Bahn
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License (with the exception of the stock images with copyright notice) DB83834 © Deutsche Bahn AG / Christian Bedeschinski

2. We want digitalisation, our IT Strategy calls for …
DB Systel | Schlomo Schapiro | @schlomoschapiro | 03.05.2021 2
IT quota grows exponentially,
no problem can be solved without IT
All IT processes are much more integrated
and networked, API first …
Growth factor of IT much bigger than
increase in IT staff → IT “production
efficiency” must increase
More IT in business units → decentralisation
of IT skills (BizDevOps)
Increasing IT compliance requirements
Utilise public cloud offerings to drive
innovation – have viable cloud exit strategy
https://pixabay.com/de/photos/social-media-digitalisierung-2528410/

3. As an IT team we want …
DB Systel | Schlomo Schapiro | @schlomoschapiro | 03.05.2021 3
Deliver great product/service
Focus on our product/service
Use good tools & platforms
Know which internal processes to deal with
Reduce overhead with internal processes
Comply with company policies without pains
Know about relevant company policies
Use standard solutions for common
problems
No dependencies to other teams
Deutsche Bahn AG / Oliver Lang DB187733

4. Solution Approach
DB Systel | Schlomo Schapiro | @schlomoschapiro | 03.05.2021 4
Organisational Frameworks
Technology Frameworks
Policy
as Code
Acceptable Means
of Compliance
Simplify Policies
Budgets for
Compliance
Standardized
Tooling
Hands-Off
Operations

5. Solution Approach – Hands-Off Operations
DB Systel | Schlomo Schapiro | @schlomoschapiro | 03.05.2021 5
Organisational Frameworks
Technology Frameworks
Policy
as Code
Acceptable Means
of Compliance
Simplify Policies
Budgets for
Compliance
Standardized
Tooling
Hands-Off
Operations

6. DevOps
Ops Automation
IT Evolution Big Picture
6
Technology
Culture
Dev ⇔ Ops
CI-Ops
1
2
GitOps
Hands-Off
Operations
DB Systel | Schlomo Schapiro | @schlomoschapiro | 03.05.2021

7. Hands-Off Operations
DB Systel | Schlomo Schapiro | @schlomoschapiro | 03.05.2021 7
No manual changes in production
Dev & Ops have same permissions
in production: None by Default
Automate the hard stuff:
Compliance & governance
Distributed rolling upgrades
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Everything in your stack
Test Driven Everything
Standardized Tooling
GitOps

8. GitOps Strategy
DB Systel | Schlomo Schapiro | @schlomoschapiro | 03.05.2021 8
Adopting GitOps practices drives
automation as the solution for
many IT strategy requirements.
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