Let's drop the tester labels such as "functional tester", "system integration tester", "automation tester", etc. More and more teams are cross-functional and team members are required to be poly-skilled. If you are testing you can and should be involved in the full SDLC, which should include deployments and infrastructure. Just like there is application code, there is infrastructure code, which needs testing too. So where do you fit in? How can you remain relevant and helpful in the DevOps world?

1. The QA in the
DevOps world

2. The QA in the
DevOps world
Theresa Neate
https://twitter.com/TheresaNeate
TConf 2017
images copyright Milly Rowett
https://twitter.com/millyrowboat

3. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Who is Theresa Neate?
http://theresaneate.com/
https://twitter.com/TheresaNeate
@REAGroup
@REATechBlog
@DevOpsAgenda
http://www.techtarget.com/contri
butor/Theresa-Neate
@DevOpsGirls
3

4. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Why am I talking to you?
4
DEV OPS
DevOps is not about developers and operations roles only. It’s about teams. All of us working
together.

5. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
“DevOps is... an umbrella concept that refers to anything that smoothes
out the interaction between development and operations.” - Damon
Edwards
What is DevOps?
5
It is not a state, an end, a person, a role or a team. It is a way of working.
It relies on
● feedback
● automation
● building in quality
● no silos
● autonomous teams
“We have sound, statistically significant data that shows that culture and DevOps
practices impact both IT performance and organizational performance.” - Jez Humble
https://martinfowler.com/bliki/DevOpsCulture.html
https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/state-devops
https://puppet.com/system/files/2016-03/2014-state-of-devops-report.pdf
https://www.vanharen.net/blog/it-management/devops-in-3-minutes/
http://devopscafe.org/

6. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
History of Devops
Agile Manifesto
2001
Velocity Conference
Allspaw and Hammond
"10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and
Ops Cooperation at Flickr"
2009
Agile conference
Toronto
Debois & Shafer
“Agile Infrastructure”
2008
Origins of Lean
Goldratt
Ohno
Deming
~1940s to ~1997
DevOpsDays
Patrick Debois
2009
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7. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
To do devops you need to ask first ...
7
Why DevOps?
(not how...)

8. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Fake DevOps
8

9. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Fake DevOps
9

10. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
WASTE
So Why DevOps?
Because: Lean, Agile & System Thinking
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11. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Systems
A number of items that
depend on each other.
The whole is greater than the
sum of its parts.
There is great
interdependence.
Without 1 item in this system,
the behaviour of the system
changes.
11

12. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Systems include hardware & software
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13. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Wrap: why DevOps?
We do DevOps because:
● through the reduction of waste
● the agile delivery of agile systems to our stakeholders
● and the total ownership of all our work through systems thinking
It results in fast and high quality delivery of software.
13

14. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
What is QA in the DevOps world?
14

15. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
It is not this...
15

16. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Nor this...
16

17. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
QA and Testing (a refresher)
“testing is an empirical, technical investigation of a
product, done on behalf of stakeholders, with the
intention of revealing quality-related information of the
kind that they seek.” - Cem Kaner
QA (Quality Analysis) is the entire process of building
in and raising awareness & ownership of quality. -
Theresa
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18. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Build in quality
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credit: http://www.growingagile.co.za/

19. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
QA in the DevOps world (aka “QA Ops”)
Finally! A bit of “how”:
● Learn some infrastructure basics (it’s really quite logical)
○ Such as at DevOps Girls!
https://github.com/DevOpsGirls/devopsgirls-bootcamp/
○ Meetups like Infracoders or DevOps Melbourne
● Consider the consequences of architectural decisions (systems
thinking)
● Test Driven Infrastructure
● Define the system metrics early
○ And measure them continuously
○ And learn from them
● As QA, carry the support pager
● Discuss production faults as the WHOLE team
● Test in production
● etc. (see the “DevOps Handbook” for more ideas)
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20. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Your future as QA in DevOps
Let’s drop the ego.
Keep learning. Help others to learn. Always.
Embrace the discomfort and the fear of not knowing.
“The biggest mistake you could ever make is being too afraid
to make one.” - Mel Robbins, the 5-second rule
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21. @TheresaNeate
TConf Dec 2017
Images copyright Milly Rowett
https://twitter.com/millyrowboat
21
Thank you!
Theresa Neate
http://theresaneate.com/
https://twitter.com/TheresaNeate