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In the past three years, the working environment has experienced a shift towards a dynamic ‘Work from Anywhere’ (WFA) approach, with 72% of US companies citing the change as permanent.
Businesses have recognised the power of flexibility in attracting top talent, despite waves of mass layoffs in the tech industry.
Subsequently, demand for remote developers has surged, making DevOps teams crucial for maintaining productivity in increasingly distributed environments.
DevOps empowers workers, freelancers, and contractors with secure and reliable VPN access to workplace systems, so teams can feel confident in maintaining their work-life balance while contributing from any location or time zone.
This report explores the evolving dynamics of WFA culture, emphasising the indispensable role of DevOps in maintaining IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, communication, and productivity.
Discover how DevOps principles and innovative tools (like Developer Analytics) empower organisations to build effective collaborative systems that optimise processes and foster a positive working environment for all.
The global pandemic accelerated the permanent adoption of hybrid/remote work. Some companies have taken it a step further, expanding this model to incorporate ‘work from anywhere’ (WFA) capabilities where 24/7 VPN access to corporate resources is available from any location through an internet-connected device.
This shift has allowed top companies to attract and retain talent seeking a better work-life balance. However, it has also presented numerous challenges for business leaders, including maintaining hardware and applications, fostering collaboration, safeguarding against cyber threats, and bridging the gap between traditional and flexible work preferences.
Additionally, the need to maintain productivity amidst workforce changes and increasing reliance on contractors to fill skills gaps has become crucial.
Data-driven insights can help organisations ensure that DevOps teams can effectively drive WFA productivity gains by as much as 25%.
This report draws from diverse research cited within to demonstrate how DevOps apply the lessons learned over the past three years to facilitate successful WFA adaptation.
Over the past three years, the shift towards hybrid working due to pandemic restrictions has been widely embraced by employees seeking a better work-life balance and increased productivity.
Moreover, 72% of business leaders are increasingly worried about losing their best employees due to factors like the global economic downturn, reduced workforce engagement (i.e., the ‘quiet quitting’ employee trend) and inadequate investment in training the future workforce.
Research by CIPD estimates that around four million UK employees have changed jobs in the past year due to a lack of remote working options – a sentiment echoed globally.
Within this context, DevOps teams are pivotal in implementing the lessons learned from the pandemic. Adhering to DevOps principles can create a productive working environment that perfectly balances employee well-being and organisational success.
Furthermore, in 2022, Google found that companies adopting flexible working models achieve better performance metrics.
While most business leaders agree with these findings, around 30% have faced challenges in remote working, including a decline in collaboration and organisational agility.
Therefore, to remain competitive in recruitment, employee satisfaction, and productivity, organisations must prioritise creating a working environment that accommodates employee preferences. Additionally, they should invest in a technology ecosystem that can adapt during organisational restructuring (considering the impact of recent tech industry layoffs and the ‘Great Resignation’ phenomenon).
The remote/hybrid model has revolutionised talent acquisition in many industries by enabling organisations to tap into the global talent pool to alleviate their concerns about skills shortages.
Taking this a step further, the Work from Anywhere (WFA) concept has emerged as the next phase in remote/hybrid working, providing organisations with the necessary infrastructure to manage employee output securely from any location 24/7.
The WFA framework promotes company cohesion through collaborative and automated platforms, driving innovation across all sectors.
But, to ensure its success, investment in scalable cloud infrastructure is essential as Gartner predicts that by 2025, 95% of new digital workloads will be performed on cloud platforms.
Embracing DevOps methodologies is vital in meeting the productivity demands of the cloud-based Work from Anywhere model. A TechTarget study reveals that 81% of brands extensively deploy DevOps methodologies to optimise remote working environments and help them maintain a cohesive company culture.
However, maintaining DevOps efficiency poses unique challenges.
In the following sections, we will delve into how successful WFA organisations overcome technical and security obstacles, bridge gaps in workplace culture, and leverage comprehensive analytics to enhance productivity.
In a recent global study, 52% of organisations say they will increase IT budgets in 2023, with 40% of IT leaders saying that handling the complexity of remote work poses the toughest challenge.
DevOps teams can mitigate hardware and software performance risks by concentrating investment in Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD).
Automation of the CI/CD pipeline streamlines manual tasks like building, testing, and launching the software. It’s also crucial for identifying performance bottlenecks and validating software compatibility across the IT ecosystem.
CIOs recognise the importance of optimising the CI/CD pipeline, with 41% of those polled this year citing IT analytics as a crucial area for investment over the next 18 months.
Neglecting the digital user experience can have cascading adverse effects on productivity, employee morale, and the organisation’s bottom line. Therefore, 45% of IT leaders wish to prioritise investment in automation to ensure Work from Anywhere works for all.
Delivering high-performing software to facilitate WFA practices requires DevOps teams to capture all activity logs in the development lifecycle and maintain complete visibility of KPIs.
A survey showed that 57% of CIOs consider the ability to access on-demand querying and analytics oversight as fundamental for the success of development projects.
Additionally, 31% of CIOs emphasise the importance of real-time analytics providing a comprehensive view of all CI/CD pipeline data.
Workspace analytics technologies offer detailed visibility of all activity within digital tools and communication platforms, allowing DevOps teams to monitor usage patterns and identify potential issues. From here, they can provide necessary support and training where needed.
To use an illustrative case study example, a leading bank used BlueOptima Developer Analytics to highlight the value of investing in DevOps and the long-term productivity benefits for its 7000+ developer team.
Its comprehensive data led to a DevOps transition based on the best practices of the highest-performing teams. As a result, the bank saw a 30% productivity increase in billable coding effort per day.
Embracing a data-driven approach empowers business leaders to make informed decisions about WFA policies, address productivity gaps and foster a more collaborative working environment.
There has been an alarming surge of cyber attacks since 2020, highlighting the vulnerabilities of remote working models. According to Surfshark’s Q1 2023 data, a staggering 962 accounts were breached every 60 seconds worldwide – a 54.4% rise from Q4 2022 figures.
In the WFA model, DevOps has a crucial role to play in protecting organisations from threat actors. Firstly, they can address vulnerabilities early on in the development cycle by conducting regular security assessments and penetration testing. Specifically, Google’s 2022 Accelerate State of DevOps Report recommends pre-deployment security scanning to mitigate any issues.
Furthermore, the report found that companies enforcing stringent security measures experience lower rates of developer burnout.
However, despite the importance of code security, 34% of CIOs admit they sometimes sacrifice safety due to time pressures to innovate faster, even though 24% of security breaches in 2022 resulted from IT failures like source code errors.
Failure to identify vulnerabilities is costly, with the global average cost of a cyber security breach reaching as high as $4.35 million.
Therefore, safeguarding systems and educating team members on best-practice coding procedures should be prioritised in DevOps teams, as these activities help prevent vulnerabilities being introduced into the system and provide reassurance to all WFA teams.
The success of WFA models hinges on creating an inclusive environment that aligns with the foundational DevOps principles – especially in critical areas like CI/CD.
DevOps culture emerged from companies recognising that agile testers and developers can drive innovation through feedback and administrative support.
Google’s 2022 Accelerate State of DevOps Report corroborates this message, demonstrating that communicative, high-trust DevOps teams exhibit superior performance metrics.
Despite 94% of DevOps leaders acknowledging the importance of a collaborative culture, only 27% of CIOs believe their organisations operate in a truly collaborative environment.
To address this challenge, DevOps teams must automate where possible to streamline manual tasks. Then, with these time-consuming tasks eliminated, teams can concentrate on creative output and delivering constructive feedback.
Platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom are vital in enabling instant messaging, video conferencing, and screen sharing. Leveraging these communication tools bridges the gap between remote and in-person interactions, facilitating effective virtual collaboration among globally-distributed teams.
Developing a culture that encourages connection and regular employee feedback also contributes to a cohesive and productive work environment. Google’s State of DevOps report recommends cultivating a high-trust culture through sharing risk and responsibilities amongst team members, investing in employee development and increasing flexibility to reduce staff turnover and help WFA culture thrive.
In conclusion, success with the Work from Anywhere model requires organisations to enhance productivity through high-performance tools and fostering a collaborative culture across all departments.
BlueOptima’s Developer Analytics platform delivers complete transparency on developer productivity and code reliability, reducing project expenses by as much as 25%. It also provides crucial industry-specific data so organisations can focus on the most effective efforts to grow their business.