DevOps originated as a solution to a common software development challenge: the divide between development (dev) and IT operations (ops) teams. In traditional setups, developers focused solely on feature development, while operations teams managed the software's stability and infrastructure. This siloed structure often caused delays, deployment issues, and miscommunication.
Companies needed a more efficient approach, so the DevOps movement was born. It blended development and operation activities into a singular framework.
The shift to DevOps eventually led to the need for dedicated specialists called DevOps engineers. This article will explore what exactly DevOps engineers do, their key responsibilities, essential skills, tools they work with, and more. Let’s dive in.
Read our dedicated article for a deep dive into DevOps principles, models, practices, and everything else DevOps entails.
What is a DevOps engineer?
A DevOps engineer is a technical professional who — among other duties — is responsible for code deployment automation and server infrastructure. . They ensure that software moves smoothly throughout the software lifecycle, from coding to deployment, with minimal delays or issues along the way.
DevOps engineers wear multiple hats and are responsible for several activities, including
- Building and managing CI/CD processes: They set up and maintain CI/CD pipelines to automate code testing and deployment.
- Maintaining infrastructure as code (IaC): They manage and provision infrastructure, which reduces errors and allows for easy scaling or adjustments. IaC involves using code or scripts to manage and set up infrastructure instead of doing it manually.
- Monitoring system performance: They use monitoring tools to track system health, catch issues early, and optimize performance. This ensures that applications run smoothly and meet performance standards.
The multifaceted nature of DevOps engineering leads to the question: “How does one become a DevOps engineer, and what kind of background is needed?” There’s no straightforward answer, as DevOps engineers emerge from various professional paths. Let’s explore some real-life examples.
DevOps engineer career path and background
There are many paths one can take to becoming a DevOps engineer, and the table below is proof. It shows the background of professionals in tech companies and the path they took to becoming DevOps engineers.
DevOps engineer vs site reliability engineer (SRE) vs software engineer
The role of a DevOps engineer sometimes overlaps with other positions. Many people mistake DevOps engineers with software engineers and site reliability engineers. While these roles share some similarities, their core functions differ.
Differences between DevOps engineer, SRE, and software engineer
DevOps engineer — responsible for automation and deployment. DevOps engineers focus on automating CI/CD processes, implementing IaC, and monitoring in production.
Site reliability engineer — maintains reliability and performance. Unlike the DevOps approach, which merges specialists from development and operations into a single team, site reliability engineering (SRE) blends operational expertise directly into the engineering role, making an SRE specialist a more generalist type. A site reliability engineer is skilled in operations and software engineering, with a focus on maintaining system reliability and performance. They ensure that systems are scalable and meet defined service level objectives (SLOs), ensuring the software runs smoothly and meets user expectations.
Learn more about the difference between DevOps and SRE.
Software engineer — develops software. Their core responsibility is developing, testing, and debugging software applications. While they may also participate in deployment and maintenance, their main focus is on the development process itself, which includes understanding technical specifications and translating them into the working code..
How the DevOps engineer collaborates with the DevOps team throughout the lifecycle
In DevOps, the focus is on creating a cross-functional team that collaborates throughout the entire software development lifecycle. Let’s explore how the DevOps Engineer contributes at different points in the DevOps lifecycle.
Planning stage
In this stage, the DevOps engineer works with the product owner and/or team lead to define the technical requirements for new features or updates. They help select the right tools and automation strategies that will drive efficient workflows throughout the development journey. This groundwork ensures all processes are optimized from the start.
Coding stage
During this stage, the DevOps engineer sets up the CI/CD pipeline, ensuring that from this point forward, software engineers can simply push their code to the repository, automatically triggering the integration processes.
Build stage
At this stage, the DevOps engineer ensures the build process is automated and triggered once developers push their code. Tools used to establish the automatic builds include for example, Jenkins, an automation server that builds, tests, and deploys code and Gradle: a flexible build tool for compiling, testing, and packaging applications.
Testing stage
Here, the DevOps engineer works with the QA engineer to integrate automated testing tools into the CI/CD pipeline. Once done, this ensures that tests are automatically executed whenever new code is pushed.
Release stage
As the code passes through testing, it enters the release stage, where it's prepared for deployment to production. At this stage, the DevOps engineer manages the release process and implements version control. This setup ensures that the release manager can efficiently coordinate the scheduling of releases, as the DevOps Engineer has established automated deployment pipelines and rollback scripts that can quickly revert the application to its previous stable state.
Deployment stage
During deployment, the DevOps engineer uses the infrastructure and automated processes they previously established, configures the production environment to meet the application’s specific requirements. This includes setting up server instances, databases, load balancers, and any other necessary infrastructure components to support optimal performance.
Once the environment is configured, the DevOps engineer uses the deployment pipelines created earlier to automate the deployment process.
The DevOps engineer’s work allows the cloud architect to focus on optimizing the cloud architecture and minimizes the manual work for the system administrator.
Continuous monitoring stage
The DevOps engineer partners with the system administrator to set up continuous monitoring process via monitoring tools and logging systems. This helps to track the DevOps metrics and the performance of the infrastructure and applications.
The continuous monitoring system keeps the team updated on the system’s state when in production. This stage is also called the continuous feedback stage.
DevOps engineer responsibilities
The responsibilities of a DevOps engineer span different areas. Let’s explore some of the duties in detail.
CI/CD pipeline setup and maintenance. These engineers design, manage, and improve CI/CD pipelines. They use
tools like Jenkins, CircleCI, and GitLab to automate the build, testing, and deployment process, allowing continuous updates to be pushed out with less risk and more stability.
Infrastructure management. Infrastructure management is a central DevOps task where engineers set up and maintain physical and virtual servers, networks, and storage. DevOps engineers use Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approaches to configure and scale infrastructure to meet current and future demands.
Server-side specifications and documentation. Documentation is essential for seamless teamwork. DevOps engineers create and update specifications that provide insight into the server-side features, configurations, and integrations—critical for developers and operations teams alike.
Cloud resource management. DevOps engineers manage cloud resources on platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This responsibility involves setting up secure, scalable environments and optimizing resource usage to balance performance and costs.
System performance assessment and monitoring. Monitoring is essential to identify and resolve issues before they impact users. DevOps engineers use tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and Datadog to track system metrics, identify bottlenecks, and implement performance improvements.
Encourage DevOps culture. Beyond technical tasks, DevOps engineers promote a collaborative DevOps culture. They advocate for agile practices and help teams adopt automation, improving productivity and reducing bottlenecks.
DevOps engineer skills
Let’s explore some of the skills DevOps engineers ought to have in their tool belt.
Programming and scripting skills. Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Ruby, and Java and scripting languages like Bash is fundamental for DevOps engineers. These skills enable them to automate tasks, create deployment tools, and integrate various systems effectively.
System administration. Strong system administration skills are necessary for maintaining server stability and troubleshooting issues. DevOps engineers should be proficient in user management, software installation, and system monitoring.
Linux fundamentals. Many organizations rely on Linux for their server environments due to its stability and flexibility. DevOps engineers must have a solid understanding of Linux fundamentals, including file handling, system administration, and command-line operations.
Understanding of cloud services. As more organizations move their infrastructure to the cloud, familiarity with major cloud platforms has become essential. This includes understanding cloud architecture, managing cloud resources, and implementing cloud-native solutions.
Experience with DevOps tools. DevOps engineers rely on various tools to simplify and automate critical operations — configuration management, CI/CD, containerization, monitoring, security, etc. These tools streamline complex workflows, reduce the need for repetitive tasks, and enable real-time monitoring to catch issues before they escalate. Core DevOps tools to know include:
- Collaboration and planning tools: ClickUp, Asana, Bitbucket Server
- Server configuration tools: Puppet, Chef, Ansible
- CI/CD tools: Jenkins, GitLab CI, Travis CI
- Containerization and orchestration tools: Docker, Red Hat OpenShift, Kubernetes
- Monitoring and alerting tools: Nagios, Prometheus, Sensu GO
- Security and DevSecOps tools: Codacy, SonarQube, Logz.io
- Cloud providers: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform
Learn more about DevOps tools in our dedicated article.
When to hire and not hire a DevOps engineer?
Knowing when to — and when not to — hire a DevOps engineer can be tricky. Let’s explore some factors to consider while making this decision.
When to hire a DevOps engineer
Scenarios where hiring a DevOps engineer is the right call include:
Scaling infrastructure and operations. If your business grows and your infrastructure can’t keep up, a DevOps engineer can improve your operation’s scalability by implementing automation, efficient CI/CD pipelines, and monitoring solutions.
Improving deployment speed. Speed is crucial in competitive industries, which is pretty much every industry. If your team is experiencing delayed deployments or needs to improve development processes, a DevOps engineer can implement CI/CD tools to optimize workflows.
Reducing developer workload on infrastructure. If your developers are spending too much time managing infrastructure instead of focusing on core development tasks, it might be time to bring in a DevOps engineer.
When not to hire a DevOps engineer
Having a DevOps engineer on your team has its advantages. However, that doesn’t mean every team needs one. Here are some scenarios where hiring a DevOps engineer may not be the right call:
Early-stage startups or small teams. Hiring a DevOps engineer may not be necessary for startups with small teams and limited resources. In the early stages, developers often handle basic operations tasks and may not require a dedicated DevOps engineer.
Stable and low-frequency deployments. Hiring a full-time DevOps engineer may be excessive if your company only requires a few deployments per year. In such cases, any existing DevOps tasks can be handled by your IT or development team.
Cost constraints. DevOps engineers are in high demand and can be expensive, so hiring one may be difficult for teams with a limited budget.
In scenarios where hiring a DevOps engineer isn’t viable, you can consider alternatives like training existing developers in DevOps practices or outsourcing DevOps tasks to freelancers or third-party vendors.
How to become a DevOps engineer: certifications, education, bootcamps, and salary
According to data from Ahrefs, the average monthly search volume for “devops jobs” has increased by 252.28 percent from 2015 till September 2024. This clearly shows that DevOps jobs are in high demand, and many professionals are looking to become DevOps engineers; you’ve read this far, so you may just be one of them. Let’s explore how to achieve this goal.
Educational and background options for DevOps engineers
The examples of DevOps engineers we explored earlier had varying backgrounds. Some had degrees in computer engineering and others in mechanical engineering, and others didn’t have a technical education background. This shows that anyone can become a DevOps engineer regardless of their educational background. Having said, it is important to add that employers in the tech industry are known to have a bias toward professionals with at least a bachelor’s degree in some technical field. Getting a degree will boost your chances of qualifying for higher positions.
Background options for DevOps engineers
When it comes to background, the professionals we sampled tell a similar story and show that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to being a DevOps engineer. Some pivoted from different roles — system administrators, consultants, etc. — before becoming DevOps engineers.
Yes, you can pivot from any profession — even accounting, for example — to DevOps engineering. However, professionals with IT-related skills will find it easier to transition to this role. Working on open-source projects that involve automation, continuous CI/CD, cloud technologies, and various programming languages —Python, Ruby, etc — is a great way to gain experience, build your portfolio, and showcase your skills to potential employers.
Certifications for DevOps engineers
Here are some solid DevOps certificates worth acquiring and adding to your portfolio as of this writing:
- The Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) certification by the Linux Foundation is designed for professionals who want to validate their skills in designing, building, and deploying cloud-native applications using Kubernetes. The certificate exam costs $395 and runs for 2 hours.
- The Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) program is handy for DevOps engineers working with Red Hat systems like Ansible and OpenShift. The exam costs $450 and above and varies depending on your location.
- The AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional certification is designed to validate your technical expertise in provisioning, operating, and managing distributed application systems on the AWS platform. The exam costs $300. According to Lightcast, AWS DevOps engineers are in high demand and lead the list of DevOps roles by 56.1 percent, followed by DevSecOps engineers roles, which make up around 15.4 percent of job postings.
- The Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert certification confirms your ability to design and implement DevOps practices for continuous integration, delivery, and deployment using Azure and other Microsoft technologies. The exam’s pricing varies by region but ranges between $80 and $165.
Other great DevOps certifications worth checking out include Google’s Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer and DevOps Institute’s DevOps Engineering Foundation℠.
Salary expectations for DevOps engineers
According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a DevOps engineer with 0 to 1 year of experience ranges between $85,000 and $146,000 per year. These figures vary based on factors like location, experience, and industry.