As businesses strive to reduce waste, contain costs, and boost profits in today's hyper-competitive tech ecosystem, increasing launch speeds has become critical. The faster and smarter you launch, the quicker you reap the rewards. In fact, in 2018, over 46% of dev teams used agile project methodologies to hack their launchpad and create more streamlined pipelines. But, while many organisations are nailing the 'speed' part of launches, few have taken steps to optimise the delivery value stream.

The cloud is a complex network of interconnected resources—virtual machines (VMs), containers, serverless functions, and a web of data flowing between them. With so many elements, it becomes challenging to ensure continuous uptime for all cloud services while also maintaining optimal performance and security. Cloud monitoring tools assist in this regard by helping organizations stay ahead of issues and maintain control over their cloud environments at all times.

Red Hat OpenShift is an open-source container platform that provides a complete environment for developers to create, launch, and manage applications in both cloud and on-premises settings, leveraging the potential of container technology. With increasing popularity in container orchestration, OpenShift's strong scalability and features attract developers and IT experts. Nonetheless, the intricacy and changing aspects of OpenShift setups demand a tailored strategy for monitoring and observation.

Financial services companies enable a steady stream of intricate transactions—all of which are underpinned by an increasingly complex array of systems, services, and applications. Many forward-looking financial institutions have evolved to include multiple clouds, hyper-converged infrastructures, virtual machines, and containers to house massive quantities of transactional data and processes.

Have you ever wondered how internal teams in an organization stay on the same page? Operational Level Agreements (OLAs) are the essential tools that make it happen. Originating within organizations to streamline interactions and clarify responsibilities, OLAs are especially common in IT departments. They help tackle everyday challenges like miscommunication, overlapping duties, and inconsistent IT Service Management (ITSM).

Organizations exchange vast amounts of data daily, and their need for efficient and secure file transfer solutions has never been more critical. Managing the complexities inherent in data exchange—ensuring speed, security, and compliance—poses significant challenges for businesses of all sizes. Advanced file transfer technologies offer robust solutions to these challenges, enabling seamless and protected transmission of digital assets across diverse networks and systems.

DevOps is essential for engineering teams looking to enhance collaboration, speed up development cycles, and maintain high-quality software delivery. Building on our previous discussion of common DevOps mistakes startups make, let's move on to ten practical strategies small engineering teams can adopt to foster a robust DevOps culture.