Every business these days needs to have a feature-packed application for its customers, but with more complex digital products come many complications in the development cycle. To save time and money more and more product owners choose to hire Devops engineers. But with this type of IT specialist being fairly new to the job market, many newcomers need some guidance to find and employ skilled Devops programmers, and this post is designed to help with this task.
Who is Devops Programmer
Devops engineers first entered the IT workforce less than ten years ago, so naturally, many business owners, especially those with no tech background, have little to none understanding of what these specialists bring to the table and why almost every company needs one. In simple words, Devops programmers are something between system administrators, coders, and project managers. Their task is to dig into the app’s code, research every aspect and component, optimize and automate all software development cycles, and maximize testing efficiency. Basically, Devops professionals help to make the whole process more efficient and allow it to run several stages at once.
Reasons to hire Devops engineers
Despite Devops professionals being a new addition to the IT job market, according to research, only six percent of company owners think they don’t need programmers with this type of expertise in their development team. So why do you need to start searching for a qualified Devops engineer right now? First of all, bringing them on board makes your development cycle faster and as a result more cost-efficient. It is achieved due to writing code, creating a UI/UX design, testing, debugging, and other stages happening simultaneously because of Devops practices implemented. Automating part of processes can help your team to deliver a digital product up to 60 percent faster. Also, a Devops programmer helps to improve data security, makes the app more scalable using cloud technologies, and allows you to avoid bringing on third-party specialists for different tasks.
Tech skills to look for
Expert Devops engineers of course need to have a superb understanding of Devops principles and main concepts, be familiar with roles and frameworks used in the process, and follow main Devops trends. Also, this type of IT professional has to be proficient in one or more popular programming languages, such as Java or C++, be a real expert in cloud solutions and logging technologies, be familiar with Linux, at least several virtual machines, and the biggest databases. A big part of Devops expertise is the knowledge of automation tools, version control software, and hypervisors. A more detailed list of tech requirements will depend on the nature of your project and team structure.
Talking about soft skills we always mention the importance of communication, but with Devops experts this factor is even more important. This kind of IT professional needs to always keep in touch with every team member, communicate their vision and be able to listen to coworkers, sometimes work directly with customers, and often do it all at the same time. Also, Devops engineers usually work remotely, so be sure to check candidates for all soft skills necessary for this type of cooperation model, such as strong work ethic, ability to achieve results without constant monitoring, and high level of self-discipline.
Hiring options
Any kind of tech talent is not easy to find, but with Devops programmers it can be real trouble due to incredibly high demand and a relatively small number of experienced professionals in this field. Because of these factors, experienced engineers from North America or Western Europe will ask for a salary of around 150 dollars per hour. Of course, implementing Devops practices ultimately will save you money, but still, it can be pretty hard on your salary budget at first. If you need to automate a small number of processes or you simply have a short-term project at hand, you can try your luck on sites for freelancers like Fiverr or Upwork. You will save some salary budget this way, but it is worth mentioning that qualified Devops engineers from the US working as freelancers still charge 80 to 100 dollars per hour, so this approach may not be so cost-effective in this instance.
If you are looking for IT experts offshore, there are a big number of outsourcing vendors and other companies that help you with this task, such as Bridgeteams. With Devops engineers usually working remotely, hiring one from a country with a lower cost of living and different national currency, and lower salaries, as a result, makes sense. Try to choose an outsourcing destination with a similar time zone to keep in touch with your new hire through the workday and pay attention to their level of English proficiency to ensure clear communication down the road.
There are numerous online communities for Devops professionals online where they discuss the newest trends, tools, and technologies. You can visit sites like OpenSource, GitHub, StackOverflow, Reddit, and Linkedin in search of potential candidates. In many Devops communities, you can find treads for job searching and make yourself familiar with potential employees’ portfolios and social media pages early on. Also, there are a great number of conferences and hackathons for Devops programmers, Azure, DockerCon US, Codefresh, or Devops Enterprise Summit. You can gain access to those events and meet top tech talent for establishing initial contact. Sometimes Devops experts are actively looking for employment there and you may be in luck.
Conclusion
Devops specialists are new to the IT industry, but already became one of the must-have aspects of a successful development team for any complex digital product. Because of high demand and a really long list of tech skills any expert Devops programmers must possess, finding one can be a tricky task, but not quite impossible. Widening your search with offshore IT professionals and scrolling through numerous online communities and social media pages can really help you to hire a qualified Devops engineer without paying an absurd amount of money. Remember, the advantages of bringing on this type of tech talent are really impactful for your development process.
