Before I give my reasons for “why devops” it might be beneficial to define DevOps. Rather than reinvent the definition of DevOps, take a look at what the major cloud providers have to say about it. I highly encourage you to check out each link below and continue your study of the subject.
AWS
"DevOps is the combination of cultural philosophies, practices, and tools that increases an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity: evolving and improving products at a faster pace than organizations using traditional software development and infrastructure management processes. This speed enables organizations to better serve their customers and compete more effectively in the market."
Azure
"A compound of development (Dev) and operations (Ops), DevOps is the union of people, process, and technology to continually provide value to customers.
What does DevOps mean for teams? DevOps enables formerly siloed roles—development, IT operations, quality engineering, and security—to coordinate and collaborate to produce better, more reliable products. By adopting a DevOps culture along with DevOps practices and tools, teams gain the ability to better respond to customer needs, increase confidence in the applications they build, and achieve business goals faster."
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/cloud-computing-dictionary/what-is-devops/
GCP
"Take a deep dive into DevOps, the organizational and cultural movement that aims to increase software delivery velocity, improve service reliability, and build shared ownership among software stakeholders."
We can see that the focus is on delivery and the client’s needs. The DevOps culture incorporates multiple siloed roles. There are many options for your career and upward mobility. DevOps focuses on speed, security, and flexibility. Now lets look at WHY this is great to pursue.
Job market, Lifestyle, Career Development, and much more.
Open Roles
At the time of writing there are over 16,000 “Devops engineer” jobs posted on glassdoor.com. This number does not include similar titles like “cloud administrator/engineer”
Competitive Pay
According to Glassdoor.com, the average base salary of a devops engineer with 0-1 years of experience was $97,000/yr.
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/tampa-devops-engineer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,5_IM850_KO6,21.htm
Competition
Employers know that it is difficult to employ and keep qualified engineers.
With the Great Resignation still happening, organizations are having to change the way they manage employees to increase retention. Compensation is only a small piece. Empathetic management is encouraged, flexible work environments and remote work opportunities, and emphasis on training and upskilling are now the new normal for employee satisfaction.
Low Barrier to Entry
With many leaving roles to grow their own skill set, it creates unfilled jobs that may end up being the next big opportunity for you. What does not work for one person may be a tremendous increase for another.
Flexible Work
Many DevOps roles are flexible and can be either entirely remote or semi remote. Often times there are multiple windows for work. Maybe 4pm to midnight or a standard 9 to 5. Since a lot of roles are remote, you can work from where you need to.
Benefits
The benefits that come with working for cutting edge startups or enterprise corporations are often tremendous. Often benefits can add tens of thousands of value on top of your base pay. Those areas could be medial, dental, vision, 401k, legal assistance, parental leave, etc…
Cross-functional Skills
As mentioned above, having many siloed roles means that you can easily transfer or gain knowledge by switching your focus. When working and integrating with other teams, learning new skills comes with the job
Certification & Upskilling
Upskilling has become a focal point in US technology. Millennials tend to place a higher value on learning and development, and businesses are learning that to retain talent, they need to invest in development. Many organizations will pay for certifications and training. I have even heard of college being paid for so long as it is mutually beneficial.
Ownership
When in the DevOps function, ownership comes naturally with the job. You will learn to own processes and technology. With responsibility comes pay, respect, and tenure.
Promotion
Upward mobility is likely when working in DevOps. Many companies prefer to promote from within, as established team members know people, process, and technology specific to the organization. With such a hot job market, many open leadership roles come and go. It sets the stage for employees to progress into management.
Networking
Working in DevOps opens doors to networking opportunities and fresh insight.
Hopefully this paints a picture for why DevOps is a great career focus and mastering the culture will only benefit your career for the rest of your life.