What Does a DevOps Engineer Do? A Career Guide

A DevOps engineer is responsible for leading and coordinating the activities of different teams to create and maintain a company's software. The term 'DevOps' is derived from "development and operations" and is a set of practices aiming to increase the efficiency of the software development lifecycle through collaboration.

A DevOps engineer's end goal is to shorten the software development process, increase the frequency of software releases, unite operations teams and development teams, and facilitate more dependable releases.

Average salary for DevOps engineers

The average base salary for DevOps engineers in the US is $104,095 per year [1]. When acknowledging additional pay like commissions or profit-sharing, Glassdoor estimates the total pay value to be $132,767 . DevOps engineers can work overtime or spend time on call, as software issues can come up at odd hours.

Read more: DevOps Engineer Salary 2023: How Much Can You Make?

DevOps engineering specializations

DevOps engineers may take on specific roles, depending on their interests and the needs of the organizations where they work. A few specialized roles in the DevOps engineering field include:

• A release manager manages ongoing software updates.

• Software developers write code.

• Quality assurance engineers are responsible for reviewing and testing new code.

• Security engineers ensure the security of the software in the system.

DevOps skills

DevOps engineering requires a mix of technical and people skills (also known as soft skills) to succeed.

Technical skills

DevOps engineers are, first and foremost, engineers. In addition to standard engineering skills, like math and analytical thinking, they should understand:

• Project management. As the person responsible for ensuring that a company's software is up to date, secure, and free from bugs and glitches, a DevOps engineer needs to be looking for and implementing any relevant improvements constantly.

• Production infrastructure. A good DevOps engineer must have a strong understanding of the initiation, planning, execution, and monitoring of everything from minor bug fixes to massive updates. Continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) is a crucial aspect of the DevOps approach to software development. 

• Coding. Although some DevOps engineers may not always write code, they must still understand the fundamentals of whatever programming languages are being used.

• Server administration. DevOps engineers administer a company's networks and servers that host any software being created. This means creating accounts, updating permissions, and ensuring that everything is regularly backed up. They also set the procedures junior IT professionals follow when troubleshooting, debugging or making other changes.

Workplace skills

DevOps professionals are also team players and spend a lot of their days working with people from different professional backgrounds. To be successful, you must understand:

• Communications: Communication skills are essential for DevOps engineering roles. You must be able to effectively explain what's happening in the software development life cycle to people with varying degrees of technical expertise, from software engineers to marketing roles.

• Coaching: An effective DevOps engineer should always be looking to improve their team and software. This means identifying gaps in the skill set and devising ways to fill them, whether training existing staff or hiring new staff.

• Flexibility: Software issues can happen at any hour of the day or night. DevOps engineers often work irregular hours and stay on call to resolve any issues. 

Read more: What Are Job Skills and Why Do They Matter?

How to become a DevOps engineer

Consider a degree.

Many job descriptions for DevOps engineering roles call for at least a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, though some employers will accept equivalent work experience. 75 percent of DevOps Engineers have a bachelor's degree, 20 percent have a master's degree, and 2 percent have an associate degree [2].

Earn a certification.

Some companies might look for certifications in subjects like Linux administration and SQL server development to show competency. For example, an aspiring DevOps engineer may earn a certificate in Linux System Administration with IBM Power Systems:

Start in a related role.

DevOps engineers should have a lot of experience with software tools and coding languages. You can work in IT, system administration or software development to get this experience.

DevOps engineers can start with an entry-level system administrator, support, or help desk role to gain experience with software maintenance.

Read more: 5 Tech Entry-Level Jobs in 2023: No Experience or Commute Required

Start building your DevOps expertise today.

You can gain in-demand DevOps skills from an industry leader in technology with IBM's Introduction to DevOps. In this beginner-friendly online course, you'll learn about essential DevOps concepts like CI/CD, automation, and test driven development (TDD).