Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are under increasing pressure to achieve higher levels of productivity, cost-efficiency, and security than ever before. Unfortunately, off-the-shelf software solutions often aren’t equipped to handle this, potentially hindering progress. For this reason, many SMBs are turning to custom-built software designed to meet their exact needs for a fraction of the price.
But application development is far from easy. Challenges appear around every corner, many requiring deep technical expertise that your business may not have access to. So what is an SMB to do? Is there a way to develop a DevOps strategy that will help you create custom software solutions, without making everything more complicated in the process?
Why SMBs Are Embracing Custom App Development - and What It Means for IT Management
Modern SMBs are moving further and further away from pre-built software solutions, deciding instead to create their own. But why is this happening? The simple answer is that off-the-shelf software comes with limitations: rigid workflows, unnecessary features (or desired features that don’t exist), and lack of integration with the existing IT infrastructure. The major downside of “one-size-fits-all” technology is that in reality, it does not actually fit anyone properly.
With this shift comes a fundamental change in IT management for SMBs. Traditionally, IT staff worked primarily with solutions designed by external vendors. These come with widely available resources, including forums, guides, bug fixes, security patches, and more. Today, these employees are designing software from scratch. While this provides more flexibility, it also means that your team is on their own. All maintenance and repairs must come from them.
Because of this, many SMBs are implementing DevOps strategies designed to improve and accelerate the development cycle.
What is DevOps?
DevOps (short for Development and Operations) is an approach that changes how software solutions are built, tested, and deployed. It aims to break down the silos that normally separate staff, thus encouraging stronger collaboration between the two while improving efficiency and speed. This strategy carries several important advantages:
- Faster development cycles
- Better business-IT alignment
- Easier integration of software solutions with the existing IT infrastructure
- More reliable systems
DevOps is essential for any SMB creating custom applications. It keeps everyone focused on creating and maintaining software that truly meets your business’ needs, preventing distractions and critical errors.
DevOps Deployment Strategies
DevOps employs the use of various methodologies to speed up production, minimize downtime, and reduce risk. These become particularly important during deployment, where a small issue can create significant problems for other staff as they try to complete tasks. In the worst-case scenario, an error during this time can pause business operations entirely, costing money and productivity.
Some common DevOps deployment strategies used to prevent this include:
CI/CD pipelines
Continuous Integration/Continuous Development (CI/CD) allows multiple developers to coordinate their efforts and test new software applications more efficiently. It involves pushing code into a shared repository (such as GitHub), and then testing it in an environment similar to the one it will eventually be deployed into. This system catches errors far earlier in the process, while also fostering stronger collaboration between staff. The end result is usually shorter lead times and more reliable releases.
Blue‑Green Deployment
A Blue-Green deployment strategy maintains two environments at once – the old (blue) setup, and the new (green) one. This tactic drastically reduces downtime by allowing IT staff to simply switch back to the old system as soon as an issue appears. Your other employees are able to keep working without disruption while the problem is addressed. The blue environment is maintained until your IT team is certain that any bugs have been ironed out, providing your business with a safety net.
Canary Deployment
Canary deployment has a similar goal in mind to Blue-Green, but uses a different approach. Similar to the proverbial “Canary in the coal mine”, developers reduce risk by implementing new software into the workflow slowly while watching for critical errors.
The Challenges of DevOps for SMBs
While the benefits of a solid DevOps strategy are clear, implementing one is no small feat. This is especially true for SMBs, who face a unique set of challenges that larger corporations do not:
Tight Budgets
DevOps, like any new initiative, requires upfront investment in tools, automation platforms, cloud infrastructure, and skilled personnel. For SMBs, who typically operate with limited budgets, justifying these costs can be difficult. This constraint often leads to corners being cut, or DevOps initiatives being cancelled entirely.
Limited Technical Expertise
Building custom software requires a much deeper level of expertise and experience than simply downloading someone else’s product. SMBs often do not have access to this highly specialized knowledge in-house, potentially bringing any new projects to a halt.
Fewer Hands on Deck
The IT team in an SMB wears multiple hats, juggling support, maintenance, and security all at once. This leaves them little time for software development, and even less to create an effective DevOps pipeline.
Lack of Modern Infrastructure
DevOps thrives in environments that support automation, scalability, and rapid deployment. Unfortunately, this rarely describes an SMB’s IT infrastructure. Most are operating with simple, outdated systems that do not provide the foundation needed for effective development pipelines.
These challenges make it near impossible to develop custom software applications – much less implement DevOps – while still maintaining effective IT management. For SMBs, this can severely damage their ability to compete against larger businesses who do have these resources available.
How IT Management for SMBs Impacts DevOps
Your SMB’s overall IT infrastructure plays an important role in how successful DevOps initiatives are. If it is disorganized and chaotic, your development cycles will be as well. Ultimately this can result in poorly strategized deployments that cause downtime and unnecessary risk. Effective IT management provides the following benefits:
Cybersecurity
Rolling out new technology, while necessary, is one of the most dangerous things you can do. This is an opportune time for threat actors to breach your business: your entire infrastructure is in flux, and critical personnel are watching the deployment rather than your security. This risk is only compounded by custom-made solutions, which are often more vulnerable than those created by trusted third-parties with far more resources.
To prevent attack during this delicate time, your business must be built on a secure foundation. Good overall IT management ensures that your organization is safe at all times, even when your staff are unable to monitor systems as closely. This prevents cyber threats from damaging your finances, data, and customer trust.
Visibility
Clear visibility into your IT infrastructure is essential to ensure regular, safe deployments. Your team must be able to identify issues quickly and effectively monitor performance. Without this crucial ability, threats and severe bugs go undetected until it is far too late.
One part of effective IT management is building a system that makes this visibility possible, making it easier to track metrics and monitor for errors. This improves incident response times and minimizes disruptions.
Development Speed
The more complex and disorganized your IT is, the harder it becomes for staff to develop software quickly. They need a clean, tidy environment to work in, just like any other employee. Poor IT management distracts staff with constant, meaningless tasks: troubleshooting issues that should not be occurring, finding files that should be easily accessible, and repairing hardware that should have been upgraded long ago. This significantly slows down development, testing, and deployment
Business Continuity
Downtime is one of the biggest threats hanging over your head during custom software development. A single error that was not caught in time has the potential to shut down systems for hours. A data breach could keep your business offline for days.
For this reason, one core tenet of strong IT management is business resilience. Strategies are employed that allow the organization to function relatively normally, even in the face of an emergency. This means development can continue, and the impact of deployment issues on the business’ overall operations is vastly reduced.
Why You Can’t Do It Alone
Running DevOps while also maintaining the business’ IT infrastructure properly is simply not possible for most SMBs. The reality is that you do not have the human resources available, and you likely don’t have the funds to hire the personnel you would need. Software development requires many hours of hard work from multiple staff members, and so does IT management. If you attempt both with a small team, one or the other will suffer. This is the reason so many SMBs turn to managed services.
How Managed IT Services for SMBs Accelerates the Deployment Cycle
A managed service provider (MSP) is a third-party team of experts who handle day-to-day IT management for SMBs. This may include:
- Security
- Troubleshooting
- Monitoring
- Incident response and/or backup management
- Cloud migration/maintenance
- IT strategy
- Consulting services
Hiring an MSP takes most daily tasks off your in-house team’s plate, letting them focus on software development. Alternatively, the reverse is also possible: some MSPs will assist with DevOps, while your staff focus on daily management. This strategy offers many benefits that solve your biggest DevOps challenges, ultimately accelerating deployment.
The Right Foundation
MSPs ensure that you have the right IT infrastructure in place to handle DevOps without disruptions. They provide actionable insights that help you address inefficiencies and incompatibilities within your current setup, allowing your team to deploy software knowing that it will integrate smoothly.
Digital Development Solutions
An MSP will implement a variety of digital solutions designed to improve operational efficiency and streamline DevOps. This may include automation or monitoring tools, cloud services, regular software updates, and far more. By keeping your technology running smoothly, they allow development teams to finish faster and with fewer issues.
Actionable Insights
Outsourcing essentially provides your business with a full team of IT professionals, at a fraction of the price that hiring the same number of employees internally would cost. This grants your existing staff access to near-limitless expertise. They can leverage this to learn new techniques that speed up development and deployment.
Continuous Monitoring
An MSP monitors systems 24/7 on your behalf, identifying and addressing any problems immediately. Instead of wasting valuable time isolating a cyber threat that should have been caught much earlier, internal employees can focus on development.
Incident Response
In the event that something does go wrong, your MSP will be right there to help you fix the problem. The additional expertise and resources provided enable faster incident response and recovery, maintaining continuity and keeping projects on track no matter what happens.
Choosing the Right Managed IT Services for SMBs Who Use Custom Software
Finding the right managed IT services for an SMB is tricky even before DevOps is taken into account. Each provider is different, and only some will be able to sufficiently meet your needs. Look for these things when selecting an MSP:
Reduced Operational Disruption
Commercial software often breaks down, either due to updates or random glitches. You may also experience periods of downtime during the sunset process for solutions reaching end-of-life. Custom applications reduce this risk. Problems can be fixed faster, as you have a direct line to the people who created the software in the first place. Downtime is rarer and shorter, resulting in stronger continuity.
- Specialization in DevOps
- Experience helping businesses of your size and industry
- Testimonials and case studies
- Strong communication skills
- Full transparency around important topics
- Responsiveness
FAQs
The exact cost of managed services varies based on many factors. Rather than relying on generic estimates, it is always better to ask the service provider directly.
Some MSPs do offer DevOps services, if you prefer to let internal staff focus on day-to-day IT management.
You should start to experience positive outcomes very quickly after partnering with an MSP. However, note that the nature of IT means some benefits are not immediately visible. By its very nature, a well-maintained IT infrastructure will fade into the background. The less you notice it, the better.
You absolutely can, by hiring an MSP who provides DevOps services. SMBs with no internal IT staff should already be outsourcing anyway.
Yes. Unexpected errors are common during deployment and integration. A solid deployment strategy is essential to address these quickly and maintain continuity.
The Support Your Team Needs to Ensure Swift, Secure Deployment
When developing custom software, speed and accuracy are key. But embracing efficient DevOps strategies comes with a cost for SMBs. Rather than choosing between strong IT management and a faster deployment cycle, the best option is to outsource one while your team focuses on the other. This allows you to divide and conquer, accomplishing far more with your available resources than would otherwise be possible.
ION247 provides the support you need to ensure fast, secure, streamlined development cycles. We keep your IT running, so your staff can focus on designing the solutions you need for greater efficiency and productivity. If you’re trying to balance DevOps with day-to-day tasks, discover how we can support you today.
