"DevOps isn't a market or a title, it's a culture" interview with our experts at DevOpsDays Geneva.

On April 24 and 25, DevOps Days took place in Geneva: a series of annual conferences and workshops...

an opportunity to discuss topics such as "𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑒̂𝑡𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑂𝑝𝑠 𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑢 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒?" "𝑈𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑑𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑖 𝑛𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒̀𝑡𝑒" or "𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑑𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒́ 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑒𝑙"...

Interview with David Vinkenroye (D.V), Digital & Banking Manager at Antaes, Guillaume Vial (G.V), co-founder of Apwide and former Antaes senior consultant, Stéphane Bouché Practice Leader Software Engineering accompanied by some of his teams.

Pierre, Ossama and Stéphane, Software Engineering Practice at Antaes.

P.G: 2 days at DevOps Days, what did you think of it?
It's a great opportunity to share, exchange and learn from each other on subjects that are close to our hearts. The topics that interested me most were the environment, IT security and good intra-team communication practices. This event enabled me to deepen my knowledge of DevOps best practices and keep abreast of the latest trends and technologies.

G.V.: In the industry, we often speak of "DevOps Engineer". How do you see this market today?
DevOps isn't a market or a title, it's a culture. There's a kind of deviance that sometimes materializes in an overkill of logos and labels. I think the most important thing has always been, and always will be, the state of mind. That said, the popularity of the term "DevOps" is a good reflection of our society, which is increasingly dependent on information technology.

G.V: Are you noticing any changes or opportunities in this profession?
I'm seeing a decompartmentalization between Operations and Development. It's a great opportunity for engineers to acquire a vision of all IT activities: "You build it, you run it".
More power means more responsibility! Today, you have to manage all aspects of an application (security, compliance, observability, ethics...), whereas before, for example, a developer could still concentrate only on the functionalities of his code.

D.V: Same question, how would you define the evolution of DevOps in the Swiss market?
We've seen rapid growth over the last few years, with many organizations realizing the importance of having faster, more reliable software by focusing on automation, continuous integration and continuous delivery in order to stay competitive. In Switzerland, the uptake of DevOps profiles has been no different.
They are increasingly investing in tools and technologies, such as Docker, Kubernetes and Jenkins, to automate their software delivery pipelines.
In addition, over the past few years, companies have become aware of the importance of security in software development and have begun to integrate DevSecOps practices into their development processes. (DevSecOps is a practice that aims to integrate security into the software development lifecycle).
This practice has evolved in response to growing data security and regulatory compliance requirements.
This market trend is set to continue in the coming years.

D.V: What do you think are the real assets of a DevOps engineer, and how do you stand out?
The role of a DevOps engineer varies from one organization to another, but involves a wide range of skills covering both development and operations. It also requires the interpersonal skills needed to bridge the gaps between siloed teams.
The most important ones in my opinion would be: Technical skills, communication, critical thinking, team spirit.

D.V: How does Antaes support its customers with the adoption of DevOps practices?
Our customers are looking to improve their software processes in order to achieve "digital-native innovation" at scale and speed across their operations.
We enable them to successfully migrate their software engineering activities to DevOps through the adoption of continuous delivery best practices, processes and tools.
Antaes supports its customers with the adoption of DevOps practices by providing consulting, design, implementation, support and maintenance services. This enables our customers to improve their software development, delivery and deployment processes, reducing time-to-market. All the while increasing quality and improving collaboration between teams.

G.V: DevOps is a philosophy, a way of working and collaborating: why has it become a marketing term? A "job title"?
There are currently more demands than "DevOps" skills available on the job market. This imbalance attracts players who appropriate the term "DevOps" in order to gain market share or attract talent.

G.V: Could you introduce us to Apwide, one of the sponsors of this year's Devopsdays Geneva?
We are the publishers of the Apwide Golive solution, which enables our customers to manage their test environments in Jira. We also provide consulting services in the field of Test Environment Management and Atlassian collaborative tools.

G.V: Any final words? When you think back to Antaes?
In the end, the most important thing for any organization is to adopt the culture, methods and tools that enable it to improve. DevOps, in all its forms, is no exception to this principle.
Antaes is an ethical consulting company that takes good care of its consultants. It has a very detailed understanding of its customers' needs and specificities. I particularly appreciated the open-mindedness, intelligence and experience of the people who gave me so much support right from the start of my entrepreneurial adventure.

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