{"id":2762,"date":"2021-09-28T11:17:24","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T05:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/?p=2762"},"modified":"2022-07-04T15:41:41","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T10:11:41","slug":"standards-vs-standardization-in-devops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/","title":{"rendered":"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Standards in DevOps<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/what-is-devops-and-its-benefits\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DevOps <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Standards refer to best practices to follow; defining these standards involves putting together a set of foundational IT principles, and creating a common vocabulary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of the key standards to be observed in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/devops-services.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DevOps services<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Observability<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communication<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Continuous improvement<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Collaboration<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accountability<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Automation<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And then there\u2019s Standardization<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Standardization refers to an organization\u2019s intent to streamline DevOps across the board. It is a framework to which all relevant parties in an organization must adhere to ensure processes are carried out within set guidelines. This is usually done by creating standardized tools. But keep in mind that there are two sides to standardization&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The good side:<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Standardization offers a common vocabulary.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This makes it easier to understand processes as well as control or change them if necessary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Standardization offers common top-level principles.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When centralized tools groups are created, it gives a global view of how things are being used across the organization. That way, best practices can be streamlined.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Standardization provides compliance-oriented &#8220;what to do&#8221; standards.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a guideline of what is to be expected and therefore makes it easier to streamline work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Standardization helps to budget. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With standardization, organizations streamline budgets at a more centralized level and serve the needs of the organization across all groups.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>But then there is the flip side:<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Standardizing can be detrimental to innovation. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While maintaining best practices is good, over-stressing prescriptive &#8220;how to do it&#8221; standards may have a stifling effect on the team&#8217;s ability to innovate or solve problems. There&#8217;s a temptation when following standards to follow them rigidly when possible. When standards become prescriptive instead of a set of guidelines, the focus is on compliance rather than outcome, which is not good. One needs to allow DevOps to evolve and create solutions without being bound by rigid walls of standardization.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Standardization may end up slowing down processes. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several smaller DevOps teams may be able to solve the issues \u201con the ground\u201d rather than wait for a central team to implement a solution simply because that is what has been standardized. Also, some tools are good for specific use and not companywide. Standardization may therefore reduce productivity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ITIL example<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jayne Groll, CEO of The DevOps Institute, explains with the example of ITIL or the Information Technology Infrastructure Library. Initially developed by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, UK, in the 80s, ITIL documented best practices in IT service management. It was viewed as a set of standards for improving IT performance but then lost steam as it was too rigid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In an interview, Groll says that ITIL got over-standardized and couldn&#8217;t keep pace. Users of ITIL felt that they had no choice but to follow the rulebook religiously, as a result, there was no scope for flexibility and innovation, and ITIL is stagnating.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn ISO 20000\/27000, in the ITSM space, the rule on service management simply says, \u201cYou should record all your changes.\u201d It doesn\u2019t say how to record it, it just says it&#8217;s a great practice,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meeting ISO 12207 standard for quality means following project-enabling processes and technical processes. Processes do not guarantee outcomes. Processes can be tested against 12207 but outcomes are auditable, so processes must be tweaked as needed to create the outcomes that are needed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In short, standards and standardization are tools that can add a lot of value to your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/devops-services.html\">DevOps<\/a> practice. But tread with caution to ensure your processes do not themselves become subservient to these tools.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CloudNow offers technology solution services that strike a balance between standardization and innovation to help manage costs, secure assets and maximize value. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/contact-us.html\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Talk to us <\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">today!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Standards in DevOps DevOps Standards refer to best practices to follow; defining these standards involves putting together a set of foundational IT principles, and creating a common vocabulary.\u00a0 Some of the key standards to be observed in DevOps services include: Observability Communication Continuous improvement Collaboration Accountability Automation And then there\u2019s Standardization Standardization refers to an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-2762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agile-devops","tag-devops"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation - Discover Better Value Faster<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is standardization a realistic goal for DevOps practitioners - and is it even desirable? To learn more, read our latest blog post, &quot;Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation - Discover Better Value Faster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is standardization a realistic goal for DevOps practitioners - and is it even desirable? To learn more, read our latest blog post, &quot;Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discover Better Value Faster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-28T05:47:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-04T10:11:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Blog-42.jpeg?fit=1141%2C761&#038;ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1141\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"761\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SatyaDev Addeppally\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Discover Better Value Faster\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Blog-42.jpeg?fit=1141%2C761&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Blog-42.jpeg?fit=1141%2C761&ssl=1\",\"width\":1141,\"height\":761,\"caption\":\"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/\",\"name\":\"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation - Discover Better Value Faster\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-28T05:47:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-04T10:11:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e76f56977117c409772392b0ced58c6\"},\"description\":\"Is standardization a realistic goal for DevOps practitioners - and is it even desirable? To learn more, read our latest blog post, \\\"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e76f56977117c409772392b0ced58c6\",\"name\":\"SatyaDev Addeppally\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sathyadev-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sathyadev-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"SatyaDev Addeppally\"},\"description\":\"Enterprising leader with an analytical bent of mind offering a proven history of success by supervising, planning &amp; managing multifaceted projects &amp; complex dependencies; chronicled success with 22 years of extensive experience including international experience.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/satyadevaddepally\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/author\/satyadev-a\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation - Discover Better Value Faster","description":"Is standardization a realistic goal for DevOps practitioners - and is it even desirable? To learn more, read our latest blog post, \"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation - Discover Better Value Faster","og_description":"Is standardization a realistic goal for DevOps practitioners - and is it even desirable? To learn more, read our latest blog post, \"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/","og_site_name":"Discover Better Value Faster","article_published_time":"2021-09-28T05:47:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-04T10:11:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1141,"height":761,"url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Blog-42.jpeg?fit=1141%2C761&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SatyaDev Addeppally","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/","name":"Discover Better Value Faster","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Blog-42.jpeg?fit=1141%2C761&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Blog-42.jpeg?fit=1141%2C761&ssl=1","width":1141,"height":761,"caption":"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/","name":"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation - Discover Better Value Faster","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-09-28T05:47:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-04T10:11:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e76f56977117c409772392b0ced58c6"},"description":"Is standardization a realistic goal for DevOps practitioners - and is it even desirable? To learn more, read our latest blog post, \"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/standards-vs-standardization-in-devops\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Standards vs Standardization in DevOps: The fine line between streamlining processes and hindering innovation"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2e76f56977117c409772392b0ced58c6","name":"SatyaDev Addeppally","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sathyadev-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sathyadev-96x96.jpg","caption":"SatyaDev Addeppally"},"description":"Enterprising leader with an analytical bent of mind offering a proven history of success by supervising, planning &amp; managing multifaceted projects &amp; complex dependencies; chronicled success with 22 years of extensive experience including international experience.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/satyadevaddepally\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/author\/satyadev-a\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Blog-42.jpeg?fit=1141%2C761&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2762"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3107,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2762\/revisions\/3107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cloudnowtech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}