In the past, software development teams worked in a siloed environment. Projects passed from clients to developers to operations professionals. At the end of this process, applications underwent rigorous testing to correct errors and optimize security.

Only then could the results be handed to the client for approval to go to market—meaning long development cycles and excessive expenses. DevOps and DevSecOps are processes that modernized and improved upon these inefficiencies. Below, we’ll discuss what the difference is between DevOps and DevSecOps, along with their similarities and benefits.

What Is DevOps?

DevOps stands for development and operations. It is a method of organizing the development and operations teams in software development, using them both in a collaborative process throughout the lifecycle of long-term software projects.

DevOps is no longer an emerging concept—it’s now considered the standard. The DevOps market should grow to a value of $20.01 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.7% between 2019 and 2026.

What Development Processes Improve by Using DevOps?

The collaborative process between teams represents a complete end-to-end transformation over prior methods. This results in four significant improvements to software development:

  1. Better efficiency
  2. Improved communication
  3. Rapid deployment of applications
  4. Rapid response with updates

Continuous Delivery/Continuous Integration

DevOps requires highly skilled teams that can adapt to change quickly. Changes occur through a procedure called continuous delivery/continuous integration (CD/CI).

With CD/CI, application projects break down into microservices that undergo creation, testing, and deployment quickly. This process allows development and operations teams to share a central library of completed applications. Another benefit is quickly incorporating customer input and software updates without slowing down their release schedule.

What Is DevSecOps?

DevSecOps stands fordevelopment, security, and operations and is a complementary subset of DevOps. Before the innovations stemming from DevOps, security testing didn’t occur until the end of a lengthy development process.

Upon discovery of issues, developers had to resolve, optimize, and test the software again before a customer could approve a project for deployment. With DevSecOps, teams can integrate security as part of the ongoing collaboration between development and operations.

To fully appreciate what the difference is between DevOps and DevSecOps, it helps to understand the specific security threats faced by today’s software developers. DevSecOps has become a means to update security quickly for applications people rely on every day. The need for enhanced security correlates with the increased frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks.

Additional Security Where It’s Needed Most

The DevSecOps process is heavily utilized with sites that store and process people’s personally-identifiable information. Sensitive systems used by government agencies and their contractors, the healthcare industry, and financial institutions must provide an increased level of cybersecurity.

Continuous Security Updates

It’s easy to assume the only difference between DevSecOps and DevOps is the addition of security procedures. But both processes include security audits and extensive optimization.

The unique distinction with DevSecOps is in its frequency of testing. DevOps will periodically test for security issues at key project milestones. DevSecOps incorporates a separate security team that shares access to code during the development process. This team brings constant threat modeling, vulnerability testing, and incident management alongside DevOps, eliminating previous bottlenecks.

DevOps will run periodic security tests at key project milestones, where a separate DevSecOps team runs security audits continuously. Both systems use automation to accelerate development and diagnose errors and security issues.

What Is DevSecOps vs. DevOps?

DevOps and DevSecOps share numerous common attributes, including the following:

1. Agile Software Development

Agile software development is a primary inspiration for today’s DevOps and DevSecOps practices. The greater concept of Agile is eliminating siloed departments to improve communication between the development team and the customer. DevOps and DevSecOps utilize Agile’s underlying principles to open the lines of communication and boost collaboration throughout the entire development process.

Agile approaches creation and problem-solving by starting the development with any available details, building them into the larger project as more details become available. This development method requires the ability to self-organize and adapt rapidly to change. The result is efficient and incremental software development.

Agile development practices have helped to perfect long-term projects with skilled teams. The team at Excel SoftSources is one example, with collaboration throughout the entire service lifecycle and ongoing updates.

2. Scrum

The word “scrum” originated in rugby, but in software development, it stands for an Agile framework for project management. Teams work together with constant communication in product creation and problem-solving.

With Scrum, teams work on processes in short sprints—attacking small sections of a larger project. Each team member quickly completes an ongoing regimen of code that passes between development to the customer regularly.

3. Collaboration

DevOps and DevSecOps teams regularly communicate throughout every development phase. With a shared code repository, both models make optimizations in real time.

4. Automation

Both team organizations use automation for testing and optimization on the fly. With DevOps, automation’s uses include speed, efficiency, consistency, and reliability.

DevSecOps automates security audits to test for errors and search for potential security vulnerabilities. Automated scanning and debugging allow teams to respond to threats immediately with new patched updates without delay.

5. Long-Term Partnerships

DevOps and DevSecOps benefit the long-term software development process through the life of a product line. Excel SoftSources engages in long-term, collaborative relationships between teams. Our nearshoring staffing solutions provide you with dedicated developers that can commit to years of collaboration.

Creating long-term partnerships with development teams can increase customer satisfaction and retention. Customers can remain focused on business innovation and deployment, as well as serving the needs of their clients.

Collaborate—Innovate—Build with Excel SoftSources

If you’re searching for the right development partner to help elevate and innovate your ongoing software development needs, reach out to Excel SoftSources by filling out our brief contact form.

Step 1

Let us know what you need help with.

Step 2

We’ll have a call to discuss your needs and our expertise.

Step 3

Have us build a team to achieve your goals.