SDLC

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Aisalkyn Aidarova

What Is SDLC in Simple Words

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is like a roadmap that shows how software moves from an idea to a finished, working product and how it’s maintained after release.

DevOps engineers join this process to make everything faster, safer, and more automated.
Think of DevOps as the bridge between developers (who write code) and operations (who run systems).
The DevOps goal is:

“Deliver software quickly, reliably, and repeatedly with minimal human error.”

SDLC Phases — and the DevOps Role in Each

1. Planning / Initiation

Purpose: Define what to build, why, and what resources are needed.
DevOps Role:

• Help estimate infrastructure and cloud requirements (e.g., EC2 instances, databases, networking).
• Recommend automation and tools (e.g., Jenkins for CI/CD, GitHub for version control, Terraform for infrastructure).
• Set up project repositories and branching strategies in Git.
• Work with architects to ensure scalability and high availability are part of the plan.

Example:
A DevOps engineer helps plan how Jenkins pipelines will automate builds and deployments once developers start coding.

2. Requirements / Analysis

Purpose: Collect and document all system requirements.
DevOps Role:

• Clarify non-functional requirements such as uptime, monitoring, backups, and security.
• Document infrastructure as code needs (IaC templates for AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Help choose the right deployment environment (containers, EC2, EKS, etc.).

Example:
When the business says the app must handle 10,000 users, DevOps ensures that the infrastructure can scale automatically using AWS Auto Scaling or Kubernetes.

3. Design

Purpose: Create the architecture and system blueprint.
DevOps Role:

• Design CI/CD architecture — plan how code will move from Git to staging and production.
• Choose tools for version control, artifact storage (e.g., Nexus, S3), and deployment automation.
• Design monitoring, logging, and security systems.

Example:
DevOps decides that every GitHub push triggers a Jenkins pipeline that runs tests, builds a Docker image, and deploys to EKS.

4. Development / Build

Purpose: Developers write and integrate code.
DevOps Role:

• Set up and manage the build servers (like Jenkins or GitHub Actions).
• Use Docker to containerize applications for consistency across environments.
• Create CI pipelines to automatically compile, test, and package the code.
• Implement static code analysis tools to catch errors early (e.g., SonarQube).

Example:
When a developer pushes code to GitHub, Jenkins automatically builds the app, runs tests, and stores the Docker image in Amazon ECR.

5. Testing

Purpose: Verify the application works correctly.
DevOps Role:

• Provide test environments that match production using Docker or Kubernetes.
• Automate integration and regression tests in CI/CD pipelines.
• Ensure test results are automatically stored and reported.
• Integrate QA automation tools like Selenium or Playwright in pipelines.

Example:
A DevOps pipeline runs all automated tests in staging every time code changes, and only if tests pass does it proceed to deployment.

6. Deployment / Implementation

Purpose: Release the product for real users.
DevOps Role:

• Automate deployment using Jenkins, Argo CD, or Helm charts.
• Manage blue-green or canary deployments for safe rollouts.
• Configure load balancers, DNS, and security groups.
• Monitor performance after deployment and enable rollback if something fails.

Example:
A DevOps pipeline deploys a new version of the app to AWS EKS with zero downtime using blue-green strategy.

7. Maintenance / Monitoring

Purpose: Keep the system running smoothly and securely.
DevOps Role:

• Set up monitoring and alerting (CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana).
• Patch servers, update Docker images, and rotate credentials.
• Improve performance, apply new updates, and fix infrastructure bugs.
• Collect logs for troubleshooting (ELK stack, CloudWatch Logs).

Example:
When CPU usage spikes in production, alerts are sent through CloudWatch and Slack; the DevOps engineer investigates and scales resources.

Summary Table — SDLC and DevOps Involvement

For Absolute Beginners — How to See DevOps in Action

Think of DevOps as the team that connects the dots:

• Developers write the code.
• DevOps builds the pipelines that move that code safely to production.
• After release, DevOps keeps everything stable, fast, and secure.

Or simply put:

Developers make the app work.
DevOps makes it run everywhere — automatically, safely, and reliably.

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Aisalkyn Aidarova