What Is a DevOps Engineer? How to Become One, Salary, Skills.

DevOps engineers bridge the areas of information technology (IT) and software engineering to streamline a product’s software development life cycle. Here’s what to know about a DevOps engineer’s needed skills, salary and how to become one.

What Is a DevOps Engineer?

DevOps engineers specialize in development and operations processes to coordinate efficient product development for a company. DevOps engineers also oversee the activities and needs of a software product’s creation from planning to deployment.

What Do DevOps Engineers Do?

DevOps engineers apply tools and methodologies to optimize production and reduce the complexity of specific tasks. They largely work to automate, maintain and manage development applications and processes.

DevOps Engineer Responsibilities

• Build and employ new development tools, pipelines and infrastructures.
• Program, test and analyze product code and related functions.
• Identify software issues and provide technical patches and support.
• Ensure development systems are following data security protocols.
• Collaborate with software professionals to ensure product needs are met.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities of DevOps Engineers

• Use DevOps tools like Git to track stages of development, workflows and source code changes.
• Use programming languages like Python to code and automate development applications or utilities.
• Review production errors and conduct root cause analysis using approaches like Ishikawa diagrams or Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA).
• Plan project guidelines and communicate expectations to software developers and engineers.

DevOps Engineers Within a Company

DevOps engineers are usually part of a product team or designated DevOps team within a company, and may perform project management duties within their team. They frequently collaborate with software developers, software engineers, system operators and other IT professionals to accomplish their work. They also tend to report to release managers.

Importance of DevOps Engineers

DevOps engineers help increase the efficiency and accuracy of every stage of the software development process. Without DevOps engineers, development tools may not be properly maintained and/or products may have a slower deployment and release process.

What Skills Are Needed to Be a DevOps Engineer?

Qualifications to Be a DevOps Engineer

• Several years of experience in product development, software development, software engineering or similar roles.
• Ability to apply DevOps practices and methodologies to development cycles.
• Ability to design and implement software development solutions.
• Proficiency in Golang, Java, JavaScript, Python or Ruby as well as software engineering principles.

DevOps Engineer Prerequisites

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, IT, software engineering or a similar field.

DevOps Engineer Hard Skills

• Expertise in source control and infrastructure as code tools (Ansible, Bitbucket, Docker, GitHub, GitLab, Terraform).
• Expertise in CI/CD processes and pipeline tools (AWS, Jenkins, Kubernetes).
• Expertise in programming languages (Golang, Java, JavaScript, PowerShell, Python, Ruby)
• Experience with operating system software (Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, UNIX). 
• Experience with project planning and management tools (Azure DevOps Server, Jira Software, Open DevOps).
• Knowledge of cloud computing technologies.
• Knowledge of SQL databases.

DevOps Engineer Soft Skills

• Adaptability. 
• Agile development practices (Kanban, Scrum, XP).
• Problem-solving skills.
• Verbal and written communication. 

Tools and Programs DevOps Engineers Use

• Ansible 
• Azure DevOps Server
• Bitbucket
• Docker
• Git
• GitHub
• Golang
• Java
• JavaScript
• Jenkins
• Jira Software
• Kubernetes
• Python
• Ruby
• Terraform

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How to Become a DevOps Engineer

DevOps Engineer Education and Experience

DevOps engineer candidates are often expected to have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, IT, software engineering or a similar field. 

Candidates will often need to obtain several years of experience in product development, software development, or software engineering before entering the DevOps engineer role. Knowledge in the areas of product development life cycles, CI/CD processes and tools, programming languages (Golang, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby), project management, cloud computing and effective communication are also recommended. 

DevOps Engineer Certificates and Courses

• 24 DevOps Training Courses and Bootcamps You Should Know
• DevOps Fundamentals - CI/CD with AWS+Docker+Ansible+Jenkins
• Docker Crash Course for busy DevOps and Developers
• Learn DevOps: Infrastructure Automation With Terraform
• Learn DevOps: The Complete Kubernetes Course

DevOps Engineer Career Path

DevOps engineers may begin their careers as a product developer, software developer or software engineer before entering the DevOps engineer role. Professionals can then progress into a senior DevOps engineer role, and eventually management and leadership positions like DevOps engineering manager.

DevOps Engineer Salary and Job Outlook

DevOps engineers, categorized under software developers and similar roles by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, are expected to see a 25 percent growth in open jobs by 2031. 

The full compensation package for a DevOps engineer depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s experience and geographic location. See below for detailed information on the average DevOps engineer salary.