The DevOps Lifecycle

The DevOps Lifecycle

DevOps is a continuous loop — not a linear process. Each phase feeds into the next, and feedback from operations flows back to planning.

Lifecycle Phases

          ┌──────────┐
     ┌───▶│   PLAN   │◀──────────────────┐
     │    └────┬─────┘                   │
     │         ▼                         │
     │    ┌──────────┐                   │
     │    │   CODE   │                   │
     │    └────┬─────┘                   │
     │         ▼                         │
     │    ┌──────────┐                   │
     │    │  BUILD   │     FEEDBACK      │
     │    └────┬─────┘                   │
     │         ▼                         │
     │    ┌──────────┐                   │
     │    │   TEST   │                   │
     │    └────┬─────┘                   │
     │         ▼                         │
     │    ┌──────────┐                   │
     │    │ RELEASE  │                   │
     │    └────┬─────┘                   │
     │         ▼                         │
     │    ┌──────────┐                   │
     │    │  DEPLOY  │                   │
     │    └────┬─────┘                   │
     │         ▼                         │
     │    ┌──────────┐                   │
     │    │ OPERATE  │                   │
     │    └────┬─────┘                   │
     │         ▼                         │
     │    ┌──────────┐                   │
     └────│ MONITOR  │───────────────────┘
          └──────────┘

Phase Details

• Plan — Define requirements, create user stories, prioritize backlog (Jira, Trello)
• Code — Write code, perform peer reviews (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket)
• Build — Compile code, run unit tests, create artifacts (Maven, npm, Gradle)
• Test — Automated testing, integration tests, security scans (Selenium, SonarQube)
• Release — Version management, release approval, changelog generation
• Deploy — Automated deployment to staging/production (Jenkins, GitHub Actions)
• Operate — Run the application, manage infrastructure (Ansible, Terraform)
• Monitor — Collect metrics, logs, traces; alert on issues (Prometheus, Grafana)

Feedback Loops

  Short Loop:  Code ──▶ Build ──▶ Test ──▶ Code (minutes)
  Medium Loop: Code ──▶ Build ──▶ Test ──▶ Deploy to staging ──▶ Feedback (hours)
  Long Loop:   Code ──▶ Build ──▶ Test ──▶ Deploy to prod ──▶ Monitor ──▶ Plan (days/weeks)

Faster feedback loops mean faster iterations and higher quality. The goal is to detect issues as early as possible in the cycle.