On the latest Livin' On the Edge podcast episode, I interviewed the CEO of Robusta, Natan Yellin, about the evolution of DevOps, throwing AI into the mix, and debunking the DevOps statement of "You Build it, You Run it."

https://youtu.be/O3DRVTEgtyo
The 'You Build It, You Run It' Dilemma

When discussing the evolution of DevOps teams, we can't get into it without covering the typical dilemma that arises in the DevOps ecosystem. "You Build it, You Run it" is the traditional approach of separating development and operations. It has been challenged by the need for developers to take ownership of their code in production. This shift requires developers to build the software and be responsible for its smooth operation and maintenance.

"'You build it, you run it' is a lie. It's a cultural thing, let's talk about what you should do instead," shares Natan. "Imagine you have a mechanical engineer, for example, with a background in metalworking building the screws for planes. Someone takes those screws, and they assemble that into an airplane, and then they ask that same screw engineer to FLY the plane. You build part of this, right? So you can fly it?"

Natan explains that although the engineer was responsible for building part of the plane, he is by no means a pilot capable of flying that same plane. The same thing can be said for cloud-native DevOps engineers who are asked to run, monitor, and maintain the same code they built. It's two different skill sets asking for chaos to unfold.

"These developers are building applications, and they know Java and have great application knowledge, but they aren't necessarily familiar with convoluted stacks that run in the cloud. They're now in charge of systems that break down, creating DevOps tension because they weren't empowered to run it in the first place," shares Natan.