DevOps tools can help companies meet compliance requirements. The question is: How? Here are some suggestions for using DevOps tools in a compliant manner.
Document Everything
Keeping track of changes and who made them is critical to managing compliance. You should consider using a tool such as Git to version control code and issue tracking. This will help you keep track of which rules were broken and who broke them. Using a tool such as Slack to keep track of conversations will also help you comply with regulations.
Documenting everything brings several advantages. First, it ensures you’re always compliant with regulations. Second, it creates an audit trail. And finally, it allows you to quickly identify who is breaking the rules. If you have a set of rules you need to adhere to, document them and make sure everyone knows about them. If you have a team of people working on different projects, use Slack to keep track of which project the rule is related to and who is responsible for fixing it.
Regular Testing
You should consider implementing a regular test regime to ensure your software is still relevant and up to date. If you don’t have the time to perform these kind of checks manually, you can use a tool such as SonarQube to perform code health checks. This way you can identify bugs early on and release candidates will have fewer issues. In short, you can use a tool to automate the process of software testing.
Developers Should Be Responsible For Fixing Their Own Code
Unless you have a very small team, you should consider splitting responsibilities. Have a responsible party check in code every so often, and if there are any issues identified, they should be fixed immediately. Of course, you must ensure the right people have access to the right information, but ultimately it’s up to the individual to ensure things are done properly.
Use Sandboxes
Whether it’s a VM or a physical server, having separate environments for different purposes (i.e. production, staging, and testing) is a great way to keep track of what’s going on and ensure different teams don’t accidentally corrupt each other’s data. Using a tool such as Ansible to provision and configure these environments and then using different plugins for each of them can ensure you’re always compliant with regulations. For example, you might want to use a different plugin for your staging environment than your production environment.
Sandboxes allow you to test different versions of code and apps without risking any corruption of data or compliance issues. If you want to experiment with something new and don’t have the time to test it in production, create a sandbox for it.
By using these tools, DevOps teams can help their businesses grow, become more efficient, and stay compliant. If you’re curious about how to integrate these tools into your team, send us a note! We’d love to share more around how to improve your DevOps experience.
