DevOps: Key to Faster, More Efficient Government Software Development

Government agencies and traditional software development methodologies share something in common: a reputation for being slow and inefficient.

That's precisely why the government sector can benefit from DevOps, a modern software development strategy that can help agencies operate faster and use resources more efficiently — at least in the realm of software development.

Here's a look at which special benefits DevOps offers government agencies, as well as the extent to which the government sector has — and hasn't — pivoted toward DevOps.

Software Delivery Challenges in the Government Sector

Organizations of all types can struggle to operate efficiently. But in the government sector in particular, inefficiency can be a real challenge — or so popular wisdom often implies.

On balance, we should note that this is a stereotype, and that there are no doubt government organizations out there that are models of efficiency. But by and large, it's not exactly unfair to say that the typical government organization is not known for getting things done on time and within budget.

This is true across many aspects of government operations, and software delivery is no exception. Consider, for example, the FAFSA fiasco, which stems in part from problems related to efforts by the U.S. federal government to overhaul the software platform families use to apply for financial aid for attending college. Consider also struggles by government agencies to roll out apps for tracking and reporting COVID-19 during the pandemic, which were hindered by usability issues. Going back a bit further in time, there was the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov.

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These are just a few prominent examples of rocky software delivery initiatives in the government sector. But they exemplify the types of technological challenges that can slow down efforts by government agencies to implement change and create value using technology.

How Government Can Benefit From DevOps

These challenges also highlight why DevOps stands to offer so much value in the government sector. As an approach to software delivery that emphasizes efficiency, repeatability, and rapid change, DevOps could help government agencies avoid the issues that have historically hampered efforts to modernize government software systems or roll out new applications quickly.

DevOps, which builds on concepts associated with agile software development, is an alternative to traditional software development methodologies — known as waterfall — in which developers implement software changes over long timelines. Under the waterfall approach, it could take years to release a new version of an application. With DevOps, however, developers implement changes in smaller batches and release them as soon as they're complete — with the result that a project that might take years to roll out a new release under the waterfall methodology could begin bringing new features to users in just weeks using DevOps.

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To be fair, it's unclear to what extent some of the most problematic government software projects, like those mentioned above, have relied on the waterfall methodology, and whether waterfall was a key stumbling point in their efforts to deliver software efficiently. It's possible that issues with platforms like the FAFSA app stem not from software delivery inefficiencies, but from a host of other potential problems — under-resourced development teams or a lack of efficiency within the bureaucracy responsible for planning, reviewing, and approving new software could also have been a major roadblock. It would be wrong to conclude that the only thing government agencies need to ensure that they deliver software quickly and efficiently is DevOps.

Still, it's likely that adopting DevOps can only help improve the government sector's ability to develop and deploy software.

The State of DevOps Adoption in Government

The DevOps methodology has existed for nearly two decades, and there is evidence that some government agencies have already adopted it. FedTech Magazine reports that the Air Force and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are applying DevOps to at least some of their software projects, for example.

On the other hand, there are signs that DevOps adoption in the government sector has a ways to go. For instance, folks on Reddit purporting to be government employees in IT and software development roles call their departments a "dumpster fire."

Tellingly, one commenter, who claims to have worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, says, "We are using IAC and DevOps tools, but don't have the culture and process piece figured out." That implies that even within government organizations that have nominally pivoted to a DevOps approach, employees are struggling to take full advantage of the DevOps methodology.

It's hard to draw firm conclusions based on sources like Reddit, of course. But there's no reason to think that these perspectives are made up — and given the limited information that government agencies share publicly and officially about their approaches to software development, anonymous online discussions are among the best sources of visibility into how the sausage — or software — is actually made in the government sector.

The takeaway from all of the above would seem to be that there remains plenty of opportunity for government agencies to take greater advantage of DevOps — and that if they do so, they will stand a better chance of defying stereotypes by completing complex software projects on time and within budget.