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<p><em>Originally published at </em><a href="https://phoenixnap.com/blog/software-development-life-cycle#:~:text=Software%20Development%20Life%20Cycle%20is,%2C%20Test%2C%20Deploy%2C%20Maintain." class="jss66"><em>phoenixNap</em></a><em> by Goran Jevtic</em></p>
<h2>What is the Software Development Life Cycle?</h2>
<p>Software Development Life Cycle is the application of standard business practices to building software applications. It’s typically divided into six to eight steps: Planning, Requirements, Design, Build, Document, Test, Deploy, Maintain. Some project managers will combine, split, or omit steps, depending on the project’s scope. These are the core components recommended for all software development projects.</p>
<p>SDLC is a way to measure and improve the development process. It allows a fine-grain analysis of each step of the process. This, in turn, helps companies maximize efficiency at each stage. As computing power increases, it places a higher demand on software and developers. Companies must <a href="https://phoenixnap.com/blog/it-cost-reduction-strategy">reduce costs</a>, deliver software faster, and meet or exceed their customers’ needs. SDLC helps achieve these goals by identifying inefficiencies and higher costs and fixing them to run smoothly.</p>
<h2>How the Software Development Life Cycle Works</h2>
<p>The Software Development Life Cycle simply outlines each task required to put together a software application. This helps to reduce waste and increase the efficiency of the development process. Monitoring also ensures the project stays on track and continues to be a feasible investment for the company.</p>
<p>Many companies will subdivide these steps into smaller units. Planning might be broken into technology research, marketing research, and a cost-benefit analysis. Other steps can merge with each other. The Testing phase can run concurrently with the Development phase since developers need to fix errors that occur during testing.</p>
<h2><strong>The Seven Phases of the SDLC</strong></h2>
<figure><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/wazoplus.appspot.com/o/post-images%2F1621452829955_Phases-of-Software-Development-Life-Cycle.png?alt=media&amp;token=229811f6-f0aa-4c32-b82d-eab2da896808" style="">&nbsp;</img></figure>
<h3>1. Planning</h3>
<p>In the Planning phase, project leaders evaluate the terms of the project. This includes calculating labor and material costs, creating a timetable with target goals, and creating the project’s teams and leadership structure.</p>
<p>Planning can also include feedback from stakeholders. Stakeholders are anyone who stands to benefit from the application. Try to get feedback from potential customers, developers, subject matter experts, and sales reps.</p>
<p>Planning should clearly define the scope and purpose of the application. It plots the course and provisions the team to effectively create the software. It also sets boundaries to help keep the project from expanding or shifting from its original purpose.</p>
<h3>2. Define Requirements</h3>
<p>Defining requirements is considered part of planning to determine what the application is supposed to do and its requirements. For example, a social media application would require the ability to connect with a friend. An inventory program might require a search feature.</p>
<p>Requirements also include defining the resources needed to build the project. For example, a team might develop software to control a custom manufacturing machine. The machine is a requirement in the process.</p>
<h3>3. Design and Prototyping</h3>
<p>The Design phase models the way a software application will work. Some aspects of the design include:</p>
<p><strong>Architecture –</strong> Specifies programming language, industry practices, overall design, and use of any templates or boilerplate<br>
<strong>User Interface –</strong> Defines the ways customers interact with the software, and how the software responds to input<br>
<strong>Platforms –</strong> Defines the platforms on which the software will run, such as Apple, Android, Windows version, Linux, or even gaming consoles<br>
<strong>Programming –</strong> Not just the programming language, but including methods of solving problems and performing tasks in the application<br>
<strong>Communications –</strong> Defines the methods that the application can communicate with other assets, such as a central server or other instances of the application<br>
<strong>Security –</strong> Defines the measures taken to secure the application, and may include SSL traffic encryption, password protection, and secure storage of user credentials</p>
<p>Prototyping can be a part of the Design phase. A prototype is like one of the early versions of software in the Iterative software development model. It demonstrates a basic idea of how the application looks and works. This “hands-on” design can be shown to stakeholders. Use feedback o improve the application. It’s less expensive to change the Prototype phase than to rewrite code to make a change in the Development phase.</p>
<h3>4. Software development</h3>
<p>This is the actual writing of the program. A small project might be written by a single developer, while a large project might be broken up and worked by several teams. Use an Access Control or Source Code Management application in this phase. These systems help developers track changes to the code. They also help ensure compatibility between different team projects and to make sure target goals are being met.</p>
<p>The coding process includes many other tasks. Many developers need to brush up on skills or work as a team. Finding and fixing errors and glitches is critical. Tasks often hold up the development process, such as waiting for test results or compiling code so an application can run. SDLC can anticipate these delays so that developers can be tasked with other duties.</p>
<p>Software developers appreciate instructions and explanations. Documentation can be a formal process, including wiring a user guide for the application. It can also be informal, like comments in the source code that explain why a developer used a certain procedure. Even companies that strive to create software that’s easy and intuitive benefit from the documentation.</p>
<p>Documentation can be a quick guided tour of the application’s basic features that display on the first launch. It can be video tutorials for complex tasks. Written documentation like user guides, troubleshooting guides, and FAQs help users solve problems or technical questions.</p>
<h3>5. Testing</h3>
<p>It’s critical to test an application before making it available to users. Much of the testing can be <a href="https://phoenixnap.com/blog/devsecops-best-practices-automated-security-testing">automated, like security testing.</a> Another testing can only be done in a specific environment – consider creating a simulated production environment for complex deployments. Testing should ensure that each function works correctly. Different parts of the application should also be tested to work seamlessly together—performance test, to reduce any hangs or lags in processing. The testing phase helps reduce the number of bugs and glitches that users encounter. This leads to higher user satisfaction and a better usage rate.</p>
<h3>6. Deployment</h3>
<p>In the deployment phase, the application is made available to users. Many companies prefer to automate the deployment phase. This can be as simple as a payment portal and download link on the company website. It could also be downloading an application on a smartphone.</p>
<p>Deployment can also be complex. Upgrading a company-wide database to a newly-developed application is one example. Because there are several other systems used by the database, integrating the upgrade can take more time and effort.</p>
<h3>7. Operations and Maintenance</h3>
<p>At this point, the development cycle is almost finished. The application is done and being used in the field. The Operation and Maintenance phase is still important, though. In this phase, users discover bugs that weren’t found during testing. These errors need to be resolved, which can spawn new development cycles.</p>
<p>In addition to bug fixes, models like Iterative development plan additional features in future releases. For each new release, a new Development Cycle can be launched.</p>
<h2>SDLC Models &amp; Methodologies Explained</h2>
<h3>Waterfall</h3>
<p>The Waterfall SDLC model is the classic method of development. As each phase completes, the project spills over into the next step. This is a tried-and-tested model, and it works. One advantage of the Waterfall model is each phase can be evaluated for continuity and feasibility before moving on. It’s limited in speed, however, since one phase must finish before another can begin.</p>
<h3>Agile</h3>
<p>The AGILE model was designed by developers to put customer needs first. This method focuses strongly on user experience and input. This solves much of the problems of older applications that were arcane and cumbersome to use. Plus, it makes the software highly responsive to customer feedback. Agile seeks to release software cycles quickly, to respond to a changing market. This requires a strong team with excellent communication. It can also lead to a project going off-track by relying too heavily on customer feedback.</p>
<h3>Iterative</h3>
<p>In the Iterative development model, developers create an initial basic version of the software quickly. Then they review and improve on the application in small steps (or iterations). This approach is most often used in very large applications. It can get an application up and functional quickly to meet a business need. However, this process can exceed its scope quickly and risks using unplanned resources.</p>
<h3>DevOps</h3>
<p>The <a href="https://phoenixnap.com/blog/devops-security-best-practices">DevOps security model</a> incorporates operations – the people who use the software – into the development cycle. Like Agile, this seeks to improve the usability and relevance of applications. One significant advantage of this model is the feedback from actual software users on the design and implementation steps. One drawback is that it requires active collaboration and communication. Those additional costs can be offset by automating parts of the development process. Read our detailed <a href="https://phoenixnap.com/blog/devops-vs-agile">comparison of DevOps vs. agile</a>.</p>
<h3>Other models</h3>
<p>Many other SDLC models are essentially a variant of these core processes. Organizations use LEAN manufacturing processes for software development. V-shaped development is a type of Waterfall that implements testing, verification, and validation. Spiral development may pick and choose models for each step in the development process.</p>
<p><br></p>
<figure><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/wazoplus.appspot.com/o/post-images%2F1621453027278_software-development-process.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=1cac6c8f-3621-4cbd-9bdc-2b039b484054" style="">&nbsp;</img></figure>
<h2>Best Practices Of Software Development</h2>
<p>In addition to the models and stages of software development, there are a few other helpful practices. These can be applied to part or all of the development cycle.</p>
<h3>Source Control</h3>
<p>Source Control is a security plan to secure your working code. Implement Source Control by keeping the code in a single location, with secure and logged access. This could be a physical location where files are stored and accessed in a single room in the building. It could also be a virtual space where users can log in with an encrypted connection to a cloud-based development environment.</p>
<p>Source Control applications include a change management system to track work done by individuals or teams. As with any storage, use a backup system to record development progress in case of a disaster.</p>
<h3>Continuous Integration</h3>
<p>Continuous Integration evolved out of a case of what not to do. CI works to make sure each component is compatible through the whole development cycle. Before CI, different teams would build their own projects independently. This created significant challenges at the end when developers stitched the application together. Continuous Integration ensures all teams use similar programming languages and libraries, and helps prevent conflicts and duplicated work.</p>
<h3>SDLC Management Systems</h3>
<p>A&nbsp;software development cycle management system works to control and manage each step of the development cycle. Management Systems add transparency to each phase and the project as a whole. They also add analytics, bug-tracking, and work management systems. These <a href="https://phoenixnap.com/blog/devops-metrics-kpis">metrics or KPI’s can be used to improve</a> parts of the cycle that aren’t running efficiently.</p>
<h2>Conclusion: The Process for Software Development</h2>
<p>SDLC shows you what’s happening, and exactly where your development process can improve.</p>
<p>Like many business processes, SDLC aims to analyze and improve the process of creating software. It creates a scalable view of the project, from day-to-day coding to managing production dates.</p>

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

<p><em>Originally published at </em><a href="https://techbeacon.com/app-dev-testing/top-agile-tools-keep-software-engineers-productive" class="jss66"><em>TechBeacon </em></a><em>by Peter Wayner.</em></p>
<p><br></p>
<p>For the last decade, one of the hottest questions for development teams has been whether or not to embrace the idea of agile development, a philosophy that encourages developers to be flexible and creative in delivering just what the user needs.</p>
<p>The idea began when developers chafed under managers who <a href="http://techbeacon.com/devops-waterfall-dont-waste-your-time">imposed highly structured plans</a> with fixed roles and inflexible schedules, pushing programmers into tight boxes. The programmers craved a chance to unleash their intuitive and improvisational ways of collaborating.</p>
<p>While some hidebound developers saw only chaos in the idea of letting developers roam freely and organize their own workflow, the idea has caught on. Studies have found that more than one quarter of development teams have used at least some agile methods in the last year.</p>
<h2>Tools of the trade</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://techbeacon.com/3-ways-accelerate-agile-transformation">key to success in agile development</a> is to enable flexibility while maintaining organization. The best way to do this is to <a href="https://content.microfocus.com/optimize-devops-tb/software-factory-devops?utm_source=techbeacon&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=00172425" target="_blank">deploy a set of good tools</a> that help track the project and organize the team's progress. They don't impose strict schedules and roles, but merely make it easier for the developers to self-manage and converge on their goals.</p>
<p>There are dozens of software products designed to help managers set priorities and developers write code that addresses them. Some of these tools are designed to track different forms of development, including projects that are more centrally managed, but they are flexible enough to be used for agile development. Others are built specifically to fit the agile model and nurture as much programmer freedom as possible.</p>
<p>The tools support the project by helping the team identify the requirements and split them into a number of smaller tasks. Then it tracks the programmers as they work collaboratively on the parts. The process is often split up into short cycles that gradually converge on the final result. The cycles alternate between planning sessions and code sprints. Keeping the cycle short and including plenty of developer feedback in the planning lets the team adjust and focus.</p>
<p>A common feature of all these agile tools is a graphic dashboard that reports how the team is progressing and meeting the goals. Some of the more sophisticated tools are integrated with code repositories and <a href="http://techbeacon.com/continuous-integration-answer-life-universe-everything">continuous integration</a> tools that automatically graph how the new code is evolving. Is the latest code passing tests? Are more features coming online? These questions are all answered on a dashboard that everyone can see. When the team can follow each other's progress visually, they're better able to stay on track.</p>
<p>Another important part of this process is communication. Good agile tools organize the discussion and planning. The developers can focus on each of the features, tasks, or bugs in separate threads. Splitting the discussions up helps the project move forward at the right rate for each section.</p>
<p>Here are the top tools that are forming the foundation teams rely upon to ship code on time or even ahead of schedule.</p>
<h2><strong>Source control tools</strong></h2>
<p><a href="https://git-scm.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Git</a>, like some of the other tools here, wasn't built just for agile teams but is still essential. It offers much of the flexibility that teams need to move ahead. The lack of one dominant central repository makes it simpler for different developers to follow different paths and then merge their code later. Git is widely supported, and many teams now use its hosting services to keep their code organized. Many of the other tools in this list take their cues from Git and use the updates to the repository to track and test progress. Other top source control tools include <a href="http://mercurial.selenic.com/" rel="nofollow">Mercurial</a>, <a href="http://subversion.apache.org/" rel="nofollow">Subversion</a>, and <a href="http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/" rel="nofollow">CVS</a>.</p>
<h2><strong>Continuous integration tools</strong></h2>
<p>Just like Git, <a href="https://content.microfocus.com/continuous-delivery-release-automation-tb/high-perf-continuous-delivery?utm_source=techbeacon&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=00172425" target="_blank">continuous integration tools</a> aren't explicitly designed to support agile development, but it would be hard to imagine running a large agile team without their help. The tools automatically add a layer of processing when code is committed, helping to ensure that the team is working smoothly together. The tools have hundreds of plugins for tasks such as creating documentation or compiling statistics. Their most important job is running unit tests that ensure the software is performing correctly after all the new code is added to the stack. Many of the tools in this list also use the results from post-commit testing to determine how quickly the code is meeting goals.</p>
<p>There are a number of good continuous integration tools that play well with agile management systems. Some of the best known tools include <a href="http://hudson-ci.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hudson</a>, <a href="https://jenkins-ci.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jenkins</a>, <a href="https://travis-ci.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travis CI</a>, <a href="https://github.com/Strider-CD/strider" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Strider</a>, and <a href="http://integrityapp.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Integrity</a>.</p>
<h2>Team management tools</h2>
<h3>Agile Manager</h3>
<p>HP's <a href="http://www8.hp.com/us/en/software-solutions/agile-project-management-software-development/index.html?jumpid=va_6juxtmv9q8" target="_blank">Agile Manager</a> is built to organize and guide teams from the beginning as they plan and deploy working code through the agile model. At the early stages of the cycle during the release plan, the managers gather the user stories and decide how the teams will attack them. These set the stage for the sprints and deployment.</p>
<p>During each code sprint, the scrum masters and developers record their progress on the user stories and issues. All the progress (or failures) from the build and the unit tests are plotted in charts on a dashboard so the entire team can watch how they're converging on the release.</p>
<p>The tool gathers information directly from major tools such as Jenkins, Git, <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/software/bamboo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bamboo</a>, and <a href="https://eclipse.org/downloads/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eclipse</a>. To complete the cycle, Agile Manager will push stories and tasks directly to these tools so developers can keep track directly from their favorite IDE.</p>
<h3><strong>Active Collab</strong></h3>
<p>From juggling tasks to tracking time and generating bills, <a href="https://www.activecollab.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Active Collab</a> is organized to help software shops deliver code and account for their time. The heart of the system is a list of tasks that can be assigned and tracked from conception to completion. A system-wide calendar helps the team understand and follow everyone's roles. The system checks the amount of time devoted to all the tasks so the team can determine how accurate their estimates are.</p>
<p>The system also supports a collaborative writing tool so everyone can work together on documentation, an essential operation that sets the stage for more agile collaboration later.</p>
<p>The tool can be hosted locally or used through a cloud service.</p>
<h3><strong>JIRA Agile</strong></h3>
<p>The <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/agile" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JIRA Agile</a> tool adds a layer for agile project management that interacts with the other major tools from Atlassian. The team creates a list of project tasks with a tool called Confluence and then tracks them on an interactive Kanban board that developers can update as they work. The Kanban boards become the center of everyone's focus in planning how to attack the code.</p>
<p>The Agile tool is well-integrated with other Atlassian tools. The dashboard updates the moment code is committed to Stash or <a href="https://bitbucket.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bitbucket</a>, Atlassian's Git hosting products. Bamboo (see number three above) offers continuous integration that builds and tests the code before reporting the relative success or failure back to the main JIRA page. Discussions take place through HipChat, which indexes the discussions to the tasks.</p>
<h3><strong>Agile Bench</strong></h3>
<p>The <a href="https://agilebench.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Agile Bench</a> tool is a hosted platform that emphasizes tracking the work assigned to each individual. The release schedule begins as a backlog of user stories and other enhancements. As they're assigned, the team must gauge both the business impact and the cost of development by assigning an estimate of the complexity of each task in points. The dashboard tracks both of these values so that members can tell who is overloaded and which tasks are the most important.</p>
<p>The tool is well-integrated with standard Git hosting sites like <a href="https://github.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">GitHub</a> or Bitbucket (see number five above), allowing it to make committed code with tasks. If your project needs more, there's also an open API that can integrate the project information with any other system.</p>
<h3><strong>Pivotal Tracker</strong></h3>
<p><a href="http://pivotal.io/labs/tools" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pivotal Tracker</a> is just one of a constellation of tools from Pivotal Labs created to support agile development. The core of the project is a page that lists the tasks that are often expressed as stories. Team members can rank the complexity with points, and the tool will track how many tasks are being finished each day. The constellation includes Whiteboard for team-wide discussions, Project Monitor for displaying the status of the build, and Sprout, a configuration tool.</p>
<h3><strong>Telerik TeamPulse</strong></h3>
<p>Telerik is known for its numerous frameworks for creating apps for the mobile marketplace. They've bundled much of that experience from creating their own code into TeamPulse, a tool they use to track projects. The main screen displays a page full of tasks that need to be completed and follows the team as it progresses. The menus offer configuration options and a wide variety of reports showing how the project is evolving toward completion. It also works with Telerik's other tools for building and testing code.</p>
<h3><strong>VersionOne</strong></h3>
<p>When a large enterprise embraces agile development, they need a tool that's customized to juggle multiple teams working on multiple initiatives because eventually they'll need to work together. <a href="https://www.collab.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">VersionOne</a> is designed to organize all the groups involved in development across an enterprise by providing a stable communication platform where everyone can plan the initiatives and create persistent documentation.</p>
<p>The tool embraces Kanban boards for following ideas and stories through the process until they're turned into working code. The system tracks all sprints and organizes the retrospective analysis so the team can start the cycle again.</p>
<p>Additionally, the openAgile API makes it possible to integrate Version One with other packages.</p>
<h3><strong>Planbox</strong></h3>
<p><a href="https://www.planbox.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Planbox</a> offers four levels of organizational power to keep multiple teams working together toward a common goal. At the top are initiatives, which are the biggest and broadest abstraction. They contain projects, which are built on items that, in turn, are filled with tasks. As the team finishes the tasks, Planbox tracks the progress on all these levels and produces reports for all stakeholders. One clever feature lets you loop in customers so they can voice their opinion before the code is set in stone. The time tracking feature lets everyone compare the time they spend on an item with the estimate of how long it was thought to take.</p>
<p>The tool integrates with Github (see number six above) for code storage, <a href="https://www.zendesk.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Zendesk</a> for tracking customer satisfaction, <a href="https://www.uservoice.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">UserVoice</a> for bug tracking, and many more.</p>
<h3><strong>LeanKit</strong></h3>
<p><a href="http://leankit.com/" target="_blank">LeanKit</a> aims to imitate the conference room whiteboards where most projects begin. It lets all team members post virtual notes or cards that represent all the tasks, user stories, or bugs that must be addressed. As the team finishes them, the board updates faster than any whiteboard. The software also allows multiple teams to work together in separate spaces while still coordinating their interactions.</p>
<h3><strong>Axosoft</strong></h3>
<p><a href="http://www.axosoft.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Axosoft's</a> project tool tracks the project in three different ways. The Release Planner offers a tabular view of the different tasks, bugs, and user stories. Developers drag and drop the different entries to assign them and mark them as finished. The burndown charts show graphically how quickly the team is converging on its goal. The projected ship date is displayed prominently to keep everyone on track. The planning is also done Kanban-style using the card view, where each card represents one task.</p>
<p>One useful feature is the customer portal that makes it possible for customers to weigh in on the development process by requesting features, giving feedback on designs, or testing new code.</p>

Top agile tools that keep software engineers productive

<p><em>Originally published at </em><a href="https://newsignature.com/articles/5-reasons-to-use-azure-devops/" class="jss66"><em>New Signature</em></a><em> by Evan Riser</em></p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Originally a source code management tool where teams could share and work on code collectively, TFS grew to become a platform where development projects could be managed, tested, and released.</p>
<p>If you’re reading this and thinking, “My company is not a dev shop, so why would we be looking at Azure DevOps?” the answer is in the name, Dev<em>Ops</em>. The advent of DevOps and the concept of infrastructure-as-code has broken down the wall between development and operations and, with it, the adoption of operations by new tools.</p>
<h2><strong>Here are 5 reasons to consider Azure DevOps for your organization:</strong></h2>
<h2><strong>1. Collaboration</strong></h2>
<p>Sharing is at the heart of Azure DevOps. Being able to host and manage code centrally is key to any organizational goal which involves optimization. Even if the only code your team has is a collection of PowerShell or VB scripts that you use to provision accounts or manage servers, storing that code in Azure DevOps will provide a central location from which to manage that code.&nbsp; Versioning code is an important dimension to code management and whether you want to use Team Foundation Version control or GIT, Azure DevOps has you covered.</p>
<h2><strong>2. Work Items</strong></h2>
<p>Even if you don’t have any code to manage, you can coordinate the management of your systems with work Items.&nbsp; Work items represent some “thing”– whether that’s a server, or project risk, or system bug is up to you– but the power comes when you create the work items in the context of a process template. Using a process template, you can model your work items around an Agile Framework (which works well for software development) or the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), which works well for systems administration. No matter how you arrange them, work items can help your team divide your complex systems into manageable workloads.</p>
<h2><strong>3. Continuous Integration and Delivery</strong></h2>
<p>For software-driven organizations, Azure DevOps provides a robust platform on which you can deploy your solutions in a pipeline allowing for continuous integration and deployment.&nbsp; Whether you are deploying a solution hosted in Azure or even a solution hosted in AWS, the Azure DevOps CICD pipeline can take your solution from development to delivery.</p>
<p>With an extensive marketplace for plugins and integrations, infrastructure-as-code can also be incorporated into the pipeline such that the ambitious systems administrator can automate far-reaching changes to their environments from a single location.</p>
<h2><strong>4. Open Platform</strong></h2>
<p>Azure DevOps provides extensive integration with industry and community tools. It is far from the closed-off single vendor solution that was the early version of TFS. As noted above, there is a <a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/azuredevops">marketplace</a> that makes hundreds of extensions available, so if Azure Develops doesn’t do something out of the box, odds are a tool exists in the market which does.</p>
<p>In this area of openness, Microsoft has been a clear leader in promoting cooperation even with competitors, which is evident in the marketplace where you can find integration extensions ranging from AWS to Slack to ServiceNow. All of this integration is done with the customer in mind as Azure DevOps seeks to be one of many possible tools in your bag for managing your code development needs.</p>
<h2><strong>5. Become a Software Company</strong></h2>
<p>At the beginning of this post, I alluded to an audience that may not be in the business of building software. However, the industry trend is shifting toward the idea presented by Satya Nadella which is “every company needs to be a software company”.</p>
<p>In this quest to out-perform the competition and achieve differentiation there has been a rise to a new kind of business operating model – a Cloud Operating Model (COM). The Cloud Operating Model seeks to bring business leaders and technology managers and teams together to specify how technology is implemented throughout a business.</p>
<p>A measure of a successful company is how it is harnessing technology and how that is both an offensive and defensive strategy.&nbsp; This is vital in a world where there is a long list of established businesses going from glory to bust. Building a Cloud Operating Model and making it the backbone of the organization’s IT infrastructure will set every business on the right path.</p>
<p>To really succeed, there needs to be more communication and collaboration across the whole enterprise, so we wanted this a guide to stimulate discussion, as future technology decisions are made.&nbsp; When non-technical and technical audiences come together, there will be a mutual understanding of what is on the other’s mind.</p>

5 Reasons to Use Azure DevOps

52 Best DevOps Tools For Automation, Monitoring, & Development (Definitive List)

<p><em>Originally published at </em><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/"><em>brookings.edu</em></a><em> by Nathaniel Allen</em></p>
<p>Emerging technology is having a powerful impact on the security and stability of African states. Yet the digital revolution’s ultimate legacy will be determined not by technology, but by how it is used. African countries that take advantage of the opportunities and limit the risks inherent in emerging technology may achieve greater peace and prosperity. Yet many countries could be left behind. &nbsp;As the continent recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, its leaders face a choice between harnessing emerging technology to improve government effectiveness, increase transparency, and foster inclusion, or as a tool of repression, division, and conflict.</p>
<h2><strong>Internet penetration</strong></h2>
<p>The rapid spread of the internet across the African continent has been heralded as a key driver of prosperity and a sign of the continent’s technological coming of age. Today, at least a <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=ZG">quarter of the population</a> has internet access, a nearly fifty-fold increase in internet usage since the turn of the millennium. By 2030, the continent could achieve rough parity with the rest of the world when <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-and-digitization-will-transform-africa-into-a-global-powerhouse/">three-quarters</a> of Africans are projected to become internet users. &nbsp;The economic potential is enormous: Mobile technologies alone have already generated 1.7 million jobs and contribute $144 billion to the continent’s economy, or roughly 8.5% of GDP.</p>
<p>Some African countries have taken advantage of rapid increases in internet penetration to make concrete improvements in the lives of citizens. Led by the rise of platforms such as Kenya’s M-PESA, Africa has <a href="https://www.gsma.com/sotir/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/GSMA-State-of-the-Industry-Report-on-Mobile-Money-2019-Full-Report.pdf">leapt ahead</a> of other regions to become a center of mobile, peer-to-peer finance. The continent registers close to half of the world’s mobile money accounts. Sierra Leone, one of the world’s poorest countries, recently established a Directorate of Science, Innovation and Technology (DST). Its initiatives <a href="https://www.dsti.gov.sl/portfolio/financial-data-mapping/">include</a> a “national financial data architecture with embedded automated financial tools” intended to improve service delivery and reduce corruption. These are just two examples of how digitization can provide a cheap, secure source of finance to populations in need and improve government transparency in countries where the official graft is a universal concern.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the rapid spread of the internet across Africa has downsides. For one, without <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/der2019_en.pdf">affordable internet</a> and <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-hasnt-africa-gone-digital/">reliable</a> power, broadband internet access will remain out of reach for many low-income Africans living in rural areas. The relationship between internet access and household welfare in Africa is strong: One <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/34472">study</a> from Senegal associated 3G internet coverage with a 14 percent increase in consumption and a 10 percent decline in poverty. Thus, countries that do not address internet access issues risk limiting the opportunities of their citizens, exacerbating already-substantial inequality, and inflaming regional, political, and ethnic divides.</p>
<p>More broadly, digitization brings with it <a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/africa-evolving-cyber-threats/">vulnerabilities</a> that expose countries to cyber espionage, critical infrastructure sabotage, and crime. Until recently, Africa was responsible for such a negligible portion of overall internet traffic that its systems were not particularly vulnerable to sophisticated cyberattacks. That could change in the coming decade, as African states, criminal enterprises, and threat groups become increasingly prominent cyber actors. Four African states with comparatively high levels of internet penetration—Algeria, Morocco, Kenya, and Nigeria—already rank <a href="https://securelist.com/it-threat-evolution-q2-2020-mobile-statistics/98337/">among</a> the top ten countries by share of users attacked by mobile malware.</p>
<h2><strong>Technological innovation and diffusion</strong></h2>
<p>Just as influential as expanding internet penetration will be the development and diffusion of emerging technology. Because most African countries are low-income and tend not to rank among the world’s major technological powers, it is often assumed that the terms and conditions under which African states access and use new technology is beyond their control. This has always been a questionable assumption, and it is even more questionable now when many critical emerging technologies are cheap and widely available. Numerous African countries are already harnessing two critical emerging technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and drones, in ways that are at once innovative and disruptive.</p>
<p>According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 15 African countries use AI-enabled surveillance technologies, <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/09/17/global-expansion-of-ai-surveillance-pub-79847">such as</a> algorithmic analysis and CCTV camera-assisted facial recognition to monitor and respond to crime. During a 2019 assault by the insurgent group Al-Shabaab on an upscale hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, these technologies <a href="https://africatimes.com/2019/12/18/huaweis-surveillance-tech-in-kenya-a-safe-bet/">helped</a> authorities respond quickly and decisively. Yet surveillance technology’s <a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/surveillance-technology-in-africa-security-concerns/">overall efficacy</a> as a crime-fighting tool is unclear. Alone, it cannot address crime’s underlying political, economic, and social causes. Reported crime in Nairobi declined between 2014 and 2015, the year after AI surveillance technology was installed, but quickly <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/watching-huaweis-safe-cities">crept back up</a> to even higher levels.</p>
<p>The spread of drones and other autonomous systems highlight similar opportunities and risks. In 2016, Rwanda became the world’s first country to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37646474">offer</a> commercial drone delivery, partnering with the U.S.-based Zipline to deliver life-saving medical supplies to remote rural areas. That same year, &nbsp;Nigeria became the first African country to <a href="https://www.popsci.com/watch-nigerias-first-confirmed-drone-strike/">publicly confirm</a> the use of a drone in combat against a terrorist group.</p>
<p>This is only the beginning. Drones are <a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/africa-evolving-cyber-threats/">being incorporated</a> into the arsenals of state and non-state actors across Africa and have been decisive in shaping battlefield outcomes in conflict theaters such as Libya. With the rise of <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/african-venture-and-startup-predictions-2021">additive manufacturing,</a> drones and other technologies such as AI sensors, robots, and rockets are becoming cheaper. The prospect of affordable, widely available cutting-edge technology may allow some African states to build their own defense industries. A firm in South Africa, which has been <a href="https://www.africandefence.net/a-history-of-south-african-uavs/">manufacturing drones</a> since the 1970s, recently <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/idex/2021/02/22/paramount-group-pitches-new-drone-swarm-amid-regions-lack-of-countermeasures/">announced its intention</a> to build drone swarms “designed for technology transfer and portable manufacturing with partner countries.”</p>
<p>The ultimate impact of emerging technologies will depend largely on how governments choose to use them. Due to their low costs and rapid proliferation, AI and drones offer many African countries the opportunity to reap economic, political, and security benefits through early adoption. However, the impact of emerging technology could be destabilizing if used to enhance corporate profits and regime security without regard to the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens. While it is too early to tell where things are headed, the continent’s general trajectory, if there is one to be had, will be clearer in the aftermath of COVID-19.</p>
<h2><strong>COVID-19 and its aftermath</strong></h2>
<p>The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to act as an accelerant for the spread of emerging technology. The pandemic has already led to remarkable innovation. According to a <a href="https://www.afro.who.int/news/covid-19-spurs-health-innovation-africa">study</a> by the World Health Organization, 13% of all new or modified technology developed to respond to COVID-19 is African. In Ghana, authorities <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/myitu/News/2020/05/14/13/43/Ghana-launches-COVID-19-Tracker-App">launched</a> a COVID-19 tracker app, citizens <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/ghanaian-man-invents-solar-powered-hand-sensitive-barrel-to-help-fight-covid-19-video/y9c38k7">invented</a> solar-powered hand-washing stations, and private sector Zipline drones <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/04/20/zipline-begins-drone-delivery-of-covid-19-test-samples-in-ghana.html">delivered</a> tests. In Tunisia, the Interior Ministry <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52148639">deployed a robot</a> to help enforce a lockdown. When confronted by a man attempting to buy cigarettes, the robot relents: “OK buy your tobacco, but be quick and go home.”</p>
<p>But as life has moved increasingly online, opportunities for malicious actors to exploit digital technology have grown. C<a href="https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/icts/news/cyberattack-surge-highlights-africa-security-risk.html">yberattacks</a> in countries across Africa have risen, with threat actors adopting techniques designed to exploit shifts to less secure home office work environments and other COVID-related fears. In Zimbabwe, cyberattacks increased by as much as fivefold during the pandemic, driven by phishing attacks that impersonate organizations working on pandemic response or use COVID as a lure to get unwitting individuals to download malicious software.</p>
<p>Moreover, Africa’s economies <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/02/06/africas-recovery-from-covid-19-will-be-slow">are expected</a> to take significant time to recover from a pandemic-induced shock, leading to increases in poverty and declines in GDP that stand in sharp contrast to the first two decades of the twentieth century. As connectivity continues to rise, increases in poverty and inequality could herald an increase in the growth of cybercrime, as tech-savvy and college-educated Africans find opportunities for licit forms of employment limited. For example, SilverTerrier, a major cybercriminal actor based in Nigeria, is made up of individuals in their late teens through early forties, based in urban areas, and possess some level of post-secondary education, according to <a href="https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/content/dam/pan/en_US/assets/pdf/reports/Unit_42/silverterrier-next-evolution-in-nigerian-cybercrime.pdf">a study</a> of the group.</p>
<p>The economic, political and technological shocks of COVID-19 could also accelerate unsettling trends of digital repression and conflict. Prior to the pandemic, conflict in Africa was already on the rise and democracy in retreat. Facing declining revenues and rising social unrest, it is probable that regimes will <a href="http://democracyinafrica.org/how-digital-repression-is-changing-african-politics/">double down</a> on surveillance, censorship, and disinformation rather than compromise or address the grievances of disaffected groups. In Uganda’s recent election, authorities <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FP_20190826_digital_authoritarianism_polyakova_meserole.pdf">hacked</a> the encrypted communications of opposition leader Bobi Wine, ran a sophisticated online influence operation, and shut down the internet, efforts that helped to elect the strongman incumbent Yoweri Museveni to a sixth term.</p>
<h2><strong>A protean legacy</strong></h2>
<p>Most likely, African governments will continue to exhibit tremendous variation in their ability to adapt to this period of geopolitical uncertainty and technological change. Some of the more innovative countries may surf the spread of digital technology to prosperity and stability. Mauritius, Rwanda, and Kenya, for example, possess dynamic, tech-driven economies and <a href="https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-d/opb/str/D-STR-GCI.01-2018-PDF-E.pdf">are the only</a> African countries to rank in the top 50 of the International Telecommunication’s Unions global cybersecurity commitment index.</p>
<p>More countries, however, risk being destabilized or limited in their ability to harvest the fruits of the digital revolution. Nigeria has <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tobyshapshak/2019/10/30/africa-now-has-643-tech-hubs-which-play-pivotal-role-for-business/?sh=29f730364e15">more tech hubs</a> than any other country in Africa, but has also become a <a href="https://www.agari.com/email-security-blog/business-email-compromise-geography/">global center</a> for cybercrime. Libya’s information environment <a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/light-libya-fog-disinformation/">experienced</a> a brief renaissance in the aftermath of the fall of Muammar Ghaddafi in 2011 but has since become a “fragmented vacuum,” controlled largely by armed groups and foreign actors. Internet connectivity is a basic prerequisite for technology-driven growth and innovation, yet in fifteen countries, penetration rates are ten percent or less.</p>
<p>For Africa’s digital revolution to yield peace and prosperity, it is not enough for African countries to focus on the rapid, and often reactive, adoption of emerging technology. It is equally crucial to consider risks and externalities. Increasing internet connectivity should be prioritized, but so should affordability, cybersecurity, and equitable access. &nbsp;Drones and artificial intelligence offer African countries profound opportunities to innovate, but could be destabilizing without strategies, policies, and legal frameworks to govern their use. And, driven in part by the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, the question of what African governments should do to respond to the proliferation of emerging technology is no longer a theoretical one. It is urgent.</p>
<p>The signs of Africa’s digital revolution are impossible to miss. The destination? Impossible to know.</p>

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