Building Future-Proof Infrastructure: A LowOps Approach to Software Development
By Yashin Manraj, CEO — Pvotal Technologies
A software development company does not want to hear the term “outdated” used to describe its products. However, as technology development has increased, avoiding that term has become difficult.
To avoid producing software that becomes outdated, inadequate, and obsolete too quickly, developers have been forced to make future-proofing a top development priority. Steps must be taken to ensure software can be developed quickly, maintained efficiently, and updated with minimal effort. Rather than aiming to provide a “final product,” developers must instead aim for solutions that can easily be expanded and upgraded as new requirements or capabilities emerge.
The LowOps approach to software development is a top option for achieving future-proof designs. LowOps prioritizes automations that make it easier to deploy, operate, and maintain software throughout its lifecycle. It streamlines the processes used to keep software up-to-date and reliable, reducing the burdens associated with maintenance and making it easy to extend the usefulness of software solutions.
LowOps increases efficiency with automation
The LowOps approach provides the capability to automate a sizable part of the software development lifecycle. It is a comprehensive approach to designing and operating software that delivers next-level effectiveness compared to approaches focused primarily on architecture. By increasing the number of functions that can be automated, LowOps lowers the costs associated with development and support, which increases efficiency for both developers and users.
For example, LowOps uses automated tools like Terraform agents and Argo Workflows with templated deployment to streamline infrastructure changes. Routine tasks like scaling limit adjustments and patch management can be managed automatically, making maintenance and upgrades less burdensome.
By embedding automation into the software’s DNA, LowOps also reduces reliance on internal knowledge. If key personnel are lost, companies don’t need to worry as much about their departure raising operational risks. Key support processes are hard-wired into the software rather than carried out by support teams.
LowOps improves scalability and reliability
To be future-proof, software must easily adapt to changing demands. LowOps empowers that type of adaptability in several ways.
By being cloud-native, LowOps taps into the inherent scalability of cloud platforms. Cloud platforms also typically support automated scaling, which contributes to LowOps capability for streamlining key support and maintenance functions.
Containerized deployment, which is part of the LowOps automation strategy, is also easily achieved in cloud-native environments. In addition to empowering automation, containerization reduces complexity, allowing enhancements, updates, and fixes to be accomplished more efficiently.
LowOps also leverages Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) to enhance its scalability and reliability. IaC, which is easily deployable in most cloud platforms, makes it possible to automate the provisioning and configuration of resources. IaC automation speeds up configuration changes while removing the need for human agents to be involved.
IaC also enables built-in reliability features through automation. For example, IaC can automate the activation of failover mechanisms when network issues threaten user access. By redirecting traffic to unaffected resources, IaC ensures users continue to have access when issues occur.
Overall, LowOps empowers scalability and reliability without the need for a large development team. It allows smaller companies to engage in bigger development projects and bigger companies to redeploy human agents to higher-level tasks.
LowOps enhances security and compliance
To appreciate how LowOps enhances security, one must understand that human engagement is the chief threat to cybersecurity. In nearly three out of four security breaches, human error has been shown to be the vulnerability that was exploited. By automating key processes, the LowOps approach removes the risk of human error.
Misconfigurations caused by human oversight, for example, are a common attack vector. LowOps automations do away with the need for human oversight, which dramatically reduces the threat of misconfigurations. LowOps automations also ensure that security patches are deployed when necessary.
In general, LowOps reduces the need for authorized access to key system resources. As a result, social engineering schemes that seek login credentials become less of a threat. LowOps also reduces the number of entry points, which means there are fewer targets to protect.
In situations where software is subject to compliance requirements, LowOps once again improves efficiency. Through its automation features, LowOps can make sure policies are enforced. IaC also makes it easier to audit compliance by providing a detailed history of the components in place, where they’ve been used, and when they were updated.
To be truly future-proof, software solutions must be scalable, adaptable, secure, and reliable. By adopting a LowOps approach, developers can achieve all of those qualities. LowOps is the answer for developers who want to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and keep pace with today’s rapid tech development cycles.
Yashin Manraj, CEO of Pvotal Technologies, has served as a computational chemist in academia, an engineer working on novel challenges at the nanoscale, and a thought leader building more secure systems at the world’s best engineering firms. His deep technical knowledge from product development, design, business insights, and coding provides a unique nexus to identify and solve gaps in the product pipeline. The Pvotal mission is to build sophisticated enterprises with no limits that are built for rapid change, seamless communication, top-notch security, and scalability to infinity. Pvotal’s products and services create Infinite Enterprises that give business leaders total control and peace of mind over their technology systems and their businesses.