At the heart of our approach are 3 basic philosophies—Automation, Auditable, and No vendor lock-in that guide our work and commitment to our clients. In this article, we will explore each of these philosophies and demonstrate how they are critical to the success of modern businesses.
Introduction
8grams was founded with a mission:
"To empower businesses with modern DevOps practices and technologies, enabling them to achieve digital transformation, improve efficiency, and drive growth."
At the heart of our approach are 3 basic philosophies—Automation, Auditable, and No vendor lock-in, or you can say - vendor agnostic —that guide our work and commitment to our clients.
In this article, we will explore each of these philosophies and demonstrate how they are critical to the success of modern businesses.
Automation
The Importance of Automation in DevOps
Automation is a key component of DevOps, as it allows organizations to streamline their software development and deployment processes. By automating repetitive tasks, such as building, testing, and deploying code, businesses can reduce human error, improve efficiency, and accelerate the delivery of high-quality software.
How 8grams Leverages Automation to Enhance Efficiency and Reduce Errors
8grams utilizes automation tools and techniques to help clients optimize their development and operations processes. From infrastructure provisioning, to continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to automated testing and monitoring, we implement various solutions and best practices that enable businesses to respond rapidly to changing requirements while maintaining the quality and reliability of their software.
Key Automation Tools and Techniques Utilized by 8grams
We employ a variety of automation tools and techniques, including:
1. Docker for containerization and simplifying application deployment
2. GitLab Runner, Jenkins, or Tekton for build automation and CI/CD pipelines
3. Terraform for infrastructure provisioning and Ansible for configuration management and infrastructure automation
5. ChatOps using Discord Bot, Slack Bot, or whatever communication platform client uses
5. Cypress for automated testing of API and Web Applications
Auditable
Ensuring Transparency and Compliance Through Auditability
Auditability is essential for businesses to maintain transparency and ensure compliance with industry regulations and best practices. By implementing auditable processes, organizations can track changes to their software and infrastructure, making it easier to identify and resolve issues, as well as demonstrate compliance during audits.
The Role of Auditable Processes in Maintaining Trust and Accountability
8grams helps clients establish auditable processes by implementing version control systems, centralized logging, and monitoring solutions. These tools enable businesses to maintain a clear record of changes, detect anomalies, and provide stakeholders with a comprehensive view of their systems' performance and security.
Implementing Auditability in DevOps with 8grams
We integrate auditability into our clients' DevOps processes by:
- Utilizing version control systems like Git for tracking any code changes, from application source code to infrastructure configuration. All must be traceable and trackable
- Implementing centralized logging with tools such as the ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana)
- Deploying monitoring solutions like Prometheus and Grafana for performance tracking and anomaly detection
- Implementing alert and performance monitoring system using tools like Sentry
Vendor-Agnosticism (No Vendor Lock-In)
The Value of Vendor-Agnostic Solutions for Businesses
Vendor-agnostic solutions allow businesses to avoid being locked into a single vendor's products and services. This flexibility enables organizations to select the best tools and technologies for their needs, reducing the risk of vendor lock-in and promoting innovation.
How 8grams Promotes Flexibility and Choice Through Vendor-Agnosticism
At 8grams, we prioritize vendor-agnostic solutions, ensuring that our clients have the freedom to choose and switch between the best tools and technologies for their specific requirements. Our expertise spans a wide range of platforms, frameworks, and tools, enabling us to create tailored solutions that align with each client's unique needs and goals.
Examples of Vendor-Agnostic Tools and Technologies Employed by 8grams
8grams is committed to utilizing a diverse range of vendor-agnostic tools and technologies to provide our clients with flexible and customized solutions. We love and always prefer Open Source software to tackle any client's problem and provide best solutions with very affordable prices.
Some examples include:
- Cloud platforms: We work with multiple cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), or Google Cloud Platform (GCP), allowing clients to choose the best fit for their infrastructure needs.
- CI/CD tools: We support a variety of CI/CD tools, including Jenkins, Tekton, and GitLab CI/CD, enabling clients to implement continuous integration and deployment pipelines that align with their existing workflows.
- Infrastructure Provisioning using Terraform
- Configuration management using Ansible
- Container orchestration: Our expertise extends to various container orchestration platforms, like Kubernetes and Nomad-Consul, facilitating the deployment and management of containerized applications.
It's very okay to use popular cloud provider like AWS or GCP, but we don't want our client to be sticked to that cloud providers services. If there is any open sources and self-hosted solutions, we always prefer to use them rather than use services from cloud provider. For example, we prefer to use self-hosted Redis installed in Kubernetes cluster rather than use GCP Memory Store or AWS Elastic Cache.
Conclusion:
By embracing the philosophies of Automation, Auditability, and Vendor-Agnosticism, 8grams is uniquely positioned to help businesses unlock the full potential of modern DevOps practices and technologies. Our approach enables organizations to undergo digital transformation, improve efficiency, and drive growth, ensuring they are well-equipped to navigate today's rapidly evolving business landscape.
About 8grams
We are a small DevOps Consulting Firm that has a mission to empower businesses with modern DevOps practices and technologies, enabling them to achieve digital transformation, improve efficiency, and drive growth.
Ready to transform your IT Operations and Software Development processes? Let's join forces and create innovative solutions that drive your business forward.
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