Rethinking DevOps: What's Next For Software Teams After A Decade Of Stagnation
RTInsights, September 20,2025
It's time to redefine DevOps, not as a set of tools or rigid methodologies, but as a human-centered, technology-enabled movement towards shared accountability and better software delivery.
Think back to when DevOps first captured the software development world's imagination. It promised transformation. We looked forward to a utopia where developers and operations teams worked hand in hand, building software faster and finding empathy for each other's struggles.
DevOps was a philosophy. It was an idealistic movement aimed at tearing down silos and creating shared accountability. All of this would enable us to deliver better outcomes.
So, what happened? We're over a decade in, and today's conversations about DevOps are increasingly focused on tools and processes, rather than collaboration.
It's more than a little ironic. In place of collaboration, the relationship between developers and operators degenerated into a cycle of finger-pointing.