5 ways DevOps brings speed to heavily regulated industries

DevOps can be used transform heavily regulated businesses with a lot of speed, a lot of efficiency, and a lot of compliance. 

If you’re in the tech industry, you probably already know that DevOps has been a game-changer.

It’s all about bringing speed, efficiency, and collaboration to the development process. It’s also been a huge success in a lot of industries.

Now, you might be thinking, “How can you deliver software quickly if you’re in a heavily regulated industry? Won’t all those regulations slow everything down?” And you’re not wrong! 

Regulations can definitely be a pain, but DevOps can actually help you work around those regulations and still get stuff done fast. 

Here’s how.

Faster and More Efficient Compliance Auditing 

Here’s the thing: DevOps can help make the compliance auditing process faster and more efficient. 

DevOps practices such as automation, continuous integration, and continuous delivery allow you to easily track and monitor changes made to your systems and applications. 

This makes it easier to perform compliance audits. All changes are recorded in a centralized repository, making it easy to review your entire change history.  

Improved Security

DevOps makes the whole security process less of a headache, and more of a smooth ride.

DevOps practices focus on the continuous improvement of security processes, which are essential for businesses operating in heavily regulated industries. 

Automated security tools and techniques, such as security testing, threat modeling, and vulnerability scans, can be integrated into the development pipeline. This makes sure that your software is free from security vulnerabilities before it is released into production.

Enhanced Collaboration

No joke, DevOps, really can take your collaboration to the next level.

DevOps practices emphasize collaboration between development and operations teams. This can lead to better alignment and faster resolution of issues in a heavily regulated industry. 

When your teams share knowledge and expertise, your organization can better address potential risks or compliance violations.

Better Traceability

With so many rules and regulations to follow, it’s important to be able to pinpoint issues. 

DevOps practices ensure that all changes made to systems and applications are traceable.

This makes it easier to identify the source of any potential issues or compliance violations and respond to them quickly and effectively.

Improved Reliability

Reliability is all about making sure that things work as they should.

DevOps practices are designed to reduce downtime, increase the reliability of systems and applications, and improve the overall performance of the delivery pipeline. 

This is critical for businesses operating in heavily regulated industries, as system failures can lead to compliance violations and regulatory penalties.

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So, those are some of the ways that DevOps can bring speed to heavily regulated industries. There are a handful of underlying factors that make this all possible.

Let’s take a closer look.

Automation

One of the key things that DevOps is all about is automation. By automating a lot of the processes that are involved in delivering software, you can save a ton of time. 

For example, instead of manually testing software every time you make a change, you can set up automated tests. 

This way, you can catch any problems early on, and fix them before they cause bigger issues down the line.

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment

Continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) are two other key aspects of DevOps. 

Bottom line, this means that you’re constantly making small changes to your software, and those changes are automatically integrated into the main codebase. 

And once those changes have been tested and approved, they’re automatically deployed to users. 

This way, you can get new features and bug fixes to users as quickly as possible, without having to go through a bunch of manual steps.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a big part of DevOps. Instead of manual setup and configuration, you write code to automate the process. 

This means that you can quickly spin up new infrastructure, and make changes without having to do things manually. 

And since everything is automated, there’s less room for human error, which can slow things down.

Continuous Monitoring

With DevOps, you can continuously monitor your systems, to make sure that everything is running smoothly. If there’s a problem, you’ll know about it right away, and you can fix it quickly. 

This helps speed things up, because you’re not waiting until the end of a project to find out that there’s an issue.

DevOps Culture

Finally, the DevOps culture itself can help speed things up. 

DevOps is all about working together and continuously improving. This means that teams are always looking for ways to do things faster and more efficiently. 

And by embracing this culture, you can encourage your teams to work more quickly and efficiently, which can help speed things up in the long run.

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Let’s dive into some heavily regulated industries to see how DevOps can help speed things up safely.

Healthcare

Healthcare industries have to follow strict regulations like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the US, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in Canada, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe. 

DevOps practices can help healthcare companies speed things up and make sure they’re following all the regulations. 

Automation can be used to check for compliance regularly and quickly find any problems, so healthcare companies can stay on top of regulations and protect sensitive information. 

DevOps practices like CI/CD can help healthcare companies quickly and easily release new features and bug fixes, giving their customers a better experience. 

Bonus: DevOps can help healthcare teams work together more effectively, making the process of following regulations a lot smoother.

Finance

Financial institutions have to follow strict regulations like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in the US, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. 

DevOps practices can help financial institutions speed up their processes and stay on top of regulations. For instance, automation can be used to check for compliance regularly, which means financial institutions can identify any problems quickly and avoid breaking regulations. 

With DevOps, teams can work together more effectively and communicate more efficiently, making it easier to meet regulations. 

Plus, DevOps practices like CI/CD can help financial institutions quickly release new features, bug fixes, and security updates, improving their overall performance.

Government

Government organizations have a ton of regulations to follow, like the Freedom of Information Act in the UK, the Federal Information Security Modernization Act in the US, or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe. 

DevOps practices can help government organizations streamline their processes and make them more efficient, saving time and reducing the risk of errors. 

With automation, the government can easily run checks to make sure they’re sticking to the regulations, and quickly identify any problems that come up. 

DevOps can also help teams work together better, with improved communication and coordination, making the process of meeting regulations much more effortless.

Telecommunications

Telecom companies also have to follow regulations like the Communications Act in the US, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in Canada, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe. 

DevOps practices can help telecom companies speed things up and keep their systems reliable. For example, automation can be used to check for compliance, reducing the risk of breaking any regulations. 

DevOps practices like CI/CD can also help telecom companies quickly and easily release new features and bug fixes, giving their customers a better experience. 

And just like in government, DevOps can improve teamwork and communication, making the process of following regulations a breeze.

Conclusion

So there you have it! DevOps can bring speed to heavily regulated industries, no matter where you are in the world. 

Whether you’re in healthcare, banking, government, or any other heavily regulated industry, DevOps can help you work around those regulations and still get things done fast. 

OK, you get it, DevOps is great. But how do you measure it? Read more in our article on DORA metrics.