Mapping DevOps capabilities to the software life cycle: A systematic literature review

Context: Many IT organizations are looking towards DevOps to make their software development and delivery processes faster and more reliable, while DevOps revolutionized the industry by emphasizing collaboration between development and operations teams. Nonetheless, there still exist challenges in harmonizing cultural, technical, measurement and process capabilities for its successful adoption. Objective: To research improving DevOps adoption, this study explores DevOps Capabilities relevant to the Life Cycle Processes (LCPs) of the IEEE 2675-2021 DevOps standard. Aiming to provide valuable information on increasing efficiency and outcomes by mapping DevOps Capabilities in each phase of the LCPs. Whereas previous research identified and classified 37 DevOps Capabilities, this study aims to determine which capabilities can enhance each of the 30 phases of the LCPs. Methods: Out of 102 documents identified in the Systematic Literature Review (SLR), relations among DevOps Capabilities and LCPs have been synthesized and organized. An in-depth analysis of data was conducted over the connections across various categories. The mapping revealed how they relate in terms of their application and impact. Results: The SLR shows technical DevOps Capabilities and technical LCPs strongly correlated. DevOps measurement capabilities have a significant impact on agreement processes. Using an impact scale classification, the study identifies eight capabilities that have exceptional impact on LCPs and eleven capabilities that have a very high impact on the supply process, requirements definition, integration process, and validation process. Conclusion: The study demonstrates how DevOps Capabilities together with LCPs can improve software delivery, quality, and reliability. It presents a structured approach for improving processes, as well as evidence of DevOps integration in software development and maintenance. The findings help to assess DevOps Capabilities and LCP relations, which is expected to improve successful adoption. Future research should focus on researching practical cases of DevOps integration into LCPs, while overcoming adoption challenges.