DevOps
Also known as: Development Operations
Definition
DevOps is the set of practices, systems, and operating rhythms that connect engineering and operations so software can be built, tested, deployed, monitored, and improved reliably. For middle-market technology companies, DevOps quality affects velocity, incident risk, margin, and scalability.
DevOps is not a toolchain purchase. It is the operating system for how software changes safely.
When finance asks why technical debt matters, DevOps metrics translate engineering friction into delay, downtime, rework, and EBITDA impact.
Related terms
- Change Failure Rate — The percentage of deployments or production changes that cause incidents, rollbacks, hotfixes, or customer-impacting failures.
- DORA Metrics — Four software-delivery metrics: deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate, and time to restore service.
- Technical Debt — The cumulative cost of architectural, platform, testing, and operational shortcuts in software systems — convertible to dollar EBITDA drag and exit-multiple turns.
Where this gets applied
- Project Recovery — Stalled programs unblocked. We've rescued $13M and $3M Fortune 500 initiatives in under 30 days.
- Technical Debt — Quantification in dollars, not adjectives. Then a remediation plan that runs in parallel with delivery.
- Compliance & Security — SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP, security baselines for post-acquisition standardization.