DevSecOps promises better software through security automation, faster deployment times, and less painful compliance. Yet companies have been slow to adopt it. Why is that?
The reality is that DevSecOps requires changing deep-rooted habits around software development. From siloed teams to tool overload to regulatory burdens, there are real barriers in the way. But there is good news—these roadblocks are surmountable. And better than that, the payoff for tackling them is almost definitely worth it.
In this article, we’ll discuss the top obstacles to DevSecOps adoption and provide practical tips for overcoming them. With some concerted effort, you can pave the way for DevSecOps and reap the rewards of speedier deployments, higher quality, and fewer hair-on-fire scrambles during audit season.
Security as Final Checkpoint vs Collaboration
One of the more common anti-patterns is delegating security solely to a single checkpoint at the end of the cycle. For example, a security team may conduct penetration testing only after developers have deemed a release candidate “code complete.” This causes extended lead times as issues inevitably get found late when they are much more costly and time-consuming to fix.
A better approach is promoting a culture shift where security and development teams engage in active collaboration across the entire software lifecycle. Security experts with developer skills work closely with engineering teams to embed security as self-service from the start. Security champions and liaisons from the central team are embedded directly into sprint teams. Security analysis is weaved into all phases – from requirements to code reviews to staging assessments to production monitoring – not simply tacked on at the finish line.
Ingrained Culture & Habits Die Hard
The famous adage “culture eats strategy for breakfast” rings especially true for DevSecOps. You might have established all the right teams, tools, and processes in theory. However progress can easily stall out if members across development, security, and operations continue behaving in traditional siloed mindsets and attitudes.
For DevSecOps to work, it requires shaking up those ingrained habits. This is no small endeavor. It entails encouraging developers to think more holistically about operational and security implications. It means instilling more openness to feedback in engineers. It requires security practitioners to better speak the languages of developers and understand developer objectives. And DevOps engineers must more thoroughly understand security requirements and build more time for it into their sprint plans.
For such culture shifts, executive mandate and championing alignment from the top is critical. But that alone won’t be enough to change behaviors and perspectives overnight. It takes consistent communication and reinforcement of DevSecOps principles across the whole lifecycle. Security, development, and operations leads should continue promoting collaboration over siloes through all their plans, processes, meetings, and KPIs.
Resistance to Change & Tool Sprawl
It’s understandable why teams get comfortable using the systems and tools they know and are reluctant to change. But clinging to manual testing and drawn-out release processes fundamentally contradicts what DevSecOps is all about.
Modern workflows and integrated stacks are essential to enabling the speed and flexibility that DevSecOps promises. This opens the door to crucial practices like shifting security left, hardening environments automatically, and treating infrastructure as code. Trying to layer new-age solutions on top of clunky legacy tools leads to a messy hairball.
There’s no cookie-cutter tech prescription here that works perfectly out of the box. With so many moving parts already in place, taking an incremental step-by-step roadmap approach makes the most sense. The goal should be to streamline flows in each pipeline stage without being disruptive. Budget realities also mean you’ll likely need to make some tradeoffs and lean on SaaS platforms. Looking at open and flexible ecosystems allows you to bring together the leading options across categories over time.
The key is to embrace change gradually while being careful not to overload teams with a complex tool sprawl. With a methodical migration plan, DevSecOps speeds and efficiencies are within reach.
Compliance Fatigue & Process Debt
No conversation about challenges for modern software practices is complete without touching on compliance and infosec regulations. Whether you operate in highly regulated sectors like financial services, healthcare, energy, and government or not, addressing obligations around privacy, security, and controls slows things down.
Delivering at speed while also continually demonstrating rigorous adherence to policies is an immense balancing act. But creaky manual audit processes simply don’t mesh with cloud-native continuous delivery. They accumulate tons of process debt that inhibits developer velocity down the line.
The way forward is to take advantage of advancements in policy-as-code solutions to codify those controls, compliance checks, and governance policies. That translates stated requirements into automated gates. Done right, you embed compliance directly into pipeline flows in a far more agile manner. Rather than slowing things down, staying compliant becomes easily validated at velocity.
Putting People Before Process & Technology
When you boil it down, DevSecOps is all about bringing people together and getting buy-in and support from cross-functional team members. If you can’t find ways to do this, it will never take hold.
So, before jumping into elaborate architectural designs, the initial focus must be socialization. Clearly set expectations around the new roles and responsibilities that DevSecOps requires. Host immersive workshops that build empathy between disciplines. Incentivize participation and contribution to collective goals rather than individual ones.
DevSecOps demands relentless communication, transparency, and trust-building among everyone involved. The technical challenges matter, no question. But getting the people’s challenges right matters even more. Align the team first, and the tools and processes will follow.
Final Word
The road to DevSecOps adoption is filled with challenges—there’s no doubt about it. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth pursuing. The main way to overcome the hurdles is to shift security to the left so your teams can collaborate from the very start, not as an afterthought. This is as much about people as it is processed, so take incremental steps to integrate modern tools and get people on board by conveying visions and aligning incentives. That’s the ultimate key to success.
- DevOps Certified Professionals (DCP)
- Site Reliability Engineering Certified Professionals (SRECP)
- Master in DevOps Engineering (MDE)
- DevSecOps Certified Professionals (DSOCP)
URL - https://www.devopsschool.com/certification/
My Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeshkumarin
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