Everything's code, 'zero tolerance for assholes': Yup, it's ChefConf

ChefConf 2015 took place last week in Santa Clara, with around 1500 attendees focusing on DevOps using Chef software to automate infrastructure configuration and application deployment.

What is DevOps? Defining it is a struggle, according to Chef CTO Adam Jacob who devoted a large part of his entertaining keynote to the subject.

The word is derived from “development and operations”, but if you thought it was merely about these two aspects of IT working together in a sensible way, think again.

According to Jacob, “it’s like Kung fu”, which doesn't mean martial arts in this context but rather “the excellence achieved through long practice in one’s skills.”

What, then, is DevOps Kung fu? After a tour of good and bad principles and practices, Jacob settled on “a cultural and professional movement, focused on how we build and operate high velocity organizations, born from the experiences of its practitioners.”

If you agree, you can add your name to the list of adopters. Watch Jacob's keynote below:

Chef Style DevOps Kungfu - Adam Jacob Keynote - ChefConf 2015

If that sounds like a reprise of the Agile Manifesto, published in February 2001, it is not a coincidence. Like Agile, DevOps as understood by the ChefConf crowd is about collaboration as much as technology, and a focus on people rather than products was a notable feature of the event.

In his conference wrap-up Jacob said:

One of the most important things I’ve learned over the course of building Chef, was that you can only have zero tolerance for assholes. If you want to have a company that’s great, as soon as you see an asshole, that’s chronic and can’t quit, you’ve got to kick them out.

There is a clue about why a particular approach to managing IT has become an all-encompassing philosophy of business in the term “high velocity organizations,” part of Jacob’s DevOps definition. Since almost all companies are to some extent software companies (that is, the success of their business depends to some degree on software), then the ability to change and improve that software quickly is critical in fast-growing, adaptable organizations.

Rapid software iteration is only possible if you can automate the process of software delivery. In software development, techniques such as automated testing, revision control and software configuration management enable fast and reliable updates. Automating the infrastructure on which the software runs completes another piece of the puzzle. Having the technology is only a starting point, though, and creating a business culture that is sufficiently flexible and collaborative is perhaps the bigger challenge.