Top 100+ DevOps Consulting Companies in 2023

A typical company offering DevOps consulting services would have four stages in its process. These are the following:

1. Project Discovery

The first stage involves specialists discussing a new project before development. How software products will be created is also discussed. Here, the clients relay their needs to the company, as well as the set of technologies and methods they want to use and the terms of implementation.

2. Planning

At this stage in the process, the specialists analyze the current software development cycle, available IT resources and the IT infrastructure of their client’s business. This is when the mapping of business expectations takes place and the identification of IT capabilities and constraints. A DevOps implementation strategy will then be devised by the consulting company.

3. Creating Roadmap

A roadmap is necessary to ensure the maximum success of the company. The top DevOps consulting companies have this. In the roadmap are automation, script development and the implementation of an infrastructure development plan. This is when specialists determine the methods and technologies that are necessary to improve work processes. 

4. Executing

Here, the chosen DevOps implementation strategy is finally executed. The roadmap is what guides the experts and allows them to know the elaboration vector so they can follow it. All implemented processes are also consistently monitored and tested. 

The DevOps strategy has key practices that help organizations innovate faster and provide more reliable customer updates. The following list shows an overview of essential DevOps practices that are typically seen in the best DevOps consulting companies:

Continuous Integration

This practice aims to quickly find and address bugs, improve software quality, and reduce the time between validating and releasing new software updates. This is when developers merge their code changes regularly into a central repository. Automated builds and tests are then activated and run afterward.

Continuous Delivery

With this practice, code changes are automatically built, tested and prepared to be released to production. Continuous integration is expanded since this practice involves deploying all code changes to a production or testing environment after the build stage. Proper implementation of continuous delivery allows developers to always have a build artifact that has passed the standardized test process ready for deployment.

Microservices

As a design approach, the microservices architecture is meant for building a single application as a set of small services. Each service runs its own process, communicating with other services using a well-defined interface with a lightweight mechanism, commonly an HTTP-based application programming interface. Each service is built around the capabilities of the business, relegated to a single purpose. 

Infrastructure as Code

Here, code and software development techniques like continuous integration and version control are used to provision and manage infrastructure. The API-driven model of the cloud allows system administrators and developers to programmatically interact with infrastructure instead of having to manually set it up and configure resources. Engineers can then use code-based tools to interface with infrastructure. Since servers and infrastructure are now defined by code, they can be deployed quickly and with the latest updates.

Monitoring and Logging

Metrics and logs are constantly monitored by organizations to see how application and infrastructure performance has affected the experience of the end users. Organizations are able to understand how updates and changes impact their customers and gain insights into the root causes of problems by capturing, categorizing and analyzing logs and data from applications and infrastructure. 

Communication and Collaboration

One of the key aspects of DevOps is the increased communication and collaboration between the members of an organization. Collaboration is established through the use of DevOps automation and tooling of the software delivery process. The use of an issue or project-tracking systems, chat applications and wikis are then behind the increase in communication.

With all the companies offering DevOps consulting services, organizations need to choose the best DevOps consulting company. Here are the steps they can take to properly select the best DevOps consulting company.

Narrow down a list of potential DevOps Consulting companies to collaborate with

As mentioned, many top DevOps consulting companies are out there, and it can get overwhelming to choose just one. Start by narrowing down the list of companies. The process of elimination can either be done on the basis of reputation, preferences, etc., as long as the end result is a much smaller list of potential companies to work with. This makes selecting just one less overwhelming. 

Check specializations and portfolios

When choosing the best DevOps consulting company for the organization, it’s always vital to check their specializations and portfolio and verify if they have the skill and knowledge that is required by the organization. Asking them directly is also one way to get the necessary information. 

Check the company’s project management methodologies: Agile, Waterfall, Kanban or Scrum

Each top DevOps consulting company employs different project management methodologies. Although it might seem like choosing either agile, waterfall, Kanban or scrum doesn’t matter, they have their own distinct advantages that may or may not fit the organization.

Using the Waterfall method, the company breaks down projects into linear and sequential stages, with every piece of the project relying on completing the deliverables before it. Meanwhile, Agile methodology focuses on workflows that are adaptive and simultaneous. Projects are broken down into smaller modules, so the team has an easier time developing, testing and modifying the product.

The Kanban methodology is essentially a type of Agile methodology. However, Kanban focuses on better coordination and balance by displaying task workflows so different teams can optimize the flow of tasks between them. Scrum is also a type of Agile methodology, but it differs from Kanban in that Kanban involves continuous and fluid workflows, while Scrum is based on short, structured work sprints to get the job done faster. 

Compare prices keeping your budget in mind

Last but definitely not least, it’s always vital to consider the costs of hiring one of the best DevOps consulting companies. Look over the list of top DevOps consulting companies to potentially work with and compare the prices of each. 

Companies usually charge between $25 an hour and $70 an hour for their DevOps consulting services. The cost is directly dependent on the number of professionals involved in the project, the complexity of the project and its urgency.  When hiring a consultant from a top DevOps consulting company, the costs will most likely be a bit higher.

Low release speed

When a new feature is developed for two months, it is tested for another month, and then it still doesn't work. Or an application has been in development for a year, and after the release, it turns out that no one needs it in this form. One of the tasks of DevOps consulting is to quickly release an application to the market and respond flexibly to changes: bugs, competitors' releases, user requirements. 

Errors in testing and at startup

In the classic approach, developers, testers, and administrators work on machines with different configurations. Because of this, it happens that the tester has no errors, and the application does not work on the "production" server. In addition, since a lot is done manually, there is a risk of errors in the transfer of the code. 

Using the DevOps services creates a common environment for development, testing and launching, with common configurations. And the transfer of the code occurs automatically, negating the human factor's influence and reducing the likelihood of errors. 

Issues with bug fixes and updates

With the classical approach to development, problems with the application are solved for a very long time. First, administrators collect data on errors and user complaints, then pass them on to developers. Tasks fall on the waiting list, and sometimes they are started too late. The long testing and tuning on servers - and by this time, a new batch of requirements and errors may have formed. 

DevOps companies employ automated monitoring systems that continually send bug reports. The pipeline allows you to sometimes release several daily updates, instantly solving application problems. 

Excessive spending

With the classical approach, the development cost is constantly growing due to lengthy programming and testing processes, errors, rollbacks and fixes. In addition, many processes are done manually. That is, qualified specialists spend their precious time on routine. 

The effective use of DevOps consultants solves this problem. Development takes fewer hours, and the entire routine is automated - as a result, it requires fewer human resources and less money.